THE WHITSETT IMMIGRANT BROTHERS - FROM IRELAND TO PENNSYLVANIA, NORTH CAROLINA, KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE
The Pennsylvania story is the result of several months of research of Pennsylvania
state records by William R. Whiteside, chief historian
for the Whiteside Family Association and me. Most of these
records came from various sites on the Internet. I believe
that there is much more material available at the local
level in the areas where the Whiteside’s and Whitsett’s
lived in Pennsylvania. Those resources are records in
local historical societies and records kept in county
archives. An additional bonus would be church records
if they could be found. Investigating those types of records
is beyond our capabilities at the present time. More and
more records are being made available on-line. Perhaps
in the future we will be able to access local records
on our PC’s from the comfort of our homes. We need
additional evidence in the form of concrete documentation
of the make up of these families. That type of evidence
is usually found in wills, probate records, court records
and deeds. In Pennsylvania, all of these records are kept
at the local level.
This essay contains theories and educated guesses based on the documents
we were able to locate. The path to the truth begins with
a hypotheses and this text represents the first step on
that road. What we have been searching for is historical
fact, not a convenient explanation. If our theories are
good they will stand the test of time and if not, they
will fall by the wayside, rightfully so. The conclusions
represented here are not carved in stone. We are willing
to consider any documented evidence. There is always the
possibility that we misinterpreted our documentation.
If you dispute our analysis, we will welcome a constructive
discussion of that evidence. You may not change our minds,
but I assure you we will give your views the consideration
they deserve. Documentation is critical. Claims by family
historians not backed up by solid evidence are no good
for our purposes. All too often, family historians are
looking for a quick and easy account of their family history.
This does everyone a disservice. Of what value is a family
history if it is not true? It is especially damaging when
others copy these “histories” and family trees
and pass them on as fact with only the previous author
quoted as the source (sometimes there is not even that
level of documentation). Letters and accounts by members
of the family being researched are a valid source - as
long as they are clearly identified. Often these remembrances
contain many inaccuracies but just as often we find a
kernel of truth in them.
A note here about Pennsylvania
land records. The system in Pennsylvania for new land was administered
by the land office. The Pennsylvania Land Office issued warrants
for survey to the first person to actually occupy the land. After
1769 the tracts were limited to 300 acres at 13 cents an acre. The
land did not have to be paid off until a patent was taken out. Under
this system payment could be deferred indefinitely. Obviously, many
took advantage of this and the land was not paid for and patents
for the land were issued decades after the first owner received his warrant. The
first permanent owner of the land had to pay off any debt in full
before he was issued a patent. The land was re-surveyed based on
the grant to the original warrantee and the survey was then “returned”
to the land office with an accurate report of the actual number
of acres in the patentee’s tract. These surveys attempted
to name the original warrantees of the surrounding tracts at the
time of the original warrant, even when the patent was issued decades
after the warrant. Most of the surveys that we have are the patent
surveys, which were copied at the beginning of the twentieth century
from the original survey books. These were gathered together, recorded
and labeled as “copied surveys.” The original warrant
survey, if there was one, may be lost. The later patent
surveys were scattered. Because the original warrantees and surrounding
property owners were identified on the patent surveys, the circumstances
at the time of the original warrant have been preserved. I
have seen examples where it appears that the original warrant was
annexed by a neighbor into their own property. The original warrant
was then marked void, annexed or appropriated. Sometimes the original
warrantee would simply walk away from the land after living on it
for years. Once the land was patented, subsequent transfers of the
land were documented by the usual deed. These are recorded
at the county level. Even though considerable effort was made to
preserve these records, a sizable number are still unaccounted
for.
CLUES FROM FAMILY LEGENDS
We should
never dismiss family legends out-of-hand. Neither should
we accept them as gospel. Often they contain at least
a kernel of truth. On the other hand, if it sounds too
fantastic to be true, chances are good that it is a bit
of romantic legend, concocted in the fertile imaginations
of descendants. If you had these imaginative
relatives in your family tree, you can take pride of the
creative gene they passed down. I use family legends simply
as a starting point. Each of these stories below contains
an element of fact. Some are closer to the truth than
others, but they all give us some insight into how that
particular family thought of themselves. The closer in
time the event is to the narrator, the better the chance
we have of having the true facts of the story. It is the
old child’s game. What goes in the ear on the first
person in line is rarely anything like what comes out
of the mouth of the last person in line. The same holds
true with stories passed down from one generation to another.
Another common phenomenon in a family legend is the compression
of generations. What appears to be one or two generations
in the legend can easily turn out to be five or six in
reality. If one of the ancestors remained in the same
place all of his life and never did anything considered
interesting, the less likely that he will be remembered
as the story goes from one generation to another. Below
are some of the stories that I have collected. The descendants
of the Whitsett and Whiteside families that came from
Ireland to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania told these stories.
Can you spot the fact mixed in with the fiction?
John and Alpha (Witty) Whitsett of St. Louis - Descendants
of John Whitsett of Orange County, North Carolina
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN, JEFFERSON,
WASHINGTON, CRAWFORD & GASCONADE COUNTIES, MISSOURI, Goodspeed
Pub. Co., Chicago, (1888). The source of this story
was apparently the subject James Whitsett of St. Louis, or perhaps
one of his children. The Goodspeed Publishing Company of Chicago
published it in the series of local histories.
“… James
Whitsett, a native of Guilford County, N. C., is the eldest of a
family of fifteen children, and was born June 10, 1818. His parents
John and Alpha (Witty) Whitsett, also natives of Guilford County,
N. C. moved to St. Louis County, Mo., in 1836 … John Whitsett
was the son of James and Mary (Moore) Whitsett, of English and Irish
descent, respectively. William Whitsett, father of James, was born
near the northern boundary of England, and was the father of nine
children, two girls and seven boys; six of his sons fought in the
Revolutionary War…”
Journal of
John Albert Dover, (1920); contributed by Leroy Dover of Montana
to the Rootsweb Whitsett Mailing List:
"Jan. 16, 1920 - Today
is the 100th birthday anniversary of Grandpa, John P. Lollar. Grand
Ma was a few months older and I knew them so well; and I remember
Great Grandmother Alpha Whitsett, who lived to be 85 years old and
died in 1885, very well. … Great Grandpa Whitsett's name was
John was born in N. C. and married Alpha Wity of N. C. Great, great
grandpa Whitsett’s name was James (Sr.) and he lived in N.
C. during the Revolution. He had 5 sons in the American army but
he himself was a loyal old Scotchman and was hanged for a Tory but
a soldier who knew him cut him down saying, ‘Let the d--d
old fool say what he liked as it did not amount to anything since
he has five sons in the American Army!’ ”.
Dr. William Heth Whitsitt - Descendant of William and
Elizabeth (Dawson) Whitsett
The Reverend
William Heth Whitsitt was a highly respected Baptist
clergyman and scholar. He taught the Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary as a well respected professor
of Church History and Polemical Theology. When he was elevated to the office of President in 1895,
he became the third head of the seminary since its
original founding in South Carolina. Dr. Whitsitt’s
unflinching honesty in the historical accuracy of
some Southern Baptist dogma caused him problems
as President of the Seminary, and in 1899 he resigned
that position and accepted a professor's position
in the Department of Philosophy at Richmond College
in Virginia. He remained there as a professor of
Theology and Philosophy until 1910. Dr. Whitsitt
died in 1911 and his personal papers were donated
to the University of Virginia Library and the Library
of Congress in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, none
of his notes on his family’s history were
among those papers. However, he wrote a series of four articles
that appeared in the American Historical Magazine,
published in Nashville in 1904. His first article
opened with the following paragraph.
WILLIAM H. WHITSITT, “Annals
of a Scotch-Irish Family: The Whitsitt's of Nashville, Tenn., ”American Historical Magazine, Nashville. (Published in four
consecutive issues in 1904).
"The Whitsitt family is widely extended. Persons bearing the surname
and blood may be found in nearly every portion of the United
States and Canada, as also in Ireland and Scotland. …
The Blakey family, of Russellville, Kentucky, has kept the
best records of these. They rest upon the industry and authority
of three persons, namely, Mrs. Margaret (Whitsitt) Blakey;
her son, Doctor George Douglas Blakey, and her grandson, Honorable
Churchill H. Blakey, all of whom are now deceased. They were
industrious chroniclers, and the family owes them a debt of
gratitude. … ‘William Whitsitt, the son of William
Whitsitt, the son of Samuel Whitsitt (all of Ireland), married
Elizabeth Dawson, of Ireland. William Whitsitt, son of the
aforesaid William, married Miss Ellen Menees, daughter of
James Menees, who married the widow of Ranney Breathitt, formerly
Miss Ellen Cardwell; died at the residence of his son, the
Rev. James Whitsitt, in the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee,
July 14, 1811. Ellen Menees Whitsitt, his wife was born -------,
and died at Rural Choice, Kentucky, the home of her son—in—law,
George Blakey, September 13, 1818.’ … Here are
four generations of the family. Of these the first two died
in Ireland, William Whitsitt the second was the immigrant,
and shortly after the year 1731 he came over the sea with
his wife, Elizabeth (Dawson) Whitsitt, and their son, William
Whitsitt the third, who had been born in their Irish home
on the 20th of August, 1731. … It is assumed that the
Nashville Whitsitt's landed in Pennsylvania along with the
other Scotch—Irish immigrants; but the ship that bore
them and the precise date of its arrival are as yet unknown.
If William Whitsitt, the immigrant, had other children besides
his son William the third, the family records take no account
of them; nor does any tradition of them survive in the memories
of the family.”
Henry G. Whitsett
Nov. 11, 1929 - Letter from Henry G. (H. G.) Whitsett of
Brevard, N. C. and Eustis, Florida to James Edward (J. E.) Whitsett
of Weatherford, Texas
“… I am the
youngest son of Ralph Crawford Whitsett and Rachel Dunn Whitsett
of Va. My grandfather, Wm. Whitsett, fought in the Revolution, was
under Col. Crawford and married Col. Crawford's niece, Hadessa.
I am of Scotch-Irish descent and all my forebears came from Va.
Grandfather was born in 1752, Father in 1801, and self in 1852.
If you can figure out any relation I would be pleased to hear from
you… My oldest Brother's name was James Estel Whitsett; I
have one Brother, A. H. living at Mt. Ida and sister, M. H. Whitsett
Hindron living in Dayton [Dayton] Wash. She is past 90.”
Nov. [25], 1929 - Letter
from Henry G. Whitsett of Eustis, Florida to James Edward Whitsett
of Weatherford, Texas.
"Your letter
of Nov. 24 received here. Owing to bad weather in mountains we did
not get started here till the 19th and got here on the 21st and
it takes some time to get things cleaned up after six months absence.
I am confident that we are some kind of kinfolks. I will give you
our family tradition as I remember it. We are of Scotch Irish descent
and are from Virginia. James - John and William Whitsett left Va.
To go south and my Grandfather William stopped in Pa. And his two
brothers went on south and grandfather never heard from either of
them while he lived. My grandfather William was born in 1752 and
married Hadessa Crawford a niece of Col. William Crawford of Revolutionary
fame. Grandfather fought under Col. Crawford. Col. Crawford and
grandfather lived at Connellsville Pa and the City have recently
erected a monument to his memory. Grandfather William also lived
at Layton Pa. And Pittsburgh and Jacks Run Pa. Grandmother died
and was buried at Layton Pa. Grandfather and Grandmother had thirteen
children. Twelve girls and one boy who was the youngest and my father
born in 1801 and died at my house in 1892. … My daughter Gertrude
Whitsett Kipp is applying to get into the Daughters of the Revolution.
Grandfathers service record under William Crawford in the state
records at Philadelphia Pa. Are the same as our tradition. An old
history of Fayette Co. Pa. By Nelson speaks of my grandfather as
being a great Indian fighter and scout and a friend of George Washington.
I was born in Fayette Co. Pa. Was in Ky. Six years and came to Fla.
In 1890." [Signed H. G. Whitsett].
James Simeon Whitsett, Descendant of Samuel and Margaret Whitsett of Ky.
A Memorial & Biographical
Record of Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, Chicago,
Lewis Publishing Co. Part 4; J. S. Whitsett, (1896)
“Among the
pioneer settlers of Jackson county is numbered this gentleman
[J. S. Whitsett of Jackson County, Mo.], who for many years
has been identified with the best interests of the locality
… The Whitsett family was of Scotch origin, and was
founded in America in the early history of this country. The
great-grandfather of our subject [Samuel Whitsett] served
as sheriff of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He was at one
time a very wealthy man, but owing to his great generosity
lost much of his property. He removed to Kentucky when his
son, James Whitsett, the grandfather of our subject, was a
lad of 12 years.”
Albert Scott Whitsitt, Descendant of Samuel and Margaret of Ky.
June 18, 1930 - Letter, from Albert Scott Whitsitt of Deputy, Indiana to Leroy Whitsitt,
Decatur, Illinois. [Albert Scott Whitsitt died on 16 Dec. 1930 six months after this letter was written].
“… I am myself compiling knowledge and historical data of our family
on my father and mother's side of the house with the purpose of
publishing a small pamphlet concerning the same for the benefit
of those now living and those that will come on like yourself …
Originally the Whitsitt's are of Scotch or possibly Scotch Irish
descent the first emigrants of the name John and Samuel arrived
in the port of N. Y. from Londonderry, Ireland about 1767 so far
as I have gone and emigrated to western Pennsylvania they married
each of them and emigrated - John to Tennessee and Samuel to Ky.
Thus forming two wings so to speak - we, the Ind. Branch are of
the Sam wing, that wing many of them remaining in Ky. And quite
a few emigrated to Ind. …This is only a casual explanation
of the where abouts of yourself and there is much more that might
be added. I could give dates to most all I have written, but that
would add much to the extent of this letter via I will state that
President Jas. K. Polk's wife's mother was one of John's daughters
of the southern wing of our family where they spread out from Tenn.
To North and South Carolina and lots of John's descendants in Georgia.
… This will give you a little idea so I'll close by adding
I'd be pleased to meet you and wise you up a little more about the
family if further desired.”
Julian C. Whitsett, Descendant of Samuel and Margaret of Ky.
[Great great grandson of Samuel and Margaret (Tuttle) Whitsett]; Oct. 27, 1958 - Letter to Charley Whitsett, Orland, California.
“…
There are three branches of the Whitsett Family. Three
brothers came over from Ireland before the Revolutionary
War. One settled in Virginia; one in Pennsylvania and
the other I think in West Virginia & finally into
Kentucky. The branch from which I descended was the Pennsylvania
brother if I have it straight. My Grandfather, William
Whitsett was a Circuit Rider of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church in MO. Around in Jackson; Johnson Co. Mo. There
were three sons & several daughters. The sons; Jeff,
Gib, and Young William…”
December 1858 – Letter from Julian C. Whitsett to
Willis Whitsett [son of Charles]. “…
Coming back to the Whitsett Family. The Whitsett's of
Lafayette County, Mo. Were of the same branch of the Family
tree as my father's family. They were mainly located around
Odessa, Mo. Looking back about 65 years I remember I think
his name was Oliver Whitsett a 2nd cousin of my father's.
The rest of them I do not recall… Just looked at
"Family Tree" I have copy of and find these
names correct… Briefly - Samuel Whitsett after Rev.
War settled in Pa. His son John settled in Mo. (my Great
Grandfather) His son John R. -my grandfather, settled
in Johnson County. (There was 4 other sons)…”
Prof. William Thornton Whitsett, Descendant of Samuel and Mary (Stockard) Whitsett
Professor William Thornton Whitsett was the founder of the Whitsett
Institute, an educational academy, which was
located in his hometown of Whitsett, Alamance
County, North Carolina. Professor Whitsett was
a poet, educator and author of several pamphlets
on family and local history of Alamance and
Guilford Counties in North Carolina. His work
is now in the Southern Historical Collection
of the University of North Carolina. Professor
Whitsett’s deficiencies as historian have
caused a few, including myself, to question
his accuracy. His work on the Whitsett family
history is a disappointment. He fails to document
any of his claims, some of which can be easily
shown to be wrong. In all fairness, it must
be stated that his papers were part of an unfinished
work. It is impossible to say what a published
version of his family history would have contained.
Unfortunately, several Whitsett family researchers
have accepted this unfinished work at face value
and Prof. Whitsett’s erroneous and undocumented
claims have been circulated as proven fact, which they are not.
His papers begin with the following statements.
“The history of the earliest branch of the Whitsett family in the United States traces back to the family group that reached Pennsylvania in 1740; a group of five consisting of the three brothers, William, John, and Joseph Whitsett together with the wife and son of William Whitsett. … When they landed in Pennsylvania in 1740, William Whitsett and his wife, Elizabeth Dawson Whitsett, had one son as stated, William Whitsett, then nine years old; their other children were born here. John Whitsett and Joseph Whitsett married soon after their arrival and both had large families, so even before the Revolutionary War there were both children and grandchildren of the three original Whitsett brothers who had come across as the first immigrants of this family line...”
Professor William Thornton Whitsett, (The Whitsett family) in the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, (1934); Whitsett family data from folder 16. In addition, Mrs. Carrie Whitsett Hayes of Whitsett, Alamance County, North Carolina, daughter of Professor Whitsett, gave copies of his typewritten notes to Mrs. Pearl Whitsett Morgan about 1980-81.
IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS
Professor William Thornton Whitsett’s story (above) is based on stories passed on to him by his family, particularly his uncle Alfred. He also borrowed heavily from Dr. William Heth Whitsitt’s 1904 family history published in four parts in The American Historical Magazine of Nashville, Tennessee. We know from Professor Whitsett’s daughter Carrie that he was in touch with the family of Ralph Crawford Whitsett of Fayette, Pennsylvania. Henry G. Whitsett, son of Ralph, confirmed this in a letter he wrote in 1929. Supposedly, Professor Whitsett borrowed that family’s Bible, which contained details that he copied in his own writing. Unfortunately, Professor Whitsett did not document any of his sources, making it impossible for us to determine for certain what he borrowed from whom. He stated that he had visited Ireland and copied records there. He specifically mentioned the Heath Money Rolls (a list of tax payers for their homes based on how many heaths – fireplaces – the home had). These records contain many Whiteside and Whitsett names, places and dates, but give you almost no information on relationships. It is my feeling that Professor Whitsett was careless in assuming certain names represented our family.
In addition to Professor Whitsett’s writings, the family stories I have repeated above are mostly legends, but they give us an outline to which we can compare the historical record and reach some conclusions about our early Whiteside/Whitsett family in Pennsylvania. By all accounts they came to Pennsylvania from Ireland, but they seem to have originated in northern England (not Scotland as many believe). We have studied the records of Pennsylvania - those that we have collected and also those of Dr. Don Whiteside and other researchers associated with the Whiteside family. Beginning in the fall and winter of 2007, William R. Whiteside, chief historian for the Whiteside Family Association, and I have located a hefty amount of data over the Internet on the Whiteside and Whitsett families. I am sure that there are still more records available, but we have not been able to research those that are not available on the Internet. Many of these records are kept at the local level in the counties of Pennsylvania where the Whiteside and Whitsett families lived. Even if we had access to all of the records it appears that it is nearly impossible to identify and separate all of the Whiteside and Whitsett individuals living in early Pennsylvania into specific family groups. In the first one hundred years, from William Penn’s founding in 1681 until the end of the American Revolution, we have as many as five or six generations. During that time there was a steady immigration of Whiteside/Whitsett individuals and families into America making it even more difficult to separate them all. Several families came directly from Ireland and England to settle in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. Although the Whiteside group of immigrants was not especially large, there were enough individuals with similar given names to make it a daunting task to place them in specific family trees. Eventually, perhaps years from now, the solution may rest with results of many yDNA profiles of Whiteside and Whitsett males. In the meantime, we have been able to put together a convincing story of the Whitsett families that came to Pennsylvania in the 1730's. This essay describes the evidence for our family in Pennsylvania, some of their descendants and their migration to other parts of America.
In addition to the Whitsett families of Pennsylvania there was the family of William Whiteside/Whitsett and Elizabeth Stockton in Virginia. This family along with their relatives the Stocktons came to Virginia about the same time as the four Whitsett brothers of Pennsylvania. The William and Elizabeth (Stockton) Whitsett family has been confused with William and Elizabeth (Dawson) Whitsett family. The latter left Pennsylvania and apparently spent some time in Virginia, but moved on to Tennessee. The former eventurally migrated to North Carolina and Illinois.
Professor William Thornton Whitsett’s narrative suggests that the first Whitsett family to arrive in Pennsylvania was ours, and that they came here in 1740. We can easily demonstrate that they were not the first, that there were Whitsitt’s in America much earlier. Even if Professor Whitsett intended his remarks to apply only to the descendants of the first immigrants who today use the version Whitsett or Whitsitt, the documentary evidence still shows that ours was not the first. Plus, I believe it is unproductive to separate the early families that used the Whiteside name from those that used a version of Whitsett. Among the Scotch-Irish in the 17th and 18th centuries individuals in the same family used both versions without regard to the spelling their patriarch favored.
The Whiteside/Whitsett Family of Lebanon Township, Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania
I have looked
very hard at this family of Whiteside/Whitsett's found
in Lebanon Township of Lancaster County from 1738 through
1760. The area they first settled is today Lebanon County
near the city of Lebanon. What I found to me is exciting.
Perhaps to some it may be a bit controversial because
it contradicts some of the conclusions of modern day Whitsett
researchers. There are several indicators that point to
these Whitsett’s as the ancestors of the many Whiteside/Whitsett/Whitsitt
families in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana,
Missouri and other states. Tradition of the family and
descendants of Samuel Whitsett/Whitsitt, who died in Montgomery
County, Kentucky in 1815, suggests that there is a close
connection between Samuel, William Whitsitt (who married
Elizabeth Dawson) and John Whitsett (ancestor to Sarah
Childress Polk, wife of President James K. Polk). I have
been skeptical of this connection until recently. The
records I have found not only support this tradition but
also make clear what those connections were.
This original
group consisted of four brothers and a sister:
Ralph, John, James, William and Elizabeth. Despite Professor
Whitsett’s assertion, we have not found any records
of a Joseph that could have been a part of this original
group. The surname of this family is spelled in the records
as Whiteside(s), Whitside, Whitsitt, Whitsett and a couple
of other variations. There are two things that link these
four men and one woman. One is, they all had some association
with the pioneer Lutheran minister John Casper Stoever,
who owned land-adjoining Ralph Whitsett's in Lebanon Township.
The other is that, except perhaps for John, all had ties
to James McNees also known as James Menees.
A question arises, why
would this documented Presbyterian family be associated with the
Lutheran Church in Lancaster County? Perhaps it was because Reverend
Stoever was a close neighbor to John, Ralph and brother-in-law John
Welsh (husband of Elizabeth). Stoever’s land is depicted on
surveys as joining Ralph Whiteside on the north. Also, that area
of Lancaster County that is today Lebanon County was mostly populated
with German Lutherans from the Rhine Palatinate. It may have been
a choice of attending a neighbor's Lutheran Church or not attending
church at all.
A side note: my direct ancestors, Noah Frederick,
and his father George Frederick, also settled in Lebanon Township.
Noah was killed by a group of ten Shawnee warriors while plowing
his field in 1756 at Swatara Gap. Noah’s oldest son Thomas
was captured. The British later returned Thomas to Lancaster after
a transfer of captives in 1763. Thomas was my 3rd great grandfather.
It is very possible that the Frederick's were acquainted with the
Whitesides, as they were also members of one of Rev Stoever’s
congregations. It also illustrates some of the hardships the Whitsett
families must have endured during the French and Indian War.
The Menees family also settled in Lebanon Township near
to the Whitsett siblings. In the Lancaster County register
of warrants, James’ name is spelled Meniece, obviously
a variation of Menees. In the church records and tax rolls
his name is usually spelled as McNees. At a later date,
on the militia rolls of Cumberland County are James Meenes
and John Meenes descendants of the same family. The Whitsitt
family of Nashville said that James’ name was originally
McNees but was changed to Menees. There was more than
one James McNees/Menees in Lebanon Township. There is
little doubt that one of them was the father of Eleanor
who married William Whitsitt Jr. in Lancaster County in
1764.
Dr. William
Heth Whitsitt, in his history of the Whitsitt family of
Nashville, states that records kept by the daughter of
William and Eleanor (Menees) Whitsitt show that her grandparents
William Whitsett and Elizabeth Dawson were married in
Ireland. Dr. Whitsitt using these records states that
William’s father was also named William and his
grandfather was named Samuel. Even though we have no other
source for this information (excluding William Thornton
Whitsett), there is little reason to doubt his statement.
Thus, we possibly have a family tree for these four brothers
and their sister: (1) Samuel Whitsitt or Whiteside, probably
born between 1660 and 1670 in Ireland and probably died
there before 1750; (2) William, son of Samuel, probably
born between 1680 and 1690 in Ireland and probably died
in Ireland before 1770. The children of William the 1st
were (3) William, born about 1709-1710 in Ireland, married
Elizabeth Dawson in Ireland, and possibly died in Amherst
County, Virginia; John, probably born between 1710-12
in Ireland and died in Orange County, North Carolina in
1786; Ralph, probably born about 1713 in Ireland, married
Sarah Wilson and probably died in Cumberland or Westmoreland
County, Pennsylvania, after 1765; James, probably born
between 1714-20 in Ireland, married Ann (maiden name unknown),
and died in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1761; Elizabeth, born
in Ireland probably between 1718-1720, married John Welsh
in 1738 in Lebanon Township, Lancaster County and died
there probably between 1740 and 1744. |