Several of the white southern Whitsett families were slave owners before the Civil War. When the 1870 census was taken there were black families with the surname Whitsett in many of the counties where Whitsett's lived.  It is likely these were former slaves who settled close to where they were once bound in servitude. Slave schedules for 1840, 1850 and 1860 show which families owned slaves, the number, sex and age groups of their slaves. I will be putting this information on my web site.

On these pages I will place any raw source documents I find that might identify the ancestors of African-American Whitsett families.  I will also publish any family trees or family histories of those families who wish to make them freely available to others.  This is a project I am trying to get off the ground.  Please revisit the site occasionally to see if any new material has been posted.

Sue and I would be very interested in contacting any African-American families interested in their Whitsett heritage. It is very likely there is a blood bond between some of our white Whitsett descendants and black Whitsett descendants.  If you are interested in pursuing this, please contact me at ronwall@whitsett-wall.com

Photo of Rebecca Whitsett
Contributed by Brandon Donnell

Rebecca Whitsett 1838-1912

Brandon is a direct descendant of Albert (1828-1888) and Rebecca (1839-1912) Whitsett of Rockingham County, NC who were slaves owned by the James Whitsett family of Rockingham County, NC. They were Brandon's great-great-great grandparents. Albert appears on the Feb. 1853 Division of the Slaves of James and Milton Whitsett Estate, and Albert and Rebecca both appear on the 1857 Division of the Slaves of Alfred M. Whitsett's Estate, along with their daughter Harriet. Albert and Rebecca also appear in the Guardian Records of James T. Whitsett, son of Alfred M. Whitsett in 1857, 1858, and 1860 in the Rockingham County Record of Settlements. Albert and Rebecca were the parents of 14 children. They appear in the 1880 Census in Simsponville Twp., Rockingham County, NC., but not in the 1870 Census.