Charles Whitlock (1774-1852)
7. Charles Whitlock, son of Charles and Esther Whitlock, was born 28 April 1774 in Albemarle County, Virginia. This is another of the several cases in which I find specific dates of birth and death for children of Charles and Esther Whitlock, whose source eludes me. As far as I can determine, this date of birth (and a death date as well) have been handed down in the family of a son of Charles Whitlock Jr., Andrew Hiram or Hyrum Whitlock, who joined the Latter Day Saints and went first to Nauvoo, Missouri, and from there to Utah. This date and a 9 July 1852 death date for Charles appear in a report compiled by Rae Lou W. Olsen in 1992, citing family information, with information received from Mildred Whitlock Rasband, who was a direct descendant of Charles and Esther Whitlock through their son Andrew H. Whitlock.[1]
Around 1795, Charles married Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew and Sarah Rea/Ray, who was born 5 May 1776 in Tennessee, according to the Olsen’s report. I have not found a record of this marriage. Elizabeth’s family appears to be closely connected to the family of Thomas Rea/Ray (abt. 1735-1777) and Ursula Thomson, who moved from Albemarle County, Virginia, to Surry County, North Carolina, after Thomas and Ursula sold 239 acres on Beaver Branch in Albemarle on 14 October 1773 and then bought land from Charles MacAnally in Surry in November 1774.[2] Thomas was the son of Andrew and had a brother Andrew. I do not have sufficient information to know whether this younger Andrew was Elizabeth Rea Whitlock’s father.
On 15 December 1803, the state of North Carolina issued letters patent to Charles Whitlock Jr. for a grant of 75 acres on waters of Buck Island Creek adjoining land his father Charles Sr. owned and land of William Nelson along with Charles Elliott’s old line.[3] The following year on 10 November 1804, Charles Whitlock sold Henry Watkins, both of Stokes County, for ￡100 105 acres on waters of Buck Island Creek adjoining Charles himself and also Charles Sr.[4] Though this deed does not specify that the Charles selling this tract was Jr., I think that the use of Sr. to designate an adjoining land owner means that it was Charles younger selling this land. The land also adjoined Martin and Perkins. Charles signed, with William Whitlock and Charles Whitlock witnessing. John [sic] Whitlock proved the deed at December court. John and William are Charles Jr.’s brothers, and I think the Charles witnessing this deed is their father Charles.
Charles Whitlock younger may have been selling his land in Stokes County at this time to move to Kentucky, where he is on tax lists in Adair County from 1806-1810.[5] En route to Kentucky, Charles’s family may have sojourned a short while in Ohio County, Virginia (now West Virginia), since his son Andrew is said to have been born there in 1805.[6] As a previous posting noted, Charles’s brother William also moved to Adair County, Kentucky, from Stokes County, North Carolina, in 1804-5, and began to appear on Adair County tax lists in 1806. I think it’s possible, in fact, that Charles and William moved their families together to Kentucky.
Charles continued living in Adair County up to the point when the section of Adair in which he lived fell into Russell County at its formation in 1825. By 1830, he had moved his family to Tennessee, where he’s found on the federal census in Rutherford County in 1830 and in Henry County in 1840 and 1850.[7] The 1850 federal census enumerates him in the household of his daughter Thirza Puckett, and shows Thirza’s sister Susan also living in the household. Charles Whitlock is listed as 72 [sic] and born in Virginia, with blacksmithing as his occupation.
Rutherford County is in Middle Tennessee and Henry County in West Tennessee. Henry borders Calloway and Graves Counties, Kentucky, on the south.
According to Rae Olsen, Charles died 9 July 1852.[8] About where he died, Olsen states, “We don’t know, but he probably went to Kirtland and Nauvoo with Andrew Hiram.”[9] Charles’s son Andrew Hiram/Hyrum Whitlock became a Mormon in Rutherford County, Tennessee, in 1831, and took part in the migration of Mormons to Nauvoo, Missouri, by the early 1840s. I don’t find probate records for Charles in Henry County, so it’s possible that he left there at the very end of his life to join his son in Missouri. But because Charles is listed in the household of his daughter Thirza in Henry County on the 1850 census, it seems to me likely that he died in that county.
Olsen states that Charles’s wife Elizabeth Rea Whitlock died 28 January 1835.[10] She states, “Whether Mother Elizabeth came and died in Missouri, we do not know.” I think it’s likely that Elizabeth died in either Rutherford or Henry County, Tennessee.
I think it’s likely that Charles Whitlock was given the name of his father Charles. Charles was the name of the paternal grandfather of Agnes Christmas Whitlock, mother of Charles Whitlock who married Esther.
John Whitlock (abt. 1778 – 1833)
8. Many Whitlock researchers place Charles and Esther Whitlock’s son John Whitlock as one of their older children, but in my view, he was likely the youngest child in the family.
John’s age range on federal censuses from 1810-1830 is as follows:[11]
1810 census: 1766-1784
1820 census: 1776-1794
1830 census: 1771-1780
When combined, these age ranges yield a birthdate for John between 1776 and 1780. The first mention I find of John in tax records is his listing on the tax list in 1796 in Wythe County, Virginia, with his uncle Thomas Whitlock and cousin Charles Whitlock.[12] As a previous posting indicates, John had gone to Wythe County at this point and was living with his uncle Thomas Whitlock when John’s son Charles was killed by a falling tree in April 1796. The fact that he first appears on a tax list in 1796 suggests a birthdate of about 1778 or possibly a year or two older for John. I think the stipulation in the 24 March 1811 Stokes County, North Carolina, will of John’s father Charles that John, to whom his father bequeathed his land and dwelling place on Snow Creek, was to provide care for his mother Esther to the end of her life suggests that John was the couple’s youngest son and was farming with and providing care for his parents at the end of their lives.[13]
As has been previously noted, on 7 April 1803 John gave an affidavit in the Whitlock vs. Whitlock case in Wythe County, Virginia, recounting the circumstances of the death of his cousin Charles Whitlock, son of John’s uncle Thomas Whitlock.[14] The affidavit states that John was living with his uncle Thomas Whitlock when Charles died in in April 1796.
I have not found a record showing when and where Charles married Catherine, daughter of Richard Cox, whose 31 December 1809 Stokes County will names his daughter Caty and states that John Whitlock was his son-in-law, making John an executor of the will.[15] John had a first child Jane born around 1801, so he was evidently married prior to 1801. I do not find him listed on the 1800 federal census as head of a household. I think, in fact, that he is likely the male aged 16-25 found in the household of his father Charles Whitlock in Stokes County on that census. The household also has a female aged 26-44. If this is Catherine Cox Whitlock, then she may have been somewhat older than John.
As noted in a previous posting, on 1 January 1802, when William Prewett bought from Electious Musick, both of Stokes County, 140 acres on Snow Creek bordering William Nelson, John Whitlock and his brother William witnessed the deed.[16] William Pruett was the husband of John and William Whitlock’s sister Mary.
As also noted previously, when John’s father Charles Whitlock sold land on Snow Creek in Stokes County to Moses Lawson on 1 June 1804, John and Nancy Whitlock witnessed the deed.[17] John is Charles’s son John, who proved the deed at March court 1804. I cannot place Nancy. Had John married a wife Nancy before he married Catherine Cox? If so, I’ve seen no mention of such a marriage, and Jane, born in 1801, is said by various sources to have been a daughter of John Whitlock and Catherine Cox.
When a Charles Whitlock who was, I believe, John’s brother (on this, see above) sold land in Stokes County on Buck Island Creek on 10 November 1804, with Charles’s brother William and his father Charles witnessing the deed, John Whitlock proved the deed at December court.[18]
On 4 October 1808 in Stokes County, Joel Foster sold John Whitlock an enslaved female named Phebe who was about six years old.[19] The sale was witnessed by Henry and Joshua Watkins.
On 3 December 1808, John’s brother-in-law William Pruitt sold to Robert Flinchum land on Snow Creek in Stokes County, with John and wife his Caty witnessing the deed.[20] On the same day, 3 December 1808, William also sold Robert Flinchum 25 acres on Snow Creek, again with his brother-in-law John Whitlock and wife Caty as witnesses.[21]
As noted previously, on 31 December 1809, John’s father-in-law Richard Cox made his will in Stokes County, naming John Whitlock as his son-in-law and making John an executor of the will.[22] The will was probated in March 1810.
For a variety of reasons, I’m fairly confident that the John Whitlock enumerated on the 1810 federal census at Snow Creek in Surry County, North Carolina, is John, son of Charles, and that this John is also the John Whitlock enumerated in Stokes County on the 1810 federal census.[23] The 1810 federal census for Stokes County is more of a tax list than a census proper; it lists acreage owned by each person enumerated and does not include other household members. It shows Charles holding 175 acres in Stokes. The Surry listing shows him and wife Catherine, both aged 26-44, and a male and female under 10, with four enslaved persons. In addition, the household contains a male and female both aged 45+. I think these are Charles and Esther Whitlock living with son John not long before Charles made his will and then died several years later. This census suggests that, though Charles made his will stating that he lived in Stokes County where his primary residence was, he may actually have died in Surry County at the house of his son John. On both the 1800 Surry and Stokes census listings for John Whitlock, the census page contains in addition to Charles the names William Shelton and John Carr, adding further proof, in my view, that the John Whitlock on both censuses is the same man.
I think that John had land in both Stokes and Surry by this time. As we’ll see in a moment, on 22 May 1824, John Whitlock of Surry County deeded to Joshua Cox Sr. of Stokes County land in Stokes that was out of a parcel of land that had fallen to John’s wife Caty by the will of her father Richard Cox.[24] Though John held land in both Surry and Stokes, John and Catherine’s primary residence in the latter years of their lives was in Surry County just southwest of Mt. Airy, and as we’ll see in a moment, John left a will in Surry County.
As a previous posting states, on 27 December 1810 in Stokes County, John’s father Charles Whitlock sold him an enslaved girl named Peggy, aged eight.[25] John proved the sale at court in June 1813.
Also as noted previously and discussed above, Charles Whitlock’s March 1811 will stipulates that his son John is to maintain his mother Esther throughout her life and leaves John the homeplace on Snow Creek, 240 acres and its holdings. This suggests to me that John was farming with his father in Charles’s final years. Charles Whitlock then died by June 1814 when his will was probated.
On 23 February 1816, John Whitlock entered 48 acres of land in Stokes County on Little Snow Creek.[26] The land adjoined land John already owned on the east, George Priddy on the south and west, and Samuel Hill on the north. An order to survey the tract was issued 15 November 1816, and the land was surveyed on 20 August 1817 with Joseph Cloud as surveyor and William and George Priddy Jr. as chain carriers. John paid for the land (amount of payment unspecified) on 4 April 1818.
On the 1820 federal census, John Whitlock is enumerated in Capt. Zachrys’s (i.e., John Zachary’s) district in Surry County with a household containing a male and female aged 26-44, and a male and female aged 10-15 (John’s children Jane and Charles). Note the absence of the two older household members found in John’s household on the 1810 census: John’s father Charles died in 1814, as we know from the probate of his will, and John’s mother Esther had evidently died between the time Charles made his will in 1811 and 1820.
As I stated above, on 22 May 1824, John Whitlock of Surry County sold Joshua Cox Sr. of Stokes County for $100 188 acres on the waters of the north double creek of Pan River in Stokes County.[27] The deed states that this tract was out of a parcel of land that had fallen to Caty Whitlock, wife of said John Whitlock, by the last will of Richard Cox, deceased. John signed the deed with witnesses Alexander Dodson, Jesse Cox, and Richard Cox. Note that Alexander Dodson was John’s nephew, the son of John’s sister Agnes Whitlock Dodson. The Joshua Cox Sr. to whom John Whitlock was selling this land was an uncle of John’s wife Catherine. Jesse and Richard Cox were, if I’m not mistaken, sons of Joshua.
The 1830 federal census shows John living in Surry County with a household in which there are a male and female aged 50-59, a male and female aged 20-29, and nine enslaved persons.[28] The younger male and female in John’s household in 1830 are his son John and John’s wife Celia Roberts.
John made his will in Surry County 27 August 1833 (the first page of the will is at the head of this posting).[29] The will notes that he was in bad health. It bequeaths to his wife Catherine part of the tract of land on which he and she lived, with a land description noting that it was on Moore’s Fork of Stewart’s Creek and that the land adjoined land on which Hugh Gwyn lived. To Catherine John also bequeathed enslaved persons London aged 33, Peggy, Priscilla, Sam, and Ann. Note that Charles Whitlock’s March 1811 will bequeathed to his son John an enslaved boy named London; London’s presence in the will of John Whitlock provides proof that the John Whitlock making this will is son of Charles Whitlock.[30] And Peggy is the enslaved girl aged eight that Charles sold to his son John in December 1810 in Stokes County, as noted above.[31]
John’s will also left to his wife Catherine his mares Snip and Jude, as well as livestock including milk and beef cows, sheep, hogs, geese, as well as all of his household goods and blacksmith tools. The will stipulated that any money still to come from the estate of Catherine’s father was to be for her use and the crop growing on his land in the year of his will was also to go to Catherine.
Following Catherine’s death, all the previously mentioned property was to be equally divided among his two children Jane Taliaferro and Charles Whitlock.[32] Jane was to keep two enslaved persons in her possession when the will was made, Rebecca and Mary, and was also to have enslaved persons Letty and Matt. Charles was to have enslaved persons Jim, Jenny, and John as well as three beds, bedsteads, and their furniture along with a black colt two years old the previous spring. Finally, Catherine was to have John’s shotgun until her death, at which time it was to be sold.
The will appointed John’s son Charles executor. John signed with witnesses Hugh Gwyn and S. Graves. It was proven and recorded at November court, so John Whitlock died in Surry County in 1833 between making his will on 27 August and November.
I have not found information about when and where Catherine Cox Whitlock died and was buried, or about her birthdate. As John’s will indicates, Catherine was alive when the will was made in August 1833 and was living in Surry County. It’s possible that John and Catherine are buried in the Whitlock cemetery at Mt. Airy in Surry County in which their son Charles and wife Celia Roberts are buried, but if so, their graves appear not to have a marker at present.
Following John Whitlock’s death, his widow Catherine made a deed on 5 December 1837 to Amos Jackson, the deed noting that she was of Surry County and he of Stokes. Catherine sold to Amos for $237.50 her interest in a tract of land in Stokes County known as the Cox tract, of which she was entitled to a share by the death of Joshua Cox. J.H. Jackson witnessed the deed and proved it at December court (Stokes County, North Carolina, Deed Bk. 12, p. 71).
I have not done a thorough search of Surry and Stokes County records for John Whitlock. There is no doubt more to be found about him in the records of these counties than the information I’ve provided here.
[1] A copy of Rae Lou W. Olson’s report is available at the FamilySearch site.
[2] Albemarle County, Virginia, Deed Bk. 6, pp. 272-274; and Surry County, Virginia, Deed Bk. A, p. 95.
[3] Stokes County, North Carolina, Deed Bk. 4, pp. 528-9.
[4] Ibid., Bk. 5, p. 13.
[5] See Susan Hyatt, “Charles Whitlock,” at the WikiTree site, citing Adair County tax lists.
[6] Rae Lou W. Olson, report about the family of Charles Whitlock and Elizabeth Rea available at the FamilySearch site.
[7] 1830 federal census, Rutherford County, Tennessee, p. 327; 1840 federal census, Henry County, Tennessee, p. 485; 1850 federal census, Henry County, Tennessee, district 8, p. 312A (dwelling/family 118; 21 December).
[8] Rae Lou W. Olson, report about the family of Charles Whitlock and Elizabeth Rea available at the FamilySearch site.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] 1810 federal census, Surry County, North Carolina, Snow Creek, p. 559; 1820 federal census, Surry County, North Carolina, Capt. Zachrys’s district, p. 760; 1830 federal census, Surry County, North Carolina, p. 115.
[12] Wythe County, Virginia, Personal Property Tax List, 1796; available digitally at FamilySearch.
[13] The original will is on file with the North Carolina Archives; see also Stokes County, North Carolina, Will Bk. 2, pp. 153-4.
[14] 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.
[15] See the original will on file with the North Carolina Archives; and Stokes County, North Carolina, Will Bk.2, pp. 106-7.
[16] Stokes County, North Carolina, Deed Bk 4, p. 391.
[17] Ibid., p. 382.
[18] Ibid., Bk. 5, p. 13.
[19] Stokes County, North Carolina, Deed Bk. 5, p. 461.
[20] Ibid., p. 455.
[21] Ibid., p. 462.
[22] Ibid., Bk. 4, pp. 528-9.
[23] For the Surry County listing, see supra, n. 11. The Stokes County listing is on p. 506.
[24] Stokes County, North Carolina, Deed Bk. 8, p. 325.
[25] Ibid., Bk. 5, p. 473.
[26] North Carolina Land Grants, Stokes County, entry #2010, grant #988, Land Grant Bk. 132, p. 202.
[27] Stokes County, North Carolina, Deed Bk. 8, p. 325.
[28] See supra, n. 11.
[29] The original will is on file in a loose-papers estate file at North Carolina Archives; see also Surry County, North Carolina, Will Bk. 4, pp. 61-3.
[30] See supra, n. 13.
[31] See supra, n. 25.
[32] For information about Jane and her husband Reverend Charles Hardin Taliaferro, a Baptist minister in Surry County, North Carolina, and Roane County, Tennessee, see Willie Catherine Ivey, Ancestry and Posterity of Dr. John Taliaferro and Mary (Hardin) Taliaferro (Tennville, Georgia, 1926).
BEGATS AND BEQUEATHALS 