THE CHILDREN OF JOHN AND KESIAH WITT
OF VIRGINIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, KENTUCKY,
AND TENNESSEE
By Elaine M. Perryman
THE STARTING OF JOHN & KESIAH'S FAMILY
John Witt was born about 1766–67[1] based on the tax rolls of Bedford County, Virginia, and the presumed birth order of the children as presented in their mother’s will. Around 1788–89 John Witt ventured to Edgefield County, South Carolina where he appeared in the 1790 U.S. census with his wife Kesiah (Kilcrease) Witt with no children indicated. By the time of the 1800 federal census, the family had expanded with their household recorded as having three white males and two white females “under ten” years old.[2] The young couple spent about seventeen years raising their family in Edgefield, near Kesiah’s relatives. In 1807, they relocated to Logan County, Kentucky. John’s brother Robert joined him there about 1810.[3]
LOGAN COUNTY, KENTUCKY
As John settled with his young family, he is shown in the tax rolls, 2 June 1807, tithed as over 21 years of age, and paying tax on 100 acres of land near Elk Lick Creek. His household has no white male marked for the column, “16–21” years.[4] On 28 May 1808, John is listed again in the Logan tax rolls column: “white males over 21” but this year a presumed son is tithed as a “male 16 to 21” years, suggesting a boy born between 3 June 1791 and 28 May 1792 [5]. After that, the tax rolls changed, and no column exists for white males under 21 years old. In the 1810 federal census, John’s presumed eldest son is notably absent from his household but it reflects a wide spread of ages in his growing family: two more male children and three more female children in the 0–9 years old column.[6] According to the accumulation of the censuses, John and Kesiah had five sons and six daughters. See TABLE 1. In the absence of relationship documentation, some of the children's names were based on location, marriage records, and autosomal DNA when possible.
In Russellville, Kentucky, John’s brother, Robert’s known children, helped to provide a filter of Witt records. His children were identified by documents clearly indicating their relationship: John R. Witt, Christopher R. Witt, Martha “Patsy” (Witt) Stroud, Betsy (Witt) Young, Sally (Witt) Willard, Robert Witt, Jr., Rhoda “Rody” (Witt) Reese, Polly Witt, Nancy (Witt) Stroud, Calib Witt, Reuben Crawford Witt and two unknown female children according to the censuses.
MAURY COUNTY, TENNESSEE
John and Kesiah left Russellville in 1818 and settled in Maury County, Tennessee.[7] No other known Witt branches were in the immediate area. The discrimination between Witts in the locality were based on age, as his son William, born about 1792, had children of his own. Importantly, a flexible interpretation needs to be applied to birth years when reviewing records from this era especially when the U.S. census data may not align perfectly with other sources like tax rolls. Unlike tax rolls, which were primarily concerned with financial matters and carried penalties for unregistered males of age, the census had different objectives and may not always reflect precise ages.
JOHN AND KESIAH'S SONS
As previously stated, in John Witt’s Logan County household, there is a non-entry in 1807 and an entry in the 1808 tax rolls indicating a son aged 16 years which constitutes a birth year of 1791–1792. This could translate to an eldest son born in 1791 and a second son born in 1792 since William appears as 21 years old in the 1813 tax rolls or simply that William is the eldest.[8] The ambiguity surrounding the age factor of John’s sons cautions again against making absolute assumptions about their birth years.
While the identity of John and Kesiah Witt’s eldest son remains unknown, a hypothesis is that Lewis B. Witt, a sergeant, enlisted 18 September 1812 with Captain Thomas Speed’s Company, Second Regiment Kentucky Mounted Militia, in the War of 1812, could be his eldest child. The 1791 birth for a frontiersman would make a candidacy for military service and Lewis would be absent as a named 21-year-old in the 1812 Logan County tax list. In addition, John’s father was named Lewis, and his grandfather was Benjamin. It would not be a stretch to name the eldest son, Lewis B. Witt. No military pension, expanded service records, and land bounties were found for Lewis. He did not appear in a war death or casualty report. No further documentation at this time can support the hypothesis except that we know an unknown son existed by the number of males declared in the federal census.[9]
Son, William M. Witt had remained in Logan County near his father-in-law, Uncle Robert, when John and Kesiah had relocated to Maury County, Tennessee. His first wife was his first cousin Polly Witt, daughter of Robert.[Note: Previous researchers have this relationship erroneously reversed]. She died early on in their marriage as in 1818 he married Lucy Smith and later Mary.[10] In March of 1821, William M. sold his Logan County property which included a mare, cattle, hogs, sheep, furniture, household items, and land to William L. Lands for a debt of ninety-seven dollars and fifty cents. William had until January of 1822 to pay the debt and reverse the mortgage but William eventually made his way to Williamson County, Tennessee near his father John who lived in the Spring Hill area of Maury County. [11] William M. continued to raise his children there providing John with the companionship of his grandchildren. It should be noted that his son William M. Jr married Cleopatra Grigsby and lived in Maury County and some of their records can easily be confused with each other’s due to illegible handwriting in documents.[12]
Robert L. Witt, the third son, who presented himself as a white male over 21 years of age in Logan’s 1815 tax rolls was a frontiersman who removed to Hamilton County, Illinois as a blacksmith. The story of his life surrounds his frequency in the county courts for fighting and his service as a sergeant in the Black Hawk War. As he lived, he died, in a fight in 1836 with a broad ax to his back. His well-documented descendants were raised in the Mormon faith as his wife, Dorcas Willis, and later his daughter Sarah, upon Dorcus’ death, had married Elisha Averett, an early follower of Joseph Smith. Robert’s children traveled the long, hard road with the Averetts and others, to Utah, as pioneers, to establish the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there.[13]
Their fourth son is unknown but a man bearing his namesake, John Witt, is found in Brady’s Rock, Cannon County, Tennessee.[14] The county is about sixty miles east of Spring Hill. This man has been documented as being born about 1807 in South Carolina making him a fit in the senior John’s census. He was a blacksmith, farmer, and according to his wife Rebekkah in a letter to her family, he was supplementing the family income by “riding Express” for twelve dollars per month in 1851.[15] He and his children can be found in the 1850 census but no further documentation to establish a parental relationship for John and Kesiah could be ascertained. The last found transaction was his sale of farm animals in 1851 suggesting removal from the county.
John and Kesiah’s youngest known son, Jesse R. Witt, was likely born between 1800–1810. He first appears in the Maury tax rolls in 1834, residing in the same district as his father and sister, Elizabeth. While his initial appearance on the tax rolls suggests a birth year of 1813, census evidence points to an earlier birth. It is possible that Jesse lived outside Maury County prior to 1834. [16] Later, Jesse is identified in the will of Elizabeth's husband for a credit due, and Elizabeth named one of her sons Jesse R. Truelove, reflecting the close relationship between the siblings. He also appears as a creditor in an 1849 Maury County chancery case.[17] After that, the only close profile and possible match is a Jesse R. Witt, born in 1810, and found in the 1860 U.S. census in Towson County, Choctaw Nation.[18]
JOHN AND KESIAH'S DAUGHTERS
Elizabeth Witt is the most documented of John and Kesiah’s children. She was born about 1802 in South Carolina. Her first marriage was to Thomas Truelove on the 22nd of May, 1823 in Maury County, Tennessee.[19] His 1840 death was probated and his will includes his children from his first wife as well as Elizabeth and their children: James C., Jesse R., Amanda Jane, Ann Carolina, Robert T., Allen G., Elizabeth K and Lucinda E (born after Thomas’ written will).[20] After his death Elizabeth appears in the tax rolls of 1841 and 1843.[21]
Elizabeth remarried in 1844 to Albert Huckaby but before the marriage was solemnized, they drew up a prenuptial contract giving her full control of her property.[22] They remained in Maury County according to the 1850 census.[23] In the years that followed, the pre-nuptial was enforced and proceeds of Thomas Truelove’s estate went to the children.[24]
Agnes Witt is a presumed daughter of John and Kesiah based on location. Her given name is one carried in the family as John’s sister and Aunt were named Agnes.[25] Yet, the only document found of Agnes Witt is a marriage record. She married William Jackson, 13 January 1826 in Williamson County which borders Maury County near John Witt’s Spring Hill property.[26] No further confirmation of the relationship has been found.
The youngest daughter in the family, Jane, married Hosea Jamison on the 18th of January, 1841 in Maury County.[27] He died about 1855 and Jane’s dower land is mentioned in a deed when part of the Jamison land was sold to the highest bidder in 1858.[28] Jane died about 1866. Her will was probated 9 January 1867 with Robert D. and James A. Jamison executors, and Samuel Wiley (husband of Rhoda Jamison) mentioned as an heir.[29]
Lastly, another female named Mariah Witt is found in Maury County during this time frame. Her birth year provides the clue that she is likely a granddaughter of John and lived with him according to the 1840 census. She first married, Wiley W. Bowman on the 13th of April 1843. He is likely deceased by 1850 as Mariah is living with the Adkinson family according to the census. Then a marriage for Mariah Bowman to John Adkinson (Atkinson) takes place on 1 May 1851. John was head of her household in 1850 and the executor of Thomas Truelove’s will indicating a close family associate. She is presumed deceased soon after as no other records have been found and John is married to Hannah Hardison the 2nd of May in 1853. [30]
AUTOSOMAL DNA LINKS THE SIBLINGS
Ancestry autosomal DNA matches of user “Nikki Hernandez” was discovered to have shared DNA with her and the descendants of siblings, Elizabeth and Robert L. Witt. Nikki’s public member tree indicated a Berlene M. Jamerson Lumby (1918–1987), whose parents were Thomas P. Jamerson (1884) and Lillie E. Hutchson (1895–1983). All lived in Arkansas. Further development of her tree by conventional means was pursued by this author. The 360-degree expansion of her ancestors found the Witt connection: Thomas P. Jamerson was the son of Robert D. Jamison and grandson of Hosea and Jane Witt Jamison of Maury County, Tennessee.[31] “Nikki Hernandez” is also found at My Heritage. She and “Desirae Holcomb,” a descendant of Amanda Truelove has a segment matching on Chromosome 6 with a proven Witt Y DNA user called “Private” which reinforces having the same common ancestor. A FULL DNA STUDY WILL BE PRESENTED IN THE NEAR FUTURE.[32]
If there is any doubt about the autosomal DNA connection, the descendants of Elizabeth Witt Truelove, from multiple branches, fortify the sibling connection as there are a multitude of Ancestry matches between them and Robert L. Witt’s descendants.[33] Clearly, autosomal DNA plays a key role in confirming the identity and relationship between John and Kesiah and their children. The well documented descendants of Robert L. Witt had shared matches to William M., Elizabeth, and Jane, plus the centimorgan numbers are within the relationship range for them to be siblings.[34]
MAP 1[35] above shows the close location of John and Kesiah with their family. John and Kesiah lived near Rutherford and Double Branch creeks which is about five to six miles or halfway between the town of Columbia and their son, William M. Witt, Sr. in Williamson County (District 4 &11, dependent on the year). Kesiah’s brother William Kilcrease was only a farm away from him. Children, Elizabeth and Jesse are found in the same district as John, and grandson William in the neighboring District 22. Daughter Jane (Witt) Jamison’s property is near Fountain and Brush creeks which is a little more than ten miles away from John and Kesiah.[36]
CONCLUSION
The exploration of John and Kesiah’s residencies has yielded valuable records that help identify some of their children. The close proximity of their land to their children, Jane and Jesse’s interactions confirming his relationship, and the triangulation of autosomal DNA of William M. Sr, Jane, Elizabeth and Robert L. have illuminated the parentage of John and Kesiah. While Kesiah passed between the 1820 and 1830 censuses, the mystery surrounding the last decade of John’s life, including his whereabouts and death date, leaves room for speculation. It’s possible that he continued to seek new adventures or settled down with one of his children. He is last found in the 1840 census.
From Virginia and South Carolina to the frontier of Kentucky and Tennessee, the John and Kesiah Witt family survived the hardships of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and flourished into the twenty-first century. Their descendants numbering in the thousands, carry on John’s spirit of adventure as they are dispersed across the United States.
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