William Baxter Sr (1760 - abt. 1852)

Born May 1760 in Ireland [uncertain]

Husband of Sarah (Berryhill) Baxter — married 1788 (to 7 Sep 1812) in Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States [uncertain]

Husband of Catherine Cassandra (Lee) Baxter — married 1812 in Rutherford, North Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died about 12 Oct 1852 at about age 92 in Caroleen, Rutherford, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

The tradition maintained within the first several generations of his descendants was that William was an immigrant from Ireland, the son of David Baxter and Esther McDowell. There seems to be a discrepancy in their reported lifespans and the reputed date of William's birth. Doubt is cast upon the reliability of this origin story when it is noted that the same tradition maintained that first wife Sarah Berryhill was the daughter of William Berryhill of Mecklenburg County, N.C., who served as a Lieutenant in the North Carolina Continental Line. Berryhill family genealogists have in the past two decades researched the documentary record and have determined that is proposed parentage is unlikely and that Sarah was a niece rather than a daughter of Lt. William Berryhill.

William lived a long life, attaining the age of about 92 years when he died at his plantation home on a hill on the west side of 2nd Broad River. He lies buried in the Baxter Family Cemetery near the former home site.

Between 1830 and 1850, William was actively engaged in trading slaves, selling them to the new cotton plantations being opened in Alabama and Mississippi. In the 1850 Census Slave Schedules, at age 90, William held 6 slaves, including an 80 year old woman. In the next two entries his son ]-in-law Benjamin Franklin Suttles held 10 slaves, and son Thomas Baxter also held 10 slaves, so William Baxter and his close family held at least 26 slaves in 1850.

Birthplace and date ESTIMATED based on marriage data'

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William was born about 1763. He moved from Ireland to America sometime between 1787 and 1789, landing in Charles Town South Carolina. He later moved north, first to Mecklenburg County, NC where he met his first wife, and then to Rutherford County, NC where he passed away about 1852.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #54337589

• WikiTree profile Baxter-656 created through the import of Carp-1_2011-12-15.ged on Dec 19, 2011 by Lyman Carpenter. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Lyman and others.
• Web: North Carolina, Find A Grave Index, 1729-2011; Ancestry.com; Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54337589/bax
• 1850 United States Federal Census: High Shoals, Rutherford, North Carolina; Roll: M432_644; Page: 304; Image: 148.; Ancestry.com; Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1850usfedcenancestry&h=12990479&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
• 1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules; (High Shoals community) Broad River District, Rutherford, N.C.; Ancestry.com; Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1850slaveschedules&h=1674637&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

• United States 1820 Census database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHGS-H24 : accessed 17 August 2019), William Baxter, Rutherford, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 381, NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 80; FHL microfilm 162,796.