Pettit Family Genealogy and History
Pettit Family History, Genealogy, Message Board, Research Papers and Blog
An entire branch of Spartanburg Pettits was missing. Below is the brief story of how they were recently discovered. If you are from this Austin Pettit line, this is the story of how your ancestor was rediscovered. After reading, please please contact The Pettit Research Project here! You have cousins who have been looking for you.
Download the complete book for free from The Pettit Research Project: Nathan Pettit 1775-1855 of Spartanburg SC and Hancock, IL, Book.PDF Currently Reading Part III Read Part I Here Read Part II Here FAMILY…
From his front porch, Nathan could survey his 80-acre spread and plan all the work that needed to be done tomorrow. Perhaps in these quiet moments his mind would take him back to his early years in the back country of South Carolina. His boyhood home was hundreds of miles away; over the rugged mountains he had once led his family through.
Nathan grew up in back country South Carolina during its most savagely violent period. His older brother Henry Pettit, Sr., and father Joshua defended their homeland while in the Spartan Regiment under Colonel Benjamin Roebuck. Nathan would have been about five years old when the patriot troops under Brigadier General Thomas Sumter stopped by the Pettit farm for provisions. The Pettit family supplied them with beef from their herd.
Our plan was to navigate down the Pacolet River and camp under the stars on the land that once belonged to Henry Pettit and William Poole. We set out to explore the old Poole Springs (Healing Springs), Pettit Mill Branch, Tumbling Shoals, Lawsons Fork, and various other sites. We planned to exit the river the next evening at Pacolet Mills.
This old Pettit family record from Gilmer County, GA begins with the families of Joshua and Rachel Pettit and William and Elizabeth Poole of Spartanburg County, SC. Though we do not know for certain, the evidence suggests this record was written down by someone in the family of Rev. John Fulton Pettit sometime shortly after May 21, 1898.
Fortunately, in May of 2025, The Pettit Research Project was granted special access to the the Henry Pettit Sr. Revolutionary War Pension file at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The folder containing his records was removed from the vault and given to this researcher by the lead archivist. Examination of the contents was permitted under his supervision for safe handling and security reasons.
Pettit Cemetery Origins Three weeks before his 21st birthday William Decatur Pettit should have been a young man in his prime. Instead, he lay sick in bed. At his home on the Pettit farm near…
The date it was written is not given though it would have certainly been within the author’s lifetime of 1870-1940. The story opens with an account of the movement from North Carolina to Gilmer County, GA of Henry Pettit Jr (b.1790), his brother John Pettit, and son Elijah Pool Pettit and their families. The story covers several allied families as well, most notably the Griffiths, Ellingtons, and Kings.
This Bible record appears to have been the work of multiple generations of Gilmer County, GA Pettits. The handwriting of three different people can be easily distinguished. The note that accompanied these pages said that it was the record of William Henry Pettit and “John Waitsel Pettit, father of Morris Pettit”. It is possible the information was taken down by William Henry Pettit, John Waitsel Pettit and Morris Pettit.
Though the will had been discovered many years ago, the estate papers of Henry Pettit Sr. (1763-1838) seemed to be missing. The record book, which was presumed to be lost, has been found in the state archives. It had somehow missed being microfilmed. The full estate papers of Henry Pettit Sr of Rutherford Co., NC are now available.
“John But Not Forgotten” John Pettit Born 1771, Son of Joshua and Rachel Pettit of Spartanburg Co, SC This article will broadly cover the life of John Pettit the son of Joshua and Rachel Pettit…
John Pettit, grandson of Joshua and Judith Poole Pettit was born in 1820 in Spartanburg Co., SC. He married three times and had 20 children. His descendants are numerous and spread out to AL, MS and beyond. Some of them still own portions of the land that once belonged to his grandparents in SC. John is buried in the Thompson Chapel cemetery not far from the old Pettit land and near the Pettit family cemetery in SC.
The story of how copies of the Benjamin Pettit (1769) family bible records have come down to us through the ages is one of intrigue. There are actually two distinct bible records in circulation among researchers which contain similar lists of the births of Benjamin and Elizabeth Pettit’s children.
Many genealogist who descend from Nathaniel H. Pettit innocently but erroneously claim Joshua Pettit Jr. and his wife Judith Poole as their ancestor. If you are a descendant of Nathaniel H. Pettit of South Carolina relax but please read carefully. You’re still connected to the SC Pettits, but probably not how you think!
This Bible record was received from Jeff D. Hendricks of Independence, MO. He is the great great grandson of Missourie Pettit. I originally corresponded with Mr. Hendricks in 1998 via email. At the time he had reviewed the Bible but did not own it. I contacted him again in August of 2018 and he informed me that he was now in possession of the Bible
On the 13th day of June in 1846 in Gilmer County, Georgia, John Pettit stood before his brother Henry Pettit Jr. (b. 1790), the Justice of the Inferior Court. His deposition that day was in regards to the settlement of the Revolutionary War pension account of his father Henry Sr. (b. 1763). John’s mother, Anna (Poole) Pettit, who had been in his care since the death of his father, had recently passed on as well.