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Thomas Pettit of Rappahannock County, was a nephew to Col Thomas Pettus. Thomas Pettit, who was married to Katherine Morris, was the son of Sir William Pettus and Lady Mary Gleane of Norwich, Norfolk, England. Sir William was an older brother to Col Thomas. Thomas the son of Sir William, was born in 1610 and can be found in the parish baptism records for St. Simon & Jude Parish. He was tried for a crime - don't remember the crime - but not convicted. Later accused of murder, his uncle, Col Thomas Pettus, helped him escape and come to America. He disappears from records for 10 years but reappears in VA, as Thomas Pettit/Petty. He married Katherine Morris. Their marriage is recorded but shows no date. Their first child, daughter, Dorothy was born1658 and a son, Thomas Jr, was born 1664, a few months after his father's death. Thomas' will names his wife and his daughter but not his unborn child, son Thomas or any other children.

DyanaG, Thanks for the comments. I agree with you completely. These sites encourage replication and propagation of proven errors due the nature of how they are organized. They are basically the modern equivalent of the old family group sheets... anyone can say anything and get it replicated like a computer virus.

Regarding Nathaniel H. Pettit being the son of Joshua Pettit and Judith Poole, I believe this is "Nathan" and not "Nathaniel H." The confusion on this is quite common, especially since some researchers refuse to accept the fact that these were two different men. You may want to check out a couple of articles on this issue: 1) Nathaniel H Pettit b. 1813 and Nathan Pettit b. 1792. Which one is the son of Joshua Pettit Jr. and Judith Pettit? and 2): John Pettit (b. 1771) Forgotten Son of Joshua and Rachel Pettit of Spartanburg Co., SC

To be clear, I have no doubt that the Pettit clan in AL with which Ashford is found are the descendants of Joshua Pettit and Judith Poole. There has been a lot of discussion about Ashford Pettit for many years and as far as I know his parent's names remain a mystery. However, I believe there has been a recent YDNA test done to compare him with other Spartanburg Pettits. Not sure those results have been posted yet.

I haven't researched him very much, but I suspect a clue to finding his parents may lie in his unusual name. At the time, the given name Ashford was a one-off for the Pettit family. As you mentioned, they liked to reuse a common set of names; Henry, Joshua, Nathan, Benjamin etc.... Ashford could be his mother's maiden name. Just a thought.

I have been trying to research my Pettit ancestors on Ancestry and Family Search. Some of the ways those sites present information is very confusing, as they purport to show that I am related to some people just because someone else on there has said so, which is not enough information for me. I'd like to see some proof. Many of my first cousins have been on Ancestry and they say that our line is grandfather Joseph Cephus Pettit b. 1852, whose father was Ashford Pettit b. 1814, whose father was Nathaniel H. Pettit b. 1792, whose father was Joshua Pettit b 1773, whose father was Joshua Pettit b. 1734. However, I have never been able to find any proof that Nathaniel H. Pettit was Ashford's father. Everything is made even more confusing by the names being used over and over again. Ashford did have a son Nathan, and also a son Nathaniel. Does anyone know anything about Ashford?