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

By Ronald N. Wall in collaboration with William R. Whiteside
Whiteside Family Association
May 2008

Pennsylvania Whitsett Family Trees and Summary

Genealogy Charts for James and his descendants of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

“In the Name of God Amen February the 2nd in the year of our Lord 1754 I James Whiteside of Lebanon Township and Lancaster County Weaver being very sick and Weak in Body but of perfect mind and Memory thanks be given unto Therefore calling to mind the Mortality of my Body and Knowing that its appointed for All men once to Die I do make ordain this my last will and testament that is to say Principally and first of All I give and Recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it and for my body I recommend it to the earth at the discretion of my Executors Nothing Doubting but that at the General Resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God and as touching such worldly estate wherewith it has pleased God to bless me with in this life I give bequeath and dispose of the same in the following manner and form Imprimis I give and bequeath to beloved wife Ann & my seven children now living An equal share of all my worldly substance to each of them and to my son John five pounds over and above the rest[?] & I further order that if any of them dies there part shall be equally divided Amongst the rest & I likewise[?] constitute make and ordain my only and sole executors of this My Last Will and Testament Ralph Whitsite, & James McNees & Thomas Hammersley I therefore utterly Disallow Revoke and Disannul all of Every other former Will or Testament by before this time.
“Revoking Ratifying and Confirming this and no other to be my Last Will and Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this day and year above Written Signed Sealed and Published pronounced and Declared by the said James Whitesite to be his last Will and Testament in the presence of these witnesses Jno. Allen, Mary A. Wyland, Isbel Hamersley.
Signed Jas Whiteside, his mark. Ann Whitside her mark
“Be it remembered that on the 21st day of April 1761 letters testamentary Issued in common form to Ralph Whitsite James McNees and Thomas Hamersley on said auth named Executory to be exhibited on or before the 21st day of May and an account of the administration rendered them hereunto Required Given Under my hand and Seal of Office
Harm Aldrich [name is not clear]
“The Accompts of Ralph Whitesides and Thomas Hamersly Executor of the Testament and last Will of James Whitesides late of Cumberland County dec’d as well as all and Singular the Goods and Chattels, Rights and Credits of the said decedent which came to their Hand Possession or Knowledge as of their payments and Disbursements out of the same as follows---[omitted]
“Exhibited into the Registers Office at Carlisle the first day of December 1761.
[actual signatures] “Ralph Whitsett & Thomas Hamersly”

James first appears in our records with his warrant, dated August 15, 1746 for 100 acres located in Lebanon Township of Lancaster County. The warrant seems to indicate that James obtained it while in Philadelphia. I believe that he was probably working at his trade as a weaver in Philadelphia and joined his brothers John and Ralph in Lebanon Township several years after they first settled there. I have James' land survey in Lebanon Township, but am unable to tell precisely where it was located, except that it was north of the tracts laid out for the other Whitsett’s and probably close to James McNees. The area later became North Lebanon Township.

When James made his will on February 2, 1754 he described himself as, “being very sick and weak in Body…” What ever his illness, he lived for another seven years. He must have removed from Lebanon Township to Cumberland County about 1760, around the same time as Ralph and his family. There are no land warrants for him in Cumberland County – he may have been too ill to work. It may be that Ralph’s family was actually caring for him and his family. This, of course is speculation.

According to author William Henry Egle, James’ wife Ann married John Giles in Cumberland County shortly after James' death. Egle states that Ann was the wife of Giles by December 1761. In 1762 the tax list of Allen Township, Cumberland County contains the names of John Giles and Thomas McGee, along with Peter Tittle and Ralph Whiteside. Sometime in the next three of four years, the family removed to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. James’ sons William and John Whitesides appear in the Mecklenburg records beginning in 1766 and the property of John Giles is mentioned in a deed for William Bigham in April 1767.

In 2007, William R. Whiteside hired a professional researcher to search for documents in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina pertaining to this family. What he found will be a great help in further identifying the children and grandchildren of James and Ann and their eventual dispersal to other places in the country. I have not had the opportunity to study Bill’s material in-depth, but I intend to do so because this family may contain clues to my own Whitsett line.

According to Egle, James and Ann had the following children. All were probably born in Pennsylvania. The names of spouses were determined by the research of Bill Whiteside.

John was born about 1736 and married Rachel Bigham about 1754.  He died on March 6, 1824, in Mecklenburg County, N. C.  John and Rachel had several children.

Alice (Ayles) was born about 1742.  She married Thomas McGee in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania on August 26, 1760.  Her husband died in 1778 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina and Alice was the administrator of the estate.  Although there were several McGee's in Mecklenburg County, we have not been able to identify any as the children of Alice and Thomas.

Elizabeth was born about 1745.  She married first Samuel Bigham and after his death she married William Berryhill.  We know of one child, Anne Bigham, who was born in 1771 and died November 20, 1798.  Elizabeth died on June 16, 1806 in Mecklenburg County.

Margaret was born about 1747.  She married Robert Patterson.  In July 1779, Robert was one of the administrators of the estate of his mother-in-law, Ann (Whiteside) Giles along with his brother-in-law John Whiteside.  At that time Margaret and Robert were living in Mecklenburg County.

Samuel was born about 1750, probably in Pennsylvania, and died on October 22, 1772 at the age of 22 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  He apparently left no descendants.

William was born about 1758 and died on November 14, 1780 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  He was only 22 years of age.  His wife may have been Mary Jane Kerr, although that is far from certain at this time.  William had a daughter, Ann Whiteside; she named William Kerr her guardian in October 1796.  Another possible daughter was Dorcas Whiteside.  Dorcas may have been adopted; in her will of 1819 she names herself as Dorcas Whiteside, alias Dorcas Thompson.  Dorcas mentions her mother, Mary Jane Whiteside but there is no indication of who her father was. 

Two other children were James, born about 1745 and Ann, born about 1750.  At this time we have no other information on these two.

The Mecklenburg County, North Carolina documents are among several that link the family in Pennsylvania with the one in North Carolina. They are: the estate files of John Giles in Mecklenburg County; the estate of Widow Ann Giles, administered by John Whiteside in 1779; the estate of Thomas McGee administered by his wife, Alice McGee with John Whiteside as one of her securities; John Whiteside appointed guardian for Sarah Giles, minor daughter of John and Ann Giles. Although none of these documents state that the family came to North Carolina from Pennsylvania, some of the names in them are echoed in the documents of Lancaster and Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

This family deserves to be carefully scrutinized and documented. Since I have devoted only a small amount of time on James Whiteside’s family, I am not prepared to speculate any further on them. Bill (William R.) Whiteside, a descendant, was responsible for obtaining and analyzing the documents from Mecklenburg County. Questions about this family should be directed to him.

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