(5) Sumner & Way Family Emigration and Mirgration

Reverend James L. Stacy, in his history of Midway Church published in 1899, maintains that Henry Way and his wife, Elizabeth, emigrated from England to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1631 with Roger Williams, founder of the Baptist denomination in America.

Reverend Stacy also said that Williams and Mary West Sumner emigrated from England to Dorchester, Massachu­setts, in 1639. They had five children. Three of them were Joanne Sumner born in England, and Increase and Samuel Sumner born in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Reverend Stacy says Aaron Way married Joanne Sumner in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Their children were Aaron Way Jr., William Way, and Samuel Way. Increase Sumner married Sarah Staples, and they had seven surviving children. Samuel Sumner married Rebecca Staples, sister of his bro­ther’s wife, and they had seven surviving children.

Aaron Way, Increase Sumner, and Samuel Sumner, and their families, migrated to Dorchester, South Carolina, about 1700. Aaron Way died soon after their arrival.

Samuel, Parmenas, Edward, Nathaniel, Moses and Andrew Way were the first of that family name to settle in the Mid­way District of Georgia. They all were probably descended from Aaron and Joanne Sumner Way. But such a premise is not supported by genealogical documents.

Edward Sumner and his wife and family migrated from Dorchester, South Carolina, to the Midway District of Geor­gia in 1754. He may have been the grandson of either Increase or Samuel Sumner. But, again, such a genealogical connec­tion is not supported by documents.

Edward Sumner had a daughter, Sarah, who married William Bacon. They had a daughter, Eliza Sumner Bacon, who married Graham Martin, son of John and Jane Martin, first of the “Flemington Martins.”