The History of Our Whitsett Family
of Lauderdale County, Alabama

By Ronald N. Wall
March 2007

Part 1

The Origin of Our Whitsett Family

Recent yDNA results from at least one descendant of Wilson Whitsett of Lauderdale County, Alabama strongly suggests that our Whitsett's are part of the same branch of the Whiteside clan as that of William and Elizabeth (Stockton) Whiteside of Tyrone and Rutherford County, North Carolina.  The yDNA indicates that Adam Whitsett of Lauderdale County, Alabama was a descendant, most likely a grandson, of William and Elizabeth.  To date, I have been unable to identify the connection.  The family and many of the descendants of William Whiteside (who also used Whitsett) and Elizabeth Stockton are well documented.  The Whiteside Family Association gives William Whiteside the family number 9000.

A commercial organization that sells coats of arms and histories of surnames is not the most reliable source of family history. However, in 1994 Sue and I purchased one these documents for the surname Whitsett at an Irish festival in Phoenix, Arizona. It appears to contain authentic research concerning the Whitsett name. It gives the following information on the origins of the name. It states that “Whitsett” is derived from the name “Whiteside” and it appears that most of the references apply to the latter spelling.

According to this document, published by The Hall of Names, Inc. (1994), professional analysts researched the history of lowland Scotland and northern England, including the Inquisition, the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, the Ragman Rolls, the Hearth Rolls, the Doomsday Book, parish records, baptismal records and private collections. The first record of the name Whitsett appears to be found in Lanarkshire (England) where they lived on Whiteside lands from very early times. From time to time the surname was spelt as Whiteside and Whitesides as well as Whitsett.

When the border of England and Scotland was created many Strathclyde families straddled the border but continued to be unified clans, powers unto themselves. After 1000 A.D., border life was in turmoil. In 1246, six chiefs from the Scottish side and six from the English side met at Carlisle and produced a set of laws governing all border Clans. These were unlike any laws prevailing in England or Scotland. For example, it was a greater offence to refuse to help a neighbor recover his property, wife, or livestock than it was to steal them in the first place. The term “Hot Trod” referred to a hot pursuit (from which comes the modern expression “hot to trot”).  A person could be hanged instantly without benefit of a trial for refusing to assist during a “Hot Trod.” While refusing to participate in a “Hot Trod” was a serious offence, stealing livestock was an acceptable way of life on the border.

In 1603, the Scottish and English crowns became united under King James VI of Scotland, who was also crowned King James the 1st of England (commissioner of the King James version of the Bible). The Crown dispersed these unruly border clans, which had served loyally in the defense of both sides. The unification of the governments was threatened and it was imperative that the old border code should be broken up. The border clans were banished to England, northern Scotland and Ireland. Some were outlawed and banished directly to Ireland and the New World.

Some of the border clans settled in Northern Ireland, sent there between 1650 and 1700 with grants of land provided they remained Protestants. They became known as the “Undertakers.” In Ireland no fewer than eighteen heads of families of Whiteside migrated there, and became an influential force. For instance, a Miss Whiteside married the Chief Justice of Ireland in 1740, the Right Honorable Warden Flood, of Flood Hall in county Kilkenny. Records show that some of these families were known by the name as Whitsitt or Whitsett, as well as Whiteside.

By 1730, many of these Irish Protestants were dissatisfied with life in Ireland.  Many of the original land leases were lapsing and landlords were drastically raising rents. The several of the Whitsett families looked to the New World. They left Ireland aboard the “White Sails,” an armada of sailing ships such as the Hector, the Rambler and the Dove which struggled across the stormy Atlantic. Some ships lost 30 or 40 percent of their passenger list, migrants who were buried at sea having died from diseases and the elements.

Commercial purveyors of coats of arms aside, it is generally accepted by most Whitsett researchers that the name “Whitsett” was derived from the name “Whiteside.”   It occurs in the Ulster province of Northern Ireland in the counties of Armagh and Antrim among the Scotch-Irish Protestants.  There was apparently a large clan of Whitesides and Whitsitts in these two counties. I have not found, what to me is a definitive explanation of the evolution from Whiteside to Whitsett, or why one was considered the equivalent of the other.  However, there are several examples in documents of the late 1700’s and early 1800’s that show both uses, and they occurred both in Ireland and America.  Most likely it was because "white side" and "white site" were commonly used to indicate a location. Whiteside, as with many names, derived from a place, such as the white side of a hill (limestone) or riverbank.  It was also common to drop the "e" making "white" into "whit" and side and site into "sid," "sit" or "set." 

In Ireland, one of the earliest records of the name is William Whitesitt who was listed as a member of the Ulster Province Friends (Quaker) meeting at Charlemont in county Armagh on July 27, 1695. In 1696, William Whitesite and Mary Calvert were married in a Friends ceremony at the house of Thomas Calvert near Carreckfergus in the county Antrim.  Susanna Whitsite of the Grange meeting near Charlemont in Armagh married James Moore of Ballymoney meeting on October 24, 1701. William Whitsitt of Charlemont is again listed in the Ulster Province meeting of March 30, 1702. John Whitsitte of Grange near Charlemont and Ruth Robson of Lurgan in Armagh were married in a Friends meeting on June 11, 1703.  The will of William Whitsitt of Dreemore manor of Dungannon in the county Tyrone near Charlemont was probated in 1732. The will mentions wife Mary Calvert Whitsitt. These records can be found in Albert Cook Myers’, “Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania 1682-1750 with Their Early History in Ireland,” published by the Genealogical Publishing Company of Baltimore in 1969.

The first families who preferred variations of the spelling “Whitsett” or “Whitsitt” apparently arrived in America in the 1730’s or 1740’s. These Scotch-Irish were a tough bunch and were use to harsh living conditions. They tended to move to the frontiers of the colonies and many became fierce Indian fighters, among them, William Whitsett of western Pennsylvania. The Scotch-Irish did not care much for the English government, whom they felt had oppressed them in Ireland and they were in the forefront of the American Revolution. After the Revolution it was mainly the Scotch-Irish in the frontier regions of Pennsylvania and Virginia that were instrumental in the Whiskey Rebellion protesting the new United States government taxes on whiskey. One of these was Samuel Whitsett of Fayette County, Pennsylvania and later Montgomery County, Kentucky. It was the Scotch-Irish who led the push into the wildernesses of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and other western territories. Our branch of Whitsetts apparently settled before the American Revolution in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and then North Carolina.

North Carolina

The first record of a Whitsett in North Carolina is found in the Rowan County court minutes of June 1753 when John Whitsett is appointed tax commissioner in John Robinson's district and is tasked to survey a line dividing Rowan and Orange Counties running from the Dann River to "Buffelow Fork" as far as King's settlement.  In September of that year, he is security for Jeremiah Bailey to operate a ferry over the Yadkin River at Bailey's plantation.   In July 1754, John Whitsitt is appointed by the Rowan County Court to act as treasurer for a group of commissioners. They were to lay off streets and lots for sale in the town of Salisbury which was to become the county seat.  In 1757, John Long is appointed commissioner in place of John "Whitsits" because Whitsett was occupied by the business of his mill. The following year Long is again appointed to replace John "Whitsite" as commissioner.  In 1760, deeds recorded in Rowan County give the location of John Whitsett's plantation as on Grants Creek.

In 1761, a John Whitsett of Orange County sold 100 acres to Henry Grace.  The researcher who found this document did not extract the location of this land.  This is the first record of a Whitsett in Orange County.  There is no way to know if this is the same John Whitsett as the one in Rowan County.  John Whitsett may well have owned land in both places.

In 1762, John Braley sold to Abraham Whiteside 596 acres on a branch of Reedy Fork, which is a branch of the Haw River. This area is in present day Guilford County, North Carolina.  A historical map of Guilford County shows that between 1762 and 1764 Abraham Whiteside settled near the confluence of Long Branch and Reedy Fork.  I have found no later reference to Abraham Whiteside. 

In October 1768, John Whitsett sold Benjamin Stone 100 acres in Orange County.  The deed was proved in open court on the oath of Lawrence Thompson.  In November 1769, James Whitsett is witness to the will of John Louge in Orange County. 

On May 4, 1769, John Whitsett is granted land on Steel Creek in Mecklenburg County.  He and his wife Rachel sell the same land to Mathew Knox in April 1775.  Between 1773 and 1775, documents in Mecklenburg County mention John Whiteside/Whitsett and his wife Rachel, William Whiteside and James Whitsett.

When the first census of the United States was taken in 1790, there were Whitesides and Whitsetts recorded in three North Carolina counties. 

There were also Whitsetts in Orange County in 1790 as evidenced by tax lists; however, the census returns for Orange County have been lost as have the Rowan County census returns.

Ten years later the second census of the U.S. was taken. In 1800, Whitesides and Whitsetts were listed in the following counties:

There are many examples in North Carolina documents to show that these families used both versions, Whiteside and Whitsett, in official records and probably their day-to-day lives.  It is so common that one may assume they considered the names to be equivalent.

For example, land records in Orange County, North Carolina record the property of Samuel Whitside and John Whitsett who received warrants for land in Orange County.  A survey record for land warrant number 425 on the waters of Back Creek in Orange County dated November 17, 1778 gives the name of the owner as John Whitsett on the outside of the document, but gives his name as John Whitesett in the body of the text. One of the witnesses signed his name as Sam’l Whitsett. A land warrant number 1002 for fifty acres was surveyed on January 27, 1794 for Samuel Whittsid. The land was also on the waters of Back Creek. A second document, the order to survey this same land, came from John Butler, Entry Officer of Claims for lands in Orange County. It clearly states the name as Samuel Whitsett. These fifty acres were adjacent to Samuel’s other land of 190 acres. The document for the survey of the 190 acres, dated May 10, 1794, lists the name Sam’l Whitsett on the outside of the document and Samuel Whittsides in the body of the text.

John Whitsett died in 1788. An estate sale was conducted and the record of the sale lists among the buyers Samuel Whitsett and James Whitsett. The administrators’ bond for the estate lists among the administrators Sam’l Whitesides and James Whitsides. These are probably the same men as those listed as buyers.

The 1779 tax list of Orange County gives the names James Whitsitt, John Whitsett and Sam’l Whitsitt. The 1780 tax list gives the names of these same tax payers as Samuel Whiteside, Jas. Whiteside and Jno Whitesett.

On September 2, 1805 the Raleigh Register announced that on August 15th Mr. William Whiteside and Miss Jane Harden, daughter of John Harden, Esq. were married in Orange County. We know from collaborating evidence that this was the Reverend William Whitsett, son of Samuel Whitsett. Jane, wife of William, is mentioned as Jane Whitsett in the will of her father John Harden.

In 1832, Adam Sharp of Rockingham County, North Carolina filed a pension application for service in the Revolutionary War. In it, he states that he was drafted as a private for nine months under Captain William Whitsett and Major Richard Singleton and in 1782 served for three months under Captain Whitsett. We know from other sources and a Whiteside genealogy that Adam Sharp was referring to William Whiteside, brother-in-law to Richard Singleton both of Rutherford County, North Carolina. Their Revolutionary War service is well documented. The Whitesides were a distinguished family in Rutherford County, many of whom removed to Kentucky and Illinois and whose descendants still use the name Whiteside.  Of this family was lawyer Thomas Whiteside, a distinguished resident of Maury County, Tennessee. He occasionally spelled his name as “Whitsett.” 

These examples clearly show that Whitsett and Whitsitt were at one time excepted forms of the perhaps more formal “Whiteside.”  They also show that in North Carolina there are several possibilities for the origin of the Lauderdale County, Alabama Whitsett family.

The Origins of the Whitsett Family of Lauderdale County, Alabama

NOTE:   As stated at the beginning of this section, recent yDNA results from at least one descendant of Wilson Whitsett of Lauderdale County, Alabama strongly suggests that our Whitsett's are part of the same branch of the Whiteside clan as that of William and Elizabeth (Stockton) Whiteside of Tyrone and Rutherford County, North Carolina.  The yDNA indicates that Adam Whitsett of Lauderdale County, Alabama was a descendant, most likely a grandson, of William and Elizabeth.  To date, I have been unable to identify the connection.  The family and many of the descendants of William Whiteside (who also used Whitsett) and Elizabeth Stockton are well documented.  The Whiteside Family Association gives William Whiteside the family number 9000.

I have been unable to trace with certainty the origin of the Lauderdale County, Alabama four Whitsett brothers, Wilson, Isaac, Joseph (or Josiah) and John. Some time before 1825, Adam Whitsett came to Lauderdale County, apparently from Giles County, or possibly Maury County, Tennessee, and settled near Waterloo, Alabama.  The first settlers to this part of Lauderdale County arrived in about 1824 and so it is a good guess that it was about this time that Adam Whitsett arrived in Alabama.  Adam died on February 17, 1825 and his estate was appraised and inventoried that same day by Simon Williams, James Bury (or Berry) Sr. and John Martin.  The return from the estate sale was recorded on April 26, 1825 and Benjamin Price signed his name as the administrator of the estate.  Among the buyers of the estate was a young Wilson Whitsett who purchased a book and razor, spending about 44 cents.  Many of the names on these estate documents are found on Lauderdale County census returns generally in the townships surrounding Waterloo and Wright.  Click here to see an image of the Inventory of the Estate. Click here for the Estate Sale Record.

Although I and other researchers have been unable to trace back these Whitsetts to before Adam Whitsett's death, we do have several clues that may one day solve this puzzle.  Mrs. Maida Whitten, with whom I have corresponded for several years, and a descendant of the brother John Whitsett, has a letter written in 1929 to her great uncle James Edward Whitsett in Weatherford, Texas by his uncle Jesse James Whitsett of Durant, Oklahoma. 

Mrs. Whitten also has a handwritten note by her uncle James Edward that gives the names of Wilson, Isaac, "Joe" and John and the names he remembered of some of their children.  This evidence, although not conclusive, makes me believe that Adam Whitsett was the father of the four Whitsett boys.  It could well be that the family lived for awhile in Giles County, Tennessee before moving south to Lauderdale County.   Except for one possible exception (mentioned below), neither Maida Whitten nor I have found any records of the family in Giles County, Tennessee.  The date 1828 Mr. Whitsett gave for the birth of the youngest brother John Whitsett is incorrect.  According to the 1850 Census, Phillips County, Arkansas, Spring Creek Township, pg. 160 it was more like 1821.  He would have been very young when his parents died.  His place of birth is given as Tennessee.  The oldest brother Wilson Whitsett was probably born about 1808, possibly in North Carolina.  One census says South Carolina.  Some of his children on the 1880 and 1900 censuses give his place of birth as Tennessee.  Other sources, far less reliable, say that he was a "Kentuckian."  Census records for Lauderdale County also show a Joseph Whitsett born in 1810 in North Carolina. There is some confusion about this Joseph that I will discuss later.  Isaac Whitsett was born about 1812 in Tennessee; brother Josiah M. Whitsett was born in 1814, also in Tennessee.  If there was indeed another older brother it is likely he was born about 1806.  As to Virginia as their origin, the Whitsett families of North Carolina probably came there from Virginia around 1760.  Other family historians claim that the family came from Ireland between 1730 and 1740, first to Pennsylvania, then Virginia and then North Carolina.  There is some documentary evidence to support this scenario.

These clues allow us to do some speculation.  My guess is that Adam Whitsett married in North Carolina probably about 1804-1805.  There is an Adam Whitsett in Orange County, North Carolina on the 1800, 1810 and 1820 censuses.  There is also a recorded marriage bond for an Adam Whitsit on July 29, 1793 (the name of the bride is not listed); however, it is my guess that this was probably not our Adam Whitsett.  But, these records show that Adam was a name used in the Whitsett family of Orange County, North Carolina. 

Another possibility for the origin of our Adam Whitsett (if he was indeed from North Carolina) is the family of William and Elizabeth (Stockton) Whiteside of Rutherford County, North Carolina.  William and Elizabeth had a son Adam who probably removed from North Carolina to Tennessee.  He is listed on the 1810 Rutherford County, North Carolina census.  Supposedly, this Adam Whiteside settled in Maury County, Tennessee near Giles County.  However, his age category, 45 or over, on the 1810 census for Rutherford County leads me to suspect that he is too old to be the father of the Lauderdale County boys.  According to Whiteside genealogists, this Adam died about 1825, close to the time our Adam died, presumably in Maury County.  Although many of the William and Elizabeth Whiteside family group settled on the spelling Whiteside, it is known that several members did use the Whitsett form of the name on occasion, especially during the eighteenth century, as I pointed out earlier.  There was a John Whitsett and family in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina as early as 1753 and a Whitsett family in Mecklenburg County by 1769. As far as I know the lineage of these families have not been traced.

The 1820 census in Maury County, Tennessee of the "Addam" Whiteside household consisted of two males under 10, one male 10-16, one male 16-18, one male 16-26 and one male 45 years of age or older.  The presumption generally has been that this Adam was the son of William and Elizabeth Stockton Whiteside.  The 1820 U.S. census has the extra seemingly duplicate 16-18 category for males not the head of household and the 16-26 for males including the head of household.  Unfortunately, this is very confusing and one can never be sure if the individual in the 16-18 category is also listed in the 16-26.  Three young females 16 or younger and a female between 26 and 45 are also listed in the household. 

Let us imagine for a minute that this "Addam" is the same as the one who died in Lauderdale County five years later.  The males in the indicated categories could be: Joe, age 6 and Isaac, age 8 (2 males under 10);  Wilson, age 12 (1 male 10-16); the unnamed brother possibly age 16 (1 male 16-18); one unidentified male between 16-26.  With sons between twelve and eighteen, Adam must be the male age 45 or over.  We have no names or other information on any of the females in our Adam Whitsett's family so we cannot compare those categories.

Perhaps another clue to the ancestry of our Whitsett family is a comparison of the 1830 census of Giles County, Tennessee and the same year for Lauderdale County, Alabama.  On the Giles County return is William Whitesides.  This is the one exception to the lack of records in Giles County.  In the household is one male between 5 and 10 years of age, one male between 10 and 15, and a male between 60 and 70 years of age.  Also in the household is a female between 20 and 30 and one between 40 and 50.  Could William be the grandfather of our Whitsett brothers? Could John (age 9) and Joe (age 15) be the two boys in the household?  The Lauderdale County census lists Ben Price and in his household is only one young male between 15 and 20 (probably Isaac, age 18) and an older male between 40 and 50 (almost certainly Benjamin, the head of the household).  Females in the household is one 5 or under and one between 40 and 50.  Wilson Whitsett is listed on the same page of the census as "Wilson Whiteside" with only one male between 20 and 30 (Wilson age 22) and one female between the ages of 15 and 20 (wife, Elizabeth age 18).  This census clearly shows that young Joe and John Whitsett were not in the Ben Price household in 1830.  Where they in Giles County, Tennessee living with a relative?

The older brother whose name J.J. Whitsett did not know could have been William.  On October 18, 1829, Justice of the Peace William Bradshaw married William Whitsett and Parmelia Hunter in Lauderdale County. This marriage is recorded in Lauderdale County Marriage Book 2, 1825-1833.  This William does not appear on the 1830 census of Lauderdale County; however, the Reverend William Whitsett who lived and preached in Florence is on this census.  He removed from Lauderdale County to Memphis about 1833   However, on the 1840 census in Lauderdale County, in addition to W. Whitsett and I. Whitsett, is listed a W. Whitesides. The household consisted of one male between 20 and 30; one female between 40 and 50 and two females between 50 and 60.  There is no other record, that I can find, of William and Parmelia Whitsett.  Although this William may have been the fifth unidentified brother I feel it is more likely he was the son of Rev. William and Jean Harden Whitsett (Rev. Whitsett was married to Jane Harden in Orange County, North Carolina.  This union is well documented. Rev. William Whitsett died about 1855 in Memphis and Mrs. Jane Whitsett died in Memphis on April 2, 1876).

I have also looked for any Whitsett men in Georgia who might be related to the Lauderdale County families.  So far, I have had no luck. I wonder if maybe uncle Jesse James Whitsett was mistaken about the state.  I am on the look-out for any Whitsett "railroad" men from any southeastern or mid-south state.

 

Tennessee and The War of 1812

The young Whitsett family left North Carolina for Tennessee probably about 1809.  I do not believe that they went directly to Giles County, but that is just a guess.  I feel that they probably settled first in Maury County, just north of Giles.  Unfortunately for us, the 1810 census for Maury and Giles counties have been lost.  The 1820 census returns for both counties do exist and there are no Whitsett families listed in Giles County. In Maury, as I have mentioned before, is an Adam Whitesides and a few other Whiteside families.  I think it is likely that the Maury County Adam Whiteside is our Adam Whitsett of Lauderdale County.  The family tradition that they came to Alabama from Giles may stem from the fact that the two youngest boys, Joseph and John, may have lived for awhile with a relative William Whiteside, perhaps a grandfather, in Giles County after the death of their father.  In the household of William Whiteside of Giles County in 1830 are two young males who fall into the right age categories to be Joseph and John.

I think it is important to understand the times in which our ancestors lived.  Knowing the history of the time and area can provide us with valuable insights into the lives of our ancestors and helps us analyze clues to their origins and identities.  For that reason, I hope you will indulge me while I talk about the War of 1812 as it effected people in Tennessee.  I think it was a watershed event that played a part in Adam Whitsett's eventual move to Alabama.

Our Whitsett family had only been in Tennessee for a couple of years when the War of 1812 erupted.  Most of the fighting was far to the north of Tennessee, but President James Monroe called on Tennessee to help defend the "lower country" against a British invasion from the Gulf of Mexico.  Masses of Tennessee men of all ages rushed to join companies being formed.  They volunteered in such numbers that Tennessee earned its nickname as the Volunteer State.  I think it is probable that some adult males in our Whitsett/Whiteside family were among those eager to get into the war.  However, I have found only scant evidence to support this idea.  We do have a record of Private James Whitsett in Coffee's Regiment but I have not been able to determine who he was.  Also, an Absalom Whitsett (ancestor of the Whitsett family of Marshal County, Tennessee) died during the Creek Campaign about 1814 (some records list him as Absalom Whitsell).

In December 1812, General Andrew Jackson put together an expedition with orders to move to the gulf coast to defend Mobile and New Orleans.  Two volunteer regiments were formed in Nashville under Colonels Thomas Benton and William Hall.  In Columbia, Maury County Colonel John Coffee gathered a regiment of mounted riflemen.  Among John Coffee's volunteers was the Private James Whitsett whose name appears on muster roles for Coffee's regiment.   Andrew Jackson with Benton and Hall set out in January for New Orleans on a flotilla traveling down the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi rivers.  Coffee's men marched overland south through Mississippi territory.  The entire expedition made camp in Natchez, but in March 1813, General Jackson received orders to disband his army.  An angry and frustrated Andrew Jackson was determined to take the men back to Tennessee himself and led the march back north.  It was during this difficult trek back to Tennessee that Andrew Jackson earned the nickname Old Hickory for his stubbornness and determination. The march was along what is known as the Natchez Trace and it went through what was to become Lauderdale County, Alabama near present day Florence.

After returning to Tennessee Jackson's army had little to do except to protect against local Indian raids. That changed in late August 1813.  Civil war had broken out among the Creek Indian tribe between traditionalists, who were called the Red Sticks, and progressive factions who advocated pro U.S. Government plans to change their society from hunting to agriculture and a conversion to Christianity.  The latter group contained many of mixed Indian and white blood.  In August the Red Sticks attacked and massacred 250 men, women and children of the pro U.S. Creeks at Fort Mims near present day Mobile.  The Tennessee legislature ordered Jackson to take his army and quell the warring Red Sticks.  Andrew Jackson and now General John Coffee took 2,500 men south into the Mississippi Territory (today's Alabama).  At Huntsville they crossed the Tennessee River and established Fort Deposit, a supply base for the expedition. From there the Tennessee volunteers entered rugged Creek Indian territory.  For the men from Tennessee this was the War of 1812.

On the Coosa River near a spot known as the Ten Islands, Jackson's army built Fort Strother. This was the main base of operations during the Creek Indian War.  Fifteen miles away was a Creek town where many of the Red Sticks had gathered. Jackson ordered Coffee to take his Mounted Rifles and destroy the town.  Coffee's men circled the town and quickly overpowered and eliminated the Indian warriors.  Afterwards Coffee wrote, ""... the enemy fought with savage fury, and met death with all its horrors, without shrinking or complaining: no one asked to be spared, but fought as long as they could stand or sit."  The legendary Davy Crockett, one of Coffee's soldiers, said simply, "We shot them like dogs."

Shortly after this engagement, a friendly Creek village at Talladega sent Jackson a plea for help. The town was under siege by Red Sticks. The Tennesseans immediately set out for the town.  Again the Red Sticks were soundly defeated with over 300 enemy Indians dead.  Jackson's losses were fifteen killed and 86 wounded. Nine days later an army of East Tennesseans and allied Cherokee Indians under General James White attacked the Hillabee Creek village.  The Hillabee's had been talking to General Jackson about terms for surrender. Jackson tried to notify White of the negotiations but the message reached the East Tennessee army too late.  Nearly seventy surprised Hillabee men were killed and 250 women and children taken prisoner. The Hillabee's felt betrayed and became some of the most dedicated Creek fighters against the American army during the rest of the war. In December 1813, enlistments for Jackson's original army began to expire. Jackson dismissed the men after the aborted Natchez campaign but they were recalled in September.  Jackson demanded that his men stay on; he said that the time between April and September when the were not in the field did not count as part of their one year enlistment agreement. The men disagreed.  Despite threats from Jackson most of the men left for home.  To make matters worse, militia units that had enlisted for three months were also at the end of their terms.  Jackson was left with a drastically reduced force. He was advised to give up the campaign until the following spring, but Jackson was nothing if not stubborn.  In January two regiments of raw militia troops arrived from West Tennessee to replace the men that had gone home. These green troops saw some of the worst fighting of the war. During January Jackson's army engaged the Creeks at Emuckfau and Enotochopco.  General John Coffee was wounded in these engagements. At the end of the fierce fighting Jackson's army suffered twenty killed and seventy-five wounded. The Creeks suffered more than 180 killed.

Map of the Creek War Campaign. Click on picture for a larger image.

In February Jackson dismissed his veterans.  5,000 more volunteers from Tennessee and the 39th U.S. Infantry, replaced the veterans.  Cherokees allied with the regiment from east Tennessee also came.  Among the Tennessee volunteers was Absalom Whitsett whose family later settled in Marshal County, Tennessee.   Absalom died in the Mississippi Territory during the Creek Campaign of 1814 .

With his new army, Jackson attacked the Creek Indian fort at Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River. When the fighting was over more than 900 Creeks were dead.  It was the most devastating defeat of Native Americans in history.

The warring Creeks, by now starving and with no hope of victory began to surrender. A treaty was signed at Fort Jackson in August 1814.  That same month Jackson was commissioned a Major General in the regular U.S. Army for his successes during the campaign against the Indians. 

A few remaining Red Sticks fled to Florida where they allied themselves with the British.  In September 1814, the Red Sticks and their new British allies attacked the U.S. fort near Mobile. The attack was unsuccessful.  Next Jackson, without authorization from the U.S. government, captured Pensacola, then a Spanish possession and eliminated the British base of operation in Florida.  From Pensacola Jackson marched his army to New Orleans.

In December 1814, Jackson occupied New Orleans and set up fortifications to defend against the immanent attack by elite British forces fresh from their victory at Waterloo over Napoleon.  New Orleans was an important strategic port and the British needed it to consolidate their position in the south.  The Battle of New Orleans was actually a series of battles running from December 1814 into January 1815.  The final defeat of the British actually came after the treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the war on December 24, 1814.  News of the end of hostilities did not reach Jackson or the British commanders until after the British defeat on January 8, 1815. However, the battle which would have been unnecessary if communications had traveled more quickly, firmly established the United States as a power to be reckoned with.  The young United States defeated, or at least fought to a draw, one of the most powerful nations on earth.

As for the Creeks, they were forced to surrender 20 million acres to the U.S. in retribution for their part in the war.  It mattered little to politicians that much of that land belonged to the friendly Creeks.  In fact, wealthy politicians and land speculators were the major supporters of the Creek War.  They hoped that a defeat of the Native Americans would make available large tracts of land in the eastern Mississippi Territory.   This is exactly what happened.   Not all of this land was wilderness by any stretch of the imagination.  The Creeks and other tribes were farmers as well as hunters and they had much land near their villages under cultivation.  Some of these farms belonged to white men, or their descendants, who had married Creek brides.  None of that mattered to the land speculators. Shortly after the war a land rush began.  By 1819 hundreds of thousands of white settlers swarmed into the territory and in that year the state of Alabama was admitted to the Union as the 22nd state.

The year before Alabama became a state, James and Lawrence Whitsett brought their parents, John and Sarah (Thompson) Whitsett from Sumner County, Tennessee and settled in the newly formed Greene County (now Hale County).  John and Sarah were the grandparents of Sarah Childress Polk, wife of future President James Knox Polk.  John died there on August 11, 1819.  He and Sarah are buried just south of Havana where today you can still see their graves. 

The Civil War in Lauderdale County

Forty-two years later, an even more destructive war changed the course of history in Lauderdale County. The grandchildren of Adam Whitsett would bare the brunt of it.

In January 1861, the Alabama legislature voted to succeed from the Union. In the northern counties, a majority of the citizens favored remaining in the Union but the southern counties, dominated by large plantation and slave owners who had the majority of representatives, carried the vote. The southern counties were more heavily represented in the legislature because three-fifths of the slaves in the county were counted when determining the number of representatives elected. This system ensured that the wealthy plantation owners controlled the politics of Alabama. Interestingly, John Childress Whitsett of Sumter County was one of these men. He was the son of James Whitsett and grandson of John and Sarah Thompson Whitsett. John and Sarah were the grandparents of Sarah Childress Polk, former first lady and wife of President James K. Polk. John Childress Whitsett served in the state legislature and was a land speculator. He dealt mostly in ceded Indian lands in Mississippi. He also made good use of his connection to President Polk.

The Whitsett families in Lauderdale County supported the Southern cause. Perhaps the first to enlist was John Harvey Rousseau, husband of Wilson Whitsett’s daughter Camilla. I have been unable to find his service record but Inez Jane Dennis in the ROUSSEAU BIOGRAPHIES (1965) states that he enlisted in a cavalry unit, perhaps in Huntsville probably about 1861. Although his name does not appear on company rolls, I have a hunch he was in the 4th Alabama Cavalry, which was responsible for the defense of the Tennessee River. The 4th was known as Roddy's Alabama Cavalry and later Johnson's Alabama Cavalry. Private Christopher C. Simpson, husband of Wilson’s oldest daughter Jane, joined Company H of the 4th Alabama Cavalry. Also in this company was Private John William Whitsett, son of Joe and Kissiah Whitsett. Private Thomas Jefferson Webb, husband of Wilson’s daughter Sarah Price Whitsett, joined Company B of the 27th Regiment of Alabama Infantry. Two of Isaac Whitsett’s sons, William Wallace and Phillip W. Whitsett joined the Confederate Army in April or May 1861. Wallace Whitsett joined Robinson’s 2nd Tennessee Infantry in Memphis that year and Phillip joined Company D of the 9th Alabama Infantry, known as the Lauderdale Rifles, when it was organized in Lauderdale County.

The 4th Alabama Cavalry was organized in Tuscumbia, Alabama in October 1862 and took a leading role in defending Lauderdale County. They were involved in several actions in Lauderdale and Franklin counties.

The 27th Alabama Infantry was organized in December 1861 at Fort Heimen in Tennessee. The unit was first sent to defend Fort Henry where they were defeated by General Grant's army, then to Fort Donelson where most of the men were captured (later released in a prisoner exchange).

Company E of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry saw action along the Mississippi River in Missouri and Tennessee, fought in the Battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga, Georgia.

The Lauderdale Rifles joined with the Army of Virginia and saw most major actions with it, including Gettysburg.

Except for William Wallace Whitsett and possibly Christopher Simpson, the men survived the war. Tradition in the Simpson family states that Christopher died before 1866 but the details are not known. I believe that he died in the war.

On February 6, 1862 Fort Henry in Tennessee, the only fortification defending the upper Tennessee River from the Union Army, fell to General Grant's (Union) Army of Tennessee. Two days later Union gunboats arrived at Florence. The citizens asked the Union commander, Andrew Foote, not to burn the town or the Florence Bridge. Commander Foote agreed. His main goal was to capture or destroy Confederate gunboats, two of which were burned and 20,000 pounds of supplies captured. However, in March, Confederate General Albert Johnston ordered the bridge destroyed to prevent an invasion by Grant's Army of Tennessee into Alabama. In April, Johnston's Confederate forces met Grant's army some twenty miles north west of Waterloo in what has become known as the Battle of Shiloh at Pittsburgh Landing, Hardin County, Tennessee. Shiloh was one of the bloodiest battles in the west with over 23,000 Union and Confederate dead or wounded. The South took the initial victory but ultimately lost because of miscalculations by Confederate commanders and their failure to press their advantage, giving the Union Army time to reinforce. The loss at Shiloh eventually cost the South the entire Tennessee River Valley, including the northern counties of Alabama, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee.

On April 9, 1862, only two days after the Confederate defeat at Shiloh, Union Calvary entered Lauderdale County and attacked the community of Rawhide (now Cloverdale). Throughout 1862, raids into Lauderdale County became more frequent, led many times by local men in the Union Army. Confederate deserters also preyed upon the local populace. Most of the population of Lauderdale County was left destitute before summer arrived in 1862. At first, the county tried to help those who were suffering the most, but by early 1863, there were no more money available and people were left to fend for themselves. In June 1862, the Union’s 10th Kentucky Regiment occupied Florence and its commander immediately took brutal measures to intimidate the citizens of Lauderdale County. In July, an angry citizen of Waterloo took pot shots at Union gunboats passing town, doing little or no damage. The boats responded by shelling the town.

About this time, Harvey Rousseau was on his way to Waterloo and met a small band of Federals. Ms. Dennis in ROUSSEAU BIOGRAPHIES tells the story.

On her death bed in 1922, Sarah (Whitsett) Webb, daughter of Wilson and Elizabeth Price Whitsett, and widow of Thomas Jefferson Webb, told how the Yankee soldiers would hunt down local Confederate soldiers and shoot them on the spot. Local people, including the Webb’s, would try to hide the southern soldiers as best they could. She told how the Yankees would come into the house while they were eating and yank the tablecloth off the table, sending the dishes and food to the floor, and then laugh about it. During those desperate times Sarah saw a woman walking barefoot along the railroad tracks. When Sarah went up to the woman she saw that the woman’s feet were sore from going barefooted. Sarah took off her own shoes and gave them to the woman. Just before she died, Sarah laughed and said that she had never had to go barefoot since then. Sadly, Sarah suffered a sudden and fatal heart attack immediately after telling the story.

In May 1863, a Federal force of almost 1,400 men again entered Lauderdale County near Cloverdale. This raid was intended to destroy the production of cotton, wool, iron foundries and food production in Lauderdale County. Confederates commanded by General Wood of Florence resisted the Federals but the Union soldiers succeeded in destroying many of their targets and reached the outskirts of Florence before retiring back across the border into Tennessee.

Various skirmishes between Confederate and Federal units continued in Lauderdale County until the end of the war. People of the county were plagued by roving bands of Federals raiding and looting civilians. They suffered almost beyond description. Many of the local soldiers deserted the Confederate Army not because of disloyalty, but because of the terrible hardships their families were suffering back home.

William Wallace Whitsett was murdered “by a Yankee” near Wright, Alabama. I believe this happened shortly after his enlistment expired in 1864 and while he was returning home to his family. A few months earlier, his brother Phillip deserted the Confederate Army. He was captured by Union troops while attempting to return home and spent the remainder of the war in a prisoner of war camp near Nashville.

Before the end of the war, industry in Waterloo and Lauderdale County was destroyed. The area did not begin to recover until after the Tennessee Valley Authority projects in the 1930's. The terrible economic condition in Lauderdale County was probably the leading motive for many Whitsett family members to leave Alabama after the war for Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Adam Whitsett and Lauderdale County, Alabama

In 1816, the Cherokees, Chickasaws and Choctaws were also forced to cede their lands to the United States.  In the end, the Indians were left with only one forth of their territory in Mississippi.  The government then sold the ceded land to speculators.   A land rush ensued as people from Tennessee, North and South Carolina and elsewhere eagerly flocked to the fertile lands along the Tennessee River Valley.  Nothing like the rush to obtain land would be seen again until the Oklahoma land rush seventy years later.  The trails through Tennessee leading to northern Alabama were clogged with wagons and settlers as people made their way south.  One traveler wrote that he was never out of sight of wagons and people on the Military Road into northern Alabama.  When the State of Mississippi was formed in 1817, the eastern portion of Mississippi Territory was split off as the Territory of Alabama.  The territory was named for the Alibamu tribe of Native Americans who considered it home from pre-columbian times.

The population grew so fast in the new territory that Alabama became a state only two years later. Wealthy slave owners purchased large plantations on the best of the land, but most people settled on less fertile land in the hills of the north.  They were simple farmers with few or no slaves and marginal resources.  Many of these people squatted on their land until it was available for purchase from the government or from land speculators.

The territorial legislature created Lauderdale County in 1818.  It was named for Colonel James Lauderdale who was killed in the Battle of New Orleans while serving under General John Coffey.  Coffee made the original survey of the Tennessee River Valley in Lauderdale and Limestone counties.  He moved to Lauderdale County and purchased the land for the town of Florence and laid out the plans for the village.  General Andrew Jackson and President Monroe both purchased lots in the town.  Coffee's home site and grave can be seen today near Florence in Lauderdale County.

Land for the village of Waterloo was purchased by a group of investors who included Gabriel Bumpass.  Bumpass was a well known and well educated physician from North Carolina.  There is some evidence that he may have been an acquaintance of Wilson Whitsett.  Bumpass lived to an extreme old age. 

Town lots in Waterloo were first offered for sale just when the national economic collapse of 1819 occurred and the land rush stopped dead in its tracks.  Banks, enticed by a heated real estate market, had overextended credit and with the crash many speculators were unable to make their payments when they came due.   Scores of banks and land companies went bankrupt.  The crisis began to improve only after Congress passed the land act of 1820, which cut in half the price per acre and also cut the minimum amount of land that could be purchased from the government from 160 acres to 80 acres. The first significant number of settlers came to the Waterloo area about 1824.  It is about this time that Adam Whitsett removed from Tennessee to Lauderdale County.

The inventory also indicates that Adam had brought in at least one crop of corn and cotton on his plantation.  Enough time had elapsed since he had settled in Lauderdale County for him to clear some land, plant a crop and harvest it.  It seems to me that he must have arrived on his homestead no later than the spring of 1824. 

Names on his estate bill of sale are familiar ones in the Waterloo area.  Although we have no precise location we can be fairly confident that Adam Whitsett had settled near Waterloo in western Lauderdale County.  Apparently, there are no land records for Adam Whitsett in Alabama.  This is not a surprise.  Many of these early settlers purchased their land from the U.S. Government and the title was not recorded by the BLM until the land was paid for in full.  Also, as mentioned before, many squatted on the land until they had the time or money to take care of the legalities.  Titles for Benjamin Price's lots were not recorded until the late 1840's and early 1850's when he finally paid the debts in full.  The same is true of Wilson Whitsett who probably purchased land in the early 1830's but did not pay off the debts until the early 1850's. 

The sale of Adam Whitsett's estate was held on March 4, 1825.  Benjamin Price was the administrator of the estate and certified and swore to the correctness of the inventory of the sale. The sale inventory lists the same items as the February appraisal along with the names of the buyers and the amounts paid for each item.  Interestingly, Benjamin Price purchased one of the beds and sets of bedroom furniture.  Family tradition says that the Whitsett boys were raised by Ben Price after the death of their parents.  Ben Price probably found he suddenly needed an extra bed.  The estate sale is also the very first record of Wilson Whitsett (then about 14 or 15 years of age).  Wilson bought a book and a razor for 43 cents.  This single book is a clue that Wilson and probably others in the family were able to read and write.

I find interesting what is not listed in the estate.  Farm implements are listed, such as a plow, but no draft animals such as a horse or oxen.  These were absolute necessities on farms of that era and Adam had harvested at least one crop so he somehow had access to these animals.  A cow and yearling calf were sold to Philip Bryan but that was the only livestock listed in the estate.  There is no wagon listed.  I assume that Adam brought his household goods, farm implements, seed cotton, seed corn and his family from Tennessee in a wagon of some sort.  Did the Whitsett family travel with another family perhaps who provided the transportation?  In most estates of this era you usually find a musket and powder horn.  It seems strange to me that the Whitsett family did not have at least one.  On the frontier, hunting wild game usually provided protein in the form of meat.

Family tradition in the descendants of Adam's son John says that there was an older brother whose name we do not know and two sisters, names also unknown.  The oldest brother was old enough to be on his own when Adam died.  Supposedly, he left for Georgia and raised several sons who turned out to be railroad men.  It may be these men later went to Texas where the acquaintence of Jesse J. Whitsett met them.  I have searched for Whitsett males on various censuses whose occupation indicated they worked with the railroad, but to date have not identified any possibilities.

A Nancy Whitsett married Joab Langston In Phillips County, Arkansas in 1844.  During the 1840's, Adam's sons Joseph and John both lived for awhile in Phillips County.  It is certainly possible that Nancy was one of the unnamed sisters.  I looked for "Langston" on the 1850 and 1860 censuses but could not find a family that might be appropriate.  Wilson Whitsett named one of his daughters Nancy when she was born in 1835. 

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Sources

Ronald N. Wall
Copyright © 2004. All rights reserved.
Revised: 02 JUNE 2011