From the Mountains to the Prairies

William Calvit
Born 1740 Johnston Co. NC?
Died by Mar 23, 1799 Sandy Creek, Adams Co., Miss. Terr.

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Mother

SPOUSE	CHILDREN
Jane Holmes m. by 1760? NC b. 1743? Acklam, Yorkshire, England d. by 1780? NC?	Elizabeth b. 1760? NC d. Sep 10, 1843 Franklin Co. MS	John b. 1761? ?NC d. 1830? ?Franklin Co. MS	Anthony b. 1762? ?NC d. Nov 2, 1847 Alexandria, Rapides Parish LA
	Joseph b. 1762? NC d. by Feb 1822 ?Jefferson Co. MS	?Rebecca b. by 1766? ?NC d.
Phoebe Crawford Jett [separated] m. by Feb 17, 1784 Natchez Dist. div. 1794? Natchez Dist. b. 1742? NC d. after 1806 ?Natchez, Adams Co. Miss. Terr.	Tacitus Gaillard Jett [adopted] b. by 1784 Natchez Dist. d. May 19, 1829 Alexandria, Rapides Parish LA	?Stephen b. by 1788 Natchez Dist. d. after 1830 ?Adams Co. MS
Mother Mary Dean was the daughter of William Dean who died in Natchez on Mar 6, 1791. She was a widow when Anthony Calvit died by 1762. About 1782 she made a 2,000 mile journey down the Mississippi River with her husband and three of her children to Natchez to settle. Sons William and Joseph arrived in Natchez later, possibly by land with horses, by mid-1783.
About 1770, brother Frederick Calvit married Mary Elizabeth Montfort.
According to Calvit family history, twelve families started together down the turbulent Tennessee River. Among them were Daniel and Mary Dean Calvit Higdon, their son Jeptha, and two of her other sons-and Joseph's brothers-Frederick and Thomas Calvit, from her first marriage to Antoine (Anthony) Calvet. With Frederick were his wife and several young children. The trip was dangerous, especially at the rapids at Muscle Shoals. On the rafts travelling with the Calvit's and Higdon's were the Green, West, Smith, and White families, and their heads "became some of the most important men in early Mississippi" [given as reference: McBee, David Smith, 22-23; Harmon, Good Inheritance, 176-77]. A total of 13 families were recorded by Spanish authorities as arriving in May 1782 from Tennessee, and the record was signed by Grand-Pré on Jul 6, 1782. No Calvit or Higdon names were recorded. These families were in the Cumberland Settlement, whereas the Calvits started from the Holston River in eastern Tennessee. It is possible they arrived later or were included in the 11 members of the James White family.
Photo of a Map showing the Route of the Donelson Expedition on display at the Tennessee State Museum.
The Calvit family may have come from the Watauga settlement. There is an account from the Cumberland Settlement that founder James Robertson saved the life of a person who had been scalped. He had learned the procedure from a doctor who had done the same for a soldier he commanded named Frederick Calvit, in his thirties, in the Watauga Settlement in NC in 1777.
Brother Frederick was likely the one who signed the 1777 Petition of Holsten Men, on page 6 just above the name of James Robertson, founder of the Cumberland Settlement [Tuller, p.6].
Brother Joseph Calvit served in the Illinois regiment of VA troops and left in 1782, about the time he and brother Frederick came to Natchez. He married Cidia or "Sydney" nee Adair (1799 Ga.-1885) in Jefferson Co. MS on Jun 7, 1817. She remarried in Feb 1822. As Joseph's widow, she applied for a pension in 1830.
Two Calvit brothers and their stepfather Daniel Higdon were in Natchez by Jul 17, 1783 when William Dewitt and a William Rawlings gave a declaration that a horse race was fixed, that is, "two of the Calvits Sons in Law to Higdon Did Bett on Cobbs horse which horse Higdon who was Father in Law to the two Calvitts & one of the Judge's gave the race in favour of Cobb's horse" [MDAH Microfilm roll no. 5618, entry no. 3.65]. A Russell Jones also filed a suit against the same Arthur Cobb, objecting to the judges of the race who were "Messr. Brocus and Higdon" [McBee, p. 309-10]. The judge would be William's stepfather Daniel Higdon, and the son-in-laws would be possibly his brothers Joseph and Frederick who lived in the St. Catherine's Creek area about that time. Higdon died in Mar 1785.
William's second wife Phoebe previously had lived with a Stephen Jett "until she had one child by him and was again pregnant when she found out ... he had another wife". They agreed to separate and she married William before Jan 1784, but Jett came to William's house and shot William, breaking his arm, and took Phoebe's child with Jett from her [McBee, Book G, pp. 320-2].
On Jun 21, 1784, William Calvit sued his stepfather Daniel Higdon for $922 owed on a bond [McBee, Natchez Court Records, Book G, p. 323].
Present in the Spanish Census of 1784 in the sub-district of Santa Catalina (St. Catherine's Creek) are the families of brothers Joseph Calvit, Frederick Calvit, Thomas Calvit and William Calvit.
In 1784, daughter Elizabeth Calvit married John Ford (1766?-1844) in the Natchez District.
On Mar 1, 1785 mother Mary, aged about 62, gifted "all my goods, chattels and property, real and personal" to her son, William's stepbrother, Jeptha Higdon. Court record [Clarke III, Appendix 6, citing McBee, Book A, p. 245].
Stepfather Daniel Higdon had died by Jan 5, 1787 when William's mother, "Mary Higdon, widow ... mortgages her whole estate" to pay for 35 year old negro Rosa, native of America. She declared she could not write [McBee, Book D, p. 139]. On the same date she did the same "for payment of $735, due and owing to Don Juan Vauchere, merchant" which was recorded received by Vauchere on Mar 10 [McBee, Book A, p. 37].
In Mar 1787, daughter Rebecca "delivers to William Brocus, here present and accepting, a negro boy named "Dick", nat. of Va., 14 yrs. old, receiving in exchange a negro girl named Nan, nat. of this Province, aged 9 years, and $100 in cash" [McBee, p. 39].
William received a Spanish grant dated Mar 15, 1788 for "800 acres on Sandy Creek, 18 mi. east of Fort, all sides vacant". In 1804, "Anthony Calvet, one of the heirs" of William Calvet, decd., claimed the land [McBee, Natchez Land Claims, Book C, p. 420].
Brother "Frederick Calvet" received a Spanish grant dated Mar 15, 1788 for "500 acres, 12 mi. from Fort to north" [McBee, Natchez Land Claims, Book B, p. 382].
Map of the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799.
The will of Anne Francis Gaillard (1720-1788), "sick and weak", provided $60 a year for five years for education of "two boys of Mrs. Phoebe Calvit" [McBee, Book B, p. 59]. Anne's husband had died Nov 7, 1786 in the Natchez District.
On Aug 18, 1788 stepbrother Jeptha Higdon, aged about 25, bought a "new negro" from Thomas Irwin for $500, $100 Jan 1789 and $400 Jan 1790. He signed with an X. On the same day, brother Frederick Calvit also bought a "new negro" from Irwin at the same price and terms, with Frederick signing. William Calvit bought several negroes, two mortgaged, on the same day from Irwin, and he also signed his name. Full payment for these negroes was received from William's brother[?] Joseph Calvit by May 12 1795, suggesting that William had died by then [McBee, Book B, p. 57].
On Sep 1, 1788 stepsister Louisa Higdon married John Wylie. According to Diocese of Baton Rouge [La.] Catholic church records, "John Wily" married "Elisabeth Higdon" in New Feliciana on Sep 1, 1788. Generally, the parents of each are recorded, but the Church record says "not given" for each [Diocese of Baton Rouge, Catholic Church Records, vol. 2, p. 725].
New Feliciana was in what became in 1810 Feliciana Parish (see present day map for location). It borders Mississippi south of Natchez.
On Dec 26, 1788, son John Calvit was one of the purchasers in the sale of "sundry horses and mares" belonging to John Pickens and Richard King [McBee, Book D, p. 141].
In a letter dated Mar 2, 1790, from Carlos de Grand-Pré, Natchez, to Governor Don Estavan Miro, the amount of tobacco was reported by growers of Natchez. Brothers Frederick produced 10,100 lbs, William 10,000 lbs, and Thomas 7,000 lbs. [MDAH, website].
On Mar 18, 1790, a Spanish grant to John Ford of "700 arpents 18 miles east of the Fort [of Natchez], on Cole's [Creek]" that bordered the land of William Calvit was claimed, noting that the file containing information, such as the date of the original grant, is "missing" [McBee, Natchez Court Records, Book B, p. 400].
In 1790 William surveyed land on the Big Black River and built a house and planted peach trees [Terr. Papers of MS, Natchez].
On Jan 16, 1791, the will of brother Frederick Calvit, dated Sep 22, 1790, was opened. He bequeathed property to their six children "at her decease" and it named his wife Mary, his brother Thomas, Thomas "Marston" Green, and John Bisland as executors [McBee, Book B, p. 81].
Brother Frederick owned 300f [arpents] situated on the "River Mississippi" (see volume 4, page 270 of an 1807 deed record for the "Legal representatives of Frederick Calvit"). According to the deed, there was an order for survey of the land on Jul 26, 1792 which was after he died [American State Papers, vol. 1, register B, p. 895].
The 1792 Census of the Natchez District was translated from the Spanish handwritten records. Located in the Second and Sandy Creek subdivision are two "Calvet" families: "Guillermo" or William owned 1500 arpents, with 8 white persons [William, wife Phoebe, 2 sons, and 6? children of brother Frederick], and 4 slaves. "Juan" or John did not own land but his household had 6 whites and no slaves. In a Head of Household Index to the same Census there are three other Calvet households: "Jose" [Joseph] and "La Vuida" [Frederick's widow Mary] in the subdivision of Santa Catalina (St. Catherine's - now in Adams Co. and Franklin Co.); and "Tomas" [Thomas] in the subdivision of Villa Gayoso (now in Jefferson Co. and Franklin Co.).
On Oct 18, 1792 an "Inventory of property of James Smith, decd." showed that "Widow Calvit" [Mary] and her son Joseph Calvit, owed money to the estate for "blacksmith work" (James was the eldest son of John Smith) [McBee, Natchez Court Records, Book D, p. 150].
On Dec 19, 1795 William's wife Phoebe sued William for cruelty and selling her slave without her consent, stating that "during her twelve years of marriage she had received nothing from him" [McBee, Book E, p. 202].
A Mar 13, 1800 appraisal of the "goods and chattles of William Calvit, decesd, late of [Adams Co.]" included the 800 acre plantation and four slaves: Matt, Sam, man Prince or woman Alice, and a girl Rachel, possibly Rachel Spikes, a "poor orphan girl whom I [brother Frederick] have brought up" [Historic Natchez Foundation, William Calvit Probate File]. The estate was inventoried Mar 23, 1799.
Son Anthony married Mary Mayes (1780-1816) by 1808 when their son James Anthony was born in Mississippi Territory.
On Aug 18, 1801, Phoebe, divorced from William but living on the lot he gave her at 311 Jefferson St in Natchez, "entered into an antenuptial contract with Ebenezer Dayton" [Stanfill, pp. 329-332]. In 1806, she was identified as Phoebe Dayton in a court case involving ownership of the Natchez lot.
In the 1816 Franklin Co. MS Census, page 9, there are 2 large Ford households: In the John Ford household (line 2) were: 1 male over 21 [John S.], 3 males under 21 [Jesse, Thomas and ?Absalom], 1 female over 21 [wife Elizabeth Calvit, daughter of William], 3 females under 21 [Nancy, Anna and ?], and 8 slaves. Also in the same 1816 Franklin Co. MS Census, there are 3 Calvit households all on page 5: On line 19 is: John Calvit, in a household of six members [probably William's son born about 1761], including a female over age 21, 2 sons under age 21, 2 daughters under age 21 and no slaves. On line 16: William Calvit, in a household of 7 family members [probably brother Frederick's son]: On line 21: Thomas Calvit with a male [Thomas] and female [wife Mary?] over age 21 with no children and no slaves. This is likely William's younger brother Thomas who lived until 1821. [Rowland, 1816 Franklin Co. Census].
Franklin Co. MS was formed in 1809 from Adams Co. (see present day map for location).
In the 1830 Adams Co. MS Census, the household of "Stephen Calvit" with 4 free white males and three free white females, with one taxable, could be William's youngest child born by 1788 [MDAH, 1830 Adams Co. MS Census, microfilm page 12, line 18].
In the 1840 Census for Rapides Parish LA, is a household headed by "A Calvit" on line 24 of page 218 with a male aged 70-80 [son Anthony b. 1760-70], a female aged 40-50, and 5 children, and no slaves. In the household of Anthony's son, "Jas. A. Calvit" on line 16 of page 209, was a 30-40 year old male [James born in 1808], a 20-30 year old female, and two children.
SOURCES: Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census. American State Papers, Documents, ... of the Congress of the Unitied States, ... 1789-1809, vol. 1, Gales and Seaton, Washington DC, 1832, register B, p. 895. Aymond, Greg, Holloway Family of Holloway Prairie, internet website, Dec 1999. "Franklin County, MS 1810 Census", abstract from Gillis book, rootsweb website. Documents ... , US Congress, 1815-24] "John Holloway, 1851", File H-3, on p. 208 of "The MS Cains", website. Clarke, J. Calvit III, Appendicies to Joseph Calvit and his Family in Mississippi, Appendix 6, "Land and Property in the Calvit/Higdon Families", website. Clarke, J. Calvit III, The "I" In History: ... The Calvet's from France to the American Frontier, Jacksonville Univ. Expanded Paper Presented to the Annual Meeting of the Florida Conference of Historians, Tampa, FL, Mar 2005, website. Diocese of Baton Rouge Department of Archives, Catholic Church Records, vol. 2 (1770-1803), Baton Rouge LA, p. 725. Historic Natchez Foundation, William Calvit estate inventory and appraisal, 1800, William Calvit Probate File, Box 10, Adams Co. MS Probate Records. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Land Claims, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, Book B, p. 382, Book C, p. 420. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, Book A, pp. 37, 39, Book B, pp. 57, 59, Book C, p. 113, Book D, pp. 36-7, 51, 81, 150, 141, 288, 400, Book E, p. 186, Book G, pp. 320-1, 323. Franklin Co. Genealogy & Hustory Network, Franklin Co. Mississippi Marriages, website. MS Dept. of Arch. & Hist. (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1780-1790. MDAH, microfilm no. 5618, roll 3, various doc. MDAH, Adams Co. MS 1830 Census, State Census Returns 1818-1880, website, microfilm. MDAH, Franklin Co. 1816 Census in "Territorial Censuses", website. MSGW, Franklin Co. MS, website, http://www.msgw.org/franklin/settlfms.html, ref. Lambright, W.W., History of Franklin Co. MS. Rowland, Dunbar, "1816 Census for Franklin Co. Miss.", taken from The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi,Centennial Edition, 1917, rootsweb website. Stanfill, Latayne Colvett, Colvett Family Chronicles, History of the Colvett Family of Tennessee, 1630-1990, Glendale CA, 1991. Tuller, Roberta, "1777 Petition of Holston Men", in An American Family History, website, Amazon Services, 2020. USGenWeb, Early Southwest Miss. Territory, "Natchez District 1792 Spanish Census Index", website. USGenWeb, Franklin Co. Mississippi, "Franklin County Mississippi Early Settlers", website. U. S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1840, S-K Publ., 2003, pp. 209, 218. Veach, Damon, "Louisiana Ancestors", article in Sunday Advocate Magazine, Baton Rouge LA, Feb 21, 1982. White, Gifford, James Taylor White of Virginia and some of his descendants into Texas, Austin, TX, 1982. Unknown author, "...to John ..." [illegible], correspondence detailing discovery of baptismal records of Stillee children in Cathedral Archives, no date but possibly mid 1900's.