Letitia White Clark

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1860, Laurel Grove, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA

Letitia married Leonard Claiborne in 1819 in , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA. Leonard (son of Richard Henry Claiborne and Mary Cook) was born in 1791 in , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA; died on 5 Aug 1858 in Mont Blanc, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Thomas Doddridge Claiborne died on 29 Dec 1864.
2. Richard H Claiborne died in 1845.
3. Mary Jane Claiborne died in 1876.
4. Letitia C Claiborne died in 1879.
5. John Claiborne died in 1856.
6. James Leonard Claiborne died in 1853.
7. Felix Grundy Claiborne
8. Ellen Aubrey Claiborne
9. William Clarke Claiborne was born in 1815 in , , Virginia, USA.
10. Livingston Claiborne was born on 20 Aug 1838 in , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1777, , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA
• Residence: 1820, Pineville, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA

William married Jane Hamilton White. Jane (daughter of Jeremiah White and Jane) was born on 20 May 1762; died on 23 Apr 1839 in Pineville, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

PITTSYLVANIA CO., VA - CEMETERIES – Clark Cemetery

Source: Library of Virginia Digital Collection
LVA Titled Files: Survey Report, Clark graveyard:1937 Mar. Research made by Mabel Moses
Cemetery Location: 6 miles northeast of Chatham, Virginia, on Route #691, on the south corner of the intersection of Routes #691 and #649 at “Pineville” the home of D.H. Crawley.

DATE:1820.
OWNERS:William Clark
D. H. Crawley 1838

DESCRIPTION:
This family burying ground is situated about 25 yards from the old home of William Clark, known as “Pineville”, and is enclosed by an iron fence. To the right after entering the gate there lies buried William Clark and wife Jane in one tomb overcovered by a tall brick wall with a flat slab thereon, from which it reads as follows:

Sacred to the memory of Col. William Clark
Born on the 3rd January 1759
Died April 2nd, 1827

Sacred To the memory of Mrs. Jane Clark a member of the Presbyterian Church
Born 20th May 1792
Died 23rd April 1839

Sacred to the memory of Gen. Thos. H. Clark
Born 3rd Dec’r 1786
Died 9th Nov’r 1829

Sacred to the memory of Martha Jane infant daughter of Dr. A. and May J. Wade
Born 14th Sept. 1835
Died 14th Oct. 1837

Sacred to the memory of Col. Wm. S. Clark
Born 22nd January 1791
Died 26th Nov. 1820
A good man is rather to be chosen than great riches.

Sacred to the Memory of William David infant son of Wm. and Maud W. Clark
Born 8th April 1819
Died 20th Nov’r 1819

Sacred to the memory of Jane Augustine Stone adopted daughter of Mary & Has. Garland
Born ____
Died ____

Sacred to the Memory of David Clark Infant son of Dr. John W. & Mary G. Wilson
Born 6th November 1855
Died 6th April 1856

Sacred to the Memory of The infant daughter of David H. and Martha M. Clark
Born dead 5th Nov. 1828

Mary C. Fowlkes
Born July 1808
Died March 1837

Sacred to the Memory of Nancy Weatherford Consort of Chas. A. Weatherford
Who died Oct. 31st 1840

Sacred to the Memory of Rev. Chas. A. Weatherford
Born 15th March 1785
Died 12th Oct. 1846

Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. E. C. Clark
Died Oct. 15, 1884
in the 74th year of her age
Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord

John A. Clark
Born 3rd March 1806
Died the 15th January 1845
An honest man, the noblest work of God

Sacred to the Memory of Virginia R. Clark daughter of J.A. and E.C. Clark
Born 19th Nov. 1840
Died 30th March 1850

In Memory of David H. Clark
Born April 8th, 1798
Died April 234th, 1861
in the 63rd year of his age

In Memory of Martha M. Clark wife of David H. Clark
Born Sept. 5th 1810
Died December 12, 1860
in the 51st year of her age

Thomas married Phoeba Howson. Phoeba was born in 1700; died on 23 Jul 1801 in , Halifax, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: May 1788, , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA

Notes:

William White, land transactions, Pittsylvania Co, VA 1792

[per jeremiah's will, this was, "purchased from Hugh Charles being a moiety of land which is to be equally divided between me and the orphans of Mr. Conway?s for which I obtained a certificate dated 6 March 1780"]

type: grant
ref: CGB 25:607
date: 8 Feb 1792
to: Christopher Connaway orphan of James Connaway Deceased
con A.C. £1.S15 Sterl.
by: Survey 1 Aug 1788
re: 340a Pittsylvania/ on the Branches of Sandy Cr.
location: 19250 30735 F127 L0 P255
pt A) at William Whites crnr. ptrs. in Benjamin Hardys line
ln S70E; 90P; Benjamin Hardy
pt B) p.
ln n38e; 244p; George Hardy
pt C) sp.o.
ln N37W; 90P; Lewis, xg a br.
pt D) p.
ln N; 95P; xg a br.
pt E) post oak crnr. in Benjamin Terrys line
ln S86W; 150P; Benjamin Terry
pt F) w.o.
ln s6w; 320p; William Whites new Dividing line

type: grant
ref: CGB 25:593
date: 25 Feb 1792
to: William White
con A.C. £1.S15 Sterl.
by: Survey 2 Aug 1788
re: 350a Pittsylvania/ on the branches of Sandy Creek
location: 17310 28735 F127 L0 P255
pt A) at Francis Wisdoms crnr. Sp.o.
ln S47.5W; 212P; Francis Wisdom, xg a Br.
pt B) r.o.
ln S59.5W; 44P; xg the Road
pt C) a branch
!& th. running up the sd branch as it Meanders 90P to
lm s20e; 90P; [est dir] up a br.
pt D) the fork
lm ; 96p; up the left fork of the sd Br.
pt E) w.o. on the same off a new line
ln S; 60P;
pt F) Mark Cheltons [Sheltons] crnr. p.
ln S83E; 168P; Mark Shelton, xg the road & 2 forks of a Br.
pt G) Ben Hardys crnr. p.
ln N7W; 116P; Ben Hardy
pt H) r.o.
ln N32.5E; 114P; xg a br.
pt I) p. in the sd Whites former line
ln N24W; 32P; sd White
pt J) p.
ln N4W; 162P;

type: grant
ref: CGB 25:595
date: 25 Feb 1792
to: William White
con A.C. £1.S15 sterl.
by: survey 1 Aug 1788
re: 340a Pittsylvania/ on the Branches of Sandy Creek
location: 17334 28483 F127 L0 P255
pt A) at Kennons crnr. Beech now Francis Wisdoms
ln S4E; 28P; Kennon, now Francis Wisdoms
pt B) sp.o.
!th. a new line the same course continued 162P to
ln s4e; 162p;
pt C) p.
ln S24E; 32P;
pt D) p. in Benjamin Hardys line
ln N30E; 60P; Benjamin Hardy, xg a br.
pt E) p.
ln S70E; 150P;
pt F) ptrs.
ln n6e; 320p; new line
pt G) w.o. in Benjamin Terrys line
ln S86W; 150P; Benjamin Terry, xg a br.
pt H) sd Terrys crnr.
!in the sd William Whites former line
!& th. along the same
ln S18W; 56P; sd William White
pt I) ptrs.
ln S65W; 71P; xg a br.

Excerpt from "Pittsylvania's Eighteenth Century Grist Mills" by Herman Melton

page 102-105
JEREMIAH WHITE: PATRIARCH MILLER ON SWEETING'S FORK
Three Sweeting brothers entered grants of land along the Banister River in 1748. It was from these early settlers that Sweden's Fork, as the waterway is now called, got its name. Jeremiah White called it "Sweeting Fork, a branch of Sandy Creek," when he wrote his will in April of 1788. This branch heads up on the south slope of White Oak Mountain near Chestnut Level. It is the mniddle branch of the creek and is joined by John's Run at a point a few hundred yards from its confluence with Sandy Creek of the Banister. This location is approximately three miles southeast of the village of Spring Garden.

Some distinguished patriots of the Revolution lived along the banks of Sweeting Fork. Among them were Nathaniel Terry, who was a member of the Pittsylvania County Militia during the Revolution. His father, Benjamin, lived on Sweeting's Fork, and Nathaniel may have been born there. Colonel Robert Williams had holdings on that branch also. In the Colonel's property was a grist mill and over five thousand acres of land. Williams was one of the most prominent Pittsylvania County patriots during the Revolution. Since he was a lawyer before the founding of the county, and a planter with enormous wealth, milling was not his chief pursuit. Nevertheless, Patsy, one of his daughters, married into a milling family when she married John Henry, one of the owners of Henry's Mill on the Sandy Creek of the Banister.

From the sale of inherited land by Jeremiah's son William, the historian learns that Matthew Clay, who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and in the United States Congress, was a neighboring landowner. Although Clay was a distinguished public servant, who was at least partly responsible for the founding of the Town of Danville at Wynne's Falls, his career was overshadowed by that of Henry Clay of Kentucky who descended from the same family.

Jeremiah White moved to the Sweeting's Fork area from Dinwiddie County in 1778. He filed a petition to erect a grist mill on the waterway in August of 1782 -- "he being the owner of the land on both sides." The move was made during the Revolution, and that would have been the most difficult of times. Jeremiah was in declining years by this time, but county records show that a Jeremiah White served as a member of the County Militia during the Revolution. He was to die ten years later, but managed to accumulate 2108 acres of land on six tracts in the county, most of which was presumably on Sweeting's Fork. He left the use of his land to his wife and named sons William and Jeremiah as Executors.

County records show Jeremiah White to be a very prominent citizen. He was commissioned First Lieutenant of the Militia in the County and took the Oath of Allegiance in October of 1780. White was a charter member of Pittsylvania Lodge No. 24, of the Order of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons when it was constituted on September 15, 1788. He was named Justice of Peace in 1780, and qualified as Coroner on March 15, 1787. It was common practice in the early days for prominent men in the communities to qualify as Deputy Sheriff. Jeremiah White did likewise on May 16, 1786.

His son, Jeremiah Jr., rose to the rank of Captain in the Militia in 1794 before being elected to the office of Commisioner of Revenue in 1798.

Old Jeremiah was one of the landed people who owned slaves and was sometime granted exemption from paying property taxes on them. From County Court records, it appears that slaveowners were often exempted thusly when they furnished "tithables" (laborers in this case) for the buildling and repairing of roads, bridges, public buildings, etc.

A Jeremiah White diary would make interesting reading. However, as is the case with the histories of most of the early pioneers, there is a paucity of records. Even so, there is at least one trait which characterizes Jeremiah White. He wa a loyal family man who loved his children and went to any extreme to be fair. This assessment is based on the wording in his will. One can see the effort he went to in trying to divide his estate equally among his heirs.

There were eight children in Jeremiah and Jane White's family. One was a daughter who married a prominent county leader, politician, planter, businessman and miller known as Col. Clark. William Clark. He lived some seven miles east of Competition in the elegant high columned home he called "Pineville", near the Banister River. His wife was the daughter of a miller, married a miller, and gave birth to a daughter who married a miller. The daughter, Lettice, married Col. Leonard Claiborne who applied to build two mills in the county during the late 1820s and early 1830s. One was on "Sawyer's Mill Creek" and one was on Burch Creek. It is known that he operated one of them for awhile, since the name "Claiborne's Mill" appears on a batteaux manifest of the Roanoke Navigation Company during the 1830s. It was not unusual to find three generations of millers in one family in Pittsylvania County during the 19th cCentury.

Jeremiah White's will was written on April 28, 1788. The will included the following dispositions of his property:

A. He left the use of his "Manner" (manor) house to his wife, Jane, for her natural life "to enable her to educate my younger children." He left seven slaves to her and the use of all land and slaves bequeathed to younger children until they "become of age".

B. One half interest in a tract of land was mentioned. It was a parcel he acquired in an agreeement in which he was to share ownership with the "Conway orphans." This was a strange arrangement which defies understanding.

C. The share of any living child who preceded him in death was to be divided equally among all living children upon his (Jeremiah's) death.

D. He defined the boundaries of the land each child was to receive. This provision gives historians the identity of his neighbors which included the aforementioned families of Terry, Clay and Williams.

E. There was a division of some four hundred acres in Charlotte County.

The disposition of the grist mill became the most interesting and poignant provision in the will. He driected that interest in it should be divided equally between "my two sons, William and Jeremiah, to them and their heirs forever, subject to the following encumbrances, to Wit: As my children have laboured hard with me in assisting to build said mill, I am desirous to give them some privilege therein, but hope this privilege may never become a bone of contention between them, but as a recompence for their labour and dutiful behaviour. It is my will and desire that all my children be entitled for their own families to grind their grain to be free and they bare an equal share of all expenses in keeping the said mill in repair." He also directed that ten acres of land be set aside for the mill.

This will, one of the most carefully crafted wills in early Pittsylvania County history, was proven on May 19, 1788 -- a mere fortnight before the Virginia Constitution Ratification Convention in Richmond. Col. Robert Williams, one of his closest neighbors, was duly elected, in the March past, to be one of Ptittyslvania's two delegates to the convention.

Old Jeremiah tried painfully hard to divide land, slaves, personal effects and household goods equaillly among his heirs. The provisions covering the ownership and operation of the grist mill after his passing are unique in that all were to share in its upkeep and all were to share in its output.

The inference from the reading of the will is that it was a closely knit family which was kept that way by a stern but caring and considerate patriarchal father. The provisions in the deed indicate that he was an impeccably honest man also.

The mill property was buried in tax records as ordiinary acreage with assessed value and all of White's property stayed in his name until after the probation of his estate. Its final disposition is obscured by settlement of the estate and by missing, or non-existant. There is no reason to believe that it was as successful a mill operation as was that of his son-in-law William Clark on the Banister. Perhaps it was largely a plantation mill since there were many slaves in the White fields and a large personal family in the manor house to feed. It is believed that it stayed in the White family for an extended period, since no record of the sale of it was found in county archives.

The records concerning the fate of the remaining White property are confusing. Some heirs begin selling property as soon as their mother departed this life. However, one cannot judge their successes or failures on land transactions and tax records alone. Furthermore, the new nation was to endure at least two of its worst financial panics during the next half century. Failures were not always the fault of the property owner, but were frequently the direct results of distant events and forces beyond the control of local citizens.

Present day Jeremiah White descendants believe they know the location of the mill site because of some stone formations, etc.

The story of Jeremiah White's Mill affords the best example of a family run mill wherein everybody worked and everybody shared in the output. This arrangement worked during Jeremiah White's lifetime because he appeared to have been every inch the "Patriarch of Sweetings Fork". All unanswered questions aside, he deserves having this title applied to him in 1988 -- the bicentenial of his passing.

Jeremiah married Jane in 1752 in , Halifax, Virginia, USA. Jane died in 1782. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Jeremiah White - notes & references, dates & places
source: Research of Michael Leisure, http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=stubbymike&id=I00498

*******************************************************************************

After Jeremiah (Sr.) died, it appears that several of his children, & their spouses, began their trek to GA, spending a few years in Pittsylvania Co., VA on the way.

John White, John Shackelford, Jacob Cleveland, John Martin, Joseph Ballenger, Jno. Waller, all swore to the Oath of Allegiance, 1777, Pittsylvania Co., Va.
(Chiarita, M. D. "Oaths of Allegiance - 1777,
Pittsylvania County, Virginia." Feb. 1985, "Magazine of Virginia Genealogy," Vol. 23, No. 1, p. 3.)

They more than likely traveled to GA in the group headed up by Gen. Matthews.

From "The Official History of Elbert Co. (GA), 1790-1935" by John H. McIntosh, Cherokee Publishing Co., Atlanta, GA, 1983, Chapter IV, p. 33:

" In the year 1784, General George Matthews, who later became Governor, brought a large number of Virginians and North Carolinians to the Broad and Savannah River country and they established themselves in the territory around the site of what was soon to become the thriving and commercially important town of Petersburg."

***************************************

Re: Land records

Jeremiah WHITE, Sr., Residence, 1725-26 to 1734, Caroline Co., Va. listed in Ambrose Madison's Acct. Book, Vol. 19 with John Martin, Margaret White, Thomas White, Hary (Henry) White.

Jeremiah White probably removed to Spotsylvania Co., Va. 1734-43.

Jeremiah White, Residence 14 Aug. 1750, Albemarle Co., Va. Witnessed deed.

Jeremiah White 15 May 1753, Halifax Co., Va. Witnessed deed.

Jeremiah White, Residence, 1756, Albemarle Co., Va. Witnessed deed.

Jeremiah White 16 May 1759, Amelia Co., Va. Purchaser at estate sale of John Omsby.

Jeremiah White, Residence, 5 Nov. 1745, Spotsylvania Co. Va., bought Land, 100 acres from Wm. Baskett & Elizabeth his wife. Witnesss Edmond Waller. (Crozier, W. A., 1955, Spotsylvania County Records, 1721-1800, p. 172.)

Jeremiah White & wife Mary, 17 Nov. 1747, sold land, 100 acres to William Waller. (Crozier, W. A., 1955, Spotsylvania County Records, 1721-1800, p. 172.)
***************************************
Jeremiah White and wife, Mary, of Spotsylvania County, mentioned in 1747.
Chilion White and Millicent White also Mentioned.
Wm. White of Spotsylvania County, 1766.


Will of Jeremiah White, notes on children
Albemarle County, Will Book 2 Page 354 & 355.
The Will of Jeremiah White:

In the name of God Amen The Twenty Seventh Day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred & Seventy four I Jeremiah White of the County of Albemarle and parish of St Anne's, being very Sick & weak of body, but of perfect & Sound memory, Thanks be to God for the Same, and calling to mind the uncertainty of this life and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make ordain this and no other my last will and testament and as touching such worthy Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me with in this Life, I give desire & dispose of the Same in the manner & form following that is to Say, in the first place I will & Order that all my Lawful debts be paid. Item I give & bequeath to my Eldest Son Jeremiah White, my great Bible and a Trunk Covered with Seal Skin. Item I give to my Son John Martin White one feather Bed & furniture, one young Cow and a Smoothe Bor'd Gun which he now has in Custody. Item I give & bequeath to my son Daniel White, One feather Bed with its furniture & one young Cow, Item I give & bequeath to my youngest Son Reuben White One feather Bed & furniture, one Cow & her Increase, which bed & Cow he now has in his possession, Also one Smoothe Bor'd Gun his Choice of the guns I now have. Item I Leave to my Dear & well beloved wife Mary White all the Remainder of my Estate, One Black mare & yearling Colt, Land and Moveables during her natural Life or widowhood, and at my Said Wifes death or Marriage, the above said Mare & Colt, Land & Premises, which Land Contains One hundred & Seventy five Acres, it being the land whereon I now Live, I give & Bequeath to my Son Reuben White and his heirs & assigns for Ever. Item I Leave to my daughter Letty Melton five Shillings & nine Pence. Item I give to my daughter Betty Kidd One feather bed & furniture at my wife's decease, and to my Daughter Mary Martin One Chest & to my daughter Milly Cleavland I bequeath five Shillings & nine pence. Item I give & Bequeath to my daughter Ann Shackleford, one Black Walnut Chest at my wifes decease, as for my Carpenter Tools I Leave them for the use of the plantation, and at my wifes death or marriage to belong to my Son Reuben White, & My Coopers Tools & My Great Coat, I give to my Son John Martin White at my Decease. Item I give to my Grandson George Martin, Twenty Shillings to be paid him by my Son Reuben, also one heifer. Item I Constitute & Appoint my Loving wife Mary White and my Son Reuben to be the Sole Executors of this my Last will & Testement and do hereby utterly dissallow, Revoke & Disannul, all and other former Testaments Wills & Legacies Requests and Exec'rs by me at any time before this named, willed & Bequeathed, Ratifying & Confirming this to be my Last will & Testament, In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & Affixed my Seal, the day & year first within written.

Jeremiah White (Seal)

Witnesses
Elijah Moaran
Jacob Fariss
George Savage

At Albemarle May Court 1777.
This will was proved by the Oath of Elijah Moaran & Jacob Fariss
Witnesses thereto & Ordered to be Recorded

Notes on Children and family:

In present-day Albemarle County (which was formed from parts of Goochland and Louisa Counties in 1744)on October 23, 1726, Jeremiah married Mary Martin (who was born about 1705). They remained in Albemarle County for the rest of their lives and had 11 children, which including triplets - Daniel, Reuben, and Ann, born 19 Jun 1746. Several of Jeremiah's children, including John Martin, Daniel, and Reuben, moved from Albemarle County, Virginia to Elbert County (later Hart County), Georgia in the late 1700s.


Birth dates from White Family Bible via Joseph Price, a White family researcher.

Jeremiah White Jr was born 21 Oct 1728.
Lettice White b Apr 19, 1732
Mary White b Jan 27, 173-
Milly White b Mar 20, 1735
John Martin b June 27, 1743
Daniel, Ann and Reuben White were triplets born June 19, 1746. { I have heard another Bible record shows their date of birth as 17 June, 1746- one may be christening date?]
[The Julian Calendar gives the 17th as a Thursday]
Betty White born ____ [not completed. year 1730?]

John White [brother to Jeremiah White] born Mar 22, 1703?, died Sept 13, 1732.
Jeremiah White Sr died Oct 25, 1776, age 81
Mary White, his wife, died Sept 23, ____ age 91

Milly married Jacob Cleveland
Betty [Elizabeth?] married Webb Kidd
Thomas Obriant was born Jan 18, 1811. Thomas departed this life Oct 10, 1899, age 88y, 8mo, 22d.

Jeremiah married Mary Clark Martin on 23 Oct 1726 in , Goochland, Virginia, USA. Mary was born on 19 Apr 1709 in Saint Peters St Paul, King and Queen, Virginia, USA; died on 23 Dec 1796 in , Franklin, Georgia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Mary Elizabeth "betsy" Elbert in 1694 in , Albemarle, Virginia, USA. Mary was born on 23 Nov 1675 in , Caroline, Virginia, USA; died on 13 Dec 1733 in , Franklin, Georgia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Eady Llewellyn in Apr 1664 in , , Virginia, USA. Eady was born in 1641 in , Caroline, Virginia, USA; died in 1700 in , Isle of Wight, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]