Elizabeth Whitsett, Immigrant From Ireland to Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania sister of the early Whitsett brothers who came to America between 1730-40

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Whiteside and Whitsett Pioneers and The Whitsett Family of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Elizabeth Whitsett (Whiteside) Welsh

On February 6, 1738, Elizabeth Whiteside "of Quittapahilla" married John Welsh “of Quittapahilla”. The ceremony was performed by neighbor and Lutheran minister Rev. John Casper Stover. A history of St. John’s Church in Jonestown, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania says, "By Quittapahilla is meant the Hill Church, on the ridge known as the Gravel Hill, about halfway between Lebanon and Annville. Quittapahilla was the earliest name of this church." The Hill Church still exists and is located on the northern edge of what was the land of Rev. Stoever. John Welsh subsequently obtained land adjoining Stoever’s just north of Hill Church. John Welsh married Anna Sharp on June 9, 1742 four years after he married Elizabeth. It appears to me that Elizabeth died, perhaps in childbirth, the leading cause of death in young women before the modern era. Welsh obtained his warrant in Lebanon Township on November 25, 1745. The tract was patented many years after Welsh left it, in January 1785, by the heirs of Peter Yetter. Immediately south of Welsh’s land was Rev. John Casper Stoever. Stoever’s survey shows that adjoining tracts with his were those of John Cryder, Widow Hyde, both John and Ralph Whiteside and William Allen. Stoever’s land is described as being on the waters of Quitapahilla and Mill Creeks.

The union between John and Elizabeth produced at least one child. There seems to be a continuing relationship between the Whitsett family and John Welsh long after Elizabeth died. On March 3, 1761 John Welsh obtained two town lots in Carlisle, Cumberland County. This was near the same time that Ralph and James Whiteside removed from Lancaster County, Lebanon Township to Cumberland County. We know that by 1761 there were two John Welsh’s in Cumberland County. It is my guess that John Welsh, Jr. was the son by Elizabeth. The younger Welsh was probably 17 or 18 years old and just starting his life as an adult.

In 1762, among the taxables in Carlisle, Cumberland County were “Widow Welsh” and John Welsh leading me to suspect that John Sr. died in Carlisle shortly after moving there, survived by his second wife and oldest son, John. On the same tax list is William Whiteside. John Welsh (Jr.) apparently moved from Carlisle to Newbury Township about the same time as Ralph’s son Samuel Whitsitt. Both warrant applications, one for John Welsh and one for Samuel Whitsitt, were dated on April 10, 1767. This is just a little more evidence that there was a tie between the two families.

A John Welsh also shows up in Westmoreland County after the American Revolution. It is impossible to tell from these records if he was the same John Welsh from Cumberland and York counties. This John Welsh was granted a warrant in Westmoreland County for 200 acres on October 11, 1787. The tract was located in what became Armstrong County. In January 1789, John Welsh patented a tract on a warrant originally issued to Joseph Wiles in 1786. This tract was in Hempfield Township about the middle of present day Westmoreland County (Hempfield is the location of the county seat). This is the last record I have found of John Welsh. I was not actively searching for him in these records, so I am sure there are other records of western Pennsylvania that might provide additional insight into who this Westmoreland John Welsh was, and if he was connected in any way with our Whitsett’s.

Ronald N. Wall

Modified: 27 August 2018