Rector Family Heritage

It is with great appreciation to my first cousin Mary Ruth (Ault) Wright, (who has an intense interest in genealogy and dedication to accuracy), for completing this book. Without her this book would never have been written.

Our parents, John and Edna Rector, were truly great parents! But for children, it takes years to fully appreciate the sacrifices parents make. They had the courage to move to Oklahoma with five young children in 1912. (Oklahoma had just become a state in 1907). Then in 1924 the family with six children returned to Illinois in a model T Ford truck so the children would be nearer to schools.

As a teenager visiting Auntie Mayme Rector in Smithfield, I became interested in our family heritage. She could only say that the Rectors came from Ohio. To kindle my interest, she gave me notes about her forefathers.

After WWII, my interest in our family history was revived. While looking at a map of Virginia, I saw "Rectortown". I wrote a letter to "The Eldest Rector" in Rectortown, Virginia. There were no "Rectors" in Rectortown. However, the postmistress forwarded the letter to a Mr. Phillips, whose wife was a Rector, and living nearby in Middleburg. With this connection, I learned of Germanna, Germantown, and Rectortown.

In Dr. Salmans' "History of the Descendants of John Jacob Rector" published in 1936, he states that "They were hard-working, God fearing, six footers, each with a family, and brought with them their highly educated pastor and his family." He was of the German Reformed Church.

For those of us who are short in stature, this phenomenon could be attributed to Margaret Ann Cochran, wife of Elijah Rector (1763-1828) - parents of Fulton County pioneer John Rector (1801-1869). Margaret Ann was short in stature and had red hair.

We are grateful to those who contributed articles for this book and a special "thank you" to Michael Lee Rector, Robert Evans Rector, and Jon Wayne Rector who arranged for the publication and d