Witt Research by Sharon

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: Witt Stinnett Allen Morton

Notes, Witt and associated families (in progress, April 2016)

We’ve been searching for 45+ years for any Witt relatives to link to our Ervin Richard Witt with no real success, only guesses and “maybes.” One of the maybes was Richard S. Witt of NW Arkansas, who was of the right age-range to be E.R.’s father, and in the right part of Arkansas by the early 1820’s (and maybe longer, as he and his family group seem to have gone there shortly after his marriage in 1812.) However, in the 1830 Census, he didn’t seem to have a son in Ervin Richard’s age group (5-10), and by the 1840 Census, E.R. would have been gone to Texas, so we weren’t sure that Richard S. was a good candidate. For that matter, where two others of Richard’s children in 1830 ? There is a boy between 10 and 14 that was probably son William L. L. Witt, but there is just one girl, age 10-14. Daughter Persis would have been 13, so this could include her. Then where was Nancy? Had she gone to say with relatives—and if so, who and where?

Richard S. Witt. Now (Spring 2016), DNA results link us to Nancy S. Witt of NW Arkansas, who is a daughter of Richard S. Witt--Richard Selden Witt, according to some sources—definitely Richard, and “Selden” probably is correct. I have seen “Richard Selden Witt” of Pope County AR on a land grant, but it’s confusing because the grant was issued in 1848, two years after Richard S. Witt’s death. Could it have taken that long after he paid for it, to be issued? It was for 40 acres. I don’t know of any other Richard S. Witt in NW Arkansas in that time period. On some family trees, I have seen “William Richard Selden Witt,” but so far haven’t seen the “William” on any document. There was a William Witt associated with Richard S., living in Yell County, just south of Pope County, and formed partially from it. More about him later. I wonder if some researchers conflated the two?

Richard S. Witt was married 1st to Sarah (Sally) Stinnett on 12 April 1812 in Rhea Co., TN (haven’t seen the actual record, just the basics of it online from Tennessee Marriages, but several researchers have apparently seen it and say the bondsman was Henry Stinnet.) It seems that Richard and Sally went to Arkansas pretty quickly after their marriage, probably in a party with other family and perhaps friends, as their first daughter was born in Arkansas in 1814. Sally’s father and some brothers were around, as well as other in-laws in Pope and Yell Counties by the 20’s. William Witt, whom I believe to possibly be Richard’s brother, was in Pope County by 1830 (and 1840), and Yell County by 1846.

Many descendants say Sarah Witt died in 1846, the same year as her husband, but it must have been earlier—maybe even 1830 or before. (At least, no wife appears on the 1830 Census in Richard S. Witt’s household, and in 1840, a younger woman appears, and 2 sons 5 or under—Napoleon B. Witt, who later said he was born in 1837, and David C Witt, who must have been born about 1838/39.) This younger wife must be Richard’s 2nd wife Elizabeth, who at the time of his death in January of 1846, was named as his widow with several sons. First wife Sarah’s children were:
1) Nancy S. Witt, 1814-1889, born NW Arkansas—in Crawford Co, according to one source, and in Arkansas City (SE part of the state) according to another. Nancy married Zachariah H. Allen in 1831 in Lafayette County, AR (SW part of the state), and had one child there, after which they moved to Mississippi and raised a large family (more about them, later). Nancy also lived in TX later in life, and is buried in Fox, Carter County, OK.

2) Persis Lovely Witt, 1817-1845 or 6. Married Thomas J. Barnes on 15 August 1839; and had three sons, John R Barnes, William L Barnes, and James L Barnes (sometimes the middle initials are different, depending on who wrote and who read them). Persis was named for Persis Goodrich (Brown) Lovely, wife of Major William Lewis Lovely, who was a Revolutionary War hero and an Indian Agent for the US Government to the Cherokees in trying to settle their differences with the Osage tribe who were native to the NW Arkansas area. Richard S. Witt was employed as a clerk to Major Lovely, who died in 1817. He must have continued to help Mrs. Lovely after her husband’s death, as he was named executor of her will and she left 1/3 of her property to Persis Witt Barnes in 1841, and half of her books to Richard. (After Persis Witt Barnes’ death, her husband Thomas remarried first to Harriet Clark, then after her passing, to Sophia or Sylvia Shoptaw in 1854, and had several more children.) 3) William Lewis Lovely Witt, born December 1820, d. 1905. (Named for Major Wm. L. L. Lovely) He also received 1/3 of Mrs. Persis Lovely’s estate. Married to Margaret Wells on 2 April 1848 in Pope County AR (the marriage performed by his sister Persis’s husband Thomas J. Barnes, JP). He had two daughters by Margaret—Nancy C. Witt, born 1849, and Mary Persis Witt, born September 1850; married second to Harriet A. Birkhead, then third, later in life, to Mary Conkright in CA, who died prior to 1900. In 1856, he and his family moved in a wagon train from Arkansas to Fresno, CA by way of Fort Tejon, which functioned from 1854 to 1864 to protect both Indian and white settlers from unfriendly Paiutes, Mojave, Chemeheui, and others of the SE CA desert region. William L. L. took his younger brother (or, more likely, half-brother) Napoleon B. Witt with them. (The “B” may stand for Byrd or Bonaparte. Both appear in records, but most often Bonaparte. One Family Tree shows “Bird” as his nickname.) Depending upon when Margaret died, William L. L. may have married Harriet A. Birkhead either in Ark or in CA, as she was a neighbor in Pope Co. AR as a young woman in 1850, and it appears that some of the Birkheads traveled with the other migrants to California, as a John Birkhead family was living close to the Witts in 1880 in Fresno. Their wagon train was headed by Margaret’s brother-in-law, William Barrington Fudge, who married Margaret’s sister Mary Wells--and after he had sailed around the long way by the Cape to check out California and came back by crossing the narrow but rough neck of land that was the Isthmus of Panama, he took the family west by the overland route. William L. L. and Napoleon B. are found living next door to each other in Fresno in 1860. Margaret had died at some point and Harriet was William L.L.’s wife. William L. L. Witt later moved to Kerr County, Texas, where he lived with a married daughter Mary Persis Witt, wife of Charles P. Bacon, until he died about 1905. Mary Persis and Charles P. Bacon had several children and had moved to Kerrville, TX by 1880: Viola/Viora, William, Eugenia, Corrilla, and Delbert. William L. L.’s other daughter Nancy C. married William F. Jones in Fresno in 1869, and had several children before he died in 1878 in Visalia, Tulare County, CA (Margaret P., Alexander, Harriet, and Morgan) Nancy C’s middle initial may have been for “Carter” after her great-grandmother Nancy Carter Stinnett.

4) (Possible son) Ervin Richard Witt, b. 7 Oct 1823, Ft. Smith, AR, d. 1890, Red River Co, TX. He left Arkansas and went to TX with another family as a young teenager, where he worked at various jobs until he was old enough to take up land of his own. He was a farmer/rancher, blacksmith, and saddletree-maker, and served in both the Mexican War (Cavalry) and the Civil War (Infantry). He married Elizabeth Neeley and raised a fine family. If he was a part of Richard S’s family (and remember, DNA indicates he was related), why does no one know of him? Did he run away, was he disowned, or did they simply lose track of him after he moved to Texas to seek his fortune? It was common practice for wagon trains to hire young boys to tend or drive animals or otherwise help with the move as needed, or he might possibly have been apprenticed to the man of the family he accompanied—maybe that’s where he learned blacksmithing and saddletree-making. The family legend that came down to us says that his mother packed him off with the other family (don’t know if they were related or not) to keep his father, who had allegedly run off into Indian Territory with a Native American woman, from coming back to kidnap him. I have no idea how much truth if any there is in this tale. Certainly they lived close by the Indians in NW Arkansas, and must have associated with them, but I have no way of knowing if there was any family trouble of this sort. However, I have wondered, with Richard S. Witt continuing to help Mrs. Persis Lovely, who was the only white person allowed to continue living in Indian Territory (by orders of Andrew Jackson) after the white settlers were relocated, if perhaps Richard’s wife (either Sally or Elizabeth) became jealous of all the time he spent in Indian Territory with the older lady, and if that became the source of the family “legend.” WAS Richard S.’s relationship with Mrs. Lovely more than it should have been? She was a good bit older than he, but whatever the nature of the relationship, he does seem to have been devoted to her, and she to him.

As mentioned, there is no young boy in Ervin Richard’s age-range (5-10, age 7) in the 1830 Census entry for Richard S. Witt, and no wife in the home, as well as either Persis or Nancy missing. Might they have been away, staying with relatives? If Sarah Stinnett Witt was E.R.’s mother, and dead by 1830, then it wasn’t she who sent him off, as he appears from Texas records to have arrived there about 1837/8, and it would have been unlikely that they took many years to reach Texas, unless they stopped somewhere else along the way for a time. I’m not sure exactly when Richard S. Witt married Elizabeth, but their eldest son, Napoleon, was born about 1837-39 (December 1837 according to the 1900 Census in Fresno, CA and the same year from several voting registers), so I would think they were married by about 1835. I wonder if it might have been Elizabeth who encouraged E.R. to go to Texas?

Or what if Sarah had died in childbirth with Ervin Richard or a subsequent baby, and E.R. was being cared for in another family in 1830? I looked at the Stinnetts living nearby in 1830, and found only one household with a little boy E.R.’s age—that was Baley Stinnette’s family. Research shows that Baley died in 1833, so in case that little boy was a nephew, E.R., instead of a son of Baley, everything would have changed again with his death.

I haven’t found any other Witts of the right age at that time in NW Arkansas to have been Ervin Richard’s parents. There was one reference to a Robert D. Witt in about 1829, but I find no other mention of him. An early Harris or Horace Witt seems to have been from New England, and doesn’t show a son E.R.’s age either. Also, Richard S. doesn’t seem to have any other sons named Richard until the youngest by his 2nd wife, Elizabeth, who was apparently named John Richard. (BUT IS THIS CORRECT? I thought the John R. named in Thomas J. Barnes’ application to administer Richard S. Witt’s will was John R. BARNES, one of his sons. (It was.) And little John with Elizabeth on the 1850 census appears to be John J., not R. However, another slightly later record does name a young son of Richard S. as John Richard Witt.)

What became of the three young boys—Thomas McGregory (or B.) Witt, David C. Witt, and John R(or J?) Witt? Did they disappear because they had died, or had their mom Elizabeth remarried and they were going by the stepfather’s name? If so, who was that stepfather, and what became of the family? I do find a David Witt who is apparently the one mentioned here, working as a farm laborer in 1860 and as a young married man in 1880, but I haven’t found the other boys. David married Mary Jane Pollock on 6 May 1866 in Yell Co., AR.

So sometime after Sarah Witt’s death, probably by 1836 and maybe much sooner, Richard S. remarried to Elizabeth ___, In the 1840 Census, in Gally, Pope Co. AR, we see Richard, age 60-69, his wife, 20-29 (born 1811-1820), and two little boys, five or under. (Note: Just a thought—if Elizabeth was born between 1811 & 1820, in Tennessee, that fits the profile for Sarah Stinnett’s younger sister Elizabeth, who was born 1812 in Speedwell, Claiborne,Tennessee. (According to the Wilborn Public Tree, which also says Elizabeth died in 1862 in Yell Co. AR., and was married to an unknown spouse.) Might Richard have married sisters? Several Stinnett families lived close to Richard Witt in Gally, Pope Co. in 1840. The 1850 Census shows Elizabeth as being 45 years old, thus born in 1805, but that might have been a census-taker’s rough estimation of her age.) Children of Richard S. and Elizabeth:

5) Napoleon B. Witt, born 25 December 1837. Napoleon went with the wagon train to California in 1856 along with big brother William L. L. Witt. Napoleon remained in California, where he married Margaret Ann Lewis on 25 Aug 1866 at Upper Kings River, Fresno County (Volume A, p. 45). They had at least one child, Ada, born Aug 1883. He appears in the 1860 Census, and is said to be in the1870 (though I can’t find him there yet). He lived in Fresno County for many years, and died at the age of 82 in Merced, CA on 9 December 1915 (California Death Register). Voting registers have him in Fresno County in the years 1867, 1878, 1879, 1882, 1885, 1888, 1894, 1896, and 1896. In 1900, he was listed in the Fresno City Directory. Most records show him to have been born in 1837. (Note: There was another Napoleon Bonaparte Witt with a very similar life span, who lived a large part of his life in Tulare Co, CA. Interestingly, he was born in Rhea County, TN, the same county where Richard S. Witt married Sarah Stinnett. One wonders if he was a part of the same Witt family.)

6) David C. Witt, birth year not known, but almost certainly between1838-40. He first appears in guardianship records after the death of his father in 1846:

On petition of Thomas J Barnes, William L. L. Witt was apptd guardian of Napoleon, David, and Thomas McGregory Witt on April 18, 1847 William L. L. Witt, apptd guardian of Napoleon Byrd Witt, David C Witt and Thomas B Witt, minors, heirs of Richard S. Witt, deceased, on July 28 1847.

29 October, 1850, the guardian named for David Witt, Thomas McGregory Witt, and John Richard Witt was William M. Moore.

I don’t know where these boys were living at any given time after their dad’s death, but except for John, they are not on the 1850 Census with their mother Elizabeth Witt, nor do they appear in the households of any of their guardians. Note: I believe I have found David in the Yell Co. AR 1860 census as a 22-year-old farm laborer, working for the W.B. Underwood family. I don’t find him in the 1870 Census. Might he have served in the Civil War? Certainly the age is right. There is a marriage record in Yell County AR for David Witt and Mary Jane Pollock, 6 May 1866.

7) Thomas McGregory Witt , aka Thomas B. Witt, birth year 1840-45. Also alive in Oct 1850, gdn Wm M. Moore. (Might his middle name indicate that Elizabeth’s maiden name was McGregor(y)? There was a Thomas McGregory in 1820, Pendleton District, SC.

8) Living with the widowed Elizabeth Witt (age 45) in 1850 Pope County, AR , was a John J? Witt listed as age 3. (As Richard S. had died 20 January 1846, if this is his son, he must have been a bit older than 3. He was probably born after his father’s death.) I don’t know why David and Thomas were not with Elizabeth in 1850. A guardian had been named for them, so perhaps they were living with him? It was older half-brother William L.L. Witt, and they were not in his household, at least at census-time.

(What about Napoleon B.? He was only 11—or more likely 13, according to birthdate given on a later census and other records. Was his half-brother Wm L.L. Witt still his guardian? Probably, as they seem to have migrated to California together.) Who was the guardian William M. Moore—might he have been an uncle on their mom’s side? Or was he perhaps her new husband? Or just a willing citizen? (Found him in 1850 Pope County, age 41, from SC, with wife Mary A., age 25 from MO, children Martha A. age 3 and Jerome age 11/12, both born AR, and possible brother or cousin, Robert D. Moore, age 30, a carpenter, from IN. So—no indication so far of any relationship.) Census was taken in November of 1850, but supposed to have included everyone who lived in the household as of June 1, 1850. The boys wouldn’t have been under his guardianship in June, but were by November. Where were they…..? I looked for the Moore family in 1860, but apparently William M. had died, and Mary Ann, Martha Ann and Jerome were with James F. Moore in Yell County. He was age 48, and so possibly an older brother of William M. who had either married Mary Ann or taken the family in. There was a young James F. Moore, age 8, who could be the son of a new marriage or a son by a deceased first wife of James F., Sr. Also in the household were several Braidys and a Sarah C. Pharis. –unsure of their relationship. The Witt boys, of course, were nowhere to be seen. Pope County marriage records do not show a mg. for Richard S & Elizabeth, nor a record for Elizabeth Witt as a widow, marrying anyone else.

When Richard S. Witt died intestate on 20 July 1846, his son-in-law Thomas J. Barnes applied to be the administrator of his estate on July 6, 1846. The record states that R.S. had died on 20 January 1846 in Pope County. The widow was Elizabeth Witt. Heirs were William Witt of Yell County, AR (whom I believe was probably Richard’s brother, born about 1800 in Virginia, though he could have been a cousin or a nephew), then William L.L. Witt, Napoleon Witt, David Witt, Thomas Witt, Nancy Allen of Mississippi, and the children of Persis L. Barnes, deceased: John R. Barnes, William L. Barnes, and James R. Barnes. Again—no mention of Ervin Richard. Was he not a part of this family, or was he considered lost to them? Or, of course, I have to consider the possibility that he might be Richard’s but not by one of his wives.

Richard S. Witt was listed as the executor of the estate of Persis Lovely. It seems to be toward the end of the probate process, dated Jan 30, 1845, as it says he files his “account current in said estate for settlement and confirmation at the next term.” The fact that it names “Persis Lovely” instead of “Persis Lovely Witt Barnes” tells me that the deceased wasn’t Richard S’s daughter, but must have been Persis Goodrich Lovely, wife of William Lewis Lovely. She died 18 January 1841 at the age of 71 years. Probate could often take several years. Here’s a summary of the will:

The will of Mrs. Persis Lovely, widow of William Lewis Lovely (Pope County Will Book A, page 18), in which she names Richard S. Witt as her sole executor, and leaves 1/3 of her estate to [his daughter] Persis Lovely Barnes, 1/3 to [his son] William L. L. Witt, and 1/3 to “a black man, Jack, whom I have raised, who now belongs to Thomas and James Madden.” Her books she divides between Kirkbride* Potts and Richard S. Witt, except her Bible, “which shall be the property of John Drew, a half-breed Cherokee.” Will made 18 October 1839. Witnesses: Kirkbride* Potts and William Witt. (She and her husband evidently had no children, at least living--but whether there was any family relationship between her and her namesakes is still not clear. Probably not.)

• Name shown elsewhere as Kirkland Potts.

William Lewis Lovely was from Ireland, and came to America just before the Revolutionary War, in which he served with distinction. He had also spent some time living in the home of former President James Madison. Lovely migrated to Arkansas and became an Indian Agent to the newly-arrived Cherokees, trying to quell their disputes with the Osage, who were already in residence. He was said to be quite a drinker, and one acquaintance said he never saw him when he wasn’t intoxicated. This acquaintance also mentioned that Lovely had a clerk, Richard Witt, who was “less dissipated.” (Good to know!)

Ervin Richard Witt was born October 1823 in NW Arkansas; one census and his Mexican War pension papers list his birthplace as Ft. Smith, which was right on the edge of the frontier in Crawford County at that time (now in Sebastian County, a couple of counties west of present-day Pope). That general area had been Indian Territory, home to several tribes, specifically the Osage. The Cherokees had been driven there on the “Trail of Tears” from the southern states that had been their ancestral lands.

By the time he was 13 or 14, Ervin Richard was on his way to (or already in) Texas, where he lived the remainder of his life. As a very young man, he served in the Mexican War. Some descendants believe he served in the Battle of San Jacinto (it came through as “Sandy Center” in Texas twang!), but he was too young to have been in that action. He did, however serve in J. L. Hall’s Company of the 2nd Texas Cavalry, Woods’ Regiment, enlisting June 19, 1846 and being discharged September 2, 1846, and when he enlisted, he did not allege any prior service. (Another record shows him having enlisted on 1 March 1846 and being discharged on 15 August of that same year.) Yet another shows that he was on the Muster Out Roll dated 2 October 1846 at Monterey, Mexico, having been discharged at Camargo, Mexico on 2 Sept. 1846 on certificate of disability. His “Declaration for Service Pension” states that he had “enlisted at Point Isabel (on the coast, 16 miles NE of Brownsville, TX) for a term of 3 months. His service was rendered in northern Mexico from Matamoros up the Rio Grande to Camargo, thence in keeping open the line of communication between Camargo and Monterey. Term of service expiring, [the unit] was disbanded at Monterey.” Ervin Witt received a bounty of 320@ for his service (certificate # 106), and seems to have taken up his land in Houston County. He also was awarded a medal, which he wore proudly and wanted handed down in his family from eldest son to eldest son.

I’m not sure how he met Elizabeth M. Neeley, but they married on 31 December 1848 in Anderson, Grimes County, Texas. Land and tax records show that over his lifetime, he owned land in Walker County, Galveston County, Houston County, and Red River County—possibly also in Grimes, where they lived for a time at Prairie Plains, and in Brazos County, where some of their children were born.

Ervin Richard Witt was living in Houston County, TX in 1880, and Nancy Witt Allen was living in Bogata, Lamar Co, TX that year. Ervin Richard moved from Houston County to Halesboro, Red River County, TX (next to Lamar Co.) by March of 1885, and subsequently to Bogata by April of 1887, where he died on 2 January 1890. He is buried at Halesboro, Red River County. Some sources show it as “Rugby,” which is close by. Bogata appears to be not very far from the county line dividing Red River and Lamar Counties, so sometimes is named in one county and sometimes in the other. You can “google” it in either one. The actual tiny community that is right on the line, just west of Bogata, is called “Deport.” South of Deport is old Halesboro, and a few miles southwest of it is Minter, in Lamar County. The children of Ervin Richard Witt and Elizabeth Neeley are 1) my great-grandmother Mary Jane (Mollie) Witt, 14 Feb 1851 to16 October 1921, married Wiley Anthony Seale ; 2) Elizabeth Ann Witt, 5 Feb 1854 to 25 May 1870, may have married Mr. Forbes; 3) Sarah Mariah Witt, 21 June 1856 to 26 April 1906, married Edmond LaBorde; 4) Ruth Emaline Witt, 14 April 1858 to September 1861; 5) Samuel Houston Neeley Witt, 18 June 1860 to ??, married Willie Cox; 6) James Ervin Richard Witt, 2 November 1862 to September 1866; and 7) Kissiah Matilda Witt, 24 October 1866 to 22 January 1930, married Jack Buford Seale. Looking at the names of E.R. and Elizabeth’s children for hints as to his possible mother, I note that he had both an Elizabeth and a Sarah (Sally). Of course his wife’s name was Elizabeth, so it’s natural to name a daughter for her. There’s a Ruth, also, which is for his mother-in-law, Ruth Meredith Neeley. So perhaps the Sarah (Sally) is for Sarah (Sally) Stinnett Witt—but of course “Sarah” is such a common name that I probably shouldn’t attach too much significance to it. Elizabeth Neeley Witt also had sisters with the names of Mary, Jane, Matilda, and Emaline, as well as a Sarah, so the name may have come from her. In 1882, a daughter of Nancy Witt Allen (Rhoda Allen Morton) had a son born in Bogata, TX, whom she named Richard Ervin Morton. There seems at least a chance that this baby was named for Ervin Richard Witt, and I like to think that the family knew of him or had some kind of relationship with him. In 1880, Wiley A. Seale and wife Mary Jane (Mollie) Witt, daughter of Ervin Richard, were living in Pct. 3, Red River County—if Halesboro, about 5 miles west of Bogota. They may well have been in touch with Mollie’s Aunt Nancy and cousin Rhoda. Ervin Richard’s granddaughter “Lizzie,” or Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Houston Neeley Witt, moved with her family across the state line to Healdton, Carter County, OK around 1920. One wonders if they had relatives already there, as that is the county where Nancy Witt Allen is buried, in the community of Fox. She died in 1889. She must have moved there with family sometime during the last nine years of her life, as in 1880 she was living in Precinct 7 of Lamar County (likely Bogata) with son-in-law and daughter Hartwell and Rhoda Morton and family.

William Witt, whom I believe to have been a brother (or perhaps a cousin) of Richard S Witt, was born about 1800 in Virginia, and was in NW Arkansas from at least some point in the 1820s and maybe earlier. In 1830 he was in Pope County, living just 8 households from Persis Lovely (though I have no idea how much area that covered). In 1840, he was still in Pope County (town of Riley), but by 1850 he lived in Yell County (formed partly from and adjoining Pope Co. to the south-southwest) with his wife Polly (nickname for Mary), born in Indiana and their children: Richard (b. 1829), Betsy (b. 1833), Davis (b. 1835), George W, (b. 1838) Narcissa, (b. 1840), Samuel M, (b. 1844), Margaret (b. 1846), and Marcus L.(b. 1849). There were earlier children—a boy, born 1821-25, and a girl, born 1825-30 (See *later). By 1860, William had died (in 1857) and so had his son Davis (before March 25, 1857), but two more sons are shown: O I or O J--or John O in another source—(b. 1851) and William B. S. (b. 1852—known as “Bean” in his father’s estate papers). None of the daughters were listed in their father’s estate—perhaps having already received a dower or a gift from their father? In 1860, Mary and 4 of the boys are in Washburn, Scott County, AR, and in 1870, Mary and the two youngest sons are living with the Jessee and Martha Lunsford family in Richwoods, Pulaski County, AR. Martha is about 20—and I wonder if she might have been a niece to Mary (Polly) Witt, as she is listed as being born in Indiana. Interestingly, however, in 1860 and 1870, Mary is listed as born in KY rather than Indiana.

William and Polly’s son Richard (probably named for Richard S. Witt) is almost certainly the one listed in the 1870 Census in Sugar Creek, Scott Co, AR with wife Luanna and family: 55/55 Richard Witt, 41, farmer, $100 prop. value, born AR Luanna, 36, f, keeping house, b. AR William L, 16, farmer, b. AR Elizabeth J, 13, b. AR Mary R, 10, b. AR Margaret W, 7, b. AR Tennessee, 1 f, b. AR

William Witt is important to this search because 1) He is listed as an heir in the will of Richard S. Witt in 1846—“William Witt of Yell County.” As mentioned, he could be a younger brother of Richard (as I suspect) or a cousin or nephew. Both men were born in Virginia. Also, 2) William was a witness to the will of Mrs. Persis Lovely, for which Richard S. Witt was executor. 3) He named a son Richard, which probably was in honor of Richard S. Witt. His son William L. Witt might have been William Lovely or William Lewis, for his cousin William L.L. Witt, Richard S.’s son. Might “Margaret W” have been for Margaret Wells, the first wife of William L. L. Witt?

• Here is another possible scenario: The 1830 Census shows William and wife with one male five and under, and one five to ten (the age-group which would have included Ervin Richard Witt, then age 7). Was this 5 to 10-year old really a son of William and Polly? In the 1850 census, her birth year is indicated to be about 1811, in which case, if that’s accurate, she would have been only about 12 in 1823, when Ervin Richard was born—or between 10 and 14 when she gave birth to a son in that age-group—a bit young even for those days of early marriages for the girls! Whoever this 5-10 year-old-boy was, he does not appear in William and Polly’s family in 1840 (E.R. was gone to Texas by then), nor in 1850, when Richard was shown as the eldest son in the family. Later, in William’s estate, Richard and his younger brother George are listed as the two grown sons in the family. It is therefore POSSIBLE, though by no means proven, that in 1830, young 7-year-old Ervin Richard was living with William and Polly—his uncle and aunt? Cousins?—his mother having died, so that his 14-15 year-old sister wouldn’t have his care as well as all the housework and cooking for her dad. There is also a girl under five in William’s household in 1830, and she doesn’t appear in 1840, either. She might have been a little daughter of Richard S, or of William and Polly, who passed away between the census years. Perhaps if Richard’s, she was a child at whose birth Sarah S. Witt passed away? (Pure speculation!) She might also have been a little daughter of William and Polly who died young.

Family and descendants of Nancy S. Witt Allen Nancy S. Witt married Zachariah H. Allen, occupation listed as physician, in Lafayette County, AR on 1831. Their children were 1) Talitha Cumi Allen, born 1832 in Lafayette Co. AR 2) Richard Allen, born 1834, AL 3) Samuel Allen, born 1836, MS 4) Eliza Allen, b. 1837, MS 5) Jocephus (Cephus) Allen, b. 1839, MS 6) Corene Allen, b. 1840, MS 7) Jane Allen, b. 1842, MS 8) Rhoda Allen, b. 1844, MS 9) William H. Allen, b. 1847, MS 10) Zachariah D. Allen, b. 1848, MS (aka Dennis B. Allen) 11) James H. Allen, b. 1850, MS 12) Nancy A. Allen, b. 1852, MS 13) In 1860, a little girl named Josephine P. E. Colvey, age 2, born AR, was living with the family, but I think she was probably a granddaughter. Note: How did Nancy S. Witt and Zachariah H. Allen meet? And why did they get married down in Lafayette County rather than her home county of Pope? Did they elope? Or might she already have gone down there after the death of her mother to stay with family or friends, and met him there? Zachariah H. Allen’s parents were Nathaniel Nelson Graves Allen and Selea (Celia, Selah, etc.) Bloodworth of North Carolina. Zachariah was born in TN. Some descendants believed that N. N. G. Allen was a full-blood Choctaw, and applied for land in Indian Territory on that belief, but were turned down for lack of evidence. Nathaniel N. G. Allen left his wife Celia in Alabama and moved to Texas, where he remarried a woman named Margaret and fathered at least six more children. In 1850, they were in Cherokee County TX: N. Allen, male, 75, farmer, b. NC. Wife, Margaret, age 42, born GA. Children were Frost T. Allen, age 19, born TX; Henry D. Allen, 16, TX; Margaret N Allen, 14, TX; Mary E. Allen 12, TX, ___A. Allen, f age 7, TX; Rhoda Allen, 5, TX. First wife Selea Allen, age 75, was in Marion County AL in 1850, apparently living with a daughter Sarah Whittle age 35 b. TN, her husband Jessee Whittle, age 46, b. TN; children Jasper Van D. Whittle, 20, b. AL; James Henry Whittle, 7, AL, and Mary Whittle, 5, AL; and Selea M. Whittle, 3, AL. Zachariah and Nancy Witt Allen’s first daughter, Talitha Cumi, was married 3 or 4 times. In 1860, she was living next door to her parents in Lafayette County, AR: James D. Echols, 21, farmer, b. SC (James DeShae or Deshy) Talitha Echols, 28, b. AR Benajin Echols, 2, b. AR (James Benjamin) William D. Echols, 1, b. AR Talitha also had a daughter Sarah A. ___ who married Mr. Wadkins, and another daughter, name unknown, who married A. V. Burks. It appears that son William D. Echols was not living in 1901 when Talitha applied for recognition as part-Choctaw for her family, as he was not named. Other names that appear in descendants’ trees for Talitha’s husbands include Ward G. Jones and a Mr. Morrow. In 1901 she was married to James Calhoun. Because of many moves and different married names, Talitha seems hard to find in census records.

Zachariah and Nancy’s fifth daughter, Rhoda Ellen Allen, is also of interest. She married Hartwell Edward Morton at age 15 (he was 19) in Lafayette County, AR on 12 May 1859. He was the son of Alex P. Morton and Elizabeth Ward. Hartwell was born in AL and died in TX. They had children, including 1) James Morton, b. 1860, d. 1921 2) John W. Morton, b. 1863, d. 1939 3) Nancy Ann Morton, b. 1866, d. 1947 4) Martha Jane Morton, b. 1866, d. 1927 5) Sarah L. Morton, b. 1876, d. 1950 6) Eliza Ellen Morton, b. 1877, d. ? 7) Alice G. Morton, b. 1881, d. 1938 8) Richard Ervin Morton, b. 27 Aug 1882 in Bogata, Red River Co, TX; d. 9 April 1963 in Amarillo, Potter, TX. Married Maud Ledbetter (1881-1953)

Note: The name of this son, Richard Ervin, makes me hope he might have been named for his great-uncle, Ervin Richard Witt, his grandma Nancy Witt Allen’s brother. The baby was born in the same little Texas town where Ervin Richard died a few years later. Before this child was grown, both his parents passed away, and he was taken in by his aunt, Talitha Cumi Allen, known as Mrs. James Calhoun in 1901, when she was still giving him a home in the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory (Marlow, Stephens County, OK). Some records spell his middle name as “Irving,” but in those that he would have supplied or signed himself, it was “Ervin.” It gives me some hope that Grandpa Ervin Richard Witt hadn’t completely lost touch with his relatives.