- \n
- Examining the Henry Pettit Sr. Family Bible Record and the Record of his Father Joshua Pettit (as preserved in the National Archives)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Latest Full Color Photos -Family Bibles of Joshua Pettit (1734) and Henry Pettit (1763)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
No maiden name is given nor is a marriage date listed in these records.<\/p>\n
\nThe Rachel Pettit Theories<\/h1>\n
Rachel and Hannah or Rachel Hannah?<\/h2>\n
The notion that Joshua was first married to a woman named Hannah and that they had at least one son prior to his marriage to Rachel was floated many years ago among researchers.\u00a0 It was based on attempts to decipher some lines at the top of a page in the family record written by Joshua Pettit. Specifically this section:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pettitresearch.com\/familyhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/Joshua-Pettit-family-record-showing-Hannah-Pettit.png\")
<\/a>From 1960s microfilm copy of Pettit family record.<\/p><\/div>\n
This analysis was based on the best copies available at the time which were derived from old microfilm scans done in the 1960s. \u00a0An article by The Pettit Research Project published on February 2, 2019<\/a>, also presented this theory based on the best Fold3 scans available at the time. While the identity of the son mentioned remains a mystery, a new possibility has emerged regarding the supposed first wife, Hannah Pettit.<\/p>\n
In 2025 The Pettit Research Project was allowed access to the Joshua Pettit family record page in the Henry Pettit Sr Revolutionary War account<\/a>.\u00a0 Viewing it in person revealed details that were not visible in the circulated copies.\u00a0 Though the word “Rachel” is extremely faded it seems to be there when viewed up close.\u00a0 It also fits in the remaining space on the line. Below is an estimation of where the name Rachel appears on the faded record. (Note that this is a really rough guess as even this high megapixel copy failed to properly render the faded name.)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pettitresearch.com\/familyhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/Rachel-5-1024x611.png\")
<\/a>After seeing this record in person and analyzing the color photos it appears this record actually says:<\/p>\nLine 1: \u201c\u2026son of Joshua and Rachel\u201d<\/p>\n
Line 2: \u201cHannah Pettit Departed this life Aprial ye 15 : 17[??]\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When these lines are taken together this entry would read \u201cson of Joshua and Rachel Hannah Pettit.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, Rachel’s name may have been Rachel Hannah Pettit.<\/strong><\/p>\n
More evidence for the theory that Rachel also went by Hannah is found on the flip side of the page of the Joshua Pettit family record. Here we find an entry for Benjamin Pettit’s birth in 1769 in clear unfaded ink stating his mother was Rachel Pettit.\u00a0 After this we find a washed out and hard to read entry for what is presumed to be John Pettit’s birth.\u00a0 This is followed by a clear ink entry for Nathan Pettit’s birth rendered somewhat unreadable due to deterioration of the page.\u00a0 Nathan’s entry also lists Rachel Pettit as his mother.\u00a0 It would make sense that John, the child born between Benjamin and Nathan would also have Rachel as his mother.\u00a0 And indeed her name appears on this entry but it looks to have been added later and written above the rest of the line.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pettitresearch.com\/familyhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/Rachel-inserted-1-1024x576.png\")
<\/a>Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n
Though hard to make out, the part of the John Pettit entry that can be read says “of Joshua”.\u00a0 This should<\/em> be followed by “and Rachel Pettit”.\u00a0 There is indeed a name after Joshua’s but whatever it is, is not discernible.\u00a0 This brings us to the mystery of this entry.\u00a0 Written above<\/em> the name that follows Joshua’s is the name “Rachel”.<\/p>\n
What name was written here that caused Joshua to have to add Rachel’s name above?\u00a0 Maybe Joshua accidentally wrote “Pettit”, unintentionally omitting Rachel’s name and this was a correction.\u00a0 Or perhaps this says “Joshua and Hannah” like it does on the reverse side and the name “Rachel” was later added above to clarify.<\/p>\n
This gets us nowhere in the quest for finding Rachel’s maiden name but it does open up some new research possibilities.\u00a0 Researchers should consider the possibility that Joshua\u2019s wife Rachel was his only wife and that her full name was Rachel Hannah Pettit or that she went by Hannah.\u00a0 Therefore, when looking for Rachel in her birth family researchers would do well to also search for her under the name Hannah.<\/p>\n
It is important to note that this hypothesis, as well as the original are merely unproven ideas at this point due to the poor condition of the faded old record and lack of other evidence.<\/p>\n
Having dealt thoroughly with the new theories involving Rachel’s given name, we now turn to the quest to find her maiden name.<\/p>\n
\nRachel Monroe<\/h2>\n
An article by The Pettit Research Project<\/a> devoted entirely to this subject can be found here:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Monroe or No? Rachel Pettit -wife of Joshua Pettit (b. 1734)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Though it is hard to say with any degree of certainty, the origins of this theory have not been traced back beyond the 1920s.\u00a0 In 1923 there was a Pettit family reunion at the Pettit family cemetery in Gilmer County, GA<\/a>.\u00a0 Local newspaper editor and historian T.H. Tabor published an article describing the event.\u00a0 The story was picked up by the Harrison Times in Harrison, AR where some Georgia Pettits had migrated to as well.\u00a0 This newspaper article was the first known written record to float the idea that Rachel’s last name was Monroe and that she was a cousin to President James Monroe.\u00a0 After this article was published the idea firmly entrenched itself in the family lore.<\/p>\n
That she was a Monroe may be true, but evidence is lacking.\u00a0 Additionally, it is very possible Mr. Tabor mixed up the story as to which Pettit’s grandmother was related to the Monroes.\u00a0 It is worth noting that Henry Pettit Jr’s wife was Anna Mooney and her mother was a woman named Eleanor Monroe. It is possible this was the Monroe connection and not Joshua’s wife Rachel.\u00a0 This fact does not automatically discount the idea that Rachel Pettit was a Monroe but it should give researchers reason to eye it carefully.<\/p>\n
\nRachel Valentine<\/h2>\n
A Joshua Pettit is found in the records of Essex County, NJ.\u00a0 At one time a Joshua Pettit owned land there on Green Brook in Scotch Plains which he sold to John Shotwell.\u00a0 In January of 1766 legal notices record that this Joshua Pettit became an insolvent debtor.\u00a0 That February and March the nearby Valentine family was stricken with deadly smallpox.\u00a0 Richard Valentine, his brother Ichabod Valentine, Ichabod’s wife Hannah and daughter Elizabeth all died within days of each other in 1766.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0 is covered in a series of articles by The Pettit Research Project:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Joshua Pettit of Essex Co., NJ: The Land (Part I)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Joshua Pettit of Essex Co., NJ: The Insolvent Debtor (Part II)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Joshua Pettit of Essex Co., NJ: Smallpox and Clinker Lots (Part III)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Joshua Pettit of Essex Co., NJ: On the Map (Part IV)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In Hannah Valentine\u2019s will, the grandchildren of Ichabod and Hannah Valentine are mentioned as Rhoda Valentine, Sarah Pettit, and Bartholomew Pettit (spelled “Petit”).\u00a0 \u00a0They were declared to be minors in 1766 because the will said their share of the estate was not to be disbursed until they reached adulthood.\u00a0 The father of these two minor Pettit children is not named nor is the mother but it stands to reason that the mother was a Valentine daughter of Ichabod and Hannah Valentine who married a Pettit.\u00a0 (Though other obscure possibilities exist.)<\/p>\n
Due to the above facts, it has been postulated that Joshua Pettit first married one of the daughters of Ichabod and Hannah Valentine.\u00a0 Some say her name was Hannah Valentine, named after her mother.\u00a0 (The theorized name of Hannah is probably based on the entry in the Joshua Pettit family record book which was previously thought to prove Joshua was married to a woman named Hannah before he married Rachel.)<\/p>\n
As the theory goes, Joshua’s first Valentine wife (Hannah) died leaving Joshua with the two children mentioned which is why they were named as heirs in the Valentine will instead of the Valentine daughter.\u00a0 It is further speculated that Joshua then married the sister of the deceased Valentine, a woman named Rachel Valentine.\u00a0 This Joshua and Rachel, it is thought, were the couple who later moved to Virginia and then to Spartanburg County, SC.<\/p>\n
This theory is within the realm of possibility but also has some problems.<\/p>\n
First, there is no daughter named Rachel Valentine or Rachel Pettit mentioned in the Ichabod Valentine will.\u00a0 Ichabod’s will mentions his wife Hannah, son Ichabod Jr, and daughter Elizabeth.\u00a0 Hannah Valentine’s lists her daughter Elizabeth, son Ichabod Jr and grandchildren.\u00a0 Why would they all omit a living daughter\/sister?\u00a0 Simply ignoring them was not the legal norm.\u00a0 If they excluded them intentionally the common practice would be to specifically state the heir was not due anything in the will.\u00a0 This was done to prevent someone who would otherwise be an heir from bringing a claim against the estate.<\/p>\n
Another possibility often mentioned is that Joshua did not marry some unmentioned Rachel Valentine who was the daughter of Ichabod Valentine, but rather he married a Rachel Valentine who was the daughter of Ichabod’s brother Richard Valentine.\u00a0 There is evidence such a woman existed though it is not a primary source.\u00a0 \u00a0However, in his 1851 book, Family records, or, Genealogies of the first settlers of Passaic Valley, <\/em>John Littell stated that this Rachel Valentine married William Baker.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pettitresearch.com\/familyhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/William-Baker-Rachel-Valentine.png\")
<\/a>Excerpt from “Family records, or, Genealogies of the first settlers of Passaic Valley” by John Littell, 1851<\/p><\/div>\n
This Rachel Valentine\/Baker was later named in the will of her husband in 1787 while still in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pettitresearch.com\/familyhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/William-Baker-Rachel-Baker-will.png\")
<\/a>From “New Jersey Wills”<\/p><\/div>\n
If Littell is correct, this would undoubtedly rule her out as Joshua’s wife.<\/p>\n
Other possibilities exist and there was definitely a Pettit connection of some sort to this Valentine family that still needs to be thoroughly explored.<\/p>\n
\nRachel Moody<\/h2>\n
A family record found in Georgia from the late 1800s lists Joshua and Rachel Pettit. This record was found preserved in the hands of descendants of Henry Pettit Jr’s son John Fulton Pettit and it is thought to have been written by him or his son George F. Pettit.\u00a0 An article by The Pettit Research project covering this record can be found here:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Analyzing an Old Joshua Pettit Family Record Found in Gilmer Co., GA<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In the 1890’s, the original author drew a line in the location of Rachel’s maiden name indicating he did not know what it was. This bears repeating.\u00a0 It is important to note that her maiden name was unknown in the 1890s. In 1923, when the reunion took place in Gilmer County, GA, the newspaper stated her name was Monroe.<\/p>\n
With all that as the contextual backdrop we then see that someone with different handwriting came back later and added the name “Moody” after the name Rachel to the 1890’s family record. This could possibly indicate the Monroe name was a more recent development and the local Pettits did not know her maiden name before the article was printed. Evidently someone believed it was Rachel Moody before they heard it was Rachel Monroe.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pettitresearch.com\/familyhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/Rachel-Pettit-Moody-1024x311.jpeg\")
<\/a>“Rachel Moody” Pettit. From the 1890’s Gilmer Co., GA Pettit family record.<\/p><\/div>\n
As far as this researcher knows, this is the only record to suggestion her name was Rachel Moody and the notion has not been discussed among researchers until now.<\/p>\n
The name Moody is not common in any of the places that Joshua Pettit was known or suspected to have lived. For example, there are no Moodys in the 1790 Spartanburg County census.\u00a0 There are no land records for Moodys in Hardy Co., VA.\u00a0 There are no burial records in the popular church yards in Essex Co., NJ.\u00a0 This by no means rules out the possibility that Rachel Pettit was from a Moody family but it does call the theory into question.\u00a0 Therefore, researchers are encouraged to explore this idea but not to take it as fact.<\/p>\n
\nRachel Pettit’s Birth<\/h2>\n
There is no known primary source that establishes Rachel’s birth date. We can estimate it based on the known facts.<\/p>\n
- Joshua Pettit of Essex Co., NJ: The Insolvent Debtor (Part II)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Joshua Pettit of Essex Co., NJ: The Land (Part I)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Latest Full Color Photos -Family Bibles of Joshua Pettit (1734) and Henry Pettit (1763)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n