John Whitsett of Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania and Orange County, North Carolina

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

John Whitsett of Pennsylvania and North Carolina

John Whitesides (Whitsett) took out his warrant for land in Lebanon Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1738. John was the first of our Whiteside/Whitsett group to appear in the records in Lebanon Township, four years before Ralph Whiteside obtained his warrant and whose land bordered that of John Whitesides. I believe that this John was the John Whiteside/Whitsett who went to North Carolina about 1750-53 and settled first in Anson County before part of it was split off to become Rowan County. He later moved to Orange County where he died in 1786. I have no single item of proof to show that John of Lebanon Township is the same John who died in Orange County. But, once again the circumstantial evidence we have collected, and the instinct that comes from working on this family for more than thirty years, tells me he is. Even so, without firm evidence you must considered this as only a hypothesis. I believe he is the John whose son John was the grandfather of first lady Sarah Childress Polk, wife of President James K. Polk. The Whitsitt family legends support this conclusion, even though in some accounts they skip a generation or two.

I find it interesting that John is listed as John Whitesides "Jr." on his 1738 Lebanon Township warrant application. Unlike today, in that era, "Jr." simply meant that he was the younger of at least two John Whitesides who lived in the same general area. Who was the "Sr."? Could John Whitesides, Sr. be the John Whitsitt of Peque Township? If so, were they related in any manner? For now, those are unanswered questions.

I can find no other John Whiteside/Whitsett in the records of Pennsylvania that I can identify as the John Whitsett of North Carolina. There is the John Whitsitt on tax lists and petitions dated from 1718 to 1735 in Sadsbury and Peque Townships of Lancaster County. However, I feel that this John would have been a bit too old to be our John who died in 1786 in North Carolina. The probable birth dates of the children of the North Carolina John also argue against it. The John of Peque Township must have been born no later than 1696 since he obtained his warrant for land from the Proprietors of Pennsylvania in January 1714/15. Even if he were only eighteen in 1715 he would have been almost 90 in 1786. Not impossible, but unlikely. Even so, historian Robert W. Ramsey of North Carolina states that the North Carolina John Whitsett was from Peque Township in Lancaster County. Whether he is right, or I am right, we both agree he came from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

John Whiteside’s name appears on an adjoining plot on several surveys of property in Lebanon Township dated from 1742 until 1750. That would imply that John was in Lebanon Township for at least a few years. I doubt that the land would be identified as belonging to John Whiteside for all those years if he had not lived there for some period of time. When Ralph's warrant was re-surveyed in 1760, at the time he sold the land, the survey showed that there was a conflict in Ralph's original warrant survey of 1742 and John's 1738 survey. It showed that Ralph's original survey intruded on John's by a few acres. To resolve the conflict an additional survey was ordered in 1760.

When Robert Varner’s tract was surveyed in 1754 an adjoining tract shown as belonging to John Whitesides on earlier surveys was labeled as belonging to Conrad Brown. I believe this is why John Whitesides’ warrant is shown as void on the warrant register and no date or patent information is given. Often, the original warrantee would simply walk away for his land (or sell it or turn it over to a neighbor). Another landowner adjacent to the vacated tract sometimes would appropriate the land into his own warrant. The vacated tract would usually be listed in the registers as vacated if abandoned, and void or appropriated if another warrantee adsorbed it. That seems to be the case with John Whitesides. Conrad Brown received his warrant for 100 acres in April 1750. At the time of the warrant, John Whiteside is shown adjacent to Brown’s tract on the east side. In 1754 when Varner received his warrant, both Brown’s and John Whitesides’ land is shown as belonging to Conrad Brown. This indicates to me that John Whiteside vacated his tract sometime between 1750 and 1754. This is important because the first record of John Whiteside/Whitsett in North Carolina is dated June 1753.

I believe that John left Pennsylvania with his family for Anson County, North Carolina about 1750. The trip from Pennsylvania to North Carolina could not have been an easy one. Just how did these Pennsylvania settlers come to North Carolina? Samuel J. Ervin’s A Colonial History of Rowan County, NC describes the route the Scotch-Irish and German settlers from Pennsylvania took to western North Carolina:

"On Jeffrey's map, a copy of which is in the Congressional Library at Washington City, there is plainly laid down a road called 'the Great Road from the Yadkin River through Virginia to Philadelphia, distant 435 miles.' It ran from Philadelphia through Lancaster and York [counties in Pennsylvania] to Winchester [Virginia], thence up the Shenandoah Valley, crossing the Fluvanna River to Looney's Ferry, thence to Staunton River, and down the river through the Blue Ridge, thence southward, crossing Dan River [Virginia] below the mouth of Mayo River, thence still southward near the Moravian settlement [North Carolina] to the Yadkin River, just above the mouth of Linville Creek and about ten miles above the mouth of Reedy Creek."

Many Scotch-Irish settlers to Virginia followed the upper part of this road to their destinations in Augusta, Albemarle, Amherst and Rockbridge counties in Virginia. Some of those same Virginians later came to North Carolina on the lower part of the same road.

North Carolina’s Rowan County was formed from Anson County in the spring of 1753. In June of that year the newly formed county court was held for the first time somewhere in Rowan County. A number of urgent issues for the new county were addressed during this first session. John Whitsett was appointed tax commissioner in John Robinson’s District, was named as treasurer of Rowan County and was appointed one of the commissioners to run the dividing line between Rowan and Orange Counties. Finally, he was appointed to see that land for public buildings in the new county seat of Salisbury was laid out in a suitable manner. His appointment to these offices indicates that John was already a landowner within the new county. It also indicates that he was a man of substance with an education better than most new settlers. It is evident that John Whitsett had been in the area long enough to gain a favorable reputation with the officials of the newly formed county. I have attempted to find records of him in Anson, the parent county of Rowan, but so far have been unsuccessful. Robert W. Ramsey author of “Carolina Cradle” states that John was in Rowan County by March 1754, and was operating a public mill on or near Grants Creek by 1757. During his stay in Rowan County his name shows up several times in the records of the county, but we need not go into further detail.

The last reference to John Whitsett in Rowan County is a deed from James Carr and wife Hannah Carr to John Briggs dated October 22, 1760. Briggs purchased 656 acres on Grants Creek from the Carr’s. The land is described as being adjacent to John Whitsitt and Alex McCulloh. In 1761 John Whitsett appears for the first time in the records of Orange County, North Carolina. Eight years later, on October 25, 1768 John Whitsett sold 100 acres in Orange County to Benjamin Stone. The deed is proved in court on the oath of Lawrence Thompson. Lawrence Thompson, Sr. was the father-in-law of John Whitsett’s son who was also named John. To confuse matters even more, in 1768 Lawrence, Sr. had an adult son who was also named Lawrence. It is impossible to tell if this record reflects the senior John Whitsett and Lawrence Thompson, or the junior John Whitsett and Lawrence Thompson or, a mixture of both. About 1769-70, John, Jr. married Sarah Thompson, daughter of Lawrence Thompson and Sarah Finney.

On February 7, 1769 John Whitsett, Sr. and John Whitsett, Jr. both signed a petition in Orange County applying for lots in the newly formed Quaker settlement of Wrightsboro, Georgia. Orange County Quaker leader Joseph Maddock founded Wrightsboro in 1767. The Quakers found life under North Carolina Royal Governor Tyrone intolerable. English laws forced everyone to pay a tithe to the Church of England, regardless of faith. For a while only ministers of the Church of England who charged a stiff fee could legally solemnize marriages. The Scotch-Irish and the German population largely ignored these laws but they still had a chilling effect on religious freedom. The colony of Georgia, on the other had, promised complete freedom of religion. The Quakers, probably in an attempt to populate the new colony, also welcomed the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, German Lutherans and the non-religious as well. In Orange County petitioners for land in Wrightsboro included Lawrence Thompson, Richard Bird and several other non-Quaker neighbors of the Whitsett’s.

About the same time as the Wrightsboro petitions, James Whitsett appears for the first time in the records of Orange County. He was a witness to the will of John Logue dated November 1, 1769. Several years later John Logue is a neighbor of John Whitsett, Sr. I believe that James was also the son of John Whitsett, Sr. He is probably the James who married Mary Moore according to family tradition. This James was probably born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in about 1745.

On July 3, 1770 John Whitsett, Sr. was granted 200 acres in Wrightsboro and his son John and wife Sarah (Thompson) were granted 250 acres. Sarah’s father (or brother) Lawrence Thompson was granted a like amount. Although the Colony of Georgia welcomed these peaceful Quakers and their allies, the Indians, on whose land Wrightsboro was located, did not. The Native Americans apparently made their opinions known quite forcibly almost as soon as the new white settlers set foot in Georgia. Within a year, a large number of these settlers returned to Orange County because of troubles with the Indians. In May 1771 a notice was posted in Wrightsboro listing those who had land surveyed for them but had left the colony. If those persons did not return by January 2, 1772 their land was to be forfeited. John Whitsett, Sr. is among those listed, as was Lawrence Thompson, Richard Bird and several others from Orange County. John, Jr. and his wife Sarah managed to sell their lot to John Hutchings and they also returned to North Carolina.

In November 1776 Samuel Whitsett and James Whitsett signed a petition of freeholders in Orange County complaining that the polls in Hillsboro had closed before everyone had a chance to vote. This is the first appearance of Samuel Whitsett in Orange County records. Again, without having direct proof, I believe that Samuel was also a son of John Whitsett, Sr.

On November 17, 1778 John Whitsett received a grant for 200 acres on Back Creek in Orange County. The land was located adjacent the lands of Thomas Hart and John Logue “on a great road leading to Hillsborough.” Given the description of the land on the survey, it is easy to find its exact location even today, 230 years later. Back Creek flows south-southwest into the Haw River a few miles below Graham, North Carolina in Alamance County. The “great road leading to Hillsboro” is today the approximate route of U.S. 70, which crosses Back Creek east of Burlington, North Carolina. John Whitsett’s land was bounded on the north by the road to Hillsboro with Back Creek flowing approximately through the middle of the tract. John received his grant in 1778 but the land was not surveyed until July 1782.

In 1779 John, James and Samuel Whitsett appear on the Orange County tax list. James is credited with 820 acres and John with 655 acres. Obviously, John had other land in Orange County besides the 200 acres on Back Creek. In July 1782, John’s land on Back Creek, granted him in 1778, was finally surveyed. The survey was sworn to and signed by Thomas Logue, Thomas Mulhollan and Samuel Whitsett.

In 1783 John Whitsett, Samuel Whitsett and James Whitsett filed claims in Hillsboro for goods and services rendered during the Revolutionary War. In November 1784, Samuel Whitsett is granted land on Back Creek adjacent to the land of James Whitsett. The survey, conducted in 1794 locates the land a little ways south of where John Whitsett’s land was located, near Burlington and Graham, North Carolina. In addition to Samuel, several ancestors of Professor William Thornton Whitsett lived in and around Graham.

John Whitsett, Sr. died, leaving no will, probably in June 1786. On July 4th, 1786 his widow held an estate sale. Unfortunately, she is referred to in the estate documents only as Widow Whitsett, thus we have no record of her given name. The inventory of the sale lists many familiar names in Orange County and neighbors of both John and Samuel on Back Creek. Among the names of buyers are those of some of John’s sons and daughters: Mary Whitsett; Sarah Whitsett; James Whitsett and Samuel Whitsett. Mary and Sarah purchased household items like cookware, spinning wheel, dishes, etc. James bought a man’s saddle, “a sow running at large”, a couple of mares, etc. Samuel bought a mare, but he also leased John Whitsett’s mill and plantation for four years.

Information on the many descendants of John Whitsett can be found here on the John Whitsett of Sumner County page. John Whitsett, Jr. He and his wife Sarah (Thompson), and his brother William and his wife Mary (Thompson) Whitsett removed to Davidson County (part which later became Sumner), Tennessee along with their father-in-law Lawrence Thompson and most of the Thompson family. Although we don’t know the exact date It appears to have been prior to the death of John Whitsett, Sr. On May 18, 1789 John Whitsett, Jr. was assigned a land grant by the heirs of Pvt. William Cain. The land was located on Smith’s Fork in what became Sumner County, Tennessee. John, Jr. and Sarah had a daughter Elizabeth who married Joel Childress; Elizabeth and Joel had a daughter Sarah Whitsett Childress. Sarah Childress married future President of the United States James Knox Polk in Davidson County, Tennessee. John and Sarah’s sons Lawrence and James Whitsett took their elderly parents with them when they removed from Tennessee to Greene County, Alabama in about 1818 settling near Havana. John and Sarah both died in Greene County and are buried on the farm of Ed and Mary Avery just south of Havana, Hale County, Alabama. Their graves are marked with two large flat stones. John’s is engraved: “John Whitsitt was born the 8th of October 1743 and died the 11th of August 1819. Sarah’s in engraved “Sarah Whitsitt was born the 15th of January 1747 and died the 31st of January 1831.” These stones are broken into multiple pieces and appear very old.

According to the evidence mentioned above, and other evidence I have collected on these families over the years, I believe some of the children of John Whitsett, Sr. are probably as follows: John, born Oct. 8, 1743 probably in Pennsylvania, married Sarah Thompson, daughter of Lawrence Thompson and died in Greene County (now Hale), Alabama; James, born about 1745 probably in Pennsylvania and died about July or August 1790 in Orange County; Samuel, born about 1752 probably in Pennsylvania who was the great-great grandfather of Professor William Thornton Whitsett; William who was born about 1755 in North Carolina and married Mary Thompson, daughter of Lawrence Thompson; daughters Sarah and Mary Whitsett who were apparently still unmarried in 1786 when their father died.

1. NOVEMBER 17, 1770 ORDER TO SURVEY LAND FOR JOHN WHITSETT ON BACK CREEK, ORANGE CO., NC

2. JULY 4, 1788, JOHN WHITSETT - WIDOW WHITSETT'S ESTATE SALE

Ronald N. Wall

Modified: 17 June 2018