Stillwell Trueax and Rachel Rebecca Mann

On March 9, 1771, Bedford County was formed from a portion of Cumberland County, in south central Pennsylvania. Settlers in the 1750's would find that this region was still raw frontier. Skirmishes between the French and British, and raids by Indians, who were allied with the French, led to many men abandoning initial settlements.

Life settled somewhat when the British eradicated the French, in 1759. Roads were established leading east and west, one of which later became the modern turnpike that crosses the state. Pioneers began to flow in, and through, the Bedford region. It was this area that served as the home for a number of our ancestors, many of whom will be the subjects of my next series of articles.

Today, we'll begin by working backwards from the parents of Rachel Truex: Stilwell Trueax and Rachel Rebecca Mann. If you've been reading the Carson Archives website, then you might recall that Rachel was married to John K Carson, and that she and John were the grandparents of Chester Carson. John and Rachel were the parents of W.L. Carson, who became Chester's father.

Stilwell Trueax (whose first name is sometimes found as Stillwell, and whose last name is often found as Truex) was born September 12, 1802, in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. He was the fifth child of Benjamin and Perthinia Truax, in a family of at least eleven children.

Rachel was born to Bernard and Rebecca Mann on January 10, 1809, near Warfordsburg, in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.

Oddly, a number of online family trees claim that Stilwell and Rachel were married in Coles, Indiana, in 1826.

Next time I will document the only census record I have found that reveals information about Stilwell's family.