Over the 25 or so years that I've been active in genealogy I have received
information and advice from many people. One of the joys in genealogy is
finding others who are interested, informed, and amenable to collaborative
efforts. There are a few people that I especially want to acknowledge because
they have contributed so much to many of the papers on this site. Some of these
people are long-time collaborators, others have provided crucial information
and insights:
Virginia Regan
(Bynum and others)
JoAnn Van Boven
(Witt, Hayes, Hester, and others)
Vineta Witt
Ketner (Witt, Hayes, and others)
Jack Baird (my
late father, who began several of these efforts)
Robert Fowler
(Baird family letters and documents)
John Scott
Davenport (Hendrick and Davenport)
Witt
|
This is the only line from which I descend on both my father's and
mother's side. The Witts begin with John Witt, who immigrated to Charles
City County.
Virginia about 1672.
Several generations later, Joseph Witt migrated to eastern Tennessee.
William M. Witt, his grandson, moved to Titus County, Texas about 1849.
Andrew Weldon Witt was my mother's grandfather. His uncle, James
Houston Witt, was my father's great-grandfather.
See also families related by marriage: COOK, BYNUM, DAVENPORT,
HAYES, and CATE.
|
(c1645 – bef 1715)
Our John Witt was claimed
as a headright in three different land patents in 1682, 1685, and 1699, all for
land in Henrico and Charles City counties. It
appears that all these were the same person.
He seems to have arrived about 1672 and probably settled in the western
part of Charles City County on the north side of the James River near the border with Henrico County, possibly on the northern edges of Shirley
Hundred. He does not appear to have been
an indentured servant, rather a member of the lower or middle class of
freemen. [See separate page for supporting
details.]
Unfortunately, practically
all colonial records of Charles City County were destroyed, with only a few court orders and a
handful of deeds and wills remaining.
Likewise, records of Henrico County do not exist at all prior to 1677 and exist mainly in
fragments thereafter. We are forced to
make do with the few county records that remain, and the colony’s records, but
we find John Witt mentioned often enough to tell us something about him.
Certainly it was this same
John Witt who married Ann Daux, the daughter of Walter and Mary Daux, by
October 1673. The proof requires some
explanation. A woman named Mary, the
wife of Robert Plaine, had at least one child, John Plaine, before being
widowed. She then married Walter Daux and had two daughters named Ann and Susanna Daux
before being widowed a second time. She
then married John Flower(s) Jr., the son of a wealthy ship’s captain, who had
evidently inherited the part of his father’s estate that lay in Charles City County. Flowers was
aged about 30 at this time. This final
marriage took place shortly before 24 May 1658 when John Flowers made deeds of
gift to the children of his wife “Mary the relict of Walter Daux” spelling out
the above relationships quite clearly. One child was
John Plaine “the son of the sd Mary by her former husband Robert Plaine decd.”
The other children were Ann and Susan Daux.
Several days later, on 3 June 1658, John Flower was granted administration of the estate of Walter Daux
“having married the relict of sd. Daux.”
Fleet’s abstract of the deed of gift indicates that Robert Plaine had
owned land at his death which fell to the son John Plaine, and indeed John
Flower claimed that land in 1668, the son John Plaine having died by then. Walter Daux
had evidently owned land as well, or lived on the Plaine property, as there are
three records for John Flower regarding a shipment of two hogsheads of tobacco
by Walter Daux to his father Richard Daux of London. There is also
a reference to the land of Walter Daux as late as 1664 when Edward Hill sold land adjacent
Walter Daux. In 1658 the Charles City court ordered an accounting of all orphans estates
within the county, but Flower evidently failed to deliver, as in early 1659 the
court ordered the sheriff to seize the estate of Flower or Daux until an
accounting was rendered. He apparently
did not do so, because on 3 June 1659 the court appointed two officials to appraise the estate of Walter
Daux “and divide the same to the relict and his two children”. A few months
later, John Flower was allowed 1000 pounds of tobacco out of the estate “in
consideration of his wife’s bedding”. The following
year, in late 1660, Flower made a bond for the estate of Walter Daux for
“carefull keeping and educating the orphanes of the sd Daux during their
minority.”
There is at this point a
gap in the Charles City County court records until a fragmentary book for 1672-3
followed by an order book for 1677-79.
It appears that John Flower died in the interim, as there is no further
record of him. The two Daux children
evidently married about 1673. Richard
Rawlins, who married Susannah Daux, and John Witt, who
married Ann Daux, petitioned the court on 3 October 1673. The substance
of the petition is not recorded, and the court records stop at that point, but
from later records it is clear they were attempting to recover the estate of
Walter Daux due to their wives. (The
wives may have still been minors at the time, not eligible to receive the
estate until their marriages.) The
petition must not have been satisfied, for a year later, on 1 October 1674, John Witt and “Susannah” Rawlins were suing the
commissioners of Charles City County in the colonial court. (Richard Rawlins had apparently died in the
intervening year.) The case was deferred
and, on 3 March 1674/5, the case of “Jno. Witt and Richard Rawlins
who marryed the two orpts. of Walter Daux, dec’d” was deferred again. The case is
not mentioned again, and was apparently not resolved. Three years later, on 14 February 1677/8 when
the court records resume, John Witt and John Turberfield (who had married Susannah Rawlins) are found suing a
justice of Charles City County for the value of the estate of Walter Daux. The suit claimed that “the estate was
appraised and divided between the two Daux sisters. The court did not demand security of Flowers
and he has wasted the estate. The plts.
having married the sd. orphans now demand recompense by the court…The plts. ask
the court to have the deft. pay Daux’s daughters according to the inventory as
recorded.” The husbands
were evidently suing the justices who were sitting in 1658, whom they claimed
should be liable for the estate’s value.
The court ordered the payment, but one of the justices at the time
appealed the judgment. William
Randolph (remember him?) was security for the plaintiffs. Unfortunately, there is no further mention of
the case.
I might point out here that
the orphans themselves apparently did not initiate any suits. That suggests they may not have been of age –
most Virginia women in the 1670s had married by the age of 17, and
their mean age at marriage was 18.
Further, the timing suggests they had recently married. The first
record of the suit is in September 1673 by Richard Rawlins alone, joined by
John Witt a month later. Both John
Flowers and his wife Mary apparently died before 1672. Neither is mentioned after the court records
resume in 1672, and presumably Flowers was not available to be sued in 1673.
In addition to its
intrinsic genealogical value, all this tells us something about John Witt. First of all, the Plaine and Daux families,
as well as John Flower, appear to have been solidly middle class. [See Daux
note below.] Given the strict
stratification of 17th century Virginia society, that tells us that John Witt probably was as
well. It also helps to confirm that this
John Witt was the same person as the John Witt claimed as a headright several
years later. A few references to John
Turberville and Richard Rawlins in the court records suggest they lived in or
near Shirley Hundred in western Charles City County, a mile or two from Henrico County. John Flower’s
claim of Robert Plaine’s land tells us he lived in the northern part of Shirley
Hundred, on the river itself. Flower, in
fact, served as constable for Shirley Hundred district in 1659. This is the same small area where all the
patentees who claimed John Witt lived.
Finally, this tells us that John Witt was probably not imported as an
indentured servant. For several reasons
[see endnote] it appears he did not come to Virginia until about 1671 or 1672, and we know he was married
by late 1673, a privilege rarely permitted of servants and certainly not to
free women.
We can also make a
reasonable guess as to his age. We know,
for example, that John Flower was about 30 years old in 1658 when he married
the widow Mary Daux, suggesting that Mary herself was either younger or, at
worst, no more than a few years
older. The Daux sisters, if they were
typical of the time, would have married about the age of 17 or 18, suggesting
they were born in the mid 1650s and were quite young at their father’s
death. Men typically married in their
late 20s at this time, and tended to be about ten years older than their wives.
John Witt (with his
brother-in-law John Turberfield) appears as a juror in Charles City County on 15 September 1677, a privilege reserved for freeholders. This
indicates he owned at least 50 acres in the county. How he acquired the land is unknown. There are no records of a patent and the deed
records no longer exist. Ten years
later, in a February 1687 court order, Major John Stith was directed to lay out
a road “from Chickahominy bridge down and up these parts of the county…” from
the bridge “into ye road to or near Harman Bosman’s habitation as also from ye
bridge into ye main road near John Whitt’s...” The “main
road” was undoubtedly the road that followed roughly the same path as US
Highway 5, from Jamestown up the north side of the James River toward
Richmond. Where along this path John
Whitt lived is unclear, but it appears to have been at the western end of the
county, near the border with Henrico.
The last record of John
Witt is a notation of his suit against Ralph Hudspeth in 1695 in Henrico County, presumably the county of residence of the defendant.
Unfortunately, there are no further citations for John Witt or his wife owing
to the nearly complete absence of further records in Charles City County. There are
some existing court records for Henrico County, but no known Witt citations other than the suit
above.
We don’t know when or where
John Witt and his wife died, nor do we have any records to prove their
children. It is assumed that he was dead
by 1715 when two apparent sons moved several miles away, but he could have died
any time after 1695. It may be
significant that no Witts appear on the surviving 1704 Quit Rents. The following four sons are postulated,
mainly by their proximity to John Witt’s last known location. None of these second-generation Witts appear
as importees on patents, and all appear first in the vicinity of John Witt’s
last known location. There must have been daughters as well, but
we have no clues to their identity.
1.
William Witt (c1675-80
– 1754) He was likely a son of John Witt
since he lived in Charles City County prior to 1715 when he and his brother John Witt
jointly purchased land in Henrico County (later Goochland) as residents of Charles City County (see below).
By 1738 he had moved about 40 miles west into what later became Albemarle
County where he remained
until his death His will in Albemarle
is dated 25 April 1754 and proved less than two months later on 13 June. The will names four children and implies at
least two more. A fifth child, Mildred (Chastain), has been
proposed but is unproven. The Huguenot
Society claimed years ago that there were five additional sons, using as
evidence the appearance of these names among records of the other children. It appears certain that these persons were
actually grandsons of William Witt. The
Huguenot Society also at one time speculated that his wife was Elizabeth Daux,
a very unlikely proposition given that Walter Daux had no male children and no
other Dauxes are evident in the area.
The Huguenot Society also reported, with no supporting evidence, that
her name was “Mildred Daux (daughter of Walter Daux b1630, d1674 Charles City County).” This is,
of course, equally suspect. His wife’s
name is mentioned in no records. William
Witt’s birth year is estimated from the apparent ages of his children, who seem
to have been born beginning about 1710.
His sons are mentioned here to help differentiate them from the children
of his brother John Witt II.
2.
John Witt
(c1710? – 1782) He was in Albemarle County by 1741, probably earlier, and seems to have remained there for
several years. His will, dated 1781 and
proved in 1782 in Amherst County, named sons Abner, John, Littleberry, George,
Elisha, and William, and daughter Lucy. His widow and mother of “my seven first sons”
according to the will, was named Lucy. A
David Witt witnessed the will, presumably one of the two unnamed sons.
3.
Benjamin Witt (c1710?
– c1775) He married Marianne (probably
Chastain). The first record of him is
the notation of the birth of their daughter Marianne on 19 March 1732/3 in the King William parish register. By 1740 he had moved about 20 miles south of
his father into the part of Goochland that would shortly become Buckingham County and patented land there in 1744. In 1756, as a resident of Buckingham, he purchased land in Prince Edward County with (apparently) his children Lewis and Charles as
witnesses. He and his sons Lewis and Charles were all on
the 1755 tithables list of Prince Edward, though Charles appealed (probably
because he was still a resident of Buckingham).
His sons Lewis and Charles both appeared as witness to deeds in the next
few years, but Benjamin himself seems to have gone back to Buckingham County where he appears in its records.
He was alive in mid-1774 when he and Benjamin Jr. appear as tithables,
but was dead by late 1775 when his widow and son sold the remainder of the land
in Prince Edward County which Benjamin had purchased in 1756.
4.
John Witt II (c1680? – by 1751) See below.
5.
Edward Witt ?
(c1700? – c1755?) He may have been
another son of John Witt. The Bristol
Parish register contains a record of the birth of two children in 1730 (Anne)
and 1734 (John) to Edward Whit, giving his wife’s name as Elizabeth in 1730 and Mary in 1734. Although it’s not clear exactly where he was
living, Bristol Parish covered the parts of Henrico and Charles City County that lay south of the James River. On 12 March 1739 Edward “Whitt” patented 189 acres in what had by
then become Prince
George County. The land, which is now in Dinwiddie County, was only about twenty miles from the area where the immigrant John
Witt lived. Possibly the same Edward
Witt surveyed land in Lunenburg County in 1746 and appeared in a 1747 court record
there. Edward Witt appears on the
Lunenburg tithables lists from 1748 through 1752, appearing with his son John
in 1751 and 1752. The son John later
settled only a few miles south of Charles Witt in Halifax County. Another son, William (b
c1742), may also be the one mentioned in early Pittsylvania records.
6.
Richard Witt
(c1690 – 1764?) He seems to have been
another son of John Witt. His first
appearance is as a witness to a deed in Henrico County on 11 April 1730 for land about ten miles east of John and William
Witt. Elizabeth Witt, apparently his wife, was
named as a daughter in the 1734 will of Edmund Liptrot of Henrico County. (Edmund Liptrot and his wife Rachel,
interestingly, had witnessed the will of Philemon Childers several years
earlier, and lived in the same small area as John Witt the immigrant.) From Liptrot’s apparent age, we assume his
daughter was probably in her 30s at the time of the will, thus the wife of a
second-generation Witt. It is possible
she was the same Elizabeth married to Edward Witt in 1734, but most Witt
researchers think she was married to Richard Witt, mainly because Richard Witt
named a son “Edmund”. Richard Witt
eventually settled near the border of present-day Amelia and Prince Edward
counties. He appears in the tax list of Amelia County 1745-1749 and in a 1747 road order in Prince Edward County. I haven’t determined for
myself which of the next-generation Witts are his children, but the Richard Witt
who later appears in Lunenburg County is probably either this
Richard or his son.
Note: It is possible
(but unlikely) that the Charles Witt who purchased land in 1739 (see below) was
a son of John and Ann Witt. I have
assigned him as a son of John Witt III, but I note the possibility he is
misplaced.
(c1675? – by1751)
On 14 September 1715, John and William Witt, both of Charles City County, jointly purchased 300 acres in Henrico County from Charles and Mary Hudson. The land was
“lying and being in the county of Honaricho at a place called Tuckahoe” north of the James River about 25 miles up the James from where the immigrant John Witt had
lived. In 1728 Tuckahoe Creek became the
border between Henrico and Goochland counties, and this land fell a few miles
west of the county line. More than
thirty-five years later, when William Witt and John Witt, Jr. sold this land,
it was then in Goochland County, and that same
deed identified the original purchasers, John and William Witt, as brothers.
The land John and William
Witt purchased in 1715 was part of a patent just a year earlier by Charles
Hudson and John Bradley, who called it “Young Mens Adventure” and described
it as being on the north side of the James River on a
southern branch of Tuckahoe Creek “known by the name of Bever Pond
Branch”. This was later called the
western branch of the Tuckahoe, and was located just north of the “three
notched road” and just south of the Hanover County line. Hudson
and Bradley split the land and Hudson sold the eastern half of it to the Witt
brothers. The Tuckahoe area was still
frontier at the time. A law at that time
required that there be for every 500 acres "one Christian man, perfect of
limb, provided with a well-fixed musquett or fuzee, a good pistoll, sharp
simeter and tomahawk”.
The fact that both brothers
were “of Charles City County” in 1715 leads us to the assumption that they were
sons of the immigrant John Witt.
Although we don’t know who William Witt married (see above), John Witt
II seems to have married Ann Rogers, but perhaps as a second wife. The will of John Rogers of Westover Parish,
Charles City County, recorded on 5 August 1730, left livestock and other items
to his daughter Ann Whitt, wife of John Whitt. Of the four
daughters named in Rogers’ will, two were unmarried. That suggests all four daughters were
relatively young. While the unmarried
daughters could have been aged spinsters, it’s much more likely they were unmarried
simply because they were still young women.
In 1730, it was still very rare for mature women to remain unmarried -
women were still in short supply and essentially all were married by their
early 20s. That all suggests that Anne
Rogers was a relatively young woman, and therefore probably a second wife. It also
suggests that John Witt II, probably born around 1675, could have still been
fathering children by a young wife as late as 1725-30, and could perhaps the be
father of our Charles Witt.
Unfortunately, Henrico County records are only partially preserved in this period
and there are no records of Witts that help us. Both John and William Witt are mentioned in
court records in 1720 but we know of no citations thereafter. In 1728 Goochland County was created from western Henrico, and part of
Tuckahoe Creek became a portion of the border between the two. While Goochland’s records are reasonably well
preserved, by this time there were three John Witts living in the county. Both of the brothers, John and William Witt,
had sons named John. That presents us
with some difficulty telling them apart.
It helps that William Witt and his sons moved about 40 miles west,
purchasing land in St. Ann’s Parish on the Rivanna River and Ballenger’s Creek
in 1738, in what became Albemarle County in 1738 and Fluvanna
County in 1777. William Witt described
it as the land on which he lived in 1741 when he deeded this land to his son
John Witt. John kept it
until 1772, in addition to acquiring other land nearby. It appears from these and other records that
both William Witt and his son John remained in this area, being mentioned in
several records that place them on the Rivanna River at Ballenger’s Creek.
That means that after 1738, we can probably eliminate William’s son from
the mix.
Meanwhile, a John Witt
“Jr.”, undoubtedly the son of John Witt II, patented 400 acres in 1731 on the
south side of the James a few miles south of the Tuckahoe Creek land, in the
part of Goochland County that became Powhatan County in 1777. Although he
and his wife Elizabeth sold this land in two parts on 28 April 1734, it continued to be referred to as his land in
several patents of 1738 and in a will of 1740 and subsequent estate
records. This is likely due to the use
of surveys that significantly predated the deeds and patents.
Still, it is not clear
whether some of the citations for John Witt refer to the father or to the
son. Both of them apparently appear
together in the King William tithables for 1732-4, living on the land of John Witt III south of the James. A 1741 road
order appointed a John Witt surveyor of a road from Jones Bridge to Fine Creek, which probably refers to John Witt III
given the road’s location south of the James.
In 1742, a John Witt (probably the father) was “levy free”.
The last record of John
Witt II is his sale of land on 25 July 1747. He sold 150
acres to Henry Whitlow which, from its description, seems to be adjacent to the
land purchased in 1715. I presume the
seller is John Witt II mainly from the location of this land.
There are no records of
John Witt’s death in Goochland County, but he was deceased by 1751. In 1751 William Witt and John Witt sold half
of the land purchased in 1715. The deed
described this John Witt as the son of John Witt deceased, and nephew of
William Witt. John Witt’s wife Elizabeth
also signed the deed. Witnesses were
John Witt and Jesse Witt (sons of John Witt III), and three people who may have been heirs of John
Witt II: Sylvanus Witt, John Farrar, and
David Barnett. William Witt sold the
remaining half of the land the following year.
John Witt’s children,
except for his sons John and Sylvanus, are surmised.
John Witt III (c1700? – aft1778) He was apparently the eldest. See below.
Sylvanus
Witt (by1718 – aft1765) He can be proven to be a son. He first appears on 26 March 1739/40
recording a grant of 400 acres in the part of Goochland County that became
Cumberland County in 1749, located about 10 miles south of William Witt’s
residence at the time. He apparently
lived there in 1751, yet traveled many miles to witness the 1751 deed selling John
Witt’s land. He was still in Cumberland County in May 1754, when he made
a bill of sale
Within a few months, on 5 September 1754, as a resident of Cumberland County, he bought land in Chesterfield County on the border of
Powhatan.
He subsequently appears in several Chesterfield County records, including his
1765 witness to the will of Benjamin Cheatham.
On 23 April 1771, as Sylvanus Witt of
Chesterfield County, he arranged to buy land in the part of Pittsylvania County which became Henry County.
On 5 September 1771, Sylvanus Witt made a
deed of gift of all his property after his decease to “my nephew Jesse Witt” of
Cumberland County.
Both Jesse and Sylvanus appeared together in the 1773 and 1774 tax lists
of Pittsylvania County. Sylvanus apparently died soon thereafter, as
in 1783 Jesse Witt exercised the deed of gift to recover the bond against the
seller of the 1771 land who failed to deliver title.
Sylvanus evidently had no children.
Sarah
Witt ? (c1700? - aft1777) A daughter may have been the wife of Thomas
Harbour, based on later connections between the descendants of John Witt III
and Thomas Harbour. Though widely
accepted, this theory is not supported by any persuasive evidence. There are no direct connections between Thomas Harbour and any Witts in Goochland County, and the later
connections between Thomas Harbour and Witts who married his
children can be explained without assuming he himself was married to a
Witt. Further, there is no evidence that
Thomas Harbour lived within 20 miles of
any Witts until well after his marriage. [See Harbour notes.]
(Daughter)
Witt? It is possible that David Barnett witnessed
the 1751 deed as a legatee of John Witt II.
It’s intriguing that David Witt and a William Barnett jointly patented
land in Halifax County five years later in 1756.
(Daughter)
Witt? It is possible that John Farrar witnessed the 1751
deed as a legatee of John Witt II. He
lived considerably west in Albemarle County at the time, though he
owned land adjacent to the 1747 sale by John Witt. His wife’s name is unknown.
Note: It is possible that the Charles Witt
discussed below was a son, rather than a grandson, of John Witt. (See endnote.)
(c1700? – 1779)
As explained on the John
Witt II page, it’s not certain which references in Goochland County apply to this John Witt. He was clearly the “John Wit Jr.” who
patented 400 acres south of the James
River on 17 September 1731. The land is
described as lying between the two Manakin Creeks and crossing Ditnoy’s
Creek. From it and patents to neighbors,
we can plot the land fairly precisely, placing it several miles southeast of
the 1715 land and quite near the Huguenot settlement in Manakin. One of the few surviving tax lists of Goochland County shows him with three tithes in this area of the
county in 1732 or 1733. He also
appears as a tithable in 1732, 1733, and 1734 in the vestry records of King
William Parish, a parish of no fixed boundaries which had been intended to
serve the area of French settlement. In 1732 he is
listed as “John Watt, Junior Watt, 2”. In 1733 he
appears as “John Wett, Wott, 2” (translated from the French original.) In 1734 he appears simply as “John Witt,
3”. If we can trust the 1732
translation, it appears this is a household of
two John Witts, father and son, which means they must be John II and
John III. The third tithable is either a
son just turning 16 (Charles being the only known candidate) or a slave.
On 28 April 1734, John Witt and his wife Elizabeth, of King William
Parish, sold the 1731 patent in two parts, 200 acres each, to John Peter Bilboe
and Peter Depp. Elizabeth signed with a “P” mark. Both Bilbo and Depp are subsequently listed
as tithables in King William Parish, and no Witts appear in the tithables for
1735 or subsequent years. Oddly, John
Witt’s land is referenced in three patents filed in 1738. While this
might be explained by the time lag between survey and patent, several records
in the 1740s still refer to this land as John Witt’s. The will of Thomas Dickens, dated 31 July
1740 and recorded on 21 July 1741, refers to two 400 acre parcels, both of
which were described as adjacent to the land of John Witt, and both of which
were acquired only two years earlier, well after John Witt’s sale. This
description is further perpetuated by subsequent deeds related to the estate in
1741 and 1742, as well as a renewal of an adjoining patent in 1746. When all of these lands are plotted, it is
clear that all these references are to the single parcel patented by John Witt
in 1731 and sold by him in 1734. Why it
should continue to be called his so many years later is probably attributable
to old surveys. John Witt appears in no
King William tithables after 1734, nor does he appear in that area in the 1744 county tithables – while both Bilbo and Depp are on both lists.
There is no record of John
Witt acquiring replacement land. It is
possible, particularly if his father was living with him in 1732-4, that he
took up residence on the land his father and uncle had purchased in 1715. It is also possible that he somehow acquired
land on the Tuckahoe. On 25 July 1747 a John Witt (possibly him, as he signed the deed)
sold 150 acres on the Tuckahoe, apparently adjoining the original 1715 purchase,
to Henry Whitlow. How the land
was acquired is unknown, and it is not clear if this was John Witt II or John
Witt III. The next available tithable
lists (other than for King William Parish) are for 1746 and 1748. The 1746 list does not include the area covering the
Tuckahoe land, but it does have two John Witts not far from one another in the
central part of the county near Lickinghole Creek. The 1748 list does include the Tuckahoe area,
but shows only one of the two John Witts who should have been in the area.
Nonetheless, John Witt
evidently remained in Goochland County through at least 1757. The “Douglas Register”, essentially a sort of
vestry book for St. James Northam Parish, contains marriage dates for several
of the presumed children below. This implies
he was living north of the James, but on what land we don’t know. Presumably John Witt was still in Goochland
when his daughter Judith (described as “of this parish”) married John Matlock
in 1756 and his daughter Mary married John Bullington in 1757. One of the John Witts in the 1748 tithables
was also on the 1752 tithables list, but there is no further known record of
him in Goochland or its vicinity. Later
records are presumed to have been of his son John Witt IV, whose children’s
births are recorded in the Douglas Register through 1766. In particular, a purchase in 1758 is assumed
to be for John Witt IV.
It appears that he moved
into Halifax (later Pittsylvania) County near some of his children. The references to the various John Witts in
Pittsylvania (later Henry) and Halifax counties are somewhat confusing, and I have not yet
sorted them out. It appears that John
Witt IV did not move to this area, which should simplify things. But the John Witt who was a son of Edward
Witt, and various next-generation John Witts were in the area and it is not
altogether clear which references apply to which persons. However, the presence of Pittsylvania surveys
by a John Witt “Jr.” in 1768 and 1769 imply the presence of an older John Witt
(though perhaps not his father), because none of the next-generation John Witts
had reached majority by then. This John Witt
who was a “Jr.” in 1768 was plain John Witt when Thomas Harbour sold him and
William Witt 140 acres on Blackberry Creek in 1763. Wayne Witt
Bates thinks these were grandchildren of Thomas Harbour, but both the grandchildren were minors in 1763, and
there is a reference to the land of William Witt in a 1762 survey.
This may be cleared up by future research. In 1773 Adjonijah Harbour sold land next to David Witt on Falls Creek in a
different part of the county to a John Witt “Sr.” who may have been him, as
that John Witt later gifted this land, on which he lived at the time, to John
Matlock and Jesse Witt in 1779, obviously the sons of John Witt III. When and where
he died is unknown, but this is the last reference to him that I've been able
to find.
His wife’s maiden name is
unknown. He was evidently married to Elizabeth by 1731 when he filed his patent, else she would not
have released dower at the sale of that land in 1734. His wife was still named Elizabeth in 1751, but she appears in no record
thereafter. The fact that she used “P”
as her mark leads to speculation that her maiden name might have begun with
that letter. A favored candidate of some
researchers is Humphrey Parrish, who signed with a “HP” mark. I’d propose an additional candidate: Sylvanus
Pumphrey who was a neighbor on the Tuckahoe by 1729, and whose name would
explain the son Sylvanus if he were misplaced as a son of John II.
The children are mostly
deduced, since there is no definitive record proving their relationships.
Charles Witt (c1715? –
c1781) See below. Also see separate page for discussion of
whether he is correctly placed as a son of John Witt III.
David
Witt (c1720? –
1810) He first appears on the 1746 tax
list of Goochland County with an unknown Witt
listed first in the household. He was
clearly living at the time on the 1715 land of his grandfather. He next appears patenting land near Thomas Harbour in 1756, which he sold in
1772 to David Harbour. He surveyed land on Falls Creek next to Thomas Harbour with Palatiah Shelton in
1765 and patented the land two years later.
In a deposition taken in a suit between William Murray and Adonijah Harbour in 1779, the clerk states
that David Witt is “aged about sixty-five years”. That seems to have been overestimated, but
can’t be discounted. There seems little
doubt that he married Sarah Harbour (c1735-1819), the
daughter of Thomas Harbour.
Jesse
Witt (c1730? –
1809) He is provably a son of John Witt
by virtue of Sylvanus Witt calling him a “nephew”, and the deed of gift to him
by John Witt in 1779. He witnessed the
sale by John Witt III and William Witt in 1751.
He married Martha Cheatham, daughter of Benjamin Cheatham.
On 10 June 1752, was overseer for Rev.
Richard Douglas. By 1753 he was (barely)
in Chesterfield County and bought land there the following year bordering the Chesterfield county line with what is
now Powhatan.
He was evidently still in Chesterfield county as late as 1771
when Sylvanus Witt made his deed of gift.
His will was probated on 25 September 1809 in Henry County, Virginia. He seems to have had three sons and three
daughters: Joseph, David, Joel, Tabitha,
Elizabeth, and Nancy.
Elijah Witt (? – c1775?) There are few citations for this man. He is assumed to be a son of John Witt by his
later associations, probably a younger son.
He first appears in early 1767 entering a survey for land on Marrowbone
Creek in Halifax (later Henry) County a few miles from the Falls Creek land
David Witt, Palatiah Shelton and Thomas Harbour were occupying at the
time.
A month later, it was apparently he who witnessed deeds from Sherwood
Walton to Charles Witt and Samuel Davis.
It’s not clear that there are any further references to him (see Elijah Witt son of Charles Witt
below), and he does not appear on any tax or tithables lists for the area. It is thought that a Jane Witt mentioned
twice in the records was his wife. In
1809 Sarah Witt, the widow of David, made a deed of gift to her sister Jane
Witt of half her personal property.
This suggests that Jane Witt (if a literal sister) was a daughter of Thomas Harbor. Elijah Witt seems to be the most
likely candidate to have been her husband.
John
Witt (c1725-30? -
?) Married Mary Bullington ca 1753
according to the Douglas Register. The
births of five children from 1753 through 1766 in Goochland County are recorded in the
Douglas Register. He apparently remained
in Goochland County. He appears to be the John Witt in its 1787
state census.
Mary
Witt (c1737?
-?) Married John Bullington on 4 September 1757 according to the Douglas Register.
Hannah
Witt (c1736? –
c1805) Married Charles Hulsey (or
Huddlesley) 2 July 1756 according to the Douglas
Register. He is apparently the same
person who was in the Rowan County, NC tax list in 1768 and the Surry County tax lists of 1774 and
1775, all in an area south of the Dan River. They moved to Greenville County, South Carolina by 1790. Children are reported to have been James,
Charles, Adonijah, Jesse, Adler, Parthenia, and Elizabeth.
Judah
Witt (c1736? - ?)
Married John Matlock 22 November 1756 according to the Douglas Register. Apparently
also in Rowan County in 1768, and in Henry County afterward.
Elizabeth
Witt ? (? –
1810) A daughter named Elizabeth is theorized, as the wife
of Thomas Smith, who had owned land near William Witt in Goochland. This Thomas Smith left a will in Rockingham County, North Carolina in 1797 naming his wife
Elizabeth, and children Drury, Zachariah, Mary, Elizabeth (Mays or Mayo),
Phoebe (Mayo),
(c1715? – c1781)
Charles Witt’s father is a bit of a mystery. He could
have been a son of John Witt II or John Witt II or, less likely, of William
Witt. On balance (see endnote) he seems most likely to have been a son of
John Witt III. For several decades, it was thought that Charles Witt was
a son of the William Witt who died in 1754 in Goochland
County. This assertion was
first published in the Manakin Huguenot Society’s initial Yearbook in 1924, and
repeated in numerous subsequent publications. Although only two sons, John and Benjamin,
were identified in William Witt’s will,
the Huguenot Society concluded there were five additional sons based on
subsequent relationships between the two named sons and other Witts. In
reality, it appears that two of these Witts were sons of Benjamin Witt and the
other three were sons of John Witt, all grandsons, rather than sons, of William
Witt. The assertion that Charles Witt was a son of William Witt was based
entirely on a Charles Witt’s witness to a deed by Benjamin Witt in Prince
Edward County
in 1756. It was assumed that this Charles Witt was a brother of Benjamin
Witt, and that he was the same Charles Witt whose will was probated in Halifax
County in 1781. Neither
of these assumptions is true. This Charles Witt was actually a son of
Benjamin Witt, who appears frequently in Prince
Edward County
and later in Buckingham County
during a period when “our” Charles Witt was elsewhere.
The first evidence of a person who is probably our Charles
Witt is a 1739 court record of a deed from Thomas Joplin to Charles Witt in Henrico
County just east of the land bought
by John and William Witt in 1715. Although the deed itself is not extant,
we can identify the land through Thomas Joplin, the grantor. The land was
part of 343 acres on both sides of Deep Run which was patented in 1735 by Henry
Holman
and then sold to brothers-in-law Thomas Joplin and Holman Freeman a few months
later on 17 December 1735.
This land was described as being on both sides of Deep Run “nigh Tuckahoe
Creek”, and is easily plotted on maps of the area. It was only a mile or
so west of the Henrico-Goochland county line. (Both Joplin and Freeman
lived near John Witt II on Tuckahoe Creek at the time, and John Witt would five
years later witness a sale there to Holman Freeman.) Thomas Joplin and
Holman Freeman had been left the land by the will of George Freeman,
which split the land between them on either side of Deep Run, Thomas Joplin
receiving the land on the west side. This is undoubtedly the land Thomas
Joplin sold to Charles Witt in 1739, who then disposed of the land nine years
later. On 14 October 1748
Charles Witt of Goochland County
sold 160 acres on the upper side of Deep Run in Henrico
County to David Staples.
This was, from its description, the upper portion of Freeman’s patent and
therefore the same land purchased in 1739 by Charles Witt.
The location of this land can be determined quite precisely,
since we have three different descriptions of it. When Goochland
County was formed from Henrico in
early 1728, the dividing line between the two counties was Tuckahoe Creek as
far as Chumley’s branch. Charles Witt’s land was barely on the Henrico
side of that line. Interestingly, Holman’s patent bordered two sons of
the same William Randolph who had claimed the importation of John Witt.
Among the partial tithables lists of Goochland
County is a short 1746 list of
tithables on Tuckahoe Creek. On that list are (torn) Witt and David Witt
together – a tear in the paper obscures the first name. This is likely to
have been Charles Witt. These two Witt tithables are probably living on
the Tuckahoe land purchased in 1715. Since Charles Witt was “of
Goochland” in 1748 when he sold his land across the line in Henrico, it seems
likely that the obscured name was his, living on that land and working to his
own land a few miles away. (The only other candidate to be living in this
area is John Witt II, but he had been “levy-free” in 1742 and thus, if he were
still alive, may not have been included on the 1746 tithables list.)
Neither of these Witts appears on the 1748 tithables, but it appears the
existing tithables for that year are missing the Tuckahoe Creek area.
Whether this Charles Witt is “ours” or not is not certain,
but it seems highly likely. There is no further record of a Charles Witt
in Henrico or Goochland, and we know our Charles Witt was in Lunenburg
County shortly thereafter.
However, it casts some doubt on his marriage to Thomas
Harbour’s daughter. We know
that our Charles Witt was married by 1745 or so, but never seems to have lived
within 40 miles of Thomas Harbour
until several years later. Of course, he may have known Thomas
Harbour by his association with
William Witt.
About the time Charles Witt sold the land in Henrico
County, he joined a modest
migration of several Goochland families to Lunenburg
County about 125 miles
southwest. Although this area had been attracting settlers for several
years, it was still wild country – one of Charles Witt’s neighbors was captured
and held by the Shawnee in 1758.
A survey for John Steward of 400 acres on 18 October 1746 was apparently assigned to Charles Witt
according to the entry record book.
He did not patent the land, apparently preferring a nearby parcel surveyed for
Charles Witt on April 1750,
for 300 acres in Lunenburg County on the Irwin River (now called the Smith
River), for which he recorded a patent on 10 September 1755.
He does not appear on the tithables lists for Lunenburg
County, which are thought to be
complete for 1748, 1749, 1750, and 1751, so he may have still been in Goochland
in those years.
The land surveyed in 1750 adjoined one of the eight patents in the area by his
presumed father-in-law, Thomas Harbour, which was surveyed the following day
and which referred to “Charles White’s line”.
Charles Witt’s land adjoined this land
of Thomas Harbour’s on its western
side, and was located in what is now Patrick
County. Thomas
Harbour gave that adjoining patent
to his son Elisha Harbour
in 1763,
after Charles Witt had evidently moved away. The location of this land
was at the intersection of Flat Creek (now Jacks Creeks) and the Irwin
River in what is now Patrick
County.
However, another of Thomas Harbour’s
patents in 1753 was for 140 acres on Blackberry Creek several miles east,
which he gifted in 1763 to his grandsons John Witt and William Witt (the
son of David Witt).
In 1768, a survey for John Witt describes this land as being on a branch of Blackberry
Creek, “which comes in by Char. Witt’s house, adjoining his (John Witt’s) own
lines”.
[This is quite confusing. For one thing, Charles Witt had been in Halifax
County for several years by
1768. For another, the location of this house was many miles east of his
1755 patent. It is possible that this survey was misread or that the name
was mis-entered.]
In 1752 Halifax County
was formed and the 1755 grant fell into the new county. Charles Witt does
not appear in its records until 1758. In that year he was reimbursed for
provisions to the militia, receiving a little less than three pounds.
Charles Witt moved nearly 75 miles east shortly thereafter. On 11 June 1760, Charles Witt leased 400
acres for 16 years from Catherine Astin for 10 pounds.
The land had been purchased from Sherwood Walton, a Halifax
justice, by her late husband Jacob Astin, and was apparently located somewhere
on Mirey Creek or on its south fork near where it runs into the Dan
River at South Boston. A 1766 road
order assigns “Charles Witt’s tithables”, Talmon and Abner
Harbour, Sherwood Walton, and
several neighbors on Mirey Creek to clear the road leading from Roberts Ferry
to the courthouse. This road ran just east of Mirey Creek due north to
the courthouse, and is now (roughly) US 501. The “tithables” plural
implies that Charles Witt had one or more sons who had reached the age of 16.
Seven years later, on 19 March 1767, there are two deeds that appear to be a
trade of land. Charles Witt sold the 300 acres he was granted in 1755,
“known by name of Stewards Level”, to the same Sherwood Walton.
Thomas Spencer, Samuel Davis, and Elijah
Witt were witnesses. On the same date, and for the same price, Charles
Witt bought 200 acres in the neighborhood of his leased land from Sherwood
Walton.
This land was part of a much larger patent to Walton on the south fork of Mirey
Creek, less than a mile north of the Dan River and just
west of the town of South Boston
and Robert’s Ferry. Sherwood Walton sold another part of the same tract
to Samuel Davis the same day. These two tracts bordered Wilson, Richard
Sullins, and James McDaniel. Samuel Davis and Thomas Spencer witnessed
the deed to Charles Witt. Thomas Spencer, Elijah Witt (presumably his brother) and “Lamina” Witt
witnessed the deed to Davis.
Shortly thereafter, Talmon Harbour
would also buy part of the Sherwood Walton patent.
Charles Witt appears on the voting list for the Burgesses
election in 1765 in Halifax County.
He was evidently charged for one tithable too many in 1769, as both the vestry
book
and court records
for that year note that he was relieved of exactly the right amount for one
tithable “wrongly paid”. Since his son Joseph was clearly over 16 by
1769, this must either refer to a son who was not yet 16, to Charles himself,
or to a son over 21 who should have been separately taxed.
Charles Witt may have been crippled in some way.
Although he lived within a brisk walk of the courthouse for twenty years, he
never once appears in the court records as a juror, witness, or in any other
capacity. The only other mention of him in the Antrim Parish book, dated 15 October 1766, called him “Charles
Witt a pensioner.”
This means he was receiving a stipend from the parish, typically indicating old
age, poverty, or some infirmity that rendered him unable to fend for
himself. [I might note that pensioners commonly were landowners. At
least one other pensioner on the same list was a landowner, owning land being
no bar to receiving alms. Further, his estate fifteen years later
amounted to very little, despite having grown sons to help increase it over the
last ten years.]
Another road order in April of 1770 appoints Micajah Watkins
surveyor of the road from Roberts Ferry road to Birch’s Creek and assigns the
tithables of Talmon Harbour,
Sarah Harbour,
Samuel Davis, Elijah Witt,
Josiah Sullins, and Richard Sullins to clear the road.
In January 1772, a similar order appoints Talmon Harbour surveyor and assigns
the tithables of Josiah Sullins, Charles Witt, Joel Harbour and others to clear
the road from Robert’s Ferry Road to Birch’s Creek.
Birch’s Creek was the next major creek to the west of Mirey Creek, so this is
probably the road that ran between the courthouse road and Birch’s Creek,
running parallel to the south branch of Mirey Creek and the Dan
River. The appearance of Elijah Witt in the first order may refer to Charles Witt’s
brother rather than his son. Again the “tithables” plural is an
indication of the ages of his sons; a son over 21 would have been responsible
for his own tithe, meaning Charles Witt probably had at least one son over 16
but not yet 21 in 1772.
The road running from Robert’s Ferry
Road to Birch’s Creek may have been called either Millers
Road or Talman
Harbour’s Wagon
Road. On 14 November 1770 Charles Witt sold 10 acres of the land
he bought from Sherwood Walton, “on both sides of Millers
Road”, to Philip Malone.
When Philip Malone sold the parcel a year later, he described it as “located by
the County Main Road,
joining William Cunningham & Co. and Samuel Davis.”
Between these two deeds, Samuel Davis sold his own land adjoining Charles Witt
to William Cunningham & Co. He described it as bordering Charles Witt and “Talmon
Harbour’s Wagon
Road.”
[William Cunningham & Co. were a large Glascow-based mercantile business
with stores in many Virginia
counties.]
Charles Witt does not again appear in Halifax
County’s records until his will was
proved. The will was dated 30
January 1771 and proved ten years later on 23 June 1781.
It was not actually recorded until 15 August when Joseph Witt, the sole
executor, was granted a certificate of probate.
The will left one shilling sterling to three sons and daughters: Lavenia
Sullins, Mary Jonaken, and Elijah
Witt. His daughters Charity Witt, Nelly Witt, Lyddie Witt, Rhoda
Witt, and Susanna Witt were each bequeathed one cow or two pounds current money
“after the death or marriage of my said wife.” His son Caleb Witt was
bequeathed a horse and fifteen pounds to be delivered “when he comes of
age.” His wife Lamina Witt was to have “during her natural life or
widowhood the land and plantation whereon I now dwell with all my stock of
every kind also my household furniture of every kind whatsoever.” His son
Joseph Witt was to have “after the death or marriage of my said wife the above
said land and plantation with all my stock of every kind and also all the
household furniture provided he my said son Joseph pays off the legacies before
bequeathed…provided my son Joseph should die without a male heir lawfully
begotten, then my desire is that my son Caleb should enjoy the said land and
plantation above forever.” The will also states “my will and desire is
that my son Joseph Witt shall oblige to take care of his mother during her life
or widowhood also the small children to keep them together with her while they
come to age or able to do for themselves.” Joseph Witt and wife Lamina
Witt were named executors. The will was signed with his “C” mark and
witnessed by James LeGrand, Micajah Watkins, and Robert Rakestraw.
An odd item is that the will also ordered the executors to
“sell all the land I hold on the south side of the Main Road between that and
Dan River, and the money be applied towards paying my son Caleb’s legacy
off.” It is not clear what land he was referring to, and there is no
record of a separate sale after his death. He is most likely referring to
some portion of his remaining 190 acres that lay below the road. The land
he was leasing at the time does not appear to be below the road, and the lease
would have run out by 1777, long before Caleb came of age. I also doubt
that the sale of the lease would have brought much money, since the original
price was only 10 pounds. At any rate, Joseph Witt sold the remaining 190
acres after his father’s death.
The inventory and appraisal was taken on 11 September 1782 and filed on 19 September.
The inventory was taken by James LeGrand, Daniel Hutchinson, and James Johnson,
and amounted to 125 pounds. Most of the value was from 12 cattle, 4
horses, 37 hogs, 9 sheep, and furniture. Although Charles Witt couldn’t
sign his name, the inventory includes eight books. Joseph Witt may have
disbursed the five cows and one horse, as directed by the will. He is
listed in the 1782 tax list with 11 cows and 4 horses.
His wife Lamina apparently did not survive him. There
is no evidence she was alive in 1781, as Joseph Witt was the sole executor when
the will was proved and again a month later when the inventory was
recorded. Whether or not she was the mother of all the children is also
unknown. There is a strong belief among Witt researchers that Lamina (or
Lavinia) was the daughter of Thomas Harbour,
but there is (in my view) virtually no compelling evidence for this
assertion. [See separate page.]
I find it interesting that, as best we know, only one of the
children named a son “Charles”.
1. Joseph Witt
(c1748? – c1819) See separate page.
2. Elijah Witt (c1749? –
c1801) It’s not clear which references in Halifax County records apply to
the son and which to the uncle, both of whom were named Elijah. Lucy Ball, an early researcher who
probably was the source for Mrs. Norton, gave his birth year as 1755, but he
was probably older than that.
She also gave his wife’s name as “Miss Hutchinson”, who I suspect may have been
a daughter of neighbor Daniel Hutchinson.
[Elijah clearly married while
still in Halifax, as he had a child
by 1777.] From the above records, he was probably a tithable by
1770 if not before. It may be him who, with several neighbors of Charles
Witt, was assigned to a road crew on 9
April 1770.
It was presumably him who was sued successfully in 1772 for nearly three pounds,
and who bought a horse in 1773.
He and Joseph Witt witnessed a neighbor’s deed in 1775.
There is no indication in his father’s will that he was not of age in 1771, but
the Elijah Witt appearing in
Halifax in the early 1770s may be his uncle Elijah. He seems to have left Halifax
County about the time his father
died, joining Thomas Jarnigan in Washington County,
Tennessee by 1781. A pension
application speaks of a militia “Captain Elijah Witt” in February 1781
and a militia pay voucher for Elijah
Witt exists in Washington County
in 1783.
Elijah filed
a land claim the same day as his brother Joseph, on 22 October 1783, for 200 acres on Long Creek in Greene
County that apparently adjoined
claims filed by Thomas Jarnigan the same week.
Elijah added a claim for
another 200 acres on Long Creek on 17
May 1784, the same day as his brother Caleb.
Both grants were southeast of what is now Morristown
in the part of Greene County
that became Jefferson County
in 1792, and which is now Hamblen County.
He was on a jury at the first court held in Jefferson
County, and was appointed a militia
captain there in 1792. He and his sons Noah and Joseph are on the 1800
tax list for Jefferson County.
He died intestate sometime between July 1805, when he appeared in court, and
April 1806, when his administrators were named. He had apparently married
a widow named Sarah Bottom in Jefferson
County on 26 December 1797, and Sarah and son Noah Witt
were his administrators. His children are provided by several sources
that don’t all agree, but all are evidently based on Mrs. Ball’s research in
the 1920s.
Mrs. Ball gave his children as Noah (1776), John (1780), Eli (1785), Harmon
(1788), Daniel (1790), Polly or Ann (c1791), Martha, Piety (c1798) and Silas
(c1800). The latter two were by the second wife. Jefferson
County deed and court records seems
to generally confirm this list of children, but these records add four other
children. Three of them were a daughter named Lavinia, a minor at Elijah’s death, a daughter Mary (the wife of Samuel House),
and Elijah Witt, also a minor
at Elijah’s death. The
fourth child, proven by deed records, was Joseph Witt (c1775), the husband of
Sarah Earles, who died in Kentucky
at about the same time as his father. (See also Joseph Witt Notes)
3. Caleb Witt (2 September 1762 – 20 January 1827) Other than his
father’s will, Caleb does not appear in any Halifax
County record. Caleb
apparently followed Thomas Jarnigan into Green County,
Tennessee before 1783. He filed a
claim for 200 acres on Long Creek the same day as his brother Joseph, on 22 October 1783.
The land included his own improvement and was quite near both Thomas Jarnigan
and his brother Elijah Witt,
just southeast of the present town of Morristown.
According to his widow’s pension application, Caleb volunteered for service in Halifax
County at the age of sixteen and
was present at the surrender of Cornwallis. She declared they were
married on 2 September 1784
and that Caleb Witt died on 20 January
1827. (The pension was not granted owing to lack of confirmation of
his service.) The wife was Miriam Horner, the daughter of William Horner
and Elizabeth Allred.
They settled in the part of Green County
which became Jefferson County,
and eventually Hamblen County.
Caleb was a minister several churches, notably the Bent
Creek Baptist Church,
where he is buried. His modern-day gravestone erected by the DAR in Bent
Creek Cemetery
gives his date of birth as 2 September
1762. A book on Baptist preachers contains a brief synopsis
of his career.
This source also mentions four of his siblings: Joseph, Elijah, Patsy, and Lydia
– suggesting that both Patsy (Mary Jarnigan?) and Lydia Mayes were in Tennessee
as well. Descendants claim he lived and died in Witt’s Foundry, Tennessee.
This is very doubtful, as Caleb appears to have lived on his original grant on
Long Creek and I can find no record that Witt’s Foundry, which is a few miles
away, existed prior to his death. He is well documented in a variety of
publications, and had children: William (1785), Enoch (1787), Elizabeth
(1790), James (1794), Charles Horner (1797), Pleasant Alred (1800), Samuel
Harris (1800), Merrill (1807), Chester Deadrick (1809), Lamina (1811), and
Coleman Murray (1814).
4. Lavinia Witt (c1748? –
c1775) Called “Lavinia Sullens” in her father’s will, she was at that
time the widow of Josiah Sullins. Richard Sullins owned adjoining
land when Charles Witt moved to Mirey Creek, and sold land there to his son
Josiah Sullens in 1767, probably about the time Lavinia and Josiah
married. Josiah Sullens’ will in Halifax
County is dated 31 January 1773 and was proved on 19 August 1773.
In it, he leaves his property to his wife Lavinia and “my three suns Zaccariah,
Jesse, and Joseph.” His brother John Sullins, sold the Mirey Creek
land in 1785 as executor of the estate.
The money was to be divided among the three sons, Lavinia Sullins apparently
having died by then. John Sullens, by then living in Rutherford County,
North Carolina, had taken the three sons into his household. Nathan
Sullins, brother of Josiah Sullins, also moved to Jefferson
County, Tennessee where he and
his children lived close to Joseph Witt.
5. Sarah Witt
(c1750? - ?) She was “Sarah Kirby” in her father’s will. An
interesting complication is that Samuel Davis, who lived adjoining Charles
Witt, also had a daughter named Sarah Kirby, whom he named in his will in 1772
just a year after Charles Witt’s will. (Samuel Davis had lived adjoining
Thomas Harbour in Goochland, and had migrated to Lunenburg County, then
purchased the adjoining land the same day as Charles Witt in 1767.) There
were several Kirbys in Halifax County
whom I have not attempted to sort out. There are six Kirbys in the poll
list of 1765, for example. Among them is a Richard Kirby whose will was
proved on 21 Feb 1782
naming his wife Sarah and three minor sons: Joseph, Richard, and William.
Richard Kirby bequeathed a feather bed to his wife Sarah, "it being
the said bed left her by her grandfather." If his wife was Sarah
Witt, the grandfather would have been either Thomas
Harbour or John Witt. [The
Witt’s End website claims Henry Baker Kirby, brother of Richard Kirby, as Sarah
Witt’s husband. That seems unlikely, for there is a marriage record for
Henry Baker Kirby and Mary Anderson in 1767.]
6. Mary Witt (4 April 1753 – 6
August 1829) There is little doubt that “Mary Jonaken” was the wife
of Thomas B. Jarnigan (1746-1802), whom she married around 1767. Thomas
Jarnigan, whose name is seldom spelled that way until the late 1700s, was
probably a son of John Jarnigan and Mary Bynum of Pittsylvania
County and a grandson of Thomas B.
Jarnigan (see my Bynum book).
Interestingly enough, Thomas Harbour
sold John Jarnigan land on the Irwin (Smith) River in 1777. Thomas Jarnigan was
a revolutionary veteran, serving in a North Carolina
militia company in Tennessee from
1779 through 1783 under John Sevier.
He was evidently the first of this family to move to east Tennessee,
claiming land on Cedar Creek in Washington
County on 9 December 1778, described as the land “said
Johnnekin now lives on.” In 1783, he began acquiring considerable land on
and near Long Creek in present Hamblen
County, where he and Mary lived
until their deaths. Their homesite was called “Mount
Harmony”, several miles south of Morristown.
There is a family graveyard there with many legible stones. Thomas and
Mary had eleven children, all recorded in their family Bible which was among
the possessions in Mary’s inventory of 14 December 1829: Noah, Lavinia,
Chesley, Martha, Anna, Rhoda, Jeremiah, Patsey, Benjamin, Preston Bynum, and
Pleasant There exists an exhaustive study of this family in Tennessee
with much detail on their descendants.
7. Charity Witt (c1755?
– by1820) She was unmarried when her father wrote his will in 1771. She
is thought to have married about 1773 to neighbor named Duncan Carmichael
(1755-1834), who witnessed Josiah Sullin’s will in early 1773. By the
time Charles Witt died, they were living on the Virginia-North Carolina line in
neighboring Caswell County, North
Carolina, on a grant filed by Duncan Carmichael in
1777 and issued in 1778. Duncan Carmichael appeared on a tax list in Caswell
County in 1777 and again in
1784. Charity was certainly dead when Duncan Carmichael, a revolutionary
veteran, filed for a revolutionary pension in 1820 from Stokes
County, stating he was then living
with his widowed daughter Mary Ingram.
Duncan Carmichael himself died intestate in Stokes
County in 1834. Records of
his estate name the children, who included John, William, Sarah, Lemina,
Lemuel, Mary, Barzilla, Solomon, and Richard. His son John’s marriage
bond supposedly lists his parents as Duncan
and Charity.
8. Nelly Witt She was
unmarried when her father wrote his will in 1771. There is no further
record of her, and it is not clear whether she was alive at her father’s death.
9. Lydia
Witt (c1756? – aft1822) She was unmarried when her father wrote
his will in 1771. While we lack proof, she undoubtedly married William
Maze (Mays), a neighbor, and also went to Jefferson County,
Tennessee sometime after 1789. A
William Maze had lived on Flat Creek near Charles Witt, and left a will in 1748
leaving that land to his son William Maze.
A grandson named William Mays left a will in Halifax
County in 1794. Apparently
the fourth in the series, William Maze “Jr.” had bought part of the land on
Mirey Creek in Halifax County
where Sherwood Walton lived in 1777, with Joseph Witt a witness.
This was probably Lydia’s
husband. He is probably the same William Maze listed next to Joseph Witt
in the 1782 tax list. Sometime after 1785 they moved into Pittsylvania
County. In 1789 William Mays
sold his land on Miry Creek and moved to the same vicinity as Caleb and Elijah Witt. In fact, William
Maze was guardian of two of Elijah
Witt’s children in 1807. William Maze’s will was dated 15 March 1818 and proved 14 June 1819 in Jefferson
County.
It named his wife Lydia,
sons William, James, Gardner, John,
and Caleb, and daughters Mary Patsy, Milly, Sally, Rhoda, and Lydia.
It also named his four grandsons, the sons of his daughter Milly Maze and Noah
Witt, the son of Elijah. Lydia
Witt Maze was still alive when she appears in the 1822 tax list of Jefferson
County with her sons James and
John.
10. Rhoda Witt (c1750? - ?) She
was unmarried when her father wrote his will in early 1771. Some
descendants think she married Thomas Stamps shortly thereafter. Whether
that was the case or not is uncertain. Although Thomas Stamps lived
nearly 75 miles west at the time of the marriage, he did have a child named
Moses Witt Stamps. A biography of Moses Witt Stamps says his mother was a
Witt.
However, whether or not she was specifically a daughter of Charles Witt is
unproven. Moses Witt Stamps was born 1771-2 so his parents must have
married shortly after Charles Witt’s will was written. I am unable to
find any evidence that Thomas Stamps wife was named Rhoda, much less that his
wife was a daughter of Charles Witt. Thomas Stamps was born 21 October 1750 in Fauquier
County. He is listed as a
tithable in the Pittsylvania County
household of his father, Timothy Stamps, in 1767. His father was
evidently living on land in present-day Patrick
County which he had begun acquiring
by deed and patent in 1764. Thomas Stamps is listed by himself on the
1782 tax list of the part of Henry County
that later became Patrick County.
He is not in the 1787 census, and by 1788 he appears on the tax list of Green
County, Georgia.
He apparently died in Coweta County.
11. Susannah Witt She was
unmarried when her father wrote his will in 1771. She is thought to have
been the Susannah Witt who married James Bates 31 March 1788 in Pittsylvania
County. They named a
son James Witt Bates. One wonders where Susanna lived between the time
the sons left Halifax and the time
she married, perhaps with a married sister.
(c1749? – 14 November 1819)
The record of Joseph Witt’s death in November 1819 (see
below) gives his age as 67, implying a birth year of 1752. However, we
have good reason to think he was actually as much as five years older.
His father’s will of 30 January 1771
names him a co-executor, an office he could assume only if he were 21.
Further, a court record in September 1766 assigns “Charles Witts tithables” to
a road crew. Since Charles Witt did not own
slaves, his only tithables would have been his sons aged 16 or more. Both
records suggest a birth in 1749 or earlier. I also infer from the will
that Joseph’s brother Elijah
was of age in 1771 and, if Joseph were the eldest, he must have been born a few
years before 1750.
Joseph Witt appears only twice in the records of Halifax
County before his father’s death in
1781. He and Elijah Witt
witnessed a neighbor’s deed on 21
December 1775. On 6 October 1777 he witnessed a deed from Charles
Henderson to Sherwood Walton and another deed from Sherwood Walton to William
Mayes Jr. Unlike his father, he signed
his name in each case.
His father’s will, dated 30 January 1771 and proved 23 June
1781 in Halifax County, left his plantation to his wife Lamina during her
widowhood with reversion to Joseph Witt at her death or remarriage. It
also requested “my son Joseph Witt shall oblige to take care of his mother
during her life or widowhood also the small children to keep them together with
her while they come to age…” Both Joseph Witt and Lamina Witt
were named executors. Lamina probably died before her husband, since
Joseph Witt was the sole executor both when the will was proved and a month
later when the inventory was recorded. Joseph appears in the 1782 tax
list of Halifax County,
next to William Mayes, with a single white poll. His brothers Caleb
and Elijah probably had already
joined Thomas Jarnigan in Tennessee.
The children of Charles Witt by then must have reached maturity or married,
since Joseph Witt almost immediately moved to Tennessee
himself. On 11 May 1783, Joseph Witt sold his father’s land on Mirey
Creek to neighbor James LeGrand, “…which is the same land on which the said
Joseph now dwelleth, and is the same which the aforesaid Charles Witt, late
deceased, purchased from Sherwood Walton…” That is the last record of
Joseph Witt in Halifax County.
He apparently went to Tennessee
to stake out a claim. Five months later, on 22 October 1783, Joseph Witt entered claim #103 at Hillsboro,
North Carolina for land in Greene
County, which included “Joseph
Witt’s improvements”. That suggests he was actually
living on the land at the time, as does the fact that the grant required the
applicant to be a citizen of North Carolina.
The warrant and survey describe the land as 160 acres bordered by the north
bank of the French Broad River,
Buffalo Branch, and the land of John
Walker. The survey was made 26 May 1785 and the grant was issued 1 November 1786. Joseph Witt
must have traveled to Hillsboro as
part of a group. His brother Elijah
Witt had filed a claim the same day for land about 18 miles away on Long Creek
adjoining Thomas Jarnigan, and brother-in-law Thomas Jarnigan filed claims both
the day before and the day after. [Contrary to published assumptions,
Joseph Witt’s grant was not for Revolutionary service, but rather a simple
purchase. A brief explanation of the NC grant process, and of the grants
mentioned above, is on a separate page.]
Joseph Witt’s claim lay in what was still North
Carolina at the time. Its location can be
roughly determined by his and neighboring surveys as on what was later known as
Inman’s Bend, about three miles southeast of Dandridge. Greene
County had been formed a few months
before he filed his claim and covered essentially everything east of the Tennessee
River. In 1792, the area of his claim became Jefferson
County. At its first court,
held on 23 July 1792,
jurors included Elijah Witt,
Caleb Witt, Jesse Kimbrough, and Thomas Jarnigan. Joseph Witt himself served on
a jury in January 1793. In March 1793, the
court’s meeting place was changed to what would become the town of Dandridge and Joseph Witt subsequently
appeared as a juror in nearly every court session over the next few years. The Sheriff typically
rounded up jurors from among those who lived nearby or who had business at the
court, from which we can conclude that Joseph Witt must have lived very near
the town. As further confirmation, he appears in the 1800 tax list of
Captain Carson’s company, which included the town of Dandridge,
and contained fewer than 100 white polls.
We have additional evidence of his location in church
records. On 25 March 1786,
the Lower French Broad
Baptist Church
was established about two miles east of what would become Dandridge, at the
home of Michael Coons. Though there were only twelve charter members, the
first complete membership roll lists 27 people, including Joseph and Sarah
Witt. Nearly all the
other names, including Michael Coons, were in the same 1800 tax district as
Joseph Witt. By 1794 the congregation was petitioning to establish itself
as a permanent church. In May 1795 the church minutes show "Br
Gentry and Br Joseph Witt appointed as helps for the Constitution on Dumplin".
In July 1797 "the Church nominates Br James & Br Gentry & Br
Witt & Br Kimbrough & Br Snelson to attend the New Constitution on
Dumplin the 29th of July.” The Dumplin
Creek Baptist Church
was established later that year, on land donated by John Cate Sr., several
miles west of Dandridge. Michael Coons was evidently close to the
Witt family. When he wrote his will on 17 March 1803, “friend” Joseph Witt was named an
executor and Joseph’s sons John Witt and Nathaniel Witt were witnesses.
On 6 April 1798
two deeds were consecutively entered into the Jefferson
County deed books, both dated 10 January 1797. One from
William Galbreath to Joseph Witt for 7 ¾ acres on the north bank of the French
Broad River
“joining the old survey belonging to said Witt”. The other from Joseph Witt to
William Galbreath for apparently the same 7 ¾ acres, “being part of a tract now
occupied by Witt”. Both deeds were witnessed by
neighbors Joseph Sullins and John Henderson. Only the deed from Witt to
Galbreath was proved in court. [It seems likely that one of
these deeds was actually a lease or mortgage, mis-transcribed by the
abstractor.] William Galbreath had earlier bought John Walker’s 250 acre
grant adjoining Joseph Witt to the west, and had sold it two weeks later on 23 January 1797 to David Russell. Whatever the story of these
deeds, Joseph appears on the tax list of 1800 with only his original 160 acres.
There are no censuses of Jefferson
County until 1830. There is,
however, a tax list for 1800 and others for 1822 and subsequent years. In
Captain Carson’s company in 1800, Joseph Witt appears with 160 acres and one
white poll, indicating that no sons were yet 21. Carson’s
company, of less than 100 polls, included the town of Dandridge
as well as the Dumplin Church
and most of its congregation. In 1822, only his son John Witt is on the
tax list.
On 2 August 1804,
Joseph Witt purchased 200 acres on the head of Manuel’s (Immanuel’s) branch
from Elizabeth Johnson, the widow of John Keith and later of Samuel Johnson,
and several other Johnson heirs. Samuel Johnson, her late
second husband, had been on the same 1800 tax list with 400 acres – his heirs
sold half this land to Joseph Witt and half to John Henderson. This land
was clearly somewhere near the land he already owned, in the same tax district,
but it’s exact location is unclear. Joseph Witt may have moved onto this
land and installed one or more of his sons on the original land grant.
[On 11 March 1815
a Joseph Witt purchased 232 acres of land in Jefferson
County from James Russell. The land is described as being
on Regan’s Branch “wheron the said Joseph Witt now lives”. This was
probably the son of Caleb Witt, not our Joseph Witt.]
Although Joseph Witt apparently remained a member of the Lower
French Broad Church,
his wife Sarah Witt “Senor” and her daughter “Sarah Witt Jr.” joined the Dumplin
Creek Church
by letter on 10 July 1813. Her daughters Mourning Witt
and Patsy Witt joined the church by experience on 13 July 1817 and 9
August 1817, respectively. I’m not sure why they
would join a church several miles from their home. It may be that Joseph
Witt had moved onto the Immanuel Creek land, and that it was located west of
Dandridge, between the two churches.
Joseph Witt’s wife was named Sarah, but her maiden name is
unknown. Tradition, the original source of which I haven’t discovered, is
that she was Sarah Kimbrough. If she were the mother of the
two elder children, they must have married before leaving Halifax
County. There are no
Kimbroughs in or around Halifax County
whose daughters cannot be accounted for. There were several Kimbroughs in
Jefferson County,
but none were in the area of Halifax County
at the time Joseph Witt married. The troublesome gap in the ages of the
children raises the possibility that Sarah may have been a second wife who he
married in Tennessee. If
so, she may well have been related to one of the Kimbroughs of Jefferson
County.
Joseph Witt died intestate on 14 November 1819. The minutes of the French
Broad church mention “the death of Joseph Witt the Deacon of
this church who deceased 14 Novr. last [1819] aged 67 was taken note of.” [As noted above, I have my
doubts that his age is correctly stated.] An inventory of his estate was
taken 7 March 1820 by John
Witt and Sarah Witt, administrators. The inventory included
woodworking and blacksmith tools, books, a pair of spectacles, household goods,
and livestock. Also included were notes due from John Witt ($426) and James
Witt ($300) and a $16 note from Silas Henry, a neighbor. An estate sale
is dated 30 March 1820, as
is a provision for the widow Sally. Buyers at the sale included
Sally Witt, James Witt, Nathaniel Witt, Mourning Witt, John Witt, Thomas, John,
and William Cate, Edward Sellers, and several neighbors. From the names of these
persons we can assume he was still living on or near his original grant, as
nearly all these names appear on the 1822 tax list for Dandridge. The
sale totaled $299, with Sally Witt buying the bulk of household goods. A
supplemental inventory was filed on 12
June 1820 by John and Sally Witt, consisting of small cash payments
to the estate by “N. Witt” and “H. Franklin”. There is no final settlement
of the estate recorded in either the court or probate records of Jefferson
County.
On 6 March 1821, Sally Witt and eight children (John
Witt, Nathaniel Witt, Silas Witt, James Witt, Mourning Witt, Edward G. Sellars,
Patsy Witt, and Joseph L. Witt), all of Jefferson County, sold to Charles Cate
Jr. the 200 acres on Manuel’s Branch in Jefferson County which Joseph Witt had
purchased in 1804. Sally Witt, the widow, signed
with her mark, but the others signed their names. [Joseph L. Witt is
listed twice in the body of the deed but did not sign it, evidently because he
was a minor at the time.] By the time this deed was finally proved in
1829, the entire family had left the county, and a witness was required to
depose that he saw all the Witts sign their names to the deed. John Witt
evidently took (or already had) possession of the original 160-acre grant, on
which he was taxed in 1822. As best we can tell, it appears that the
children in the 1821 deed are listed in order, from oldest to youngest.
John Witt, with one white poll and 160 acres, is the only
member of the family on the 1822 tax list of Jefferson
County. His mother, brothers,
and sisters had already moved away. Sarah Witt, Patsy Witt,
Mourning Witt, and Sarah Witt (the wife of James) had all requested and
received letters of dismission from the Dumplin
Creek Church
in early 1821 just prior to their sale of land. They apparently went to McMinn
County, where his son Nathaniel
Witt entered a claim for land on Mouse Creek on 3 July 1824. He had apparently lived
on the land for some time prior, as the minutes of the Eastanallee
Baptist Church
for July 1823 mention a meeting to be held at “the widow Witts on Mouse Creek”. There surviving tax
lists for McMinn County
for the years 1829-1832 and 1836, which I have read only as abstracts.
Silas Witt Sr., Silas Witt Jr., Joseph Witt, and Edward Sellars, all appear in
the same company in 1829. Mourning and Joseph Witt appear together in
1830. Joseph, Mourning, Mary, and Silas Jr. appear in the same company in
1831 and 1832. Joseph, James, Silas, and Mary Witt (the widow of
Nathaniel Witt) appear in the same district in 1836. All the children,
except John Witt, are also found in the McMinn census for 1830.
The widow, Sally Witt, is not listed as a taxpayer in the
tax lists, but she is apparently the Sally Witt enumerated consecutively with
Joseph Witt, Edward Sellars, and Polly Witt in the 1830 census of McMinn
County. She was aged 60-70
with four young men in the household, whose identities are unknown. She died in 1839. Her
will was dated 9 April 1837
and proved at the January court 1840. She calls herself “a
widow…being very old and weak in body but in perfect mind [and] memory”.
The will had only one provision: “to my son Joseph Witt the eighty acres of
land I now live on with all my household furniture and living stock and my
farming tools and he shall decently maintain my daughter Patsey as long as she
lives.” Mordicai Rucker and James R. Witt were witnesses.
The eighty acres referred to in the will, which were
adjacent Nathaniel Witt’s grant, had been purchased by Sarah Witt from her son
Silas Witt on 15 January 1834. The 1836 tax list shows
her son Joseph Witt being taxed on the land. After writing the will, she sold
this land to Willis Wright on 23
January 1838. When Willis Wright resold the land
on 6 December 1839, it was
described as the land he bought of Sally Witt, deceased.
Joseph Witt and Sally had eight children. The nine persons
who sold Joseph Witt’s land in 1821 clearly were his widow and their eight
children. Mrs. Mary Latham Norton of the Huguenot Society provided the
names of nine children in 1927, adding a daughter named Elizabeth
to the list: “Joseph Witt born in Halifax County,
Virginia about 1750, died in Tennessee
in 1824, served from North Carolina.
Married Sarah. Children: Nathaniel, Joseph, Mourning, Sarah, Mary,
Silas, James, John, and Elizabeth.
War Department and Family Records. “ The source of these “family
records” is unknown, but this reference has apparently been used by virtually
all his descendants. The evidence for claiming Elizabeth
as a child is unknown, and none of the “family records” I have found mention
her. Nor have I been able to confirm that Joseph Witt served in the
Revolution as Mrs. Norton claimed. I suspect she assumed, incorrectly,
that his Tennessee land grant was
related to Revolutionary service. I doubt the reliability of this
information, especially since Mrs. Norton was apparently unaware of any of the
estate records for Joseph Witt.
The eight children we can prove are the following.
Marriage dates below are from a single Jefferson
County source. Note that it appears highly
likely that the children appeared in birth order sequence in the 1821
deed.
1.
John Witt (c1780 –?) He was administrator of his father’s
estate, from which we can infer that he was the eldest. He does not
appear as a poll in 1800, so was probably born 1779 or later. He first
appears witnessing the will of Michael Coons on 17 March 1803, which suggests he was 21 by then. The large note due to his
father’s estate was almost certainly a mortgage on the original land grant, as
John Witt appears in the 1822 tax list for Dandridge with 160 acres. He
seems likely to be the same John Witt who married Susannah Walker (daughter of
James Walker, a founder of the French Broad
Church) on 25 January 1809 in Jefferson
County. I have not attempted
to track this line, but he apparently left Jefferson
County before 1830 since he doesn’t
appear in the census. He is thought by some to be the John Witt (5 Nov
1785 – 1834) who married Rebecca Wear in Sevier County, but that appears to be
a different person, probably related to the Witts living further north in
Jefferson County in 1800.
2.
Nathaniel
Witt (c1782 – c1841) married Mary Cate 30 July 1804 in Jefferson
County, Tennessee. (See
separate page.)
3.
Silas Witt (25 May 1790 – 15 July 1881) He married in
Jefferson County on 30 June 1812 to Susannah Randolph, daughter of James and
Sarah Randolph, charter members of the French Broad Church. Silas served
in the War of 1812, enlisting in 1814, according to his pension
application. Silas apparently moved to McMinn
County with his mother and
siblings, where he apparently acquired 80 acres adjoining Nathaniel Witt’s
grant. He appears in the McMinn tax lists of 1829-1832 and in the 1830
census. On 15 January 1834, Silas Witt sold this land to his mother
Sally Witt, describing it as adjoining Polly Witt (Nathaniel’s widow). Sarah Witt sold this
tract, “with the exception of one acre where the meeting house now stands”, to
Willis Wright on 23 January 1838. The “meeting house” was
evidently Hopewell Baptist
Church, for which Silas Witt was a
delegate to the Hiwassee Baptist Association in 1828. He must have left
for Alabama immediately after the
sale, for he was the minister of New Hopewell
Church in Benton
County later that same year. He was
in the Benton County
1840 census and, as Silas Witt of Benton
County, was granted land in
neighboring Cherokee County
in 1845. He and Susannah are in the
1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses of Cherokee
County, listed as a “Baptist
Clergy” in 1860 and as “Preacher” in 1870. The 1850 census of Cherokee
County shows Silas as a “Baptist
minister”. He moved to Texas,
in 1871 according to family stories. Silas (age 90) and Susannah (age 85)
appear in the 1880 census of McLennan
County in the household of
their son John Witt and two of his grown sons. Susannah Randolph Witt
died within days of this census, on 15
June 1880, and Silas died the following year. Both are buried
in Old Perry
Cemetery near Moody, Texas,
where there is a Texas historical
marker at their graves. For more detail on this family, in Alabama
and Texas, see the publication at. I note the possibility that
Silas Witt’s first three sons may well have been named after his brothers. The
children, according to secondary sources and census records were:
3.1.
James Randolph Witt (23 August 1813 – 1895) married first Delilah Harkrider (1833) and second
Melvina Willhite (1868).
3.2.
Nathaniel Witt (c1815 - ?) married Mary Ann Cook on 17 November 1839 in Benton County.
3.3.
Joseph Lockhart Witt (30 October 1817 – 25 April 1889) married Nancy J. Penn.
3.4.
William Carroll Witt (3 February 1820 – 14 July 1892) married Joicy Elizabeth Hollingsworth on 19 September 1843 in Benton County.
3.5.
Robert Wesley Witt (10 April 1822 – 1 May 1898) married first Anita (Nettle) Lewallen on 27 December 1843 in Benton County.
3.6.
Sarah J. Witt (c1824 – c1891) married Augustine Alexander Bridwell
on 28 December 1843 in Benton County.
3.7.
John Witt (26 February 1826 – 8 May 1898) married Elizabeth Taylor afer1850, then two more wives.
3.8.
Isaac Martin Witt (24 January 1828 – 8 May 1898) married Sarah Taylor about 1850.
3.9.
Eliza Jane Witt (13 December 1829 - ?) married Martin VanBuren Lewis, Apr. 13, 1852.
3.10.
Lucy Witt (c1832 - c1848)
3.11.
Silas Witt, Jr. (c1834 - ?) married Maranda Owens, died in Battle of
Missionary Ridge.
3.12.
Pleasant Francis Witt (c1838 – 12 August 1862) married Eliza Louisa Llewellyn, died in Battle of
Cedar Mountain.
3.13.
Francis Marion Witt (c1842 - ?)
3.14. Emeline Witt
(c1840 – before 1850) Her name was provided by descendants, but she was
not in the 1850 household.
4.
James R. Witt (29
November 1791 - 29
November 1846) His middle initial was “R” if he is the same
James Witt who witnessed the will of his mother. I suspect he was named
after James Randolph. He married Sarah Cate on 23 November 1814 in Jefferson
County, Tennessee.
James must have bought land in Jefferson
County, otherwise I’m hard pressed
to explain the large note due his father’s estate. He is presumably the
James Witt who appears in the 1829-1836 tax lists of McMinn
County. He is in the 1830
census of McMinn and the 1840 census of Bradley
County. His widow Sarah Witt
(age 60) is in the 1850 census of Bradley
County with an apparent daughter
named “Alzira”. Next door is Simeon Witt (age 33) and his wife Sarah
Geren. The 1830 and 1840 censuses suggest he had two sons and four
daughters. A descendant, Kay Witt Potvin, had a family record of some
type that listed his children as follows:
4.1.
John Simeon Witt (22 July 1817 – 29 November 1881) married Susan Geren. He is in the 1850 census
of Bradley County next door to his mother, listed as Simeon Witt age
33. He died in Bradley County.
4.2.
Mary Witt (13 January 1820 – 20 May 1874) married Andrew Duncan.
4.3.
Wilford Barton Witt (c1823 - ?) He is apparently the male
5-10 in 1830 and 15-20 in 1840. He was not found in the 1850 or later
censuses, but Mrs. Potvin’s record says he married Nancy Ann King and died in Taos,
New Mexico.
4.4.
Elizabeth Witt (? -
?) Apparently one of the three females born 1825-30, she married a
Kirkpatrick.
4.5.
Sarah Witt (c1829 – 25 December 1857) married Thomas Ross, and is in the 1850 census near
her mother.
4.6. Alizira Permelia Witt (14 June 1831 – 1 September 1899) married W. P. Palmer, and later George F. Erwin.
5.
Mourning Witt (c1797 – aft1860) She is said to have married
a man named Moore. That was apparently
Littleberry Moore, in whose Bradley County
household Mourning appears in 1850 (age 53) and 1860 (age 62). When they married is unclear,
but Mourning was his second wife and they had no children. Mourning Witt
was unmarried in 1821 when she was among the heirs selling Joseph Witt’s
land. She was also unmarried when listed in the 1829, 1830, and 1831 tax
lists of McMinn County.
She is not in the 1830 census, and it’s not clear whose household she was in –
if she was one of the younger females in Polly Witt’s household, her age was
dramatically understated. My best guess is that she married Moore
sometime in the 1830s. Littleberry Moore is in the 1830 McMinn census
with what is apparently his first wife, and in the 1840 Bradley census with a
wife of the right age to be Mourning.
6.
Sarah Witt (c1799 – c1859) Sarah joined the Dumpin Creek
church in 1813. She married Edward George Sellars in Jefferson
County, Tennessee on 8 March 1818. Edward Sellars
sold his wife’s interest in Joseph Witt’s land three years later, and they
moved with the rest of the family to McMinn
County. They are in the 1830,
1840, and 1850 censuses of McMinn County,
located near the rest of the Witt family. In 1850, Edward is age 56 and
Sarah age 50. Children in the 1850 household were: Nathaniel (17),
Silas (15), Morrison (13), Samuel (11), Blount (9), George W. (7), and William
(5). There were probably several older children as well, one of whom was
said to be a son named John.
7.
Patsy Witt (c1802 – aft1850) Patsy never married and was
called an “idiot” in the 1850 census. I suspect Patsy was a bit older
than her 1850 census record suggests. She joined the Dumplin
Creek Baptist Church
in 1817 and her mother requested her letter of dismission in 1821. Patsy
Witt was one of the sellers of Joseph Witt’s land in 1821 and was still
unmarried in 1837 when her mother’s will charged Joseph Witt with “maintaining
my daughter Patsey Witt as long as she lives.” Joseph Witt apparently did
care for her, since she is certainly the second female 30-40 in the widow
Matilda Witt’s 1840 household. In 1850, she is still in Matilda’s
household, as Patsy Witt, age 47, “idiot”.
8.
Joseph L. Witt (c1805? – 1839) This son is almost universally
misidentified as the Joseph Witt who married Sarah Earles. However, all
the evidence indicates that Joseph Witt Jr. was the youngest son of Joseph
Sr. He was mentioned twice (as “Joseph L. Witt”) in the 1821 deed
disposing of his father’s land, though he did not sign the deed. That
suggests he was a minor at the time, which is consistent with later census
records. [I note the possibility that his middle name may have been
“Lockhart”, since his brother Silas named a child Joseph Lockart Witt.] He
is in the 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, and 1836 tax lists of McMinn
County located near Mary, Mourning,
and Silas Witt. In the 1830 census of McMinn he is consecutive with
Edward Sellars, Sally Witt, and Polly Witt, with one male under 5, he and his
wife both 20-30. He was evidently quite newly married. The Rucker
book mentions him only briefly as the husband of Matilda Rucker (born c1809),
and attributes him as a son of Nathaniel Witt. He did indeed marry
Matilda Rucker, as in 1839 they sold their interest in James Rucker’s
estate. He was apparently the Joseph Witt who served as a delegate to the
Hiwassee Baptist convention in 1828 from the Big Spring Baptist church in
southern McMinn County.
He apparently lived on his mother’s land, as he was taxed on her 80 acres
in 1836. His mother’s will, written in 1837, left him her land and
property on the condition that he care for his sister Patsy. His mother
subsequently sold the land, and Joseph Witt apparently removed southward into
newly-formed Meigs County, where he died sometime between 2 September 1839,
when he appeared on a road jury, and 6 January 1840, when Matilda
Witt and James E. Rucker were appointed administrators of his estate.
The widow Matilda Witt is a head of household in the Meigs
County 1840 census, with five
children and a second female 30-40 who is apparently Patsy Witt.
She remarried to a neighbor named Avery Hannah on 3 January 1842.
Their 1850 household in Meigs County
include the five children of Joseph Witt, as well as Patsy Witt.
I can’t find either Matilda or Avery after 1850, but three of the Witt sons are
together in one household in 1860.
8.1.
James Witt (c1829 - ?) James seems nearly certain top be
the eldest son of Joseph Witt. Although the James in the 1850 household
might have been Avery Hannah’s son, it seems far more likely that he was James
Witt. He married Catherine Gross, the daughter of a neighbor named Jacob
Gross, on 16 September 1856 and appears in the 1860 census just a few households
away from the other Witt children. I’d also note that he named his two
sons Jacob and Joseph, presumably after their grandfathers, and named one of
his daughters Violet.
8.2.
Nathaniel Witt (23 August 1830 - ?) Nathaniel married Janetta Wood in Meigs County on 1 March 1860, though they were childless. The 1860 Meigs census shows “Nat” as head
of a household with his wife and his brothers Silas and Jesse. He joined
the Union Army (5th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry) as a Lieutenant
and by late 1864 was made a Lt. Colonel. He applied for a pension in
1881, when he declared his age to be 51. His
brother Jesse was in the same company. He was in his brother Jesse’s
household in 1870, and in 1878 married Margaret Hicks.
8.3.
Violet Witt (c1833 - ?) married Thomas D. Conner about 1859.
8.4.
Silas Witt (c1834 - ) He appears in his brother’s
household in 1860 and in his own household in 1870. I did not attempt to
track him.
8.5.
Jesse Witt (c1836 - ?) Jesse married Harriet E.
Shiflett. The 30 October 1874 will of her father, Austin Shiflett, gives “to
daughter Harriet E. Witt, land she now lives on, the balance being owned by her
husband Jesse Witt”. They
must have married about 1865, as the 1870 census has two children, the eldest
4. Jesse had been a sergeant in the same company in which Nathaniel Witt
was an officer.
Note: Many
descendants have claimed a different Joseph Witt and an Elizabeth
Witt as children of Joseph and Sarah Witt. See the separate page
for a discussion of who they were and why they probably don’t belong in this
family.
Meigs County Will Book 1858 - 1881, p344-5.
Nathaniel Witt
(c1782? – 1826)
Nathaniel Witt was probably born before his father left Virginia,
but his exact birth year is unknown. He was apparently born after
mid-1779, as the 1800 Jefferson County
tax list shows Joseph Witt with only a single white poll. His first
appearance is as a witness to the will of Michael Coons, in which his father
was named executor, on 17 March 1803. That suggests,
but doesn’t require, that he was of age at the time. He was certainly
of age when he married in Jefferson County, Tennessee
to Mary Cate by bond dated 30 July
1804. Nathaniel was of
age and signed his own name to the bond, with Collins Grisham as surety.
[He was not the same person as the Nathaniel Witt who signed a Tennessee
petition in 1787.]
Nathaniel evidently lived with his father after the
marriage, since his only acquisition of land in Jefferson
County appears to be a grant of 65
acres in Jefferson County,
entered on 11 May 1811 and
surveyed on 13 May 1811. I could find no
record of a subsequent sale of this land, which was located about a mile from
his father’s tract. The only other records of him in Jefferson
County are those associated with
the settlement of his father's estate (see Joseph Witt page). The last
record of him in Jefferson County
is his participation in the sale of his father’s land to Charles Cate on 6 March 1821. Neither
Nathaniel nor any of his siblings (save his brother John) appeared the
following year on the 1822 tax list of Jefferson
County. Whether they went
directly there or not in 1821 is unclear, but within three years they were in McMinn
County.
Nathaniel Witt, his widowed mother, and at least five
brothers and sisters were in McMinn County
by 1824, as was his father-in-law, William Cate. On 3 July 1824 Nathaniel Witt entered a grant of
160 acres on Mouse Creek just southwest of Athens
in McMinn County,
on which his wife and children continued to live well after his death. He had probably
been living on this land for at least a year or two, given the normal delays in
grant processing.
The minutes of Eastanallee Baptist Church for July 1823 or
1824 (the date is uncertain) contain a reference to the formation of the New
Hopewell church: "The scattered members of Eastanallee Church
living on Mouse Creek agreed to become a Constitution if found fit and
petitions Pisgah and Zion Hill Churches for their ministerial help for that
purpose to attend on the 4th Saturday in August at the Widow Witts on Mouse
Creek." "Widow
Witt" must refer to Sarah Witt, Joseph Witt's widow and Nathaniel's
mother. Mary Cate(s), surely Nathaniel’s mother-in-law, was received into
the church on the same day. [See the referenced footnote for a discussion
of the date of this entry.]
Nathaniel Witt died intestate sometime in mid-1826. On
5 June 1826, William Cate
was appointed administrator of the estate of Nathaniel Witt, “the widow of the
said deceased being present and consenting thereto.” The widow, who
was not named in the court record, was Mary, and William Cate her father.
Several of the children were unmarried minors at this time, but the loss of
McMinn’s records denies us information on guardianship or any other records of
the estate. Mary “Polly”
Cate Witt did not remarry, despite having an infant and several children at her
husband’s death. She and some of her children continued to live on
Nathaniel Witt’s 1824 grant for the next 17 years.
The 1830 census of McMinn County has a number of Witt
households, four of them
enumerated consecutively: Joseph Witt (aged 20-30), Edward “Cellers”,
Sally Witt (aged 60-70), and Polly Witt (aged 40-50). These appear to be
Nathaniel Witt’s brother, brother-in-law, mother, and widow.
Nathaniel’s brothers Silas Witt and James Witt were nearby, as were
father-in-law William Cate and sons-in-law Thomas Epperson and William
Rucker. Polly Witt had in her household a male under 5, a male 5-10, a
male 20-30, two females 10-15, and a female 15-20 – evidently the six children
who were unmarried at the time.
The surviving tax lists of McMinn
County show Mary Witt, her son
Silas (“Jr.”), her sister-in-law Mourning Witt, and her brothers-in-law James
Witt, Joseph Witt and Silas Witt Sr. in the same district in 1829, 1830, 1831,
and 1832. All but
Silas Sr. and Mourning are also on the 1836 tax list. In 1836, Mary Witt
was still being taxed on Nathaniel Witt’s 160 acre grant. Only her son
Silas was charged with a poll. [Among the 162 taxpayers in this district
were nearly all the related families, including William Cate and several sons,
Solomon Hayes, Thomas Epperson, and Mordicai Rucker.]
Further evidence that Mary was still living on her husband’s
1824 grant lies in related deeds. Silas Witt, Nathaniel’s brother, had
apparently acquired 80 acres adjoining Nathaniel’s grant, which he sold prior
to moving to Alabama in
1834. On 15 January 1834,
Silas Witt sold this land to his mother Sally Witt, describing it as adjoining
Polly Witt. Sarah
Witt sold this tract, “with the exception of one acre where the meeting house now stands”, to
Willis Wright on 23 January 1838,
when it was again described as bordering Polly Witt. The 1840 census
shows Mary Witt as age 60-70 with a female 20-30 (Catherine) and her two
youngest sons in the household. Mary Witt was still alive in late
1843. William Cate, her father, had moved into Bradley
County shortly after its formation,
and died there by 1843. On 14
September 1843, the widow of William Cate sued his heirs, naming
Mary Witt as one of them. Though I’ve
found no record of her death, she evidently died sometime after late 1843 and
mid-1849. She does not appear in the 1850 census either by herself or in
the households of any of her children. Nor does she appear in the
1850 mortality census, which included deaths from June 1849.
The children of Nathaniel Witt are identified in a series of
deeds disposing of his property. On 24 April 1841, five of the heirs sold their interests in
“the estate of Nathaniel Witt dec’d…one tract containing 160 acres” for $50
each to Mordicai Rucker. These heirs
were William Rucker and his wife Nancy, Thomas Epperson and his wife Sally,
George W. Cate and his wife Mary, William Witt, and Katherine
Witt. [Katherine and William sold separate shares, and were not a
married couple.] Two years
later, on 3 March 1843, Mary Witt and four daughters, for a total of $600, sold
their individual interests in the 160 acres “descended to them from the
estate of Nathaniel Witt, deceased” to James E. Rucker. This set of
heirs was Mary Witt, Mordicai Rucker and his wife Miriam, Robert Elder and his
wife Polly, Thomas Grisham and his wife Betsy, and George W. Cate and his wife
Mary. All were of McMinn County,
and all the women signed with their marks. Finally, on 4 January 1847 Joseph (Nathaniel) Witt, now of age,
transferred his interest to James E. Rucker. From these
deeds, we can identify nine children: William, Joseph Nathaniel, Nancy,
Sally, Mary, Katherine, Miriam, and Elizabeth, plus Silas Witt (whose widow was
Mary Elder).
Two of the Witt children married children of James Rucker,
according to a book on the Rucker family. Indeed, on 8 October 1839, the heirs of James
Rucker, deceased, transferred their interest in his land to William Rucker,
husband of Nancy Witt. The heirs
included Joseph and Matilda Witt [an uncle of the other two Witts], and
Mordicai Rucker, husband of Miriam Witt, who later purchased this same land
from William Rucker.
In addition, we have three other family records of the
children of Nathaniel Witt, none of which can be considered completely
reliable.
First, the Rucker book published in 1927, mentions the other
Witt children in an incidental way. It lists six children of Nathaniel
Witt: “Marriam” (wife of Mordicia Rucker), Joseph (husband of Matilda Rucker),
Nancy (wife of William Rucker), Rathian, William, and Sally (wife of Thomas
Epperson). Joseph Witt is
misidentified here as a son of Nathaniel rather than a brother. The book
provides details only for Miriam and Nancy, although the 1841 deed above is
referenced. [This deed was clearly misread, as “Katherine” was
transcribed by the author as “Rathian”.] Of the six children named,
Joseph was actually an uncle of the others, but five were definitely children
of Nathaniel Witt.
Second, an unsigned typewritten manuscript in the LDS
Library, which I will call the “CLHW” paper, gives the same five
children, and adds three more: Mary (wife of George W. Cate), Joseph
Nathaniel Witt, and Silas Witt. The Rucker book was evidently a source
for this paper, though it adds more detail to some of the children. Some
of the information in this book came from a “Mr. Carter”, also acknowledged as
a source in the Rucker book, who was apparently a grandson of Nancy Witt and
William Rucker, through their daughter Rachel who married Hiram Carter.
This paper makes only rare references to original sources and seems to have
been compiled from family records and interviews. [The paper adds
“Rathian” as a ninth child, apparently relying on the misreading of the 1841
deed perpetuated by the Rucker book. It omits Elizabeth.]
Finally, a grandson of Nathaniel Witt (William Breckinridge
Witt) wrote a letter in 1947 mentioning eleven children: “My father’s
name was William and [he] had two brothers named Joe and Nathaniel. There
were eight sisters which I know very little about. Two of the girls
married men by the name of Kates. One married a man by name Rucker. One
married a Mr. Box.” [Mr. Witt was born in Texas
and probably never knew any of the siblings. The Box marriage is an error,
referring to Mr. Witt’s maternal ancestors.]
Census records, and the deeds above, clarify that there were
three sons and six daughters.
1.
Sarah (Sally) Witt (c1805 – 1878) From the 1841 deed
above, she was the wife of Thomas Epperson, married about 1823 or 1824 judging
from the children’s ages. They are in the 1830 census of McMinn and the
1840 census of Bradley County,
located near the other Witts. The 1850 census for Bradley
County has Sarah, age 44, and
apparently fourteen children in the household. In 1860 they
are still in Bradley County
(Sarah now age 56) with six of the same children in the household and three
others next door. They had sons named John, Key and Green according to
the “CLHW” paper, but the latter two do not seem to be in the 1850 or 1860
household. The son John is probably the John Epperson located nearby in
the 1850 census and next door in the 1860 census. Descendants say that
they had a total of sixteen children.
2.
Miriam Witt (9 July
1807 – 15 April 1884)
According to the Rucker book, she was the wife of Mordicai Rucker (c1802 –
c1855). She and
her husband sold their interest in Nathaniel Witt’s estate in 1843, and their
interest in James Rucker’s estate in 1839. They named their first son
“Nathaniel Witt Rucker”, born c1826. They seem to have married about
1823, since the first child was born about 1824. They are in the 1850
census of McMinn County
with Miriam’s age given as 43. Mordicai Rucker died by September 1855
according to a later court record. On 5 November 1855 James R. Witt and Hilton H. Burk were
appointed his administrators. His estate settlement, dated 8 July 1857,
in McMinn County names the children as Silas N., Rachel (wife of Hamilton
Wasson of Missouri), Sarah C. (wife of Hilton H. Burke), Nancy (wife of Levi
Swinford of Smith County, Texas), Mary M. (wife of Pleasant B. Bryan of Smith
County, Texas), James C. (also of Smith County), William A., Joseph C., and
Miriam M., all three minors, John E., a minor who died a week after his father,
and Wilford, a minor who died about a week before his father. Miriam was
appointed guardian for two of the three minor children in late 1855 and assumed
guardianship of the third minor child several years later. Her birth and
death dates are from the “CLHW” paper and from her gravestone in the Hopewell
Church Cemetery
in McMinn County.
3.
Silas Witt (c1808 – 29
September 1838) There appears to have been a son named
Silas. A Silas Witt “Jr.” was in the same tax district as other members
of this family in 1829-1832 and in 1836. Nathaniel Witt’s brother is
listed in these tax lists as “Silas Witt Sr.” [The “Jr.” was likely a
means of distinguishing the two Silas Witts, rather than indicating a
relationship. Silas Witt Sr. did not marry until 1812 and his own son
Silas was not born until 1834.] The appearance as a poll in 1829
indicates Silas Witt Jr. was 21 by then. He appears as a poll in 1829,
1830, and 1831, but was evidently the male 20-30 in his mother’s household in
1830. As “Silas Witt Jr.”, he was a witness to the 1834 sale from Silas
Witt Sr. to Sally Witt, and was a again a witness when Sally Witt sold the land
on 23 January 1838. He died between early 1838 and early 1840, for on 6 June 1840 when this latter deed was
recorded, Robert McAdoo deposed that he saw Silas Witt, since deceased, sign
his name. He seems to be
the Silas Witt whose gravestone in the Hopewell
Baptist Church
cemetery reads “29 September 1838,
aged 29 years.” He must have
married a woman named Mary sometime after 1830. This Mary Witt appears
near the other members of the family in the 1840 census, age 20-30, with a male
5-10 and two females under 5. She is clearly the “Mrs. Mary Witt” who
married Robert Elder in McMinn County
on 14 January 1841. Robert and Mary
Elder sold their interest in the estate of Nathaniel Witt in 1843. In
Robert Elder’s 1850 household in Meigs
County, Mary is age 40 and there
are three children who nicely match those in her 1840 household: William
(17), Sarah Ann (15), and Emaline (14). There are four other children
aged 1 through 7 who are Mary’s children by Robert Elder. Robert Elder
died testate in Meigs County
in 1863. Descendants of Robert Elder do not claim William, Sarah Ann, and
Emaline as his children, indeed they are not present in his own 1840
household. They seem clearly to be children of Silas Witt.
3.1.
William Witt (c1833 - 1862) He appears to be the William C. Witt
who married Mary J. Heron on 20 September 1855 in McMinn County and who married again to Margaret Owen on 20 October 1860 in Meigs County. He was apparently in a mercantile partnership
with William A. Rucker, who sued him in 1860.
He died intestate in McMinn County before 23 October 1862 when a year’s support was provided for his widow.
3.2.
Sarah Ann Witt (c1835 - ?) She was probably the Sarah Witt who
married A. B. Cate on 22 January 1860 in Meigs County.
3.3. Emaline Witt
(12
February 1838 – 17 March 1865) She seems to be the Emaline E. Witt who married
Evander McCorkle on 19 January 1860 in Meigs County. They appear in the 1860 census. She is
buried in the Goodfield Methodist Cemetery in Meigs County from which her birth and death dates come.
4.
Nancy Witt (8 June
1811 – 31 May 1863)
According to the Rucker book, she married William Rucker (c1804–1886). Her
birth and death dates are given in the book’s section on William Rucker. They sold her
interest in Nathaniel Witt’s estate in 1841. She was probably married by
1830, since William Rucker’s 1830 census entry shows a childless household with
a female aged 15-20 who is probably Nancy.
Like her sister, she named a child “Nathaniel Witt Rucker”. The first
child was born 4 March 1832,
consistent with a marriage date by 1830. They are in the 1840 census of
McMinn near James Witt. They are in the 1850 census of McMinn, Nancy
age 40, with eight children: Mary (19) James (17), Nathaniel (15), John
(13), Sarah (11), Matilda (9), Rachel(6), and Margaret (5).
They moved to Macon County, Illinois
about 1853 where Nancy died and
William Rucker remarried to Mary Houseworth. He and both wives are buried
in North Fork Cemetery
in Decatur, Macon
County. The Rucker book gives
the full names of the children, and names one additional child: Mary C.,
James Marion, Nathaniel Witt, John Lafayette, Sarah Elizabeth, Anna, Rachel,
Margaret, and William T. Rucker. This family is also covered in some
detail in the “CLHW” paper.
5.
Mary Witt (c1814 – aft1860) She was the wife of
George William Cate, named as an heir of Nathaniel Witt in both the 1841 and
1843 deeds. She appears to be one of the females aged 10-15 in Polly
Witt’s household in 1830. She and George W. Cate seem to have married
about 1832 judging from the children’s ages. In 1840, they were living
adjacent to William Cate Sr. in Bradley County, Tennessee, with four children
under 10. They apparently moved to Smith County,
Texas where they are in the 1850 and 1860
census (Mary aged 36 and 46). The eldest child was named “Nathaniel”.
6.
Elizabeth Witt (c1815 – c1877) The daughter in the
1830 household of Polly Witt, aged 15-20, appears to be the Elizabeth
Grisham, later the wife of Thomas Grisham, who sold her interest in Nathaniel
Witt’s estate in 1843. Census records suggest a birth year of 1815 and a
marriage date by 1835. They are in the 1850 census of McMinn
County (as “Grissom”), Elizabeth
as age 34. There are six children in the household: Susan, Lavista,
James, John, Joseph, and William. On 1 March 1867 Elizabeth Grisham homesteaded land on which
she lived, declaring that her husband had abandoned her and her family. [Thomas Grisham
apparently was in debt, as he was selling off his property at about the same
time.] A court record dated four years later indicates Thomas Grisham was living
in Arkansas. Indeed, the
1870 census shows the couple was back together in Hot Springs County, Arkansas,
both aged 52 (and with four additional children). By 1880, Thomas is in
the household of their son Joseph in Hood County,
Texas. Elizabeth
had died in 1877 according to descendants.
7.
Catherine Witt (c1818 – aft1860) Catherine Witt was
probably of age but unmarried when she sold her interest in her father’s land
in 1841, signing the deed with her mark. She was
apparently one of the two females aged 10-15 in Mary Witt’s household in 1830,
and the female 20-30 in the 1840 household. According to the “CLHW”
paper, Nathaniel Witt’s daughter Catherine “married a Mr. Ball in Tennessee
and she is said to have had an only child…Sene Ball b abt 1843 and died May 2,
1919 Birchwood, Tenn…[who] married Samuel Gamble…a brother of her uncle Joseph
Nathaniel Witt’s first wife.” Catherine
may have married a Ball after 1841, but she was using her maiden name again in
the 1850 census when Catherine Witt, age 31, was in the McMinn household of
Pleasant B. and Mary Bryan with a daughter age 7
named “Ascynith”. In 1860, Catherine Witt (age 42) and her daughter
“Amatha” (age 16) are in the Meigs County
household of her brother Joseph N. Witt. I could
not find her after 1860.
8.
William
M. Witt (c1822 – 1871) We have conflicting records of his birth
year, but it appears to be about 1822. He seems to be the male 5-10 in
Mary Witt’s household in 1830 and the male 15-20 in her 1840 household.
He married Elizabeth Hayes, daughter of Solomon Hayes (a neighbor of the Witts)
in 1845 according to his son-in-law. He moved to Titus County, Texas in
late 1846 with several others from McMinn. (See separate page.)
9.
Joseph Nathaniel Witt (31
December 1825? - September 1892) He was apparently an infant
at his father’s death, and must have been the youngest male in Mary Witt’s
household in 1830 and 1840. The “CLHW” manuscript is the only source I
have seen that names him as a son of Nathaniel Witt, and it contains quite a
bit of information about his descendants apparently provided by “Mr. Carter”. It gives his
birth date as 31 December 1827
(obviously impossible if he were Nathaniel’s son) and death date as September
1892. This birth date appears to be two years off, given the consistency
of later records of his age. He gave his age as 24 in 1850, and 34 in
1860, 44 in 1870, and 54 in 1880 – all of which suggest that the birth year was
actually 1825. He also testified in his pension application dated 4 July 1891 that he was 65, which
would be correct if the birth date was in 1825. On 4 January 1847,
Joseph Witt sold his interest in Nathaniel Witt’s estate to James E. Rucker,
having (probably) turned 21 four days earlier. He is in the 1850 census
of Meigs County
with his first wife, 16 year-old Charity A. Gamble whom he married in Meigs
County on 18 August 1849. Charity
evidently died and he married again to Mary J. Whitmore on 29 October 1856 in Meigs
County. They are in the 1860
census with the first two children below and his sister Catherine Witt. He apparently
remained in the same location, which was successively Meigs, Hamilton, and
James counties in the 1860-80 censuses. Joseph Nathaniel Witt served as a
Captain in the Union Army and applied for an invalid pension in Meigs
County in 1891. [The pension
was not granted because he died during the process.] He stated that he
had lived in Meigs County
since his discharge. The “CLHW” manuscript gives nine children, all by
the second wife: Maggie Henriette, William H., George, Nathaniel,
Joseph, Thomas, Walter Whittier, Mary Catherine, and May Belle.
This seems to match the names of the children in the census records.
William M. Witt
(c1822? – 1871)
William Witt’s birth date is uncertain. James Houston
Hayes, kept a diary late in his life which gives William Witt’s birth date as 16 September 1824. However, many of the dates in
that diary do not match those from other records, and it appears likely that
James Hayes wrote the wrong year. The only censuses we have suggest that
William Witt was a couple of years older – he gave his own age as 38 in the
1860 census and 50 in the 1870 census. In addition, Ora Witt Belton, the
late daughter of William Breckenridge Witt (see letter below) wrote in her
family Bible that her grandfather was born in 1817, though this was from her
own memory. Like many people at the time,
it is likely William Witt was not sure himself exactly how old he was.
The fact that he apparently signed the 1841 deed is good reason to suspect he
was of age, or nearly so, at the time.
The proof that William M. Witt was a son of Nathaniel Witt
is compelling, if a bit convoluted. The 1841 sale by the heirs of
Nathaniel Witt establishes that there was a son named William. The
question is whether ours is the same person. The “CLHW” paper provides a
valuable clue. It has no detail on William Witt, but states “Some say
he died near Athens, Tenn.; others say he moved to Texas…John Witt, son of
William Witt, lived in Texas, place not learned, and once visited in Tennessee.” This undoubtedly refers to the
John Witt below, who lived just a few miles outside Chattanooga
and did visit his Witt relatives in Tennessee.
We also know that William Witt’s father-in-law had lived in the same tax
district as the Witts in McMinn County,
and came with him to Texas.
In addition, several brothers-in-law from McMinn
County, and a Thomas Cate apparently came to Texas
with William Witt.
One of William’s children, William Breckenridge “Breck”
Witt, wrote a letter in 1947 to a great-granddaughter of William Witt which
cements the ancestry. We can’t take his statements
too literally, as Breck Witt was 90 years old at the time he wrote the letter,
and his father had died when he was twelve, but there is great value to his
statement:
My grandfather Witt [meaning
Nathaniel Witt] came from France
but I do not know his name. They settled in North
Carolina where my father was born. My
father’s name was William and he had two brothers named Joe and
Nathaniel. There were eight sisters which I know very little about.
Two of the girls married men by the name of Kates. One married a man by
name Rucker. One married a Mr. Box.
The family moved from North Carolina
to East Tennessee where my father married
Lizzie Hayes. My oldest brother was born in East
Tennessee. That was Jim. Then the family moved
to Titus County
near Old Snow Hill, where all the rest of the children were born…
This letter is very helpful in connecting William Witt to
his father Nathaniel Witt. William was probably born in McMinn
County, Tennessee.
Indeed, he gave Tennessee as his
birth state in the censuses of 1860 and 1870. His marriage to Elizabeth
“Lizzie” Hayes on 20 September 1845
is confirmed by her brother’s diary and other family records. It almost certainly took place
in either McMinn County,
where Solomon Hayes lived, or in neighboring Bradley
County. William M. Witt was a
resident of Bradley County
in 1845, when he and his brother-in-law G. W. Cate are consecutive signatures
on a petition in October 1845. In addition, James Houston
Witt, born just two months after the marriage, gave his birth place as Tennessee
in later censuses.
I don’t know exactly when he moved to Texas,
but the family legend is quite strong that it was in the winter of 1846. It seems very likely that
both William Witt and Solomon Hayes traveled to Texas
together, and that they settled in Snow Hill near one another.
Unfortunately, William Witt does not appear in the 1850 Titus county census,
though his father-in-law does. [I can’t find him in any state or county in
1850.]
The Titus County
courthouse burned in 1895 and only a few of its early deeds were recovered or
rerecorded. Among them are five deeds to or from William Witt. In a deed dated
1 May 1862, William M. Witt
mortgaged 18 acres near Snow Hill to T. P. Lockhart for $90. This land
bordered Solomon Hays, and was located just outside Snow Hill. Lockhart
was the principal merchant of Snow Hill at the time, and probably the only
lender in the area. That same day, William Witt sold to Lockhart, for
$1,000, 62 acres next to William Hayes.
According to Breck Witt, his father served in the CSA.
He was perhaps the William Witt who served as a private in Company A, 2nd
Battalion Texas Cavalry in the Civil War, enlisting at Camp
McGruder for six months, on July 27, 1863 and remaining on the
muster roll of that company through December 31 that year.
Technically, these were Texas State
troops, not the CSA. His son James Witt served in Well’s Regiment of
Texas Cavalry.
He was back in Titus
County by 11 October 1864, when he purchased 325 acres
(at $1 per acre) from Rebecca and Amanda
Province. This land was on
Boggy Bayou about 9 miles
northeast of Mt. Pleasant,
between Snow Hill and Daingerfield.
William M. Witt and Mary Witt, his wife, on 11 April 1868, sold to Cyrus Wright
71 /14 acres for $286. Finally, on 6 February 1871, William M. Witt sold
20 acres to Silas Osborn for $200 This was part of the James F. Box grant,
adjacent to “…the fourteen acres on which the village of Snow Hill now
stands.” All five deeds
identify him as “William M. Witt” and in each case he signed by making a mark.
I could not find William Witt in the 1850 census of either Tennessee
or Texas. However, he was
in the 1860 census of Titus County.
He was listed in the town of Snow
Hill with the first six children listed below, all but James listed as born in Texas.
He is shown as a farmer with $1,600 of real estate and $200 in personal
property. He could not read or write. The children’s ages are
accurate (the census was taken 6 August), and his age is given as 38, born in Tennessee.
There was no wife. James Hayes’ diary, which agrees with other family
records, says that Elizabeth Hayes Witt died 13 September 1859. [However, she does not appear
in the 1860 mortality schedules, which should have recorded a death within a
year of that year’s census.] By 1870 he had apparently moved onto the
Boggy Bayou land, and was enumerated in the vicinity of Mt.
Pleasant, age 50, with his second
wife Mary (Polly) Wright Beasley and the six younger children. Also in the
1870 household were four Beasley children and Amanda Price, age 13.
Elizabeth Hayes was the mother of William’s first six
children. After her death on 13
September 1859, William Witt married Mary (Polly) Wright Beasley,
who was the mother of the last two children. This Polly Wright (1830–
1911) was the widow of John Beasley. After William Witt’s death, she
married her third husband, William Hayes, in 1871. William Hayes was
Elizabeth Hayes’ older brother, thus giving Polly Wright a unique connection to
both William Witt and his first wife, Elizabeth Hayes. William and
Elizabeth are both buried in the old Hayes cemetery. Polly is buried in Concord
cemetery.
I think William Witt died on 12 October 1871. According to James Hayes’ diary,
the date was 12 October 1870,
but William Witt personally appeared in the Titus
County court on 10 February 1871 to acknowledge his deed to
Silas Osborn. The simplest explanation is that James Houston Hayes was
one year off. His dates, in several cases, do not agree with other
records. I’ve noted below the differences between the children’s birth
dates given by others and by James Houston Hayes.
1. James Houston
Witt (21 November 1845
- 7 July 1899)
James Houston Hayes’ diary records his own birth date as 22 November 1845. It’s interesting that
his diary also shows his parents’ marriage two months prior to his birth.
He married Unica Abigail Davenport on 1
December 1868. He was apparently named after his
uncle. [These were my father’s great-grandparents – see separate
page.]
2.
Joseph Witt (6
January 1848 - 1 June 1925).
James Houston Hayes’ diary records his birth date as 10 October 1847. He married Melinda V.
Barrier. They were in the 1880 Morris County, Texas census with children
Mary E., Louelly, and Robert Lee.
3.
Nancy A. Witt (15
October 1850 - 19 February
1929) James Houston Hayes’ diary records her birth date as 25 October 1851. She married
John T. Barrier.
4.
George
Washington Witt (14
February 1853 - 4 December
1943) He married Louisa Rebecca Cook on -- May
1872. [These were my mother’s great-grandparents – see separate page.]
5.
John M. Witt (17
January 1856 – 18 March
1934) James Houston Hayes’ diary records his birth date as 23 March 1855, but his death
certificate gives it as 17 January
1856. He had at least two wives, but I do not know their
names. In the 1920 census, his wife is named Sarah. His widow Jennie Witt
was the informant for his death certificate. When his father died, John
Witt lived with his older brother, James Houston Witt, and is in his household
in the 1880 census. When the post office was established in the town of Gavett
(changed to Omaha in 1886), he was
named its postmaster. He left Texas
for Tennessee about 1890,
apparently to study telegraphy, but went to Walker
County, Georgia
shortly thereafter. He was living in Chattanooga,
Tennessee by 1925 and died in Chattanooga,
Hamilton County, Tennessee.
His headstone is said to be in Chicamauga, Georgia
a few miles south of Chattanooga.
The “CLHW” paper (q.v.) mentions John Witt as the only child of William Witt
known to the author. He evidently visited Witt relatives while in Tennessee.
6.
William Breckenridge Calhoun Witt (23 January 1857 - 18 January 1952) He married Willie Huba Honeycutt.
“Breck” wrote the letter mentioned above to Mary Lou Witt in 1947.
7.
Robert Franklin “Doc” Witt (18 September 1862 - 28 June 1924) He married Samantha Elizabeth Hayes,
daughter of William Hayes, on 23
January 1882.
8.
Nathaniel Witt (30
January 1869 - 27 April
1887) He died at the age of 18, unmarried.
George Washington Witt
(14 February 1853 - 4 December 1943)
He was my mother’s great-grandfather, born 14 February 1853 in Titus County,
Texas according to his death certificate. He appears in his parents’ household in the
1860 and 1870 censuses of Titus County,
and in his own household in 1880.
He married Louisa Rebecca Cook, daughter of Andrew Barney
Cook and Sarah Gray Rountree, on 17
April 1872.
They had twelve children, all born in Cookville, according to information
received from both my grandmother (daughter of Andrew Witt) and from Mary Lou
Witt (daughter of Fred Witt). All twelve children survived him.
After Louisa’s death in 1920, George married Carrie McAdoo.
According to an old newspaper clipping, “Mr. G. W. Witt for
a number of years operated a brick kiln near the town [of Cookville].” However, he is listed in all censuses as a
farmer. He was listed in the 1880 census in Cookeville
as a farmer, with the first three children in the household. The 1900
census (1890 is lost) shows him in Cookville with children 4 through 10, again
listed as a farmer. The 1910 census shows him as a farmer, with the last
three children in the household, and in 1920 he is listed with his wife and
only Mildred in the household.
The 1900-1920 censuses show him living on Omaha
Road, apparently the road that is now US 67.
According to Mary Lou Witt, this farm was located just a mile west of the Morris
County line. He is listed in
Cookville in every census.
His obituary was carried in the Mount Pleasant Times
Review on 10 December 1943.
Pioneer
Resident Passes Away at Age of 91 Years
Funeral services were held
Monday afternoon at 2:00
at the Cookville Baptist
Church for George
Washington Witt, pioneer resident of Titus
County, who passed
away late Saturday afternoon [the 4th]. He had been in
bad health for a long time. Deceased was born on February 14, 1853, lacking only a few
weeks of attaining his 91st birthday. He was married to Miss Louise
(sic) Rebecca Cook in 1872, and to this union was born three sons and nine
daughters, all of whom still survive. They are Fred and G. A. Witt of
Cookville; Andrew W. Witt, Ft. Worth; Mrs. C. H. Wallace, Dallas;
Mrs. Margaret Spencer, Houston; Mrs. Ray Harvey, Ponca City, Okla.; Mrs. Virgil
Brooks, Mesquite; Mrs. George W. Williams and Mrs. William M. Fomby of
Sweetwater; Mrs. Duke Cantrell, Cotopaxi, Colo.; Mrs. Roy G. Nelson, Dumas; and
Mrs. Ennis Moore, Forney. He is also survived by 38 grandchildren and a
number of great-grandchildren and two brothers, Brack (sic) Witt of Texarkana
and John Witt of Tennessee.
He was a long-time member of the Baptist
Church. The
services were held under the direction of Rev. M. M. Pate, with interment
following at the Cookville cemetery…
His first wife and mother of all twelve children, Louisa
Rebecca Cook Witt, is also buried in the Cookville cemetery. I might note
that all family records give her date of death as 19 January 1920, but the 1920 census taken on 5 February 1920 shows her still alive.
His death certificate was apparently filled out by his son
Fred Witt. It gives his cause of death as “senility”, and gives his
father’s name as William Witt.
The children and descendants of William M. Witt were
documented in 1963 by Mary Lou Witt, a
daughter of Fred Witt below. Additional dates were provided by my
grandmother, Passie Louisa Witt Taylor, daughter of Andrew William Witt below.
The 1900 and 1910 censuses both asked the number of children by each
female, and the number still living. From these records, all the children
of the couple lived to adulthood.
- Andrew William
“Drew” Witt (12
May 1874 - 16 or 17 August 1965) He died in Ft.
Worth. He married
Georgia Ann Bynum on 23 July 1893.
[They were my mother’s maternal grandparents.]
- Fred
W. Witt (31 July 1876
- 14 July 1961)
He lived in Cookville, but died in the hospital in Mt.
Pleasant. Fred Witt was
a depot agent for the Cotton Belt Railroad, then opened a store selling
hardware and tack. He married Birdie Narcissus Cobb on 20 March 1898. Both
are buried in Cookville cemetery. They had five children:
Lillian (died as infant), Mary Lou, Evelyn, Fred Jr.(died as
infant), and Thomas Fred Witt. Their house in Cookville, built about
1904, was a well-preserved Victorian several years ago, located very near
the cemetery in which they are buried.
- George
Alphonso “Fon” Witt (19 August 1878 - 5 February 1975) He died in Cookville. He
married Mary Elizabeth Hall ca1902. They had six children:
Delphia Elizabeth, Anna Vivian, Ralph, William Theron, Quentin Durwood, and
Kenneth Earl Witt. {These are Joann van Boven’s grandparents.]
- Elizabeth
Gray “Bessie” Witt (5
November 1880 - 27
November 1967) She married Dr. Charles Harris Wallace
about1901. They were living in Dallas
in 1943, according to her father’s obituary. They had three
children: Imogene, Charles Harris Jr., and Witt Osler Wilson
Wallace, according to Mary Lou Witt. Bessie’s own obituary names
these three plus three other children who survived her: Mildred
Mathews, Jean Albord, Dowman, Dewey D., Charles H., and Witt O. According to the
obituary, she was to be buried at the Cookville cemetery. Bessie’s
obituary names eight of her brothers and sisters who survived her.
- Margaret
Bell Witt (31 December
1882 - 29 August 1977)
Her actual name may have been Maggie, as that is how she is listed in the
1900 census. She married Henry (Bunion) Traylor about 1900, then T.
C. Spencer. She had four children: Pauline Elizabeth, Wallace,
Barney, and Lucille Traylor. She was living in Houston
in 1943, according to her father’s obituary, and was still there in 1967
according to Bessie’s obituary. She died in Houston
in 1977.
- Illa
Mae Witt (4 March 1885
– aft1967) She married William Henry Blackwell on 13 January 1901. They had
two daughters: Edwina and Hope Blackwell. She later
married Adrian Leroy “Roy” Harvey in 1934. She was living in Ponca
City, Oklahoma in 1943,
according to her father’s obituary, and was still living there in 1967
according to Bessie’s.
- Sallie
Myrtle Witt (15 January
1888 – aft1967) She married Virgil Vivian Brooks
on 24 August 1907.
In 1966 she married Jack McCaskill. She had no children. She
was living in Mesquite in
1943, according to her father’s obituary, and was still living there in
1967 according to Bessie’s.
- Annie
Witt (10 July 1890
– aft1967) She married George W. Williams on 2 March 1908 in Mt.
Pleasant. They had two
sons: George Hansford and Billy Maurice Williams. She was
living in Sweetwater in 1943, according to her father’s obituary, and in Abilene
in 1967 according to Bessie’s.
- Virgie
Louisa Witt (25
September 1892 - 1
November 1961) She died at Cotapaxi,
Colorado where she was living at her
father’s death. She married Duke Cantrell and had three
daughters: Virginia, Marian, and Bobbye Jean Cantrell.
- Saddie
Marie “Pet” Witt (10
January 1896 – aft1967) Her given name was “Saddie
Marie” according to family records, but was known as “Pet” as early as the
1910 census. She married William Mathew Fomby in Cookville on 15 December 1912. They
had one child: George Harold Fomby. She was living in
Sweetwater in 1943, according to her father’s obituary and was still there
in 1967 according to Bessie’s obituary..
- Mildred
Cook Witt (7 July 1900
- 9 April 1973)
She married Roy Gladstone Nelson on 20 June 1920 in Greenwood,
Arkansas. They had six
children: Mary Louise, Roy Ned, James
Witt, Dorothy Faye, Charles Edwin, and Clyde Anthony Nelson. She was
living in Dumas in 1943, according to her father’s obituary and in
Cookville in 1967 according to Bessie’s obituary.
- Eva
Lou Witt (3 April 1902
- ?) She married Crawford Ennis Moore on 13 May 1924. Later, she married ____
Tabb. She had three children: Jess Ennis, Betty Lou, and Sally
Blanche Moore. She was living in Forney in 1943 and 1967, according
to her father’s and sister’s obituaries.
James Houston Witt
(21 November 1845 – 7 July 1899)
He was my father’s great-grandfather, born in McMinn
County, Tennessee before the
family moved to Texas.
He was apparently named after his uncle, James Houston Hayes (q.v.).
I really know very little about him. He appears in all the censuses I
checked (1860-1880) in Titus County,
and died there on 7 July 1899.
His gravestone still exists.
He married Unica Abigail Davenport on 17 December 1868 in Titus
County. She was the daughter
of Presley George Davenport and Sarah Ann Credille. [See DAVENPORT
and CREDILLE papers.] They appear in the 1880 census of Titus
County with his brother John Witt
and the first four children.
In 1915, Unica Witt applied for a widow’s pension based on James Houston
Witt’s CSA service.[2]
The pension was granted. She gave his date of death as 7 July 1898, but his gravestone reads
1899. In addition, the lodge book of the local Woodmen of the World
chapter recorded his death date as 7
July 1899.[3]
She gave their marriage date as 17
December 1868 and said James Houston Witt served in the cavalry as
a private soldier in Company D of Well’s Regiment, Two witnesses deposed
that they had served in the same company. William Allison deposed that James
Witt served from February 1864 through “the close of the war” in Company D of
Wells’s Regiment. C. W. Wright deposed that he enlisted in the
winter of 1863 and served “until the surrender”, initially in Goode’s Battalion
which was consolidated into Well’s regiment. Wright deposed that he was
his sergeant and “assigned him to duty many times.” Goode’s Battalion was
indeed consolidated into Well’s Regiment in early 1864. there are no
muster rolls for either unit, but there is one regimental return dated April
1865 for Company I that shows a J. H. Witt “absent without leave since March 18, 1965.”
Unica Davenport Witt died in Mount Pleasant
on 13 May 1835 of
influenza, according to the Mortuary Warrant filed by her son James Estes Witt.[4]
They had eight children, all documented by family records kept by several
descendants. I have old photographs of most of these children.
1. William
Presley Witt. (11 October 1870
- 6 November 1935).
He married Zula Pool on 7 February 1907.
2. Abigail
Victoria Witt. (7 May 1873 - 9 May 1946) She married William
Henderson on 13 December 1889.
3. Lou Ella
Witt. (4 May 1876 - 9
December 1969) She married Edward Young Anthony on 15 March 1896. These were my
father’s maternal grandparents. [See ANTHONY pages]
4. Walter Houston
Witt. (26 March 1878 – 1932) He married Alice Towler.
5. Ada
Matilda Witt. (c1880 – 1918). She married Wylie Alexander Hawkins
on 8 December 1907.
6. John Franklin
“Doc” Witt (c1884 – 1952) He married Willie Evans. Doc
played cornet in several bands, including John Phillip Sousa’s band, and was
later a high school and college band director in Tyler,
Texas. There is a lengthy obituary in the Tyler
Morning Telegraph issue of 8
February 1952.
7. Daniel Marvin
Witt (23 March 1888 –
1942) He married Annie Mae Coffey, then Ann Wilson.
8. James Estes Witt (c1894 – 1964)
He married Thelma Henderson. I ws told that Jim was a doctor in Mt.
Pleasant.
[1]
According to Vineta Witt Ketner, a granddaughter.
[2]
Widow’s Application for Pension (Texas),
No. 32166
[3]
Lodge book in the possession of James Coffee of Omaha,
Texas in 1975. According to the
minutes of that date, the meeting was adjourned so that the members could visit
with the widow and family, some of whom were “still ill”, apparently with the
measles.
[4]
Part of Pension File