| SPOUSE | CHILDREN | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Mary Green m. by 1785 ?Natchez Dist. b. NC? d. by 1809 ?Franklin Co. MS |
William b. d. after 1809 |
Daniel b. 1785 ?Natchez Dist. d. May 13, 1843 ?Franklin Co. MS |
Jeptha Jr. b. by 1786? Franklin Co. Miss. Terr. d. after 1803 Adams Co. Miss. Terr. |
|
|
John b. d. |
Lydia b. d. |
Gideon b. Franklin Co. MS d. |
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|
Rebecca Elizabeth (Betsey) b. 1792? Adams Co., Miss. Terr. |
daughter b. d. |
daughter b. Franklin Co. d. |
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According to Calvit family history, twelve families started together down the
turbulent Tennessee River. Among them were Jeptha and his parents, Daniel and
Mary Dean Calvit Higdon, and two of her other sons 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 ref: 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, and the record was
signed by Grand-Pré on Jul 6, 1782. No Calvit or Higdon names were recorded.
It is possible they arrived later or were included in the 11 members of the
James White family. |
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Photo of a Map showing
the Route of the Donelson Expedition on display at the Tennessee State Museum. |
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The Calvits and Higdons 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 p. 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 Daniel Higdon, and the son-in-laws
would be two of his wife's four Calvit. Daniel Higdon died in Mar 1785. |
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On Mar 1, 1785 Jeptha's mother Mary, aged about 62, gifted "all my goods,
chattels and property, real and personal" to Jeptha.
Court record
[Clarke III, Appendix 6, citing McBee, Book A, p. 245]. |
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|
On Jul 28, 1787 Jeptha claimed 718f [arpents] "on St. Catharine's creek"
and on Jun 3, 1807 the recorded
patent
(Vol. 4, Page 307) was granted to "Wm. Brooks, assignee of Jeptha Higdon", and
issued "without the payment of any purchase money" [American State Papers,
vol. 1, register B, p. 896]. |
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|
On Aug 18, 1788 Jeptha, aged about 25, bought a "new negro" from Thomas
Irwin for $500, $100 Jan 1789 and $400 Jan 1790. He signed with an X [McBee,
Book B, p. 57]. |
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|
A Jeptha Higdon (III?) (1803-1846) married Nancy Ford on Mar 22, 1833, daughter
of John Ford (1766?-1844?), in Franklin Co. MS.
On his grave marker in Redbone Methodist Cemetery in Warren Co. MS he is
identified as "Jeptha Higdon". John Ford lived in SC before moving to the
Spanish-held Natchez District. His wife Elizabeth was born in NC to
William Calvit and Jane Holmes, who was born
1740 in Acklam, Yorkshire, England. William was the eldest son of mother
Mary Calvit Higdon. |
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|
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 Calvet" 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]. |
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|
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.
Jeptha Higdon reported producing 10,000 pounds of tobacco, and his mother
Mary produced 2,000 lbs. [MDAH, website]. |
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|
A
Census Index of heads of households in the Natchez District in 1792 placed
each household in one of nine areas within the district. Included in the SC =
Santa Catalina area, which later was approximately within Adams and Franklin
Counties: "Jaime [James] Willey"; "Juan [John] Willey" [husband of sister Louisa]; and "Jephta Higdon". |
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Map of
the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799. |
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On Nov 20, 1793 Jeptha received a Spanish grant of 400 acres 18 miles NE of the
Fort, on the Mississippi River, bordering "lands of Frederick Calvet and those
of His Magesty, a league below Petit Gulf" [McBee, Book B, p. 380]. In 1804 this
land was in Jefferson Co. |
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The family of Jeptha Higdon primarity owned land in what became Jefferson Co.,
the part created from Adams Co., Mississippi Territory, in 1799 as Pickering Co.,
then Jefferson Co. in 1802
(see present day map). |
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Sons Daniel and John married Burke family members, Mary Polly by 1813,
and Cynthia Ann. Mary was born in Tennessee in 1792 to John Burke (1760?-1845 MS)
and Elizabeth Crockett, and died in Franklin Co. MS on Aug 24, 1876. |
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According to W. W. Lambright's History of Franklin County, Mississippi From 1809-1899,
John Ford was among the first settlers of Franklin Co. MS.
Franklin Co. MS was formed in 1809 from Adams Co.
(see present day map
for location). |
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Son William was a Methodist minister licensed in 1809. |
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Son Gideon married Mary Vincens. |
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An older daughter married Joseph Montgomery by 1809. Another daughter married
John Montgomery. |
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Daughter Rebecca (Betsy) was under guardianship of Joseph Montgomery, who gave
consent for her marriage in 1809 to Charles McCarrel. This means she was probably
born between 1789 and 1794. |
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SOURCES: American State Papers, Documents, ... of the Congress of the Unitied States, ... 1789-1809, vol. 1, Gales and Seaton, Washington DC, 1832, register A, p. 868, register B, p. 896. Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census. Clarke, J. Calvit III, Appendicies to Joseph Calvit and his Family in Mississippi, Appendix 6, "Land and Property in the Calvit/Higdon Families", website. "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. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Land Claims, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, Book B, p. 380. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, pp. 36-7, 51, 288, 400, Book B, p. 57. Franklin Co. Genealogy & Hustory Network, Franklin Co. Mississippi Marriages, website. MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1780-1790. MS Dept. of Arch. & Hist. (MDAH), 1816 Franklin Co. Census in "Territorial Censuses", website. 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. USGenWeb, Early Southwest Miss. Territory, "Natchez District 1792 Spanish Census Index", website. USGenWeb, Franklin Co. Mississippi, "Franklin County Mississippi Early Settlers", website. 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. Whitley, Edythe Rucker, comp., Pioneers of Davidson Co., Tennessee, Clearfield Publ., 2009. Unknown author, "...to John ..." [illegible], correspondence detailing discovery of baptismal records of Stillee children in Cathedral Archives, no date but possibly mid 1900's. |
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