

Or, Subtitled: Confusion and Sparse Records Coupled with Clearly Discernible Patterns
If I’m correct that the 20 September 1757 Louisa County, Virginia, settlement of the estate of James Whitlock and the 29 December 1768 Hanover County, Virginia, will of Thomas Christmas, James’s father-in-law, name the children of James Whitlock and Agnes Christmas by order of birth, then their last child was Nathaniel Whitlock.[1] In the posting I’ve just linked, I provide my reasons for thinking that the child of James and Agnes who preceded Nathaniel, my ancestor Thomas Whitlock, was born around 1745. In my view, Nathaniel would likely have been born about 1747, no doubt in St. Martin’s parish in Louisa County, where his father James Whitlock died between making his will on 7 March 1749 and the will’s probate date of 28 November 1749.[2] The 1810 federal census for Greenville County, South Carolina, which I’ll discuss below, assigns Nathaniel a birthdate prior to 1755.