As of today, March 19, 2024, I have not found proof of the ancestry of Nancy Conway the wife of James Robert Mayson. Many researchers claim that her parents were George Conway and Anne/Nancy Downman of the Northern Neck of Virginia. I have found no document that proves this - there is only circumstantial evidence. I can certainly understand the desire for many of us to claim George and Anne as her parents because this connection, if true, opens up a very distinguished and much heralded family tree that includes Presidents George Washington and James Madison.
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As we know from their marriage announcement, James Robert Mayson married a Miss Conway on June 16, 1787 at the Peach Hill Plantation owned by his father (Col. James Mayson) along the Saluda River in South Carolina:
"Married. At Beach Hill (Sic - Peach Hill), near Cambridge, in Ninety-Six district, Mr. James Mayson, son of Col. James Mayson, to the amiable Miss Conway, of the state of Virginia." [1]
She lived a long life and died on November 13,1856 with her age indicated to be 90 which gives us her birth year of about 1766. She survived for 50 years after the death of her husband which is remarkable given the times and how hard it was for widows in this period. She is likely buried at the Mt. Vernon Methodist Church in Edgefield County, SC where her son (George Conway Mayson) is presumed to be buried and many of his descendants.
As we know, Nancy's husband James R. Mayson died in 1805 where she and her children are named in the various estate records of her late husband. Then on the 1810 census for Newberry she is shown living with 1 son and 2 slaves in her household. (It is not known if she moved or if the district changed.)
1810 Census, Nancy Mayson
Lastly, many researchers refer to Nancy as Anne, Nancy Anne or Anne Nancy. I have not seen any document with Anne - they all show Nancy; However, Nancy was often the diminutive form of the name Anne.
Nancy's Potential Parents and Virginia Ancestry
As I noted above, I have found nothing to confirm Nancy's parents; However, there are strong clues that this Nancy Conway is from the Northern Neck of Virginia. This Conway family was an early Colonial Virginia family that has associations with some of our country's early leaders. This is a topic worthy of great in-depth research so I withhold an opinion until more evidence is found to confirm her identity.
From my limited research, there appear to be two distinct Conway lines living in the Northern Neck in the 1600s-1700s but they are likely related. One line is Dennis Conway and the other line is Edwin Conway. Edwin Conway's line is the line which has many marriages between important and influential families (Ball, Heath, Hack, Lee, Downman). The Dennis Conway line does not seem to have been researched to any great extent but no known famous family connections have been found to date.
Thus far, I have researched two Anne/Nancy Conways of the Northern Neck - One is via the Dennis Conway line and the other is via the Edwin Conway line. Please keep in mind that these women are often confused because they both have been attributed with fathers named George and uncles named Edwin. Click on the links below to view the information found for each.
- Nancy Conway, the proven daughter of George Conway and Elizabeth Smith of Northumberland County, Virginia. (Dennis Conway line)
- Anne (Nancy Conway), the "so-called" daughter of George Conway and Grace Ball of Northumberland and Lancaster Counties in Virginia. (Edwin Conway line)
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[1] Marriage and Death Notices from the Charleston Morning Post; and Daily Advertiser, and its successor The City Gazette, compiled by Mabel L. Webber; Source: The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Jan. 1920, Vol. 21, No. 1, Page 25.
(This page was updated on March 20, 2024)