ritaray 's Home Page

Welcome to the Sansom web page.

I'm Rita Ray, and I live in Texas's Lower Rio Grande Valley. I taught math in Texas's public schools for eighteen years before I retired in 1991.

I became interested in genealogy in 1981 and soon discovered that one couple, John and Jane (Miller) Sansom, appeared on my pedigree chart three times. This made me eager to find out as much as possible about the Sansom family. Nearly seventeen years later, I have found a great deal of information, but I still have many questions about this family.

John and Jane (Miller) Sansom

John and Jane (Miller) Sansom

According to a letter written by their son Samuel, John Sansom was the oldest son of William Sansom of King William County, VIrginia, while Jane was the second daughter of Alexander Miller, who emigrated from Ireland a few years before her birth and settled in Augusta County, Virginia.

Jane's first marriage was to David Edmiston; she and David had five children: Alex, David, Ann, John, and James. They moved to Mecklinburg County, NC, where she was widowed. Jane moved to Abbeville District, SC, then married John Sansom. She and John had 5 children, 3 of whom (Nancy, William, and John) became my direct ancestors. Two other children (Hannah and Andrew) died young.

Jane was once again widowed when John was killed while riding express near the end of the American Revolution. Jane received a South Carolina land grant of 200 acres based on John's military service during the Revolution.