Several subscribers to this list claim descent from one or more Drury Masseys. Two sources will be referenced in the discussion which follows: 1. MASSADD - Judge Frank Massey, MASSEY GENEALOGY ADDENDUM (1979) 2. MASS200 - William W. Massey Jr., MASSEY GENEALOGY 2000 (2000) (To allow easy comparisons, all generation numbers have been converted to the numbering scheme used in MASS2000 which in one higher than that in MASSADD.) Three early Drury Massey families have been identified: (a) Drury Massey, b. abt. 1750; m. daughter of William, or more likely Thomas HUNT. See MASSDD,p. 295ff where he is shown with up to 4 children: i. Josiah, b. abt. 1772 ii. Alfred (BY HYPOTHESIS of Judge Massey) iii. William (BY HYPOTHESIS of Judge Massey) iv. Alfred (BY HYPOTHESIS of Judge Massey) (b) Drury Massey, b. abt. 1750, m. Barbara BRYAN [not NEEDHAM as sometimes reported], Dau. of William Bryan and Edith Smith. See MASSADD, p. 304 and other sources. Many descendants of this family changed the spelling to MASSEE. Five known children: i. Drury W. m. Sophia PORTER ii. Mary m. ---- ROSS iii. Elizabeth m. Thomas Algiers iv. (Captain) Needham. b. abt. 1779, 1m. Sarah Little; 2m.Parmela Ann Braswell. v. Warren (c) Drury Massey of Spartanburg Co., SC and Washington Co., AL, reportedly b. 1773. [Not discussed in the current post.] Two Drury Masseys are found in the 1790 NC census: (1) 1790 Lincoln Co., NC (10100); printed version of the census had "Dron" Massey - almost certainly Drury; appears to be newly married - no children. MASSADD identified this Drury as the one in Family (b) above , and, identified his ancestry as: Drury(5), John(4) m. Winney, Richard(3), Hezekiah(2). Placement of Family (b) here was challenged by descendants of that family and, in my judgement, the facts are on their side. From new information in MASS2000, the ancestry of the Lincoln Co., Drury appears most likely to be: Drury(5), John(4) m. Winney [others say, Winney DANIELS who 2m Steven Senter], John(3), Hezekiah(2), Hezekiah(1). I'm guessing that some of the list subscribers are descended from this Drury, but unfortunately, no one has developed a descendency chart for him. He appears to have brothers William and Daniel. From the 1790 census, his widowed mother, Winney Massey (02402) appears to have 2 sons under 16 and 3 daughters. Co executors of John(4)'s 1788 Lincoln Co. will was son Drury and another John Massey whom some believe to be his son. This other John could been first cousin, John(4) who m. Mary HENRY [ Hezekiah(3), Hezekiah(2)], and had also moved to Lincoln Co. (2) Drury Massey in 1790 Johnston Co., NC (14301); census indicates 4 sons under 16; 2 daughters and 1 slave. Although MASSFAM showed this Drury to be the one in Family (a) above, he is most definitely the one in Family (b) above. From researcher William Leonard Moore-Thomas, a descendant of Needham Massee, there's some evidence that Drury probably 1m. ---- Hunt; then 2m. Barbara Bryan. I'm inclined to accept that Family (a) and (b) are both of Drury of Johnston Co., NC. The BY HYPOTHESIS children shown by MASSADD should probably be deleted. There are 3 versions of this Drury's ancestry: (1) MASSADD: Drury(5), William(4), John(3), Hezekiah(2) [prob. incorrect] (2) Mr. Thomas: Drury(5), William(4), William(3), Hezekiah(2) [extra generation not verified.] (3) MASS2000: Drury(4), William(3), Hezekiah(2), Hezekiah(1) [best documented, but not specifically identified as the father of Needham Massee] If there's only one Drury in Johnston Co., NC, then there are conflcting accounts of when he died. MASS2000 says one Drury d. by 1802 whereas a descendant says he is the Drury Massey in 1810 and 1820 Cumberland Co., NC and the testator of an 1820 Cumberland Co. will. So there may be more than one adult Drury in the Wake/Franklin/Johnston, NC area around 1800. The Drury who d. in 1802 was probably not the father of Needham. MASSADD (p. 295) says there was a "Tory" [British sympathizer] Drury Massey who had his horse and gun taken from him in 1776 at the Wake Co. courthouse. This doesn't sound like Needham's father, but might be the one who d. in 1802. Comments and corrections will be appreciated. Best regards to all, Theron Smith. 6-great grand nephew of Hezekiah (2)