John Whitehurst of Pitt County North Carolina and Hancock County Georgia

    From the North Carolina Supreme Court case discussed last week, we know that Simon Whitehurst, Sr. owned land in Martin County, which he sold or gave to his son, Daniel Whitehurst, who in turn sold or gave the same land to his daughter, Nancy Kelly. The ownership of this land is the object of the court case. This court case confirms that Simon Whitehurst, Sr. had four sons, Simon Whitehurst, Jr., John Whitehurst, Daniel Whitehurst, and Batson Whitehurst. We also learned that John Whitehurst left Pitt County, North Carolina and moved to Georgia prior to October 1806. From deed records, we know that John Whitehurst sold land in Martin County, North Carolina on March 11, 1775 (see Martin County Deed Book A, page 111) and that he purchased land in Pitt County, NC from James Maye, Jr. on February 20, 1777 (see Pitt County Deed Book F, page 312). His brother, Batson, was already living in Pitt County as this time. On December 23, 1782, we see that John Whitehurst sold this land to Reuben Manning (see Pitt County Deed Book I, page 96). We also know from the court case that John moved to Georgia prior to October 1806. A second confirmation that John was living in Hancock County, Georgia is confirmed when he conveyed his interest to the land in the court case to Charles Whitehurst on February 21, 1807 (see Martin County Deed Book E, page 419). After returning to my home in Georgia after discovering Diane Whitehurst Collins book, I was interested in seeing what evidence of John Whitehurst that I could discover in Hancock County, Georgia and Greene County, Georgia. Hancock County was formed from Greene County in 1793. I was ecstatic to discover that John Whitehurst sold land in Greene County, Georgia on September 17, 1792 (see Greene County, Deed Book Volume 1, page 598). After selling this land, he bought 50 acres from John Tripp and I believe that he remained on this land until his death.  Next week, I will share much of the information that I have found concerning John Whitehurst in Georgia.

North Carolina Whitehurst Supreme Court Case

Last week, I promised to share a case that was mentioned in The Whitehurst Family of Princess Anne County, Virginia and Pitt County, North Carolina. If you are or suspect you are a descendant of Simon Whitehurst, Sr. of Princess Anne County, Virginia, this is a must read case for you. On my second trip to North Carolina, my wife found copies of the Pitt County Genealogical Quarterly for the past 10 to 15 years. In the November 2000 issue was printed a transcribed copy of the North Carolina Whitehurst Supreme Court Case. This case establishes that Simon Whitehurst, Sr. had four sons, Simon Whitehurst, Jr., John Whitehurst, Daniel Whitehurst, and Batson Whitehurst. This case also establishes that John Whitehurst was living in Georgia before October 1806. I have a copy of the transcribed case on my Google drive. It can be viewed by copying and pasting this link into your browser:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0XNtXv2dBFpOXRfVWs5S05DakU/edit?usp=sharing.

The Whitehurst Family of Princess Anne County, Virginia and Pitt County, NC

On my first trip to the Greenville, NC library in March of last year , I found a book, The Whitehurst Family of Princess Anne County, Virginia and Pitt County, NC, second edition by Diane Whitehurst Collins printed in 2004. Ms. Collins has done a tremendous amount of research on the Whitehurst line and in her book, she states that John Whitehurst, the son of Simon Whitehurst, Sr. is the father of Willoughby, Pelatiah, and John Wesley Whitehurst. I was awestruck and when I mentioned this to a descendant of Pelatiah Whitehurst, I was informed that she had seen Ms. Collins's first edition of the book and felt that there was just not enough evidence to draw the conclusion that John Whitehurst is the father of these three brothers and I now agree with her. Since March of 2013, I have been researching Ms. Collins' evidence and conclusion and have checked most of the original documents that Ms. Collins used to draw her conclusion and have only found what I consider two minor errors. I will be sharing the information she used in her book here. In my next post, I will share a North Carolina Supreme Court Case that anyone who believes they are a descendant of Simon Whitehurst, Sr. should check out. It is an amazing piece of Whitehurst genealogy. Until next week.

Mike Whitehurst