Clarification about James Witty

James Witty (abt. 1768 - 1830-40), 
post from Feb. 2019, some clarification from earlier post.

He was born around 1768, and has several Quaker documents about him and his family from Guilford County, North Carolina - but no birth record.  It could have been lost, or he might not have been a Quaker from birth.

The New Garden Meeting (Guildford County NC) has a beautifully penned introduction, mentioning that it would record births and deaths, and especially work around the 11 lost days in Sept. 1752 (when the calendar moved from Julian to Gregorian according to England finally changing it's calendars). But nobody is mentioned in the introduction itself.  It should also be remembered that until 1752, the Western Christian Feast of the Annunciation, on March 25, also called "Lady Day".was considered the first of the year. And since the Quakers don't use the Roman names of months or days, there was First Month, Second Month, etc.  So I'm not sure (like many genealogists) of when these events actually happened which are recorded as, say, 3rd of Fourth Month, etc (no births or deaths are available now).

James Witty's birth is listed in an index (again hand written) with a number 240 next to it which was a page number.

His children's birth's are recorded, as well as early deaths. Only 2 of the 5 may have made it through childhood apparently (at least as far as these records provide). I know 3 died early, and the other 2 don't have dates of death listed on Ancestry.  His wife, Mary, also died around 1792.

See the typed version below...with months listed as left numerals (but again, in Quaker version)

The minutes of the New Garden monthly meeting in 1806 report that James Witty had removed with his family to the visit (?) of the Miami Meeting. (This location is unknown to me, the modern one is in Ohio.)  Since he hadn't followed their proper procedure, another member was going to visit him and make sure everything was alright and report back next monthly meeting.

In the next meeting minutes, a report is made that the Friends who visited James Witty and his family gave a certificate saying all was well with them.

He apparently remarried in 1800 or so to Lucretia Wells (Witty) in Tennessee.  This has no documentation however.  Their first son, George Witty (1808-1865), was indicated to have been born in TN in 1805. But with the notation of the New Garden Meeting of Friends that it was 1806 when his family moved from Guilford County, NC, I question that these 2 events happened in TN.  I also found that his son George had a headstone which says he was born in 1805, but there are newspaper clippings (just found on Ancestry) saying he was the first child born in Limestone County, AL in 1808.

I believe that the records saying both the marriage and the birth were in TN are due to the boundaries of the states being close to one another.  It's possible the marriage was in NC or TN, but that the birth of George Witty was in their new home along the border of TN and AL.  My hunch is based on the Guildford Quaker document of 1806 about the family moving, and the newspaper clipping.  But there seem to be no records saying that TN was indeed the location of these events.  So we don't know where the indication of TN marriage and birth came from.

Anyway, back to James.  I just found out his second wife was named Lucretia Wells Witty.  All the records on Ancestry had been calling her Elizabeth.  But Lucretia Wells and Elizabeth Wells' father's will (James Wells) states Lucretia Witty would receive some money, as well as her sister Elizabeth Riece. That's enough for me to put two and two together and know Elizabeth Wells Riece wouldn't have had a sister named Elizabeth Wells Witty...and so now there's Lucretia's first name...as of 1775.

So James Witty took off for the frontier of Alabama, with his family, and had a land claim which is mapped.  It's rather confusing, but apparently he was one of the founders of that area, on the border of Tennessee.

And while looking at Uncle George Witty's Ancestry site, I found a photo of the Witty Cemetery in Limestone County, Alabama.  It was completely overrun by trees, but the photo of George's headstone looks as if someone might have cleared it out.  I would imagine Grandpa James is also buried there, as well as other Witty's living and dying in that area. (Uncle George was a older brother of my 3 x great grandfather, Carroll Witty (1818-1898) who was born in Limestone, AL, then moved from Alabama to Texas.

Some of the Witty graves, Alabama.

The Witty families lived in Limestone County, Alabama

A repost from -Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Mooresville AL

Mooresville is one of the oldest incorporated towns in Alabama, having been incorporated on November 16, 1818, when Alabama was still a Territory.

Limestone County, AL - used to be cotton raising area.  Huntsville and Athens are cities in Limestone County.  My great times 4 grandfather, James Witty (abt. 1768 - 1830-40), may have lived in an area like this, where Carroll Witty, (1818-1898) his son, was born.

The entire town of Mooresville, described as a picturesque early 19th century village, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the older public buildings, including the Stagecoach Inn and Tavern, the Brick Church, the Post Office, and the Church of Christ, are owned and maintained by the town's residents.

Old Post Offece in Mooresville, AL  Photo by Brian Stansberry

Mooresville Post Office (1840) – located at the corner of Lauderdale and High streets, this post office is the oldest in operation in Alabama and has call boxes dating before the American Civil War. The call boxes and some of the office furnishings actually predate the building, having been used in the nearby Stagecoach Inn and Tavern.

Photo: Robbie Caponetto

Small Town We Love: Mooresville, Alabama

In Southern Living magazine...

A real-life living museum. 

by Lacy Morris

Population: 53

Why We’d Move There
History reigns supreme in this postcard-size town. As a matter of fact, the entire town, all 0.1 mile and six streets of it, is included on the National Register of Historic Places. White picket fences frame tree-shaded streets and buildings where Presidents have slept. Visiting here is like stepping back into a time of gracious plenty, where city noise is the rustling of oaks and congestion is the growth of moss on clapboard cottages.

The Community
Though there’s a larger city on either side of this Tennessee River town (Huntsville to the east, Decatur to the west), no one seems eager to leave. In fact, the mayor, Margaret-Anne Crumlish, is the third generation of her family to take the seat and the seventh consecutive generation to live in Mooresville.

The Perfect Day
Start at JaVa.Mooresville on North Street, where Jack McReynolds, the unofficial town record keeper, serves lattes, lemonades, and apple pies. Then lace up your walking shoes for a guided tour (256/355-2683) with a resident. Stops include the Stagecoach Inn and Tavern, where town council meetings are still held, and the post office, the oldest one in continuous use in Alabama. Stop over at 1818 Farms (1818farms.com) to buy organic eggs, lavender linen spray, and goat’s milk bath bubbles. And don’t even think about leaving town without visiting Lyla’s Little House (lylaslittlehouseal.com), where Mrs. Lyla Peebles sells her candies, cheese straws, and homemade ice cream along with vintage dishware. On Fridays in summer, join Bonnie Richardson as she hosts margarita nights on the porch of her home, Cedar Lane.

Local To Know
Sixth-generation resident Woody Peebles has lived on the same street for 64 years. You’ll find him in the Peebles House on North Street, where he lives with wife Lyla. The two went on their first date 30 years ago on a Tuesday, and by supper on Friday, Woody had proposed. Now they act as the town’s party planners, hosting events at The Dance Hall(256/353-8723).

Don’t Miss
The 1839 brick church on Lauderdale Street has a wooden hand pointing toward heaven atop the steeple. It was carved by Bonnie Richardson’s “Pa,” who worried that people wouldn’t know which way to heaven.

Old Brick Church (1839) photo by M. Kauffman