Notes and Links

There are various unproven reports of his involvement in pre-revolutionary military activity, and the search for him covers the states of PA, VA, NC, SC, and GA. His nephew, David Verner (1760-1852) once served under him in the 1776-1778 period, when James Jr. had the rank of Captain and served in Capt. Robert Anderson's Company of the South Carolina Militia in Ninety Six District. Although, the Pettigrew Family Quarterly (referenced below) states that he served for 66 days under Captain James Brown, Col. McDonald, and General Marion from Apr 1 to Jul 15, 1781, and that he served in the Militia before and after the fall of Charleston (April 1780) in the American Revolution, it is likely that this refers to another James Pettigrew, who was not a Captain. This same reference states that he served as a petit-juryman for the Ninety-Six District, Long Cane and places adjacent, but here perhaps this reference is correct, for it is known that he was a Justice of the Peace in the Georgetown District

The same Pettigrew Quarterly reference suggests that James Jr. and his brother Ebenezer were buying and selling land in the area of Charleston and Beaufort SC, and that James Jr. may have been a house carpenter.

At one time he lived in Prince Frederick's Parish, Williamsburg County, SC, and it is very likely that he was the delegate, named James Pettigrew, to the 1788 Constitutional Ratification Convention held in Charleston, who voted in favor of the ratification of the United States Constitution by South Carolina, on May 23, 1788.

• 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

Discussion of sources and variances with other records.

There are many genealogical presentations on the Pettigrew family that descends from James Pettigrew III and his wife Mary Cochran who were born in County Tyrone and arrived at New Castle Delaware in November of 1741. The arrival date is according to the letter of their youngest child, William Pettigrew dated in1825. Gathering source material for the family of James Pettigrew, Jr. has been somewhat difficult for a number of reasons, enumerated below:

• Passenger lists for ships that brought the various Pettigrew families from Ireland prior to 1820 have not been found, therefore, it is difficult to establish with any certainty how may other immigrants named Pettigrew (or reasonable phononyms of the name) had arrived in colonial and revolutionary times up to the year 1820, when official US Government records of immigration began.
• There were many wars fought, including the French and Indian wars, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and especially the American Civil War, which have resulted in the destruction of civil and official records, especially in the areas where the Pettigrews had lived. A fire had destroyed the Presbyterian Log Church in the Caldwell settlement in Lunenburg, VA where many of the records of the marriages and children's births would have been kept.
• The result has been a certain amount of confusion about to which Pettigrew immigrant ancestor various individuals should be assigned in the genealogical tables. And, it appears that many well-intended family historians have misplaced the identity of various Pettigrews.
• In the particular case of James Pettigrew Jr., there seems to be a coincidence of accidental mishaps that appear in the form of an illegible portion of an important source document, a torn-off segment of another, or a missing document that could have provided some important clues. Moreover, the name James is commonly found in many of the different Pettigrew families and different James' can easily be confused. There is some reliance, albeit imperfect, on the fact that few, if any, of the the other James' were labeled as "Jr.", and also that few, if any, other James' were titled as "Captain".
• Records from the DAR are primarily focused on the single issue of whether the sponsoring descendant is descended from a Revolutionary War Veteran, and often lack rigorous examination of pre-revolutionary matters. The LDS records simply mimic what is sent to them, while carefully recording the source that sent them. But the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does not do independent research to verify records in their archives. So, while the DAR and the LDS records are among the most valuable of archives for genealogical research, they are not immune from error.

As a result, the information here shows some approximations of certain dates, is missing some information, and may be different from other presentations. The author of these web pages has relied upon the voluminous and pains-taking research (including DNA analysis) by Richard Pettigrew, a direct descendant of James Pettigrew, Jr. through James Montgomery Pettigrew, and his late father Col. M. W. Pettigrew, who have made great progress in setting the record straight.

Additional research is needed on the following topics:

• We would like to find ship's passenger lists showing any Pettigrew (or similar sounding name) who arrived in America or Canada prior to 1820. It is believed that there were other immigrants, possibly from the same extended Pettigrew family of North Ireland or Scotland who came to settle in Easton PA, Orange County NC, and in colonial SC, whose descendants have been confused with James III and Mary (Cochran) Pettigrew.
• We would like to find a more comprehensive genealogy of the Pettigrew ancestral families in North Ireland, with good source documentation. It may be possible to find earlier connections between the various Petigrew families.
• We have only a vague idea of James Pettigrew Jr.'s life after 1755 and before about 1772, whether or not he had a earlier wife in VA or NC, and the nature of his education and profession.
• The date and location of James Pettigrew Jr.'s death is not known. There is good evidence that he was not the James Pettigrew who died in the Indian attack on the river boat in Alabama in 1794. He seems to disappear from all records in about 1790.
• We do not know the maiden name of his second wife, Mary.
• We do not have a firm date or location for his first wife, Elizabeth's death. It is presumed that she died as the result of her son, Matthew's, birth.
• It is not completely certain that he had a son named Thomas by his second wife, Mary.
• It is not completely certain that he was the James Petigrew that was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Charleston in 1788. There is another James Pettigrew in a different Pettigrew family who could have been the delegate. Neither the title of Captain, nor the suffixation of "Jr." was on his name in the official records of that convention, however, there is one item of evidence that points to his presence at the convention.

References;

• The Pettigrew Family Quarterly, Vol. I, No. 3, page 7, Sep. 1994.
• Pettigrew Family History.
• 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 .
• The reference for David Verner serving under Capt. James Pettigrew, Jr. is: THE WITHLACOOCHEE PATRIOT, Edited by Joe Hardiman, June 2006, page 9
• Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations From the Revolution Through the Civil War.