Charles Whitten Sr (1736 - 1798)

Born 1736 in Virginia

Husband of Nancy (Smith) Whitten — married about 1760 in Virginia

Descendants

Died 1798 at about age 62 in Spartanburg District, South Carolina, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Amy Blythe [send private message] and Frank Barnes [send private message]

Biography

Charles was born in the English Colony of Virginia in 1736. His name was Charles Whitten. He passed away in 1798 in Spartanburg District, South Carolina, USA. ^[1]

According to the Baker Family Tree on Ancestry.com and a Geni.com profile, Charles Whitten was the son of Evart Jones Whitten and his wife, Dorothy (Tash) Whitten. The best evidence at present (2016) suggests that Evart Jones Whitten was the original immigrant to America. He was born of English parents in Ireland ca. 1699. (Many RootsWeb genealogies say "English colony, Ireland"). His parents are unknown although some state there was a "John Whitten, b: 1640 in Ireland" in this family - he may have been Evart's father. Jones may have been the maiden-name of his mother; English Protestant families often "preserved" a wife's family name this way for future generations.^[2]

Evart Jones Whitten immigrated to Virginia when still a very young man - possibly even before age 21. In Virginia he met and married Dorothy Tash, b: 1711 in Virginia. They would have likely married when she was about 20 years old or in 1730-31. It is said they had one daughter and one son before Evart Jones Whitten died in 1736, shortly after Charles Whitten was born.

In 1760 Charles Whitten married Nancy Smith, b: 1740 in Virginia. They had at least these 3 children (maybe 2 add'l daughters):^[3]

1. John WHITTEN b: 12 APR 1762 in VA
2. Charles WHITTEN b: 18 JAN 1769 in VA
3. Jane WHITTEN b: 28 JUL 1774 in Amherst, VA

Charles Whitten grew up to be a pewter-smith or pewter-caster metal-worker. This was skilled artisan work and would have required him to have an apprenticeship as a youth before 20 years old. Pewter-ware was very popular in the English colonies in gentry-level families along as it did not tarnish, unlike silver-ware, and required less-frequent polishing. One family genealogy states this:^[4]

" Pewter caster, lived probably in some southwestern Co. of VA near where both sons married Reagan sisters in NW NC. Probably had daughters who may have married James Southerland (aka Southerlin), Jernigan, and Graham. Bought 300 acres in what is now Spartanburg County, SC, 21 Jun 1784, in fork between Broad and Saluda Rivers on small branch of Ferguson's Creek called Enochs Branch, waters of the Tyger River. [He] sold it to James Southerland 30 May 1798."^[5]

Following the American Revolution, Charles Whitten and his family left Virginia and moved to South Carolina. He bought a plantation in Grenville County (became Spartanburg Co. SC), in 1784. He died there shortly after May 13, 1798. ^[6]

Research Notes

This profile says, "Charles Whitten was the son of Evart Jones Whitten and his wife, Dorothy (Tash) Whitten. "

What exactly is the source for this? I haven't checked all the sources that Chet Snow cited when creating and editing the profile in 2014-2016, but I do see that the Geni tree has these parents.

There is an Evart Jones Whitten (1913-1980) who married Dorothy Jeanette (Tash) Whitten (1914-2007) in Maine. It would be a strange coincidence if the parents of this Charles Whitten, born in Virginia ca. 1736, were also named Evart Jones Whitten and Dorothy Tash.

I'm hoping someone else can sort this out. Thanks! Chris Whitten 15:12, 30 June 2022 (UTC)

Update: Chet Snow, June 30, 2022. My interest in this line stems from having a "Joel Whitten" as the husband of a distant relative back in pre-Civil War South Carolina. No doubt a cousin of this Whitten family which emigrated from VA to SC after the American Revolution.

Today, researching Charles Whitten & his parents further on request of Chris Whitten, it would seem that both the Geni.com profile author, myself and no doubt others (at RootsWeb) earlier accepted what now may be a genealogical error or conflation, first published on Ancestry.com in the "Baker Family Tree". I use the "Ancestrylibrary" version as it is free at a US public library but I believe the "Ancestry" version is the same. For Evart Jones Whitten, see: https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/family-tree/person/tree/180754348/person/222388094257/facts for the library version OR https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/180754348/person/222388094257/facts for the simple Ancestry version.

This family tree starts with Captain Jacob Whiddon II, 1584–?, Birth: 18 Mar 1584 at Saint Andrew, Plymouth, Devon, England. His wife was Anne Braunche, 1562–1656. Their son was John Witton, 1619–1678; his wife was Joane Mary Yates, 1620–1692 - that couple are said to have emigrated from England to Virginia. One of their sons was Augustine Whiddon, 1645–1693 (b: Norfolk, VA); his wife was Sarah Pauline Cherry, 1654–1693, of Lower Norfolk VA. Their son was Isaac Whitten, 1660–1730. His wife was Sarah Jones, 1679–1718; their son was Evart Jones Whitten, 1712–1736: b: 1712 in Virginia. He married a Dorothy Tash (for whom a genealogy is linked but her 1712 birth does not agree with the rest). Their son was Charles Whitten, b: 1736 in Virginia... The Tree does have various "sources" linked but names & dates are Not always consistent.

As early Virginia "primary" sources like birth, marriage & death records are sorely lacking, I and others relied on published family trees (this was in 2016 before WikiTree wisely set up pre-1700 requirements). Now, I note that Ancestry's Baker Tree includes not only an Evart Jones Whitten & Dorothy Tash Whitten couple but also Isaac Whitten & Sarah Jones Whitten as his parents - the same as the 20th Century Maine, USA, family. This conflaton seems to be the source of confusion and, given the lack of early Virginia records, I see no way to prove or disprove that this is "coincidence" or "conflation" over a 300 year gap. Families DO keep unusual Given (first) names down their lineages and Evart is a form of Everett, not that uncommon.

Also, alas, after 2017 RootsWeb changed their web site so that the URL references valid in 2016 no longer "connect" today. They have become useless, alas.

The Y DNA evidence given by Chris & Keith Whitten does match both this early-VA profile AND the 20th Century one for Evart Jones Whitten in Maine = see Whitten-727 vs. Whitten-1730. So apparently the VA/SC and Maine families have a common (English) male ancestor but they are not yet "linked" on WikiTree.

My advice would be to include these Research Notes here and raise the possibility/probability of a conflation but it is not possible to "prove" it one way or the other. Chet Snow June 30, 2022

Sources

1. ↑ Kinsey, Stafford and Allied Families - Charles Whitten
2. ↑ [ http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=fredch3_1&id=I114 Updated Roy Vance Genealogy on RootsWeb - Charles Whitten] 2022 Update - Link no longer works!
3. ↑ Vance Roy Genealogy - Update 2003 on RootsWeb - Charles Whitten. Good profile but has confused probably grand-father (John Whitten, b: 1640 in N. Ireland) with father: Evart Jones Whitten, b: 1699 in N. Ireland.
4. ↑ Vance Roy Genealogy - Update 2003 on RootsWeb - Charles Whitten.
5. ↑ This account is slightly different from the following, recorded in the Grenville Co., SC book of deeds but refers to the same land: "Charles Witten, Sr. to James Southerland for 125 pounds sterling sold 300 ac. -- 200 ac. for value received and 100 ac. as a gift; on branch of Ferguson’s Creek. Border: N-vacant, E-Enoch Floyd, Sr., S-vacant, and W-vacant; Refers to this as the 300 ac. grant 12/4/1770 to Thomas SEXTON who sold 7/17/1784 to Charles Whitten, Sr. Witness John Duncan, William Parker, and Janney Parker. Signed Charles Whitten, Sr. Wit. oath 5/13/1798. Greenville Co., SC Book R p. 111..." Cited on: Information about Thomas Sexton on Genealogy.com
6. ↑ Charles Whitten on Geni.com

See also:

• Charles Whitten on WeRelate.org

• - Evart Whitten profile on Geni.com

• http://person.ancestry.com/tree/75748840/person/30329427405/facts

Acknowledgements

• Thank you to Chet Snow, Friday, for creating WikiTree profile Whitten-727 on February 21, 2014. He researched this person and wrote this biographical sketch on August 20, 2016. He merged two duplicate profiles: Whitten-1112 and Whitten-1113 into this profile August 24, 2016. They had both been created by Robert Barnes on April 29, 2016. He added an Update to the Research Notes to this profile on June 30, 2022.