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William White
Born Dec 17, 1765 Cheraws District SC
Died Oct 8, 1821 St. Martin Parish LA

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Father
Mother

SPOUSE	CHILDREN
Amelia "Amy" Comstock m. Jan 31, 1791 St. Martinville, LA b. Mar 10, 1775 Smithville RI d. 1853? TX	Elizabeth b. 1792 St. Martinville, LA d. Nov 10, 1809 LA	Mary Marie b. Aug 14, 1793 St. Martinville, LA d. 1862 Liberty Co. TX	Reuben b. Oct 28, 1795 St. Martinville, LA d. Sep 1848 Lynchburg, Harris Co. TX
	Jesse b. Mar 14, 1798 St. Martinville LA d. Jan 3, 1861 Harris Co. TX	George Wallace b. Sep 30, 1800 St. Martinville LA d. Feb 1850 Harris Co. TX	Rachel b. Aug 29, 1803 St. Martinville, LA d. 1890 Vermilion Parish LA
	Henry b. Jun 11, 1806 St. Martinville LA d. 1857 TX	Celeste "Sally" b. Jul 13, 1809 St. Martinville LA d. 1824 TX	Rebecca b. Apr 13, 1813 St. Martin Parish LA d. 1849? Harris Co. TX
	William Jr. b. Mar 28, 1815 St. Martin Parish LA d. May 13, 1880 Harris Co. TX	Julia b. Feb 21, 1819 St. Martin Parish LA d. 1840 Fort Worth TX
Uncles William and James White each married daughters of Thomas Davenport (1711-1809). Uncle William married Sophia Davenport about 1852, and James married Jerusha Davenport (1744?-1785?)..
There is a record of uncle Reuben White being in Globe, NC in 1772. Reuben entered Captain McDowell's SC Militia in 1776 and was killed at Pleasant Gardens in Burke Co. NC in October of that year. He left his property in SC to sister-in-law Sophia, wife of his brother William, in a deed of gift dated Dec 13, 1773 that was filed in SC in 1777.
While in South Carolina, the White family was not sympathetic to the American Revolution and left a trail of litigation in the state. The family moved to what is now Burke Co NC, then split with some members moving west and then down to the Natchez Territory (now Mississippi) and the rest remaining in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC. The split appears to have occurred when brother Reuben was killed by indians in Oct 1776 at Pleasant Gardens NC. Grandfather James T. White and uncle William White opted for the patriot side and stayed in Burke Co. During the American Revolution, Mississippi and Louisiana districts were havens for Loyalists.
North Carolina Counties at beginning of 1775 and at beginning of 1780 showing creation of Burke Co.
On Feb 10, 1778 father John White entered 200 Acres along Middle Creek near Johns River in Burke Co. NC next to land of a Thomas White. Thomas White, Sr. was John's uncle.
William White served in the Revolutionary War from North Carolina. He enlisted Jan 1, 1778 in John Summers' 1st NC Battalion. According to the Sep 8, 1778 Muster Roll remarks, he was "Sick in Camp". In Feb 1779, newly promoted Maj. Reading Blount, who had been a Capt. at the battles at Brandywine and Germantown PA, recruited men in NC for the 5th NC Regiment under Col. Thomas Clark. These men enlisted for only 9 months. Among them were William White and four other Whites (Burrall, George, James and Peter). They would have fought at Brier Creek in eastern GA Mar 3rd, and at Stono Ferry SC Jun 20th during their service in 1779 [Univ. NC, Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, vol. 16, p. 1187].
William served in the same company of 77 men, commanded by Col. Thomas Clark, with: Robert Carteright [sic] enlisted Nov. 10th, '77 [3 war yrs] John Summers' 1st NC Battalion Sep 8, 1778 Muster Roll: No remarks Thomas Cartwright enlisted Sept. 20th, '77 [3 war yrs] John Summers' 1st NC Battalion Sep 8, 1778 Muster Roll: No remarks These Cartwrights seem to belong to a family that also made the 1780 voyage led by John Donelson.
William White, eldest son of John White, received an original land claim in the Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. NC, but may never actually settled on the land [NC Land Grants, file no. 203]. This may be why John Holloway, husband of Williams's aunt, Elizabeth White, was there in 1780.
The claim John Holloway attempted with a James Scott the year before on Long "Glady" Creek (shown on Map) appears to be the same as Whites Creek which ran through the lands claimed by Frederick Stump, William White, Joshua Howard and Absalom Hooper, before reaching the Cumberland River. See Topographical Map showing Whites Creek area Land Claims [Drake, p. 23 and map E7]. James Scott eventually did receive a land grant elsewhere but John Holloway never did.
The file number (203) and land grant number (189) of William's 1786 land claim were lower than those of all other claims anywhere near what became known as Whites Creek. There s no entry date and by 1786 the county name was Davidson and Whites Creek was named years before that. A "Zach White" signed the compact in May 1780 (on line 17, column 3 of page 2, much later than "John Holloday" who signed in column 1), and came to the Cumberland Settlement in Feb 1797 with James Robertson. Also, a Solomon White settled later. Both Whites claimed land on the Red River near Renfro's Station, but neither claimed land near Whites Creek.
Map of the Cumberland Settlement in 1780 [Brown, in Summerville, Southern Epic].
The John White family is on a list of families recorded by John Donelson as being part of his flotilla expedition to the Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. NC (now middle TN) which lasted several months into into spring of 1780 and endured a brutal winter, Indian attacks, hunger and smallpox. On Apr 12, the Whites were among at least 16 families, about 80 persons, to leave the expedition and settle 9 miles up from the Cumberland River along the Red River, settling at Fort Union, which became known as Renfroe's Station. The Donelson flotilla reached its final destination (Nashborough) 12 days later.
Photo of a Map showing the Route of the Donelson Expedition on display at the Tennessee State Museum. Father John and his brother James White and their families likely joined the Flotilla after it passed Knoxville, and left it at the Red River near Clarksville.
Between 1780 and 1781 aunt Elizabeth White and her husband John Holloway and family, decided to go to Natchez, then in French-Spanish territory, "in order to escape the Revolution". It is known that William's father, John White, and uncle James White, arrived in Natchez with their families and one slave each in May 1782. James would soon die. By 1785, of James Taylor White's six known children, two would be dead, two would be living in Spanish territory, and two would remain in the North Carolina mountains.
Reuben White (son of uncle James White) and Mrs. James White, said that John White [William's father], during the "latter part of 1781", was living in Washington Co. NC (now TN). This Natchez Deposition, pertained to a document entered in Burke Co. NC between Catherine White Dewitt and husband William Dewitt, The Natchez deposition was made on Jan 31, 1785 and noted that John's brother James was deceased [McBee, Natchez Court Records, Book E, pp. 36,38].
In May 1782, parents John and Sally arrived at Natchez in a party of 8 individuals under the entry "Juan White, wife and children". A total of 13 families were recorded by Spanish authorities on Jul 6, as arriving including families of uncle James White, and of William Dewitt and his second wife Catherine White, the daughter of William's uncle William White.
On May 17, 1782, having just arrived in Natchez, father John White sold a slave Jane, aged 18, born in Virginia, to widow Anne McIntosh, for $440. By Jun 2, 1785, three years later, John's deed to a Richard Harris is deposited in archive as "John White has absconded" [McBee, Natchez Court Records, Book A, pp. 99, 251].
Map of the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799.
About 1785, brother Moses was born in St. Martin's Parish LA and probably named for Moses Renfroe, a Baptist preacher and recognized leader of Renfroe's camp, where the White and Renfroe families settled in Western North Carolina (now TN) in the spring of 1780.
On Jan 31, 1791, William married Amy Comstock in St. Martin's Church in St. Martinville Parish LA. Amy's parents had migrated from Rhode Island and baptized her a Catholic at the church at Opelousas on Jul 25, 1789. When their daughter Marie, born Aug 14, 1791, was baptised Nov 13, 1810, William and Amy were living "on the Bayou Vermillion", according to the Spanish baptism record, which also listed William as "Guillaume Whit", a native of North Carolina, and the maternal grandparents Guillaume Comstock and Rachel Allredge from Rhode Island. The family settled on the lower Vermillion River below Abbeville near other brothers of William, and had 11 children by 1819.
In the mid-1790's, two sons of uncle James, Reuben White (1765?-1835) and James Taylor White, along with John and James Holloway, sons of aunt Elizabeth Holloway, moved across the Mississippi River into northeastern Rapides Parish, which became known as Holloway Prairie, where they obtained Spanish land grants and engaged in the cattle business. Many of the Anglo families of the Deville area came there from Natchez. Mississippi was not admitted to the Union of States until 1817.
The parents of William's wife Amy were William Comstock and Rachel Allredge or Aldrich. Rachel was born in Mendon, Worcester MA on Jan 10, 1742 and died 1810 in Vermillon Parish LA. William Comstock was born about 1735 in RI and died after 1810 in Vermillon Parish.
William and Amy likely named their first daughter Mary "Marie" after William's maternal Grandmother Mary Marie Davenport (1706-1776).
On May 27, 1800 brother John Jesse was baptised at the age of 22 at the St. Martin of Tours Church in St. Martinville LA. The church record, which is in Spanish, states his paternal grandparents as "James Teleur White and Elisabeth Poe, ... natives of Virginia", and his maternal grandparents as "Juan Gambel and Sara Da?pot, ... natives of Virginia". John Jesse married Jane Dunman the same day.
On May 5, 1801, sister Sarah married James Dunman, born about 1775. Seven of their children went to TX with Sarah's brother Taylor White in the 1820's.
Last Will and Testament of father John White, Atacapas Co., LA, written Aug 15, 1806, deposed Aug 9, 1808.
Attakapas Parish was created in 1805 from Orleans Territory. It extended to the Gulf of Mexico. It eventually became St. Martin Parish in 1807. (see present day map for location). William died in the the part that became Lafayette Parish in 1823 (see Maps showing the area parishes that were created in the 1800s.) In 1844 this area became Vermilion Parish (see Map).
William was listed in the 1810 Attakapas (St. Martins) LA Census, on line 19 of page 65, submitted on Nov 17, 1810. "Wm White" was head of a household of 9 members: 1 male aged 26 and under 45 (William born after Nov 17, 1765), 1 male under age 10, (Henry b. 1806), 3 males aged 10 and under age 16, (Reuben, Jesse, George all b. after 1794), 2 females under age 10, (Rachel, Celeste), 1 female aged 10 and under 16 (Mary turned 17 in Aug 1810), 1 female aged 26 and under 45 (wife Amy), and no slaves. The next household listed was "Widow White" consisting of 4 members: 1 female aged 45 and upwards (mother Sarah b. 1745?), 1 female aged 10 and under 16, 1 male under age 10, (? b. 1800+), 1 male aged 45 and upwards (? b. by 1755), and no slaves. William White Jr. was born later in 1815. He fought in the Texas War for Independence at the battle of San Jacinto Apr 21, 1836.
On Feb 16, 1813, daughter Mary (Marie) married William Whitlock (1784?-1835) at St. Martins Church.
Son Reuben married Christina Faulk (1801-1864) on Jun 15 1818. He served in Capt. Shadrack Porter Company of Baker's Regiment of the Louisiana Militia in the War of 1812.
Daughter Rachel married Mark Lee (1786-1850) in 1820.
In 1824, after the death of her husband, Amy White moved to Galveston Bay where she, her brother-in-law Humphrey Jackson, and three of her married sons, Reuben, George, and John, each claimed over 4,000 acres of land along the San Jacinto River. She remarried by May 28, 1828 to William Swail who died within a decade afterward.
Sons Reuben, Jesse and George all moved to the San Jacinto River area of Texas with their mother after William died. There they farmed and raised cattle. In 1837, Reuben had taxable property of over 2,200 acres and 150 cattle.
Map showing 1824 Texas Land Grants to Amy, her brother-in-law Humphrey Jackson, and her son Reuben, and later grants to sons John and George White [Chambers County Museum, Wallisville TX, website].
Son Henry White married Mary Ann Owens about 1835 in TX.
Daughter Julia married Felix Neuman and had a son Jesse in 1836.
Son William married Martha Ryan on Feb 5, 1838 in Harris Co. TX.
SOURCES: Brown, J.P., illus. in James Summerville, Southern Epic, Hallmark Publ. Co., Gloucester Point VA, 1996. "Capt. Reading Blount", in The American Revolution in North Carolina, website. Christenson, Elroy, website, John Hollaway Family. Clark, Walter, State Records of North Carolina Vol XVII 1781-1785, Broadfoot Publishing, Wilmington NC, 1994, pp. 287-8, 294. Drake, Doug, Jack Masters and Bill Puryear, Founding of the Cumberland Settlements, The First Atlas, 1779-1804, Warioto Press, 2009, pp. 23, map E7. Genealogical Register, vol. VIII, No. 3, Sep 1961. Houton, Erica, "John White, Sarah White", Geni, website, trans. from Spanish, St. Martin of Tours Church, St, Martinville LA, record no. 263, image uploaded Jan 19, 2019. McBee, Mary Wilson, Natchez Court Records 1767-1805, Abstract of Early Records, Greenwood MS, 1953. North Carolina Land Grants, TN Davidson Co. File #203, website. Pre-Revolutionary Plat Books, SC Archives Dept., vol. 21, pp 424-433. U. S. Census, Attakapas (Now St. Martin) Parish LA, 1810, S-K Publ., 2003, pp. 57, 65. Virginia Land Patents, Book 8, p. 16. 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. Thomas, Abishai et al., "Roster of the North Carolina troops in the Continental Army", copy of a register taken from original muster and pay rolls 1791, Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, vol. 16, pp. 1002-1197. on Univ. of NC website. Univ. of NC, "Roll of Capt. John Summers' Company of the First North Caroliona Battalion Commanded by Col. Thomas Clark", Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, Sep 08, 1778, vol. 15, pp. 728-729, website. White, Gifford, James Taylor White of Virginia and some of his descendants into Texas, Austin, TX, April 1982. Whitley, Edythe Rucker, comp., Pioneers of Davidson Co., Tennessee, Clearfield Publ., 2009.