Joshua Pettit II, 1734-1786

5th Great Grandfather Paternal Side

Talk about non-linear research! Man, this one was/is a real bugger. Any euphemism that could be thought applies to this family. There are at least 3 Joshua Pettits with no middle name given or suffix. I will therefore assign them the suffix of I, II, & III while others may call II Sr. and III Jr. they omitted Joshua II’s parents: Joshua Pettit and Susannah Carpenter, at least this is who I hope they are. Hence the conflicting data has begun.

Joshua II was born in the Passaic Valley of New Jersey on September 20, 1734. He might have been descended from the Huguenot’s of the Pettit family of France (See Source 3) though no direct correlation has been made by me. He moved to South Carolina sometime around 1768 to the 96 District near Cowpens in Spartanburg County. This was considered to be frontier or on the fringe of civilization. Near the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1775, he was engaged in helping to build Wofford’s Fort on the Pacolet River. It was more of a fortified log house used where the settlers could escape Indian attacks. Militias were formed to fight off the Cherokees and other tribes. During the Revolutionary War Joshua served as a Private in Col. Benjamin Roebuck’s Battalion of the Spartan Regiment of the South Carolina Militia. He did not file for a pension or collect one but his headstone in the Pettit Family Cemetery states his regiment (See Source 1). His DAR Ancestor # is A089896 for anyone wishing to fill out an application or supplement.

Joshua Pettit married Rachel Monroe* (1734-1786) in 1761 in Essex County, New Jersey where the first six of their eight children were born.

1. Henry, Sr. (1763-1838) married Mary Anne Poole
2. Hannah Caroline (1765-1836) married Joel Bird Hembree
3. Mary (1767-1769)
4. Benjamin H. (1769-1831) married Lucinda Pettit
5. Nathan (Nathaniel ?) John (1771-1808) married ?
6. Joshua III (1773-1827) married Judah Poole
7. Abraham (1776-1808) never married since he had mental defect and was cared for by Joshua III.
8. Rachel (1779-1786) married ?? Hembree

It is rumored that Joshua also had a son with a Cherokee woman Nannie Downing, an important woman of the tribe. He spent some time with the Indians before his wife and children moved to South Carolina. This son was named Thomas Pettit, Sr. and married Catherine Hughes. More research is needed to verify.

In 1775, Joshua sold 500 acres on the Saluda River to John and Ann Armstrong being a portion of the 12 mile square tract previously owned by Richard Pearis. (Note: This tract was supposedly an illegal land cession of 150,000 acres from the Cherokee to Richard Pearis, via his Cherokee son George Pearis, on 21 Dec 1773 and witnessed by Joshua.) After Ann’s husband was taken by Indians and “inhumanly butchered” she petitioned the government for relief. (See Source 2.)

Joshua, Rachel and some of their children were buried in the Pettit Family Cemetery located in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.

I will add to this post in the future once I am able to study it more thoroughly. I knew that it would be hard writing about one ancestor per week, and here it is only the 2^nd week and I am already having trouble!! Yikes, this is going to be a long year!

*Rumored to be a cousin of James Monroe – I can neither confirm nor deny at this time, I expect this is wishful thinking. She was born in Ulster County, New York.

Sources:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9015886&ref=acom

South Carolina State Archives Series: S165005
Year: 1784
Item: 00006
Page: 000
Date: 2/23/1784
Description: COMMITTEE REPORT AND ATTACHED PETITION CONCERNING ANN ARMSTRONGS REQUEST THAT THE LAND OF HER LATE HUSBAND, WHO WAS KILLED IN THE CHEROKEE WARS, BE VESTED IN HER, FREE FROM OTHER CLAIMS. (2 PAGES) 
Names indexed: ARMSTRONG, ANN; ARMSTRONG, JOHN; PEARIS, RICHARD; PETTIT, JOSHUA
Locations: SALUDA RIVER
Document type: REPORT OF LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE
Topics: CHEROKEE WAR

      Van Wyck, Katherine Louise Wood, 1857-. Genealogy of Pettit Families In America: Descendants of   John Pettit, 1630-1632, First of That Name In America. South Pasadena, Calif., 1936.