Matthew Rippy
Born: About 1740, Ireland
Died: 17 Jan 1817, Orange County, NC
Father: ?
Mother: ?
Married: Nancy Ann Holliday About 1759
Our Child: Edward Rippy

The following is from the Sumner County Gen Website
  1. MATTHEW RIPPEY was born Abt. 1740 in Ireland, and died January 17, 1817 in Orange County, NC. He married NANCY ANN HOLLIDAY Abt. 1759. She was born 1739.

    Children of MATTHEW RIPPEY and NANCY HOLLIDAY are:

    1. FANNY RIPPEY, b. October 18, 1760, Orange County, NC; d. July 18, 1844, Orange County, NC; m. WILLIAM GANTT.

      More About FANNY RIPPEY: Burial: Providence Christian Chruch, Graham, NC

    2. (2) JOHN RIPPEY, b. May 31, 1762, Orange County, NC; d. 1839.
    3. (3) THOMAS S. RIPPEY, b. January 13, 1764, Orange County, NC; d. March 27, 1844, Orange County, NC.
    4. (4) EDWARD RIPPEY, b. March 13, 1764, Orange County, NC; d. 1828, Sumner County, TN.
    5. SUSANNAH RIPPEY, b. October 17, 1766, Orange County, NC.
    6. MATTHEW JESSE RIPPEY, b. January 24, 1768, Orange County, NC.
    7. (5) JESSE RIPPEY, b. 1770, Orange County, NC; d. 1858, Sumner County, TN.
    8. (6) JAMES RIPPEY, b. January 21, 1770, Orange County, NC; d. August 01, 1860, Sumner County, TN.
    9. JANE RIPPEY, b. November 25, 1771, Orange County, NC; d. Bef. 1817; m. GANTT.
    10. (7) JOSEPH RIPPEY, b. October 31, 1773, Orange County, NC; d. May 09, 1851, Alamance County, NC.
    11. VIRGINIA GARRET RIPPEY, b. 1774, Orange County, NC; d. 1817; m. GANTT.
    12. (8) SALLY RIPPEY, b. Abt. 1775.

Descendants of Matthew Rippy from Sumner County Gen Website

Matthew Rippey Descendants (but some of it looks fishy to me)



  The following article recounts how our Matthew Rippey may have contributed to the creation of the First Amendment.

Tuscarora's Journey of Faith
Martinsburg, West Virginia

According to Henry Howe in his Historical Collection of Virginia( 1852), Tuscarora Presbyterian Church is "the first place where the Gospel was publicly preached and divine service performed west of the Blue Ridge Mountains." In keeping with that auspicious beginning, Tuscarora has been a beacon of light, spreading God's Good News to the world for over 260 years.

In 1737 all of what is now Berkeley County was part of Orange County, Virginia. On September 22 of that year, Mr. William Williams, a Presbyterian lay speaker, appeared before the county court at Orange Court House in Virginia and took the oath of allegiance and abjuration required of dissenter ministers and declared his intention to hold meetings at two points in the northern Shenandoah Valley close to the Potomac River. One of these points turned out to be this very spot, later to be known as Tuscarora Church.

In 1737 in all of what is now Berkeley County, there were only a few hundred settlers. There were still a few Indians in the area, enough in fact that the first settlers to worship here felt it necessary to bring their weapons to divine services. The settlers in this area were mainly independent Scotch and Irish Presbyterians, who built a log meeting house, two in fact which pre-date our present stone structure.

It was not easy to travel to Tuscarora in the early 1700s for Sunday service. One surviving record states, "We left Gerrardstown [ ten mile trek] early on Sunday morning, walked to within site of Tuscarora Church, then stopped to put on our stockings and shoes before continuing on."

Tuscarora officially came into existence in 1740 as a member of the Donegal Presbytery, and Mr. Williams preached to the people of Tuscarora for twenty-three years before his death in 1760. Before there was a permanent minister, three supply ministers served this congregation: Robert Cooper, John Craighead and John Hoge. But in August 23, 1770, Hugh Vance was ordained and installed as the first "called" pastor of the united congregation of Tuscarora and Back Creek (now known as Tomahawk) for the sum of 112 pounds, five shillings, Pennsylvania currency. The elders who served during Rev. Vance's pastorate were William Campbell, Joseph McKay, Robert Mercer, John Campbell, Matthew Rippey, Samuel Park, James Riddle and John Hart. Hugh Vance was born and educated in Donegal, Northern Ireland.

In 1776 something happened that would change the course of history for a long time to come. It was a petition signed by ninety-eight men from Tuscarora and fifty from Back Creek. It was presented to the Speaker and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Virginia. In essence the petition said that the Presbyterians objected to tax money being used to support the church. They were opposed to a state church. None other than Thomas Jefferson used that petition and others like it to formulate the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, which was later used as a basis for the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution that guarantees us, as American citizens, freedom of religion.

Up until 1804 Tuscarora Church was affiliated with the Presbyteries of Donegal and Carlisle in Pennsylvania. In October of 1804, Tuscarora was enrolled in the Winchester Presbytery and remained affiliated with that Presbytery until 197 4 when Winchester and Lexington Presbyteries merged to form Shenandoah Presbytery.

At the beginning of the 1800s, new names began to appear in the
congregation, names like Snodgrass, Miller, Walker, and Cushwa. These were new people moving into Berkeley County, searching for a place to worship. In the early 1800s other Presbyterian congregations had been formed by the core group at Tuscarora such as Middletown (now Gerrardstown), Back Creek (now Tomahawk), and Falling Waters. The membership of Tuscarora, which numbered in excess of 150 in 1776, was down to just thirty-one in 1809. But there still existed the zeal and willingness to follow the precepts of the Great Commission, and by 1819 membership had risen to seventy-eight.

In 1825 Presbyterians established the First Presbyterian Church in Martinsburg, and Tuscarora was left with a membership of just twenty­five. But once again the congregation of Tuscarora rose to seventy-seven after a great revival in 1836.

In 1861 with the War Between the States, more than a few sons of Tuscarora Church rode away to what they thought would be a great adventure, never to return home. After the war, some of these men did return to Tuscarora and later became elders in the church. Sadly, one father had to retrieve his son's body from a battlefield in Virginia, and he buried the young solider in the Tuscarora cemetery, not twenty feet from the front door of the church.

The stone structure itself was spared the ravages of war, but families were not. This area was decimated so much that in 1866, one year after the war, Tuscarora reported to the Winchester Presbytery membership of only twenty,five. Once again the congregation had steadfast faith in the Lord, and by 1899 the membership of Tuscarora was up to forty,nine.

In 1890 another change occurred at Tuscarora. The first deacons were elected to bring procedure in line with the Presbyterian form of government. Some more new names begin to appear in the records such as Smith, Catrow, and in the 1920s Noll. Also in the late 1800s Sunday School began on a regular basis with James H. Smith elected as the first superintendent.

Another change took place in 1901 with the first appearance of organized women's work. In the session minutes of April 8, 1901, this group makes its appearance as the Ladies' Missionary Society, the forerunner of today's Presbyterian Women.

In 1940 Tuscarora celebrated its 200th anniversary. At that time the official membership was forty,five. But in 1957 after the retirement of the Rev. John L. Rogers, who had begun his ministry here thirty,eight years before, Presbytery officials doubted the necessity of Tuscarora continuing as a congregation. But Tuscarora was steadfast. Although Tuscarora was yoked with a small country church, it decided to build a manse, even though the church was without a minister. This is the mark of a congregation willing to take a walk in faith.

In the early 1960s women were elected to both the Session and the Board of Deacons, some of the first in the Winchester Presbytery to serve as such. Also, by the end of the decade, membership had passed the 100 mark for the first time since the 1700s. In 1969 during the pastorate of the Rev. David Coffey, a new educational building was constructed to house a growing church school and provide much needed office space. A balcony was also added to the sanctuary, as well as an enlarged narthex and air, conditioning.

In 1990 Tuscarora celebrated its 250th anniversary. Today we have a congregation which numbers about 150. This church has survived because it has been willing to change, willing to welcome new members, willing to share leadership roles with new members, and willing to take a chance on the future at the same time keeping our roots deep in the rich history of the past: a history full of danger, war, uncertainty, but with hope in a bright future and faith in our savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I hope you enjoyed this bit of Scots-Irish history in America. I find it pretty inspirational that this church is still standing today through 3 wars, and innumerable Blackfoot Indian attacks on its congregation in the 1700 and 1800s. There are people from families that have gone to this church for generations, and they can tell you stories of how their grandmothers and grandfathers survived Indian skalpings and raids.

And still, the stubborn Shenandoah Valley Scots Irish would go to church on Sunday.

The Ulster Report on Matthew Rippey
Matthew Rippy (1735-1818) is thought to have immigrated to America from
Northern Ireland sometime before 1775. He settled in North Carolina and was
a veteran of the American Revolution. he was a small landowner and farmer
and held four slaves. The slaves were set free at his death in 1818 and
took the last name Rippy. Matthew and his children began spelling their
name Rippey sometime after 1775.

All that is known about Edward Rippy is that both he and Matthew were found
on the tax rolls of Orange County, North Carolina in 1779. What the
relationship was between the two is unknown.

Joseph Ripp(e)y (b. 1775; d. before 1860), the son of Matthew Rippy,
married Hesther hastings (d. before 1860) on September 22, 1798. By 1816,
he lived at Haw River, Orange County, North Carolina and had acquired 100
acres of land and owned assets worth $400 by 1816. The 1820 census lists
him as having five sons and three daughters and five horses but no slaves.

John Wesley Rippey (1810-1870), the son of Joseph Ripp(e)y was born in
Orange County, North Carolinia in 1810 and died in Carroll County, Virginia
on August 25, 1870 of kidney disease. He was at various times a cooper a
laborer and a farmer. On July 7, 1834, he married Catharine McAddams (b.
1818 d. ca. 1850-1854). They had seven children. Sometime before 1855, he
married Mary A Colbert (b. 1819 died after 18800 by whom he had six
children. The value of his property was $200 in 1860 and $125 in 1870.
John's oldest son by his second marriage was a great grandfather of the
author and John' s oldest daughter by his first marriage was a great
grandmother of the author. Sometime between 1863 and 1870, the family moved
from North Carolina to Carroll, County, Virginia.

Daniel Baxter Rippey (b. 1855; died after 1910), the son of John Wesley
Rippey, was born in Alamance County (formed from Orange County in 1849).,
North Carolina in 1855 and died in Virginia after 1910. In 1874, he married
Nancy Cattherine Spencer (b. 1848 died after 1910) daughter of Ewell
Spencer 9d. 1864) and Sophia Stockner. They had eight children. The census
of 1870 shows that age 15 he could not read. However, the 1900 census
indicates that he could now read and write and was a farmer and owned his
own home which was free of mortgage. The 1910 census shows Daniel and Nancy
living in the household of their oldest son, James Benjamin Franklin
Rippey.

James Benjamin Franklin Rippey (1878-1955), oldest son of and second child
of Daniel Baxter Rippey was born in Lambsburg, Carroll Co, Virginia on
April 10, 1878 and died in Staunton, Virginia on January 6, 1955. In 1905
he married Nancy Ellen Surratt (b. June 29, 1882 in Lambsburg, Carroll Co,
Virginia) and died July 28, 1928 in Kents Store, Fluvanna County, VA(
duaghter of William I Surratt and Annie Eliza Rippey (Adams) (b. 1840).
Annie Eliza Rippey was the daughter of Joseph Wesley Rippey and Catharine
McAddams (see above). James Benjamin Franklin Rippey's occupation was
farming. However, he served for some time as constable (bailiff) for the
courts in Carroll County. They had seven children of whom six lived to
adulthood.

Walter Carl Rippey (1905-1944) was born in Lambsburg, VA on June 20, 1905 .
He had six children.
Sidney Arnold Rippey (1911-1992) was born in Lambsburg, VA on January 16,
1911. He had four children.
Martha Rippey (1914-1990) was born in Lambsburg, VA on March 12, 1913. She
had one daughter.
William Wilson Rippey (1918-1992) was born in Lambsburg, VA on June 14,
1918 He had one son.
Greeley Ford Rippey (1921- ) was born in Kents Store, VA on August 29,
1921. He has four children.
Annie Catherine Rippey (Evans) (1924- ) was born in Kents Store, VA on
Dec 16, 1924.

Compiled by William Rippey

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