| SPOUSE | CHILDREN | |||
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Mary Devonald m. 1764? Madison, Culpeper Co. VA b. Madison, Culpeper Co. VA d. before 1813 |
Maj. John b. 1765? SC d. Feb 16, 1845 Barbour Co. AL |
Margaret b. SC d. before 1860 |
Charles M. b. 1770? SC? d. Jan 26, 1822 Darlington District SC |
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Sarah b. 1770? SC? d. before 1860 MS? |
Frederick W. b. 1774? Darlington SC d. Feb 25, 1830 Greene Co. TN |
Mary or Martha? b. 1775? Chesterfield SC d. 1814? MS? |
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Eleanor b. Feb 7, 1781 SC d. 1860 Cheraw SC |
Dorathea b. Apr 3, 1793 Darlington SC d. Oct 2, 1847 Society Hill SC |
Elizabeth Nancy b. Feb 22, 1796 SC? d. Feb 15, 1858 |
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Harriet b. SC d. young |
Daniel b. SC d. young SC |
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Culpeper County VA was formed in 1748
(see present day map
for location), and was bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. The
Rappahannock River forms one of its eastern boundaries. |
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In the 1770's, a William Dewitt, probsbly William Dewitt,
was a militiaman and Special Juror for the Cheraws District in SC. In the 1778-79
Jury List of Petit Jurors, a Charles and John Dewitt and Thomas Powe, probably
the grandson of Samuel Poe, are also listed as
jurors in the SC Jury Lists
1778-1779. |
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The old Cheraws District was located partly in present-day Marlboro Co. SC.
Map
of the Cheraws District between 1785 and 1790 shows location relative to other
SC districts. |
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Capt. William Dewitt led the Cheraws District Militia in the Revolutionary War
on the Patriot side. He and his sons fought during the following campaigns: May 3, 1779, Coosawhatchie (River) in Beaufort District (present-day Jasper Co.) Aug 16, 1780, Battle of Camden, known as "Gates Defeat", in Camden District (present-day Kershaw Co.) |
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Modern Map of South Carolina
Counties showing the 18th Century Parishes. Welch Neck and Cashaway
Neck were in St. David Parish. Prince George Parish was to the South and included
the Pee Dee River basin from Lynches Creek down to Winyah Bay. |
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Son John Dewitt, when he was sixteen years of age, and his mother were accosted at
their home by a party of British while Capt. Dewitt was at war. When the boy resented
some insolent remark addressed to his mother he was struck on the head with a
sword by an officer, inflicting a scar that he carried to his grave [Chesterfield SC
website]. In 1799, John married Nancy Powe (1779-1860), daughter of Thomas Powe Sr.,
grandson of Samuel Poe, and Rachel Allen. |
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William's house in Society Hill SC was burned by Tories in 1780. It was rebuilt in
1785. Sons William, John and Allan, although they were very young, are said to have
served in the Revolutionary War but no proof of this could be found. Both sons
William and John were killed at Camden SC [Chesterfield SC website]. |
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Daughter Mary married Edward Edwards and had 12 children. Their child Edward Dewitt
Edwards (Sr.) was born in 1804 and came with his brother John to Yazoo area of MS
about 1831 but left in 1836 because of a malaria outbreak. He and his wife nee
Knight moved to what was Choctaw Co. MS then near Old Greensboro (now known as
Webster Co.). One of their grandsons called "Buddy" was named Edward Devonald
Edwards (1861-1941), and according to ancestors, was named after great-grandmother,
Mary Devonald Dewitt, whose daughter married Edward Edwards. The son Edward D. Sr.
was killed in 1861 as a result of a feud with a Gray family. |
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The families of Edward Edwards [wife Mary Edwards] and son Frederick Dewitt are listed in
the 1800 Census [pg 102a and 101b] for Chesterfield Co. SC. There is a household
under a "Mary Edwards", 2 females aged 16-26 and 1 female over 45 years old and
17 slaves. |
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William was listed as "WIlliam Dewitt, planter, Cheraws", having accounts from
1788-94 in an old, partially intact ledger from the Georgetown District of SC. |
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Daughter Sarah married a Mr. James and then Sam Ervin. |
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On Jun 4, 1807 Daughter Eleanor married Allan Chapman (1760-1823) after his first
wife, Rachel Powe (1772-1806) died. Rachel Powe was the daughter of Thomas Powe and
Rachel Allen, daughter of Erasmus Withers Allen. |
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Daughter Margaret married Enoch Hanford (1777-1817). |
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Daughter Elizabeth married Sam Wilds and then Dr. Thomas Smith. |
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| William and a grandson of Samuel Poe, Thomas Powe, Sr. (1747-1817), were granted 1,000 acres along the Pee Dee River in SC in 1804. In the 1790 Cheraw District Census, Thomas had 34 slaves, and a "Charles Dewit" nearby had 9 slaves. According to the 1810 Census, Thomas Powe Sr. owned 100 slaves. Thomas married Rachel Allen, daughter of Erasmus Withers Allen, and their first child was born Oct 22, 1766. Two of their sons, William (1768-1831) and Alexander Powe were early settlers (1811) of Wayne Co. MS, founded in Dec 1809. | ||||
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When the Welch Neck Baptist church was to move to Society Hill SC, the lot of
two acres is said to have been given by Captain William Dewitt, titles to the
property being recorded in 1798 by Evander McIver. The previous church had been
erected on a two acre site given by Daniel Devonald, William's father-in-law in
1769. William's father was a member of the curch at that time. |
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William T. Dewitt recorded a Darlington Co. SC Will, dated
Jul 27, 1813. Mentioned are first names: Caesar (Slave), Cate (Slave), Allen, Eleanor, Charles (Slave), Charles, Dorothy, Harriot, John, William, W, Mary, Peggy, Enoch, Harry (Slave), Olive, Henny (Slave), Isham (Slave), Jack (Slave), Jeff (Slave), Lucas, Alexander, Evander, Solomoon (Slave), Betsey. Surnames mentioned: Chapman, Dewitt, Douglas, Edwards, Evans, Handford, Hanford, Hawes, McIntosh, McIver, Wilds. |
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Son Frederick Dewitt married his cousin, Frances Dewitt (1779-1858) daughter of
Thomas Dewitt Jr. (1752-1811) and Susannah, daughter of
Erasmus Withers Allen. |
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On Dec 25, 1813 in Darlington SC, daughter Dorothea married Josiah James Evans
(1786-1858), a South Carolina Judge from 1829 to 1852, when he was elected by SC
to serve as a Democrat in the US Senate. While not supporting disunion, he
eventually acquired over 220 slaves. They are both buried in Trinity Protestant
Episcopal Church in Darlington SC. |
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Capt. William Dewitt is buried in the Trinity Cemetery in Society Hill SC.
Photo of grave marker.
His son John is buried in the same cemetery. The marker inscription reads "aged 75 yrs",
and daughter Dorothea Dewitt Evans is buried there. |
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The estate of son Charles M. Dewitt was "partitioned" in 1822 [Darlington Flag,
Summer 2002, Volume 14, Issue 3]. |
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The slaves belonging to the Estate of William Dewitt appeared in 1824
[Darlington Flag, Winter 2004, Volume 16, Issue 1]. |
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SOURCES: Clark, Walter, State Records of North Carolina Vol XVII 1781-1785, Broadfoot Publishing, Wilmington NC, 1994, pp. 287-8, 294. Genealogical Register, vol. VIII, No. 3, Sep 1961. Edmonds, Elsie Chapman, John Chapman of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Thomas Powe of Cheraw, South Carolina: And Related Families, Univ. Wisc., 1971, pp. 53, 370. Gregg, Alexander, History of the Old Cheraws, Geneal Publ. Co., Balt. MD, 1967, repr 1925 ed, p. 97. Hendrix, G.L.C., The Jury Lists of South Carolinians, 1778-1779, private printing, 1975. Northern Neck Grants, Virginia State Archives, Book G. Poe, Allan, "The Records, From Virginia to Old Burke Co. N.C.", publ. in Wm Wiseman & the Davenports, Pioneers Of Old Burke County, North Carolina, v.2, by M.L.Vineyard & E.M.Wiseman, Franklin NC, 1997, pp. 254-256. Potter, Dorothy Williams, Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823, Gateway Press, Baltimore MD, 1982, p. 342. Pre-Revolutionary Plat Books, SC Archives Dept., vol. 21, pp 424-433. U.S. 1800 Census, Chesterfield Co. SC, website. Virginia Land Patents, Book 8, p. 16. Webber, Mabel L., "Abstracts from an old Account Book of Georgetown District", in South Carolina Hist. and Gen. Mag., vol XXVI, South Carolina Historical Soc., 1925, pp. 151-157. White, Gifford, "James White and John White", Wm. Wiseman & the Davenports, Pioneers Of Old Burke County, North Carolina, v.2, by M.L.Vineyard & E.M.Wiseman, Franklin NC, 1997, pp. 86-96, 107-112. White, Gifford, James Taylor White of Virginia and some of his descendants into Texas, Austin, TX, April 1982. |
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