Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) of Louisa and Wythe Counties, Virginia, and Cumberland County, Kentucky: The Case of Jonathan Jennings

Botetourt County, Virginia, Deed Bk. 1, pp. 310-2

Or, Subtitled: When the name you ignore in a document turns out to be the key to the problem you’re trying to solve

In my penultimate posting, I told you that, having recounted Thomas Whitlock’s (abt. 1745 – 1830) story up to the point that he and wife Hannah Phillips Whitlock sold their land in Wythe County, Virginia, and moved to Kentucky in 1805, I’d proceed with a chronicle of their life in Cumberland County, Kentucky. Before I do that, however, I’d like to share some important information I’ve now unearthed about Jonathan Jennings.

An Interesting Find: Hannah Whitlock, Bedford County, Virginia, Court Minutes, July 1769

Bedford County, Virginia, Court Order Bk. 3, p. 551

Or, Subtitled: Eureka!

Here’s an interesting find that allows me to determine more accurately when Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) married his wife Hannah Phillips, and when they arrived in Bedford County, Virginia, as they made their way towards Montgomery (later Wythe) County, where they had settled by March 1776.

Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) of Louisa and Wythe Counties, Virginia, and Cumberland County, Kentucky: Whitlock vs. Whitlock Chancery Court Case, 1799 – 1805

Undated [1804] survey of Thomas Whitlock’s land, Wythe County, Virginia, in Augusta County, Virginia, Chancery Court case, Whitlock vs. Whitlock, box 10, file 38 (1803-4), available digitally via Library of Virginia’s Virginia Memory chancery records collection

Or, Subtitled: In Which I Read the Fusty Old Documents and Summarize Them, Saving You the Trouble

As the previous posting tells you, in this posting I’m going to discuss the lawsuit filed in September 1799 by William Davies, guardian of Agnes and Hannah Whitlock, the orphan daughters of Thomas Whitlock’s son Charles, which ended with Thomas’s sale of his land in Wythe County, Virginia, in 1805 and with his and wife Hannah’s move to Cumberland County, Kentucky.

Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) of Louisa and Wythe Counties, Virginia, and Cumberland County, Kentucky: Wythe County, Virginia, Records, 1790 – 1805

Wythe County, Virginia, Survey Bk. 1, p. 262

Or, Subtitled: Road Orders, Estate Appraisals, and Dams Interfering with Fishing for Catfish

I’m now picking up the story of Thomas Whitlock’s life in 1790, when Wythe County was formed from Montgomery, where Thomas was living from before March 1776. If you click the “previous post” link beneath this posting, that will take you to the posting that precedes this one, and if you want to read the entire series of postings I’ve now written about Thomas Whitlock, simply click “previous posting” at the bottom of each new posting you open in the series.

Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) of Louisa and Wythe Counties, Virginia, and Cumberland County, Kentucky: Montgomery County, Virginia, Records, 1780s

Virginia Land Office Survey Bk. 4, pp. 654-5

Or, Subtitled: In which I share information strongly supporting the conclusion that the Thomas Whitlock of the 7th Virginia Regiment is, indeed, this Thomas — see discussion of Capt. Robert Sayers below.

In this posting, I’m continuing my chronicle of the life of Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) in Montgomery County, Virginia, insofar as I’ve found documents there for him. Previous postings have tracked him from the time he appears in Montgomery County in March 1776 witnessing a deed of Jonathan Jennings to Charles Lynch (and here and here). The last link I’ve just provided points to a posting that ends with a discussion of Thomas’s appearance on a 6 April 1781 list of men serving in Jeremiah Pearce/Pierce’s battalion in Montgomery County.

Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) of Louisa and Wythe Counties, Virginia, and Cumberland County, Kentucky: Montgomery County, Virginia, Records, 1777 – 1781

Mary B. Kegley, Early Adventurers on the Western Waters, vol. 3 (Wytheville: Kegley Books, 1995), pp. 334-5

As the previous posting told you, I’ll now begin sharing the information I have about Thomas Whitlock’s years in Montgomery and Wythe Counties, Virginia, from 1776 to 1805, when he and wife Hannah moved to Cumberland County, Kentucky, from Wythe County, Virginia. Wythe was formed from Montgomery in 1790, and Thomas’s land fell into Wythe County at that point.