Genealogy De Bruijn in 4D
Genealogy De Bruijn in 4D
This genealogy has been established by Marco J. de Bruijn in Pijnacker, The Netherlands.
This genealogy has been established by Marco J. de Bruijn in Pijnacker, The Netherlands.
First name
Family name
Finding-locations and Pieces of Evidence (Sources)
Web_JamesWitherspoon |
Brief Life History of James Witherspoon on FamilySearch.org (Website) Domein: www.familysearch.org URL: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LRS2-JNC |
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ee James Witherspoon 1780 1790 census Lincoln, NC. http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/witherspoon/745/ James Witherspoon (1747 - 1838) This western North Carolina pioneer and soldier of the American Revolution came to the American Colonies about 1775. He was born in Londonderry, Ireland, and made the journey to America with two brothers, John and Robert. James had obtained a grant from King George III for 640 acres in present day Gaston County.He married Elizabeth Graham in 1771, and they had three children. George (1773-18440 and Ruth (b. 1774) were born in Ireland, and John Graham (1 Mar 1776 - 20 Dec 1844) born in North Carolina. Elizabeth died shortly after arriving in the Colonies, probably during childbirth or complications of such from their third child, John Graham Witherspoon. Later in the year 1776, James Witherspoon married a widow with six children, Mrs Eliner Baird Black (1741-1834). James and Eliner produced three children together: James Scott (1778-1876), Anne Graham (1780-1862), and Elizabeth (1772-1845). Toward the end of 1778, General Benjamin Lincoln mustered troops to meet the British offensive in Georgia, among them was James Witherspoon from a home in the South Ford region. As a soldier, James Witherspoon was captured and iimprisoned by the British at Camden, SC, where on 16 Aug 1780, the British General, Lord Cornwallis, soundly defeated the American forces under General Gates. Learning of his misfortune, his wife, Eliner, took their baby, Anne Graham, to the stockade to learn if they could pay him a visit. Her husband heard her voice in making her inquiry, and shortly thereafter escaped the camp, along with two other prisoners. He made his way to the vicinity of his home where he stayed in hiding. His wife kept him supplied with food until it was safe to appear. James Witherspoon was a Covenanter. A Covenanter, in Scottish religious history, was the name given those zealots who struggled for religious freedom by binding themselves in a series of agreements to maintain the doctrines of Presbyterianism. The Solemn League and Covenant, signed by tens of thousands of Scots in 1638, bound the entire people to defend the "kirk and resist all those contrary errors and corruptions according to our vocation and to the utmost of that power that God hath put into our hands all the days of our life." After the religious wars were settled in 1688 with the ascension of William III to the throne of England, the Presbyterian Church was restored in Scotland, but because of William's acceptance of Episcopacy in England, the Covenanters refused to acknowledge him as head of the Church, and formed a dissenting sect, later called the Reformed Presbyterians. In 1778, James Witherspoon was conveyed 147 acres of land on a "branch of the Little Catawba" by John Baird, son and heir of William Baird, deceased. In 1798, Witherspoon was granted two additional tracts of land, 46 acres and 25 acres, on the waters of the Little Catawba Creek. In April 1779, he obtained a tract of eight acres from John McClure of Lincoln County. In the Census of 1790, Lincoln County, NC, James Witherspoon is listed as head of a household, with 3 males, 16 years old and up, 6 females and 1 slave. James Witherspoon died 8 Jul 1838, aged 91 years. He is buried beside his second wife in the cemetery at Olney Presbyterian Church in present day Gastonia, NC. Witherspoon's will was dated 2 Nov 1831 and probated in the Sep 1838 Term of Court in Lincoln County (Will Book 2, page 5). His wife, Eliner, is mentioned, although she died in 1834. Also mentioned are daughters Elinor Epsy, Ann Lewis, Ruth Gordon, Sarah Price, and Elizabeth .His son, George, was bequethed the home, the heirs of James Scott, and John, the latter named as Executor. |
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| in which |
| Eleanor Baird (*1741-†1834) (Elinor Baird) as wife | |
| James Witherspoon (*1747-†1838) as main character | |
| William Samuel Black (*1737-†1775) as involved party | |
| Elizabeth Graham (*1751-†1776) as wife |