Descendants of Samuel Whitsett of Ireland

Please see the new research on the early Whiteside and Whitsett families who settled first in Lebanon Township of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Click here to go to WHITESIDE AND WHITSETT PIONEERS AND THE WHITSETT FAMILY OF LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYVANIA

John Whitsett of Pennsylvania to Rowan and Orange Counties, NC

4. John Whitsett³ of Pennsylvania, Rowan and Orange Counties North Carolina

John was one of the Whitsett brothers family tradition says came from Ireland around 1730-40 and first settled in Pennsylvania near Harrisburg and later removed to Virginia and North Carolina.

Maida Whitten, Whitsett Database of Maida Whitten (January 5, 1999).

William R. Whiteside Research Notes, WHITESETT-WHITESIDE POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS PA-NC PROVE OR DISPROVE (August 2007).

John Whitsett Grandfather of First Lady Sarah Polk

9. John⁴ Whitsett of North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama
       Grandfather of First Lady Sarah Childress Polk

Feb. 23, 1790 Will of Simpson Hart names relatives:
Nathaniel Hart, father
Kiziah Thompson, sister
Lawrence Thompson, brother-in-law and his children
Richard Lawrence Thompson
Sarah Fanny Thompson
Nathaniel Hart Thompson
China Burton Thompson
Azariah Thompson
Will witnessed by N. Phillips, James Whitsett, Hugh Tennon, John Whitsett.

William Heth Whitsitt, ANNALS OF A SCOTCH-IRISH FAMILY, pg. 240-241
Letter from Mrs. Anson Nelson of Nashville to Dr. Whitsitt, Sept. 16, 1890 (Mrs. Nelson was a mutual friend of Sarah Childress Polk and Dr. Whitsitt who sent Mrs. Nelson a list of questions concerning Mrs. Polk's family).
"Nashville, 146 North Summer Street, September 16, 1890"
"Mrs. Polk listened with lively interest to your letter, and took evident pleasure in talking of the family, seeming pleased to answer your inquiries. In those early times concerning which you are asking there was not so much appreciation of the relation of current events to history as there is now, and it was seldom that note was made of those events. This country was then a comparative wilderness, with little opportunity for recording occurrences or for keeping such records. Mrs. Polk does not know of any register of her ancestry, unless there may be a few names and dates in an old family Bible which was left to another branch of her mother's family and which she supposes is lost. She knows nothing of her ancestors in Scotland or Ireland or of any relatives living in those countries at the present time. The interesting items of tradition about the Whitsitt family in the seventeenth century, given in your letter, were entirely new to her. Mrs. Polk thinks that Mr. Jenkins, the historian, probably had access to sources of information unknown to her and that his statement is correct that her parents were married in Campbell County, Va. She has no record of the date of their marriage.
"The name of Elizabeth Whitsitt's father was 'John;' her mother's name was 'Sarah.' The family name is not remembered by Mrs. Polk. It was for her that the future Mrs. Polk was named 'Sarah.' Mrs. Polk's only sister was named for her father's mother, Susan Childress. John and Sarah Whitsitt lived in Sumner County, Tenn., and were plain country people, but were independent - owned their home, had slaves, and enjoyed the comforts of life. While Mrs. Polk was a child, they were carried to Alabama by their son, Lawrence Whitsitt, where they died at an advanced age. They had a son named 'James Whitsitt.'
"Mrs. Polk says there was no Episcopal Church in the place where her grandparents lived, and she thinks that they must have been Presbyterians, from the fact that her mother, Elizabeth Whitsitt Childress, was a devoted Presbyterian. She brought up her children strictly in the principles of that faith, although while living in the country in Rutherford County she could not be identified with the church.
"Elizabeth Whitsitt Childress had a sister, Mrs. Walton, much older than herself, living in Davidson or Sumner County - have claimed kin with Mrs. Polk, and she had a namesake, Sarah Polk Walton"

James Whitsett of Rockingham Co., North Carolina

10. James⁴ Whitsett of Rockingham Co., North Carolina

Both of these petitions were initiated because the election polls in Hillsboro closed early before all of the eligible voters could cast their ballots. A riot ensued. The petitioners complained that they were denied their right to vote.

Nov 9, 1784 - Samuel Whitsett is granted 270 acres on the waters of Back Creek in Orange Co. adjacent James Whitsett; this land was originally entered by John Whitsett in 1778 and surveyed for him in 1782. This seems to indicate a relationship between these three Whitsett's.

Abstracts of Wills Recorded In Orange County, North Carolina 1752-1850; Nov. 25, 1788; Empson Bird, John Stockard, John Griffith and Samuel Whitsides make a bond as administrators of the estate of James Whitsides, deceased. 
Aug. 27, 1790 - Empson Bird is appointed guardian of Samuel, William and Catherine Whitesides, orphans of James Whitesides.

Leroy Dover wrote: I am copying my grandfather's journal and found this. Bear with it as it gets a little tedious.
The Whitsett Story
Here is a quote from John Albert Dover's 1920 journal. (John and Lydia Dover were homesteaders ten miles WSW of Buffalo Montana.)
"Today (Jan. 16,1920) 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. Grandpa Lollar was born in Glenco Missouri and Grandma was born in N. C. Great grandma Lollar was a Hamilton and born in Kentucky. Great Grandpa Whitsett's name was John was born in N. C. and married Alpha Witte 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!"

Samuel Whitsett of Orange Co., North Carolina

11. Samuel⁴ Whitsett of Orange Co., North Carolina

Most of the information contained here comes from the papers of Dr. William Thornton Whitsett. No sources are documented in his papers. There are apparently no documents still in existence, other than Dr. Whitsett's, that show Samuel's parentage, the name of his spouse or the names of his children. We have used Dr. Whitsett's list of children; however most of this information is supported by indirect evidence. Dr. Whitsett claimed that Samuel was the son of Henry Whitsett.  There is strong evidence contrary to Dr. Whitsett's claim.  There is no evidence of a Henry Whitsett in Orange County.  Dr. Whitsett evidently confused Henry Weitzel (Whitsell) with Henry Whitsett.  It is my claim, based on circumstantial evidence that Samuel was one of the sons of John Whitsett who died in Orange County in 1786.

Deed Book 23, pg. 49, N. C.  Nov. 9, 1784; land grant no. 708 to Samuel Whitsett, on waters of Back Creek adjacent land of James Whitsett (this deed is dated November 9, 1784 but recorded in the deed book that covers a period in the 1820's. Perhaps it was recorded as part of a probate of Samuel's estate).

Entry 2392, Grant 1517, and Deed Book 10, pg. 42; June 10, 1799 - Samuel Whittsides (sic); warrant issued, entered [recorded] March 1794, Book no. 101, pg. 284; 190 acres on Back Creek adjacent John McMinnery, Richard Cope, George Boyd, William Bradford and Samuel's own line. Deed states land was adjacent John Reeves, Boyd, Bradford, McMinnery, Thos. Linch's corner, Boyd's corner.

Deed Book 15-194; Nov. 11, 1815; Josiah Turner, Shff. sells land adj. John Reaves supposedly belonging to Sam'l and Joseph Whitsett or one of them for a sum of 9.8.10 pounds, recovered against Samuel and Joseph Whitsett by Cartlett Campbell, 31 Mar. 1800; Joseph Armstrong's corner, Buckhorn Creek, 150 acres.

Orange County, North Carolina List of Taxables 1779-1783 (Technical Institute of Alamance).

1810 Census, Orange County, North Carolina, pg. 155, 159.
pg. 155 Sam'l Whitsett, June.: 2 males 10-16, 1 male 16-26, 1 male 45 or over; 1 fem. 26-45.
pg. 159, S. Whitsett, sen.: 2 males 16-26, 1 male 45 or over; 1 fem 10-16, 2 fem 16-26, 1 fem. 45 or over.

William Whitsett of North Carolina and Clark Co., Kentucky

12. William⁴ Whitsett of North Carolina and Clark Co., Kentucky

Sumner Co., Tenn. deed, May 10, 1792, George Sugg to William Whitsett;  Located "on the headwaters of West Fork of the First Creek above Stoners Lick Creek on the East side of Stones River. Andrew Jackson was a witness to this deed. (photocopy)

Brent H. Holcomb, Orange County, North Carolina Marriages 1779-1868 (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD 1983).

North Carolina Marriage Bonds (LDS, Salt Lake City, Utah).