Notes and Links

• m. Mary Cochran*; b. Oct. 1713 in Ireland; d. Oct 7, 1786, Abbeville District SC ; daughter of Capt. George Cochran* and Rachel Higgenbotham*.
• James and Mary had children:
  • Rachel Pettigrew; b. c1732 in Ireland. When her parents emigrated from Ireland in c1740, to come to America, she was left with her grandparents in Ireland. Rachel was later sent to rejoin her parents, but died on shipboard enroute to America.

  • Martha Pettigrew; b. c1734 in County Tyrone, Ireland; ; d. May, 1796 in Wilkes County NC. Martha emigrated with her parents from Ireland in c1740 to New Castle, DE, and grew to maturity in her family household near Chambersburg, PA. She is said to have contributed to the American Revolution by donating her copper and brass kitchen kettle and other fixtures to be melted down for munitions.
    • m. John Witherspoon (1725/6-1778), a relative - possibly a second cousin, of Dr. John Witherspoon (1723-1794), signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Continental Congress, and President of the College of New Jersey, (now Princeton University) during 1768-1794. John Witherspoon (1725/6-1778) was killed by Tories in Wilkes County NC in 1778. Many of their children settled in Tennessee. Their children were:
      • Thomas Witherspoon; b. Jan 17, 1760; d. Apr. 1790, Wilkes County, NC; m. on Sep 13, 1777, Sarah Howard; Sarah d. Apr. 10, 1790. Thomas and Sarah had left sons: John, Joshua, Wesley, and David, and a daughter, Darius.
      • Mary Witherspoon
      • Flora Witherspoon
      • David Witherspoon; b. 1758, served as a Lieutenant in the Amer. Rev. He was one of Col. Ben Cleveland's "Bull Dogs", active against the British and the Tories in the Carolina Frontier. He and his brother John are mentioned in Lyman G. Draper's King's Mountain and Its Heros. His son, Col. John H. Witherspoon was a resident of Lauderdale County, AL in 1880.
      • James Witherspoon; d. Apr. 22, 1790 in Wilkes County NC, unmarried. His brother John inherited his property.
      • John Witherspoon; b. Oct. 17, 1763 in PA. He moved with his family to Wilkes County NC, where he served with his brother David in the Amer. Rev., and received a pension for his services. He moved to Wayne County, TN, where he died on Jan 14, 1839.
      • Martha Witherspoon
      • Nancy Witherspoon
      • Jane Witherspoon; married on Feb. 7, 1794 to Cleveland Coffey, and moved to Madison County, then Russell County KY. Their son, Elijah Coffey resided in 1873 in Liberty, Casey County, KY.
      • Elizabeth Witherspoon

  • John Pettigrew (1736-1808); b. in County Tyrone, Ireland
    • m. Sarah Matthews in Prince Edward County VA. This family later moved to Granville County NC, where they resided during the Amer. Rev. John served in the Amer. Rev. in a cavalry company with Capt. Joseph Calhoun and Capt. James Caldwell. John died in Nov., 1808 in the Abbeville District of SC, leaving his wife and the following children:
      • James Pettigrew; b. Nov. 1761, Prince Edward County VA; d. Apr. 2, 1841, Green County AL. He was a soldier in the Amer. Rev. and received a pension for his service. He m., Nov. 3, 1785, Jane Harkness; b. 1766; daughter of Robert Harkness of the Abbeville District SC, and Nancy Norris. At one time James was overseer for Patrick Calhoun, father of John Caldwell Calhoun. In 1816 James moved to Tallapoosa AL, where he lived until he died in 1841. His children were: John Pettigrew (b. Oct. 14, 1786), Robert Pettigrew (b. May 24, 1788), Sarah Pettigrew (b. Nov. 29, 1790), Rosannah Pettigrew (b. Apr. 30, 1793), Mary Harkness Pettigrew (b. Aug. 6, 1793, d. Aug. 16,1885), Agness Pettigrew (b. June 15, 1798), James Harkness Pettigrew (b. Feb. 16, 1800), Ebenezer Pettigrew (b. June 19, 1806), and William Pettigrew (1809-1841), (b. Jan. 14, 1809).
      • George Pettigrew
      • William Pettigrew; a soldier in the Amer. Rev., died in a British Prison in Charleston SC, 1780.
      • Polly Pettigrew; m. Mr. Wilson
      • Samuel Pettigrew; d. Sep., 1794; m. Anne ___? and had a son James Petigrew and possibly other children.
      • Robert Pettigrew
      • Betsy Pettigrew, unmarried in 1806.

  • James Pettigrew, Jr.; b. c1737/38 in Tyrone and came to America with his parents. Since he would have been less than 4 years old, his fare may have been free, and may not have been recorded. Later he lived in Prince Frederick Parrish, Williamsburg County, SC. He was a soldier in the American Revolution with the rank of Captain, and he may have been the James Pettigrew who was a delegate to the 1788 Constitutional Ratification Convention.
    • m1. Elizabeth Long (1754 - c1776), in c1770. Elizabeth was the daughter of Matthew Long and Elizabeth Montgomery Elizabeth may have died from complications of the birth of her second son Matthew.
    • James, Jr. and Elizabeth had 2 known children
      • James Montgomery Pettigrew; b. c1772
      • Matthew Pettigrew; b. c1776

    • m2. Mary ___?, between 1776 and 1780.
    • James, Jr. and Mary had one or more children, possibly including:
      • Thomas Pettigrew; b. c1781

  • Mary Cochran Pettigrew* (c1742 - a1827). She was born near Chambersburg PA, although there is a slight possibility that she was born earlier (c1738) in Ireland and came with her parents to America at the age of 2 years old. She may have also had free passage is a minor under 4 years old.
    • m. John Verner* (1725-1798) and had eleven children.

  • Charles Pettigrew; b. Mar. 20, 1744, near Chamberburg PA; d. Apr. 8, 1807, Tyrell County NC. He was master of a school in Edenton NC in 1773, then went to England in the winter of 1774-5 to be admitted to the Holy Order and was ordained by the Bishop of London and Rochester. He returned to American on the last ship that sailed before the Amer. Rev. and became Rector of an Episcopal Church in Edenton NC during 1778-1784. He was elected to be the first Episcopal Bishop in NC, but died before he could travel to Philadelphia to be consecrated. Charles was described by Marshall D. Hayward in his Lives of the Bishops of North Carolina as follows: "Of all the zealous clergymen of the Church of England in North Carolina about the time of the Revolution, none ranked higher than the Rev. Charles Pettigrew, who built Pettigrew's Chapel at his own expense and for many years ministered there, as well as Edenton and elsewhere throughout the province." According to Penelope Allen's Leaves from the family tree, Charles was a man of considerable means and owned large landed estates in Tyrell and Pasquotank Counties on the eastern shore of NC. The census of 1790 shows that he was taxed, and had 16 slaves.
    • m1. Mary Blount (1734-1786), of "Mulberry Hill", on Oct. 29, 1778, daughter of Col. John Blount and Elizabeth Vail. Rev. Charles and Mary Blount had 4 children, the second of whom of whom was Ebenezer Pettigrew (1783-1848), who served in the NC Legislature and in the U.S. Congress. Ebenezer married on May 17, 1815 to Ann Blount Shepard (1795-1830), daughter of William Shepard and Mary Blount of Newbern NC. A careful examination of the letters in the Pettigrew collection by Lisa Bannister of Montgomery AL (a Pettigrew descendant) has revealed that Mary (Blount) Pettigrew died on March 16, 1786, 10 days after giving birth to twins who were born premature. It is not known whether either of these twins survived. It is supposed by this author that they did not. These letters also reveal that the oldest child was a son, John, born in 1779, who died in Sep 1799. Thus, their son, Ebenezer, was most probably the only child of Rev. Charles and Mary (Blount) Pettigrew to survive to maturity.
      • Ebenezer and Ann (Shepard) Pettigrew had 3 sons. The first was Charles Lockhart Pettigrew; b. Feb 1816; m. Apr 1853 to Jane North, daughter of John Gough North and Jane Gilbert. Charles died on Nov 20, 1873. The second child was William Shepard Pettigrew; b. Oct 3, 1818; d. Jul 24, 1900. William's homestead and lands have now become Pettigrew State Park in NC. The third son became Gen. James Johnston Pettigrew (1828-1863), a well=known Brigadier General of the CSA; [see photos], [see biography], distinguished soldier and General of the Confederacy. James Johnson Pettigrew was born on the family's Bon Arva estate in Tyrrell County NC on July 4, 1828, graduated from the University of North Carolina, and studied at Oxford in England. He served in the Confederate Army and served under Gen. Robert E. Lee. He died from mortal wounds received near Winchester VA on July 17, 1863. He served under Johnston through the Pennisular Campaign; he was in command in the defense of Petersburg VA in 1862; and he was in command of an advance on the left of Pickett in a charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Although wounded at Gettysburg, he lived two more weeks only to be mortally wounded in retreat at a minor skirmish at Winchester VA on July 17, 1863. He had studied for several years in Europe, was the author of several books, and had studied law sufficiently to have practiced briefly under his cousin, Hon. James Louis Petigru of Charleston, prior to his career and life being terminated by the Civil War. He never married.
    • m2. Mary "Polly" Lockhart on June 12, 1794, daughter of James Lockhart of "Scotch Hill".

  • George Pettigrew; b. Apr 14, 1746, Chambersburg PA; In 1794 he moved to GA where he received a grant of land in Elbert County on Jan. 16, 1795. He served in the Amer. Rev. He was enrolled in a troop of Cavalry, 2nd Brigade, 3rd. Division commanded by Captain Benjamin Easley. He was on a payroll of this militia from Oct 25,1793 until Jan 22, 1794. He and his wife settled in Franklin County GA, where they sold some property in 1804. He died in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, on March 7 1818 in Moniteau County, MO.
    • m1. an unknown wife, probably in NC, by whom he had two sons:
      • Samuel Pettigrew; b. after c1766, but before c1773.
      • an unknown son, possibly named William, Robert, or Ebenezer; b. after c1767, but before c1774

    • m2. in c1775 Jennet (a.k.a. Jane) Long at Abbeville District SC, and had 11 children, whose families were raised in GA, KY, IL and MO.

  • Jean Pettigrew; b. c1750 in PA; d. 1838/9, Gwinette County GA.
    • m. Stephen Tilley (c1768-1781). Jean and Stephen had 4 children: Lazarus Tilley (c1770-1834), who married Mary Keys and had 5 children; Burgess Tilley (c1773-1834), who married Nancy ___?; Frances Tilley (1780-1840) who married Robert King, Jr. and had 8 children; and Stephen Tilley (1781-1862), who married Rebecca King (sister of Robert King, Jr.), and had 7 children.

  • Elizabeth Pettigrew; b. 1751, may have died in c1780, of "fever" along with her sister, Nancy. She was unmarried.
  • Ebenezer Pettigrew; b. 1753 in PA; d. May 1795, Abbeville District, SC. Ebenezer served in the Amer. Rev. under Col. Robert Anderson's militia.
    • m. Mrs. Sarah "Sally" (McLean) Stedman, widow of a Mr. Stedman, who later, before Sep. 3, 1799, married as her third husband, Thomas Finley, of the Abbeville District. Sally's maiden surname was McLean. Ebenezer and Sarah had 3 children: John Pettigrew; Ebenezer Pettigrew (who married Nancy ___? and left 2 children: Lewis Franklin Pettigrew and Harriet Gibert Pettigrew) ; and Sarah B. Pettigrew.

  • a daughter; b. c1754; d. young

  • Nancy Pettigrew; b. c1756; d. c1780, of "fever", unmarried.

  • William Pettigrew; b. Feb. 26, 1758, Luenburg County VA; d. Jan. 23, 1837 at Bedwell, Abbeville District SC. He was a soldier in the Amer. Rev. and received a pension for his service.
    • m. Louise Guy Gibert
    • William and Louise had 9 children, whom were surnamed "Petigru", the ancient French name of the family:
      • James Louis Petigru; b. May 10, 1789; d. Mar. 10, 1863. He was a distinguished statesman and lawyer of SC. See his Epitath on his gravestone in the St. Michael's Churchyard at Charleston, SC.
      • Thomas Petigru; Captain in the U.S. Navy
      • Charles Petigru; joined the U. S. Army
      • John C. Petigru; "went West"
      • Mary Petigru; never married
      • Jane Gibert Petigru; married her cousin. John Gough North
      • Louise Petigru; married Philip Johnston Porcher
      • Adeline Petigru; First Lady of SC, married Gov. Robert Francis Withers Allston, Governor of SC. Their daughter. Elizabeth W. Allston is the co-author of A Woman Rice Planter and author of Chronicles of Chicora Wood
      • Harriet Petigru; married Henry Lesesne

Brief Biography:

"Among the children of James and Martha (Moore) Pettigrew was a son, James Pettigrew, who was born April, 1713 at Crilly House, County Tyrone, Ireland, and he was the first American ancestor of the family here traced.

James Pettigrew is said to have been wild in his youth and of a forward and daring disposition. While preparing for Trinity College at Dublin he eloped in 1731 with Mary, the daughter of Captain George and Rachel (Higgenbotham) Cochran, of The Grange, a beautiful Irish estate. Mary was a famous beauty of her time and was the same age as her young husband. The couple had 13 children, eleven of whom - 6 boys and 5 girls reached the age of maturity.

After a few years James Pettigrew made up his mind to seek his fortune in the new world and leaving the oldest of his four children with her grandmother in Ireland, set sail for America, with his wife, a daughter, and two sons. They landed at New Castle in Delaware, in 1740, and pushed westward into Pennsylvania, where he secured 300 acres of land on Marsh Creek near the present location of Chambersburg. In Philadelphia, he knew the prominent men of his day, and no less a personage than Dr. Benjamin Franklin, advised him to study medicine, but James Pettigrew was born to adventure and followed the star of his fortune south, through Virginia and North Carolina, and settled at last in North Carolina, where he spent the closing years of his life. And it is related that about this time James Pettigrew became very religious. So strict was he in his observance of the Sabbath that no cooking was allowed in his house on Sunday, and to this circumstance he and his family owed their lives, for one Sunday hostile Indians visited his premises, but seeing no smoke, passed on, as they suposed the house to be unoccupied. In recognition of this providential deliverance from the hands of the redmen, he after named one of his sons, Ebenezer.

After the Pettigrew family was settled in Pennsylvania, James sent to Ireland for his oldest daughter, who set out to join them, but she died during the voyage to America. About this time the French and Indian war broke out and life on the Pennsylvania frontier became a perilous business.

After Braddock's defeat in 1755, James Pettigrew sold his land in Pennsylvania for 80 pounds and moved to Luenburg County, Virginia where he rented a farm and remained about three years. Here his thirteenth child, a son, William was born, Jan 26, 1758. He then moved to Granville County, North Carolina, where he remained ten years, and while residing there gave the land for the establishment of a Presbyterian Church. In 1768, hearing favorable reports from Scot-Irish settlers in South Carolina of the land in that section James Pettugrew sold his property in Granville County, North Carolina, and after three weeks traveling around reached the "Long Cane Settlement", about seven miles above Abbeville Courthouse. He stayed in this locality for about four years. In 1773 he bought a farm in what is now known as the "flat section" of Abbeville District, situated on Little River. The land here was fertile, his crops were abundant and his cattle increased. On the whole, he continued to prosper until the outbreak among the Cherokee Indians in 1776 sent a thrill of horror across the frontier. Those who escaped massacre were forced to abandon their plantations and seek safety in the Huguenot fort of James Noble, which was commanded by Patrick Calhoun, father of James C. Calhoun. In a short time the settlers returned home and enjoyed tranquillity until the tide of the revolution swept to this locality in 1779.

James Pettigrew was a strong Whig, and with several of his sons, son-in-law, and grandsons served with the colonial troops in the Revolutionary army.

He was somewhat skilled in medicine and, there being few practitioners in the country, he was often called upon to give medical aid, which he did impartially to Whig and Tory alike - and for this reason, in the turbulent days that followed the fall of Charleston, when the life of no man was safe in the country, which was infested with bushwhacking of both parties, James Pettigrew's family was a little disturbed.

Not long after the close of the war, one December day, he went to a sacramental occasion at "Pickens" House where Abbeville Courthouse now stands and there remained all night. The weather was very cold and he contracted a violent cold. After the close of the meeting, On Sunday night he rode twelve miles in bitter weather and pneumonia developed, which resulted in his death on Dec. 24, 1784, at the age of 71 years. His wife survived him two years and died Oct. 7, 1786, aged 73 years."

References;

• Pettigrew Genealogy from the Birdsong family.
• Pettigrew FamilyHistory.
• Leaves from the Family Tree by Penelope Allen, State Chairman of Genealogical Records, Tennessee Society DAR.
• Comments on Mrs. Allen's Article (above) by Col. M. W. Pettigrew, Washington DC, based on observations by Mr. I. H. Patty of Florence AL .
• Personal contact with Charlie Weaver, a great-grandson of Ida Lorena Witherspoon and Baker Lee Weaver. Ida was d/o William Harrison Witherspoon, s/o of Wiliam Pettigrew Witherspoon.
• Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations From the Revolution Through the Civil War.
• The Verner Genealogy by Clara Verner Wallace.
• A Genealogy of the Long Family Note: The date of Elizabeth Long's death is most probably incorrect in this rendition. Her death must have followed the birth of Matthew Pettigrew.
• Personal communication with Lisa Bannister of Montgomery AL, a Pettigrew descendant.
• The epitath for James Louis Pettigrew was brought to attention by Nell Hurley.