Pettit Family Genealogy and History
Pettit Family History, Genealogy, Message Board, Research Papers and Blog
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 Ellijay, Georgia was his wife, Elizabeth, and their infant son. Each passing day, the new mother watched nervously as her…
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.