Col. William Derrickson Waples

As a young man, William D. Waples came to Sussex County and married his first cousin, Comfort B. Waples, daughter of his uncle, Nathaniel Waples. Wm. D. had two daughters by Comfort. The first was the Ann Custis Waples in whom you are interested, who married Derrick Barnard and had a son, William D. Waples Barnard, who went to St. Louis. The second daughter of William D. and Comfort was Cassandra Wise Waples, who married Gardiner Harrison Wright, son of Samuel G. Wright of an old Monmouth County, New Jersey, family. (I was wrong about her being Rachel's daughter) Cassandra and Gardiner Wright had two children, Custis Wise Wright [I think I told you there was a Custis Waples, but I was thinking of Custis Wise Wright], who married Emma Paynter and left no issue, and Sallie Custis Wright, who married John Henry Hobart Paynter, and had one child, Dr. Rowland Gardiner Paynter (1874-1944), who married Leah Burton. I'm not sure but I think it possible that Emma and John Paynter were brother and sister, which would make the interesting situation of brother and sister marrying brother and sister. John H. H. Paynter was attorney general of Delaware and a state supreme court justice before his death in 1890.

After the death of his first wife, Comfort, William D. Waples married a second time to Sophia Dickinson and had three more children. The first of the second batch was Maria Louisa Waples, who married George Greyer and had a daughter, Virginia, who in turn married Joseph S. Benedict and had 6 kids. The next child was Sophia Waples, who married Benjamin Burton and had no kids. The last child was Henry Clay Waples, who married Mary Tennant and had 3 kids.

After the death of his second wife, Sophia, Waples married a third time. The third wife was Rachel Hill Wells, daughter of William Hill Wells, by whom he had no children. I haven't found a birth date for Rachel Wells, but I believe I am correct in saying that she was considerably younger than William Waples. It may possibly have been Rachel who was the woman between 30 and 40 living in Waples's house in the 1840 census. I believe she lived into the late 1870s or early 1880s. One thing I remember finding curious about Waples's will when I looked at it years ago was that the house and farm he occupied in Dagsboro at the time of his death was Rachel's family homeplace, the former Dagworthy mansion. Yet the will seems to be saying that he wanted to leave the property to one of his own kids. In any case, I believe that Rachel continued to live there until her death decades later.

One of William D. Waples's siblings, Thomas Custis Waples, also came to Delaware and also married a Waples cousin named Comfort. This one was the daughter of Burton Waples, a cousin of Samuel's. Many of Samuel Waples's other children stayed in Accomack County and became the ancestors of the various Wapleses there.

William D. Waples served two terms in the state house of representatives, having been elected in 1834 and 1836, and served as speaker of the house in 1835. His son-in-law, Gardiner Wright, was elected in 1840, and his son-in-law, Benjamin Burton, was elected in 1842. (see Conrad's, Vol. I, p. 283 and 285)

William married Comfort Lewis WAPLES. (Comfort Lewis WAPLES was born on 17 May 1780 in Sussex Co., DE, died on 28 Oct 1803 in Sussex Co., DE and was buried about 31 Oct 1803 in Waples Cemetery, near Millsboro, Sussex Co., DE.)

William next married Sophia DICKERSON, daughter of Elisha Dickerson and Elizabeth Holland Harris. (Sophia DICKERSON was born on 22 Dec 1785 in Sussex Co., DE and died on 02 Jan 1823 in Sussex Co., DE.)

William next married Rachel Hill WELLS. (Rachel Hill WELLS was born on 01 Sep 1791 in Sussex Co., DE and died on 15 Mar 1874 in Sussex Co., DE.)