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From the Valdo James Smith Research document, The Sudburys of Virginia and Tennessee.
WILLIAM WILSON SUDBURY was born in Virginia in 1780. His ancestor, Robert
Martin McBride, gives the place of his birth as Amelia County. Robert is also the
source for William's middle name. According to Robert, William married ONA
RUDD on May 7, 1807, in Prince Edward County, Virginia. The following inform-
ation about Ona and her family is quoted from Robert's history entitled The McBride
Family of Rutherford County, Tennessee:
Ona ("Oney") Rudd was born in Prince Edward County in 1782 or 1783. She
was the daughter of JOHN RUDD, JR. and his wife, AGNES CLARKE, who
were married in Prince Edward County on April 30, 1782. Her paternal grand-
father was JOHN RUDD, SR., who died in Chesterfield County in 1791, leaving
his wife, ONEY and several children. Her maternal grandfather was JESSE
CLARKE, of Chesterfield County.
A great-grandson of Ona Rudd Sudberry stated that the Rudd family were of Irish
ancestry and that they settled on the James River during the Revolutionary War.
Some of the Rudd family came to Tennessee. In 1836, Shadrack Rudd and John
C. Rudd were living in the 15th District of Williamson County, Tennessee.
Robert McBride's history also contains the following valuable information about
William and Ona's married life:
William W. and Ona Rudd Sudberry lived in Prince Edward County from the
time of their marriage until after 1830, and all of their children were born there.
About 1837 they removed to Tennessee and settled in the 12th District [Salem-
Windrow] and lived near there the rest of their lives. William died between 1860
and 1870. Ona lived thereafter in the 5th District of Bedford County with her
oldest son [John]. She lived to the age of 101 years, which places the date of her
death as 1883.
A comparative examination of the census records of Prince Edward County,
Virginia (1810-1830) and of Rutherford County, Tennessee (1840-1880) shows
that William and Ona Sudberry had nine children, three sons and six daughters.
The three older children may have married before 1837 and remained in Virginia.
The six younger children came with their parents to Tennessee, and of these six
we have records of five. They were [John, Susan, Patrick, Mary and Mariah].
At this point, the identity of William's father remains a subject of speculation. Of the
four Sudbury brothers of the "Second Generation", Ezekiel, David, John, and William,
Ezekiel (entry 11) can be eliminated as being too old to be William's father, and John
(entry 15) apparently had no male children other than his son, John. William (entry
16) was the father of William D. Sudbury (entry 163), and it follows that William W.
Sudbury would not also be his son on account of the identical first names. Moreover,
William (entry 16) was not married until 1784, whereas William W. was born in 1780.
That leaves David (entry 14). Geographically, David's residence in Powhatan County
is closer to William W. 'S early home in Prince Edward County than were the homes of
the other "Second Generation" brothers. Furthermore, census information shows that
David had a family of six individuals in 1783, which could have included William W.,
in addition to David's daughters, Jane and Martha. It appears likely to the author of
this history that William W. was David's son.
Although Robert McBride identifies John Sudbury (entry 15) as William W. Sudbury's
father, Robert cites no evidence to support this conclusion. The author hopes someday
to have an opportunity to discuss this issue further with one of William W. 's ancestors
who is knowledgeable about genealogical matters.
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