Genealogy and family history of our Whitsett family of Lauderdale County, Alabama

Our Whitsett Family Groups And Timeline

GENERATION 1

The family tradition expressed by Jesse James Whitsett, son of John Whitsett of Lauderdale County, to his nephew that the Lauderdale County, Alabama family came to Alabama from Giles County, Tennessee. The only record of any Whiteside or Whitsett family in Giles County is on the 1820 and 1830 Censuses. William Whiteside is listed as a male between 60 and 70 years of age in 1830. In the household are two boys of the right age to be Joseph (Josiah) and John. These two boys are not in the household of Benjamin Price in Lauderdale County on the 1830 census of Lauderdale County. I believe the Giles County tradition comes from the fact that John and Joseph were raised, at least partially, in Giles County most likely by a relative.

Much information about the Lauderdale County, Alabama Whitsetts was derived from a letter dated November 17, 1929 from Jessie James Whitsett of Durant, Oklahoma to his nephew James Edward Whitsett, Weatherford, Parker County, Texas. Jessie James Whitsett was the son of John Whitsett. A photocopy of this typewritten letter was sent to me by his descendant Maida Whitten of Shawnee, Kansas many years ago.
The letter says, "Your grandfather, John Whitsett, the youngest of four brothers and two sisters. Wilson Whitsett, the oldest, Isaac Whitsett, the second, Joe Whitsett, the third and John Whitsett, the fourth and youngest, born in 1828. Do not know any dates. Their Farther and Mother came from Virginia to Jiles [Giles] County, Tennessee, and died there when the children were small and no dates were kept of anything. They were all adopted by one man and wife, a Mr. Ben Price, brought to Lauderdale County, Alabama, and raised there and lived and died there around Waterloo, except Father. He died in Pope County, Arkansas, when I was 6 years old. Your Father was 6 months old. There was one Brother, the oldest one never adopted, he being old enough to take care of himself and went to Georgia and raised up a family of boys there, all being railroad men. I saw a man who knew them after they were all middle aged men.
Jim, this is all I know about our direct people. Doctor Whitsett, of Fort Worth, has a biography of the Whitsetts, 330 years old. If he is still living, he is 55 or 60 years old. Please give me the outcome of this.
Your effectionate uncle, J. J. W."

Handwritten note by James Edward Whitsett (nephew of Jesse J. Whitsett).
J.E. Whitsett
Jno Whitsett my grandfather
Wilson Whitsett - 4 Brothers
Isaac Whitsett
Joe Whitsett
Jno Whitsett had three Children
James J.
Joseph W. (my father)
John (who died young)
Wilson Whitswett had 10 children
Cammie Whitsett
Will        ''
Kate       ''
Mattie     ''
Jane       ''
Joe Whitsett had two children
John W.
Lizzie - married a Lucas
Isaac Whitsett had two children
Phil W.
Wallace W. - Killed by a Yankee at Wright Ala ^[3]

Adam Whitsetts Estate [pg 125]
State of Alabama Lauderdale County ..
Personally came before me one Dan Williams an acting Justice of the peace for said county Simon Williams, James Bury senior - and John Martin; and was duly qualified as appraisor of the Estate of Adam Whitsett deceased - Given under my hand and seal this 17th day of February 1825 [signed] Dan Williams J.P.
Record of 26th of April 1825
Inventory of the sale of the Estate of Adam Whitsett decd February 17, 1825
[contains a list of buyers, articles and prices, among them were:
Wilson Whitsett 1 book and rasor...
Benjamin Price 1 bed and furniture... frisons and hooks]
___
I do certify that the foregoing contains a correct return of the Estate of Adam Whitsett deceased this 17th of February 1825
Sworn before me this 4th of March 1825 B.Price adm.
W.W. Lauard[?]clerk
     Recorded 26 of April 1825.^[1]

Census, Giles County, Tenn., pg. 172. ^[5]
Wm. Whitesides, 1 male 5-9, 1 male 10-14, 1 male 60-69; 1 female 20-29, 1 female 40-49

Census, Lauderdale County, Alabama, pg. 204
Wm. Whitset [Cumberland Presbyterian minister from North Carolina Not related to other Lauderdale Co. family], 1 male 5-9, 1 male 10-14, 1 male 15-19, 1 male 50-59; 1 female under 5,
1 female 5-9, 1 female 15-19, 1 female 40-49.
pg. 215
Ben Price, 1 male 15-19, 1 male 40-49; 1 female under 5, 1 female 40-49
Wilson Whiteside, 1 male 20-29; 1 female 15-19

GENERATION 2

Letter dated November 17, 1929 from Jessie James Whitsett of Durant, Oklahoma to his nephew James Edward Whitsett, Weatherford, Parker County, Texas. Jessie James Whitsett was the son of John Whitsett. A photocopy of this typewritten letter was sent to me by his descendant Maida Whitten of Shawnee, Kansas many years ago.^[3]
"Your grandfather, John Whitsett, the youngest of four brothers and two sisters. Wilson Whitsett, the oldest, Isaac Whitsett, the second, Joe Whitsett, the third and John Whitsett, the fourth and youngest, born in 1828. Do not know any dates. Their Farther and Mother came from Virginia to Jiles [Giles] County, Tennessee, and died there when the children were small and no dates were kept of anything. They were all adopted by one man and wife, a Mr. Ben Price, brought to Lauderdale County, Alabama, and raised there and lived and died there around Waterloo, except Father. He died in Pope County, Arkansas, when I was 6 years old. Your Father was 6 months old. There was one Brother, the oldest one never adopted, he being old enough to take care of himself and went to Georgia and raised up a family of boys there, all being railroad men. I saw a man who knew them after they were all middle aged men.
Jim, this is all I know about our direct people. Doctor Whitsett, of Fort Worth, has a biography of the Whitsetts, 330 years old. If he is still living, he is 55 or 60 years old. Please give me the outcome of this.
Your effectionate uncle, J. J. W."

Handwritten note by James Edward Whitsett (nephew of Jesse J. Whitsett).
--
Wilson Whitsett had 10 children
Cammie Whitsett
Will        ''
Kate       ''
Mattie     ''
Jane       ''
Joe Whitsett had two children
John W.

ROUSSEAU BIOGRAPHIES by Inez Jane Dennis (1965)^[8]
"John Harvey Rousseau was born abound 1828 in Bordeaux, France. He emigrated to this country, arriving in Virginia at the age of seventeen, accompanied by an older brother whom he callesd Sandy. By 1856 Harvey had settled in Lauderdale County, Alabama at Waterloo, a thriving center of river shipping on the Tennessee River. He was a carpenter by trade and made his own tools out of iron and wood.
"On January 20, 1857 he was married in Lauderdale County to Camilla Minerva Whitsett. Cammie, or Cam, Whitsett was a small woman-not over 5 feet, 3 inches-with a short oval face and a fair complexion. She had blue eyes, a small straight nose and dark hair - probably auburn. Cammie was born in 1840, one of the eleven children of Elizabeth B. Price and Wilson Whitsett, who were married in 1830 in Lauderdale County where they lived the rest of their lives. Elizabeth was born in Kentucky around 1812, the daughter of Benjamin and Jane Eliza Price, who were born in Kentucky and South Carolina respectively. Benjamin and Jane died in Lauderdale County in 1852; he was 67 and she was 65. They are buried in what is presently called the old Whitten Cemetery. This old cemetery-now abandoned-is located on a hill on the Wilson Whitsett property that was bought after his death by a nephew. Wilson Whitsett was one of the early settlers and cultivators of Lauderdale County. At the time of his death in 1878 he owned a farm of 824 acres on the hill above Second Creek and about three miles northeast of Waterloo."
pg. 6 -
"The first child of Cam and Harvey Rousseau, Charles Lee, was born in Lauderdale County in the early spring of 1858..."
"Cam and Harvey were the parents of five more children, all of whom were born near Waterloo in Lauderdale County. They were: Sterling Brice [Price?] (Sterl), born 1863; Jones William (Brew), born 1866; Edward, born 1870; Kate born about 1874; and Wilson Whitsett (Whitt), born 1877."
pg. 11 -
"... She reminisced about her parents, Elizabeth and Wilson Whitsett... Elizabeth died around 1859 [1879?] ... Harvey had built many of the houses in and around Waterloo, including one at Wright where Cam's sister Jane settled after her marriage. Jane, the oldest of the Whitsett children, smoked a clay pipe. Cammie had six other sisters and three brothers. The oldest brother, Ben, and three of the sisters, Nancy, Molly and Florence, died in Alabama before 1878. The remaining sisters and one of the brothers were married. One sister, Sally Webb, lived in Greene County [Arkansas] at Lorado; one, Kate Williams, had moved to Texas and the other, Harriett Young, was still in Alabama. The married brother, Isaac Jones, ran a saw and grist mill in White County, Arkansas ... The single brother, Willie Shaner, stayed in Greene County with Cam for several long periods then went to Texas and from there back to Alabama."

Census, Dist. 1, Lauderdale  County, Alabama, pp. 251,252.^[12]
Dwelling 289
Wilson Whitsett, age 40, Farmer, born in S.C.
Elizabeth, age 38, born in Ky.
Benjamin, age 17, "Asst"[?], born in Ala.
Margaret, age 13, born in Ala.
Camby, age 12, born in Ala.
Sarah, age 8, born in Ala.
Harriet, age 6, born in Ala.
Isac (sic), age 3, born in Ala.
Benjamin Price, age 65, Hog Feeder, born in KY.
Jane Eliza, age 63, born in S.C.

Dwelling 299
Thomas Simpson, age 59, occupation "Bts Farmer", born in S.C.
Polly Ann, age 40, born in Ky.
Christopher, age 21, occupation "Asst" [Assistant?] born in Tenn.
Jane, age 18, born in Ala.
(other Simpson siblings listed, but none are children of Christopher and Jane)

Census, Western Division, Lauderdale Co., Ala. pg. 42; P.O. Waterloo.^[13]
Dwelling 307
Christopher Simpson, age 32, Farmer, born in Miss.
Jane, age 30, born in Ala.
Rachel, age 6, born in Ala. [all children born in Alabama]
Margaret, age 4
Benjamin, age 7 months.

Pg. 46, Dwelling 337
Wilson Whitsett, age 51, Farming, born in N.Carolina.
Elizabeth, age 46, born in Kentucky
Harriet, age 15, born in Ala.
Isaac, age 12, born in Ala.
Florence, age 9, born in Ala.
Catherine, age 7, born in Ala.
Wilson, age 4, born in Ala. [probably William Shanner Whitsett]
Edward Patterson, age 19, teaching, born in Tenn.

pg. 58, Dwelling 435
Thomas Webb, age 19, Farming, born in Miss.
Sarah, age 18, born in Miss. [wrong]
Leutisha, age 12, born in Miss.

Census, Township 1 R 15 W, Lauderdale Co., Ala., pg. 475.^[14]
Dwelling 1640
Winston Whitsell, age 61, Farmer, born in N.C.
Elisabeth, age 56, Keeping House, born in Ky.
Harriet, age 24, born in Ala.
Jones, age 22, Farmer, born in Ala.
Florence, age 18, born in Ala.
Catherine, age 15, born in Ala.
Wilson, age 13, born in Ala. [probably William Shanner Whitsett]
Dwelling 1641
Jane Simpson, age 31, Keeping house, born in Ala.
Ann, age 14, born in Ala.
Elizabeth, age 12, born in Ala.
Benjamin, age 10, born in Ala.
Alaxey, age 7, born in Ala.
Lola, age 5, born in Ala.

Census, Beat 12, Lauderdale Co., Ala.^[15]
Pg. 10, Dwelling 1
Thomas J. Webb, age 38, Farmer, b. Miss., father b. Ala. mother b. Georgia
Sarah P., age 37, wife, Keeping house, b. Ala. father b. Tenn. mother b. Kentucky
Luther C., age 18, son, Works on Farm, b. Ala. Father b. Miss. mother b. Ala.
Bailey D., age 10, son, Student, b. Ala.
Arthur B., age (5?), son, b. Ala.
Thomas W., age 3, son, b. Ala.
Mallata, age 66, mother, b. Georgia, parents b. Georgia.

Pg. 17, Dwelling 9
Jane Simpson, age 49, Keeping House, born in Ala., father b. Tenn., mother b. Kentucky
Margaret E., age 22, daughter, At Home, b. Ala. parents b. Ala.
Marie, age 18, daughter, At Home, b. Ala. parents b. Ala.
Viola, age 13, daughter, At Home, b. Ala. parents b. Ala.
Benjamin, age 20, son, Works on Farm, b. Ala. parents b. Ala.

U.S. Census, Dist. 1, Lauderdale Co., Alabama, pg. 276, Dwelling 634.^[21]
Isaac Whitsett, age 38, Farmer, born in Tenn.
Elizabeth, age 34, born in Tenn.
William, age 14, born in Ala. [all children born in Alabama]
James, age 12
Philip, age 10
John, age 8
Samuel, age 4
Isaac, age 2
John Gilder, age 17, "Asst", place of birth unknown

U.S. Census, Western Division, Lauderdale Co., Ala., pg. 57 (159).^[22]
Dwelling 427
William Whitsett, age 22, Farming, b. Ala.
Mary, age 22, b. Ala.
William, age 11 months, b. Ala.
Dwelling 428
Isaac Whitsett, age 46, Farming, b. Tennessee
Bettie, age 43, b. Tennessee
Philip, age 17, b. Ala.
James [Isaac], age 12, b. Ala.
Owen, age 9, b. Ala.

U.S. Census, Schedule 2, Slave inhabitants, Western Division, Lauderdale Co., Ala., Isaac Whitsett.^[23]
1 age 35, Female, Black ... 1 slave house
1 age 20, F, Mulatto
1 age 13, F, B
1 age 3, F, B
1 age 3 mos., Male, Mulatto

Lauderdale County, Probate Court (Book C, pg. 385), Isaac Whitsetts Estate.^[24]
"P.W. Whitsett having filed a petition alledging that Isaac Whitsett late of said county died on or about the 14th of June 1865 intestate seized and possessed of lands and personal property to the probable value of Twenty five Hundred Dollars and that said decedant left the following heirs, to wit - Elizabeth Whitsett the widow of said decedant, P.W. Whitsett the petitioner & Owen Whitsett children of the decedant, Isaac Whitsett son of W.W. Whitsett dec'd & grandson of decedant all residing in Lauderdale County, Ala. and that he was a suitable person to administer such estate and on this day presented to the Court his bond in the sum of Five thousand Dollars with P.H. Cunningham and Wilson Whitsett as securities, said bond being approved It is ordered by the Court that letters of administration issue to P.W. Whitsett on the Estate of Isaac Whitsett Dec'd.

P.H. Cunningham, R.H. Rawlings & Thos. McCorkle are appointed appraisers for the purpose of appraising the personal property belonging to the estate of Isaac Whitsett Dec'd."

Whitsett relatives on the Lauderdale County Tax List, Waterloo.^[25]
Waterloo
Property owner                     Acres        Total Tax      Males 18-50 years
Simpson, Jane                       140           1.40
Whitsett, Wilson                    840           6.72
Whitsett, P.W. Adm. I. [Isaac]    220            7.70
Whitsett, Elizabeth                Personal Property
Whitsett, P.W.

Spains
Whitsett, Joseph                    169            2.63

U.S. Census, Lauderdale Co., Ala., T2R14W, PO Waterloo, pp. 245,246.^[28]
Dwelling 1813
J.M. Whitsit, age 56, Farmer, b. Tenn.
Kissiah, age 56, Keeping House, b. Tenn.
Josiah Lucas, age 11, Farm Hand, b. Ala.
Owen Whitsit, age 19, Farm Hand, b. Ala.

Dwelling 1815
William Lucas, age 52, Farmer, b. Tenn.
Margaret, age 36, Keeping House, b. Tenn. [Elizabeth Margaret Whitsett daughter of Joseph M.]
William J., age 26, Farm Hand, b. Tenn.
Jane, age 22, b. Tenn.
Cynthia, age 17, b. Ala.
Isaac, age 15, Farm Hand, b. Ala.
Mary, age 14, b. Ala.
Callie, age 6, b. Ala.
Alice, age 15, b. Ala.
Lizzie, age 5, b. Ala.
Daniel, age 2, b. Ala.

ELIZABETH MARGARET WHITSETT, b. abt. 1835, probably in Lauderdale County, d. bef. 1878; m. 1 Sep. 1858, WILLIAM G. LUCAS, Lauderdale County, Alabama.^[32]
Children: i.   JOSIAH LUCAS, b. Feb. 1860, Ala., d. ?;^[29]
          ii.  CALLIE LUCAS, b. abt. 1864, Alabama;
          iii. ELIZABETH "LIZZIE" LUCAS, b. abt. 1865, Ala.;
          iv. DANIEL LUCAS, b. Oct. 1868, Ala., d. ?, m. abt. 1888, RHODA L. (maiden name unknown), several children;
          v.  HUGH A. LUCAS, b. June 1873, d. ?, m. SARAH A. (maiden name unknown), at least two daughters;

JOHN WILLIAM WHITSETT,^[29,33] b. 15 Feb. 1837, Alabama, d. 20 Dec. 1899, Lauderdale Co., Ala., m. 11 Aug. 1856, NANCY P. PARKER^[29,33] (b. 18 Feb. 1838, d. 14 Mar. 1908, Lauderdale Co).
Children: WILLIAM JOSEPH WHITSETT, b. July 1858, Lauderdale Co., d. 1936, Shelby Co., Tenn., m. ABT. 1882, AMANDA EVALINE THREAT (b.  Sep. 1857, Ala., d. 11 Feb. 1929, Shelby Co., Tenn.), two children, Owen Boyce and Clara O. Whitsett;
          JOSEPH MADISON WHITSETT (b. abt. 1860, Ala., d. ?);^[29]
          WASHINGTON WHITSETT, b. Feb. 1863, Tenn., died abt. 1912, Oklahoma, m. abt. 1886, JOSIE E. WHITTEN (b. Apr. 1869, Tenn., d. aft. 1920), five children, Johnnie F., Pearl L., Lee Owen, C. McKinley, Johnson Whitsett;

U.S. Census, Western Division, Lauderdale County, Alabama, pp. 55,67.^[29]
Dwelling 412
William Lucas, age 43, Farming, b. Tenn.
Elizabeth, age 25, b. Ala.
Thomas, age 18, Farming, b. Ala.
William, age 16, b. Ala.
Marinda, age 12, b. Ala.
Cynthia, age 8, b. Ala.
Issac, age 6, b. Ala.
Josiah, age 5 months, b. Ala.

Dwelling 516
John Whitsett, age 23, Farming, b. Ala.
Nancy, age 23, b. Ala.
Joseph, age 1, b. Ala.
Dwelling 517
Josiah Whitsett, age 46, Farming, b. Tenn.
Kiziah, age 46, b. Tenn.

Nancy Whitsett is a bit of an enigma. Her relationship to the Whitsett families of Lauderdale County, Alabama is uncertain; however, she was in Phillips County, Arkansas during the same time period as John and Cynthia Whitsett. Her place of birth was consistently reported as Kentucky while the Whitsett brothers of Lauderdale County, except for the eldest (Wilson) was Tennessee. Wilson, by most accounts, is usually reported as Kentucky or North Carolina. I have placed Nancy here only as a possibility.

Ronald N. Wall

Created: 23 December 2020