Updated January 10, 2024

 

Pitts

 

Group 1

 

Pitman, was born about 1784 in Virginia and married Mary C Andrews on Sept 7, 1811 in Granville County, North Carolina. Mary was born about 1792 in Virginia. They had three children in Virginia: Elizabeth Ann, Younger, and Benjamin Franklin. With the outbreak of war with England, President Madison called up the state militia, and Pitman Pitts was drafted in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, just across the border from where they were married. He was mustered near Norfolk Virginia on about May 15, 1814 and Pitman served as an Ensign in the Company of Riflemen of Capt. Ralph Hubbard, attached to the 5 Regiment of the Virginia Militia. In December of 1814 the Treaty of Ghent was signed in Belgium and Pitman Pitts was honorably discharged at Fort Nelson near Norfolk Virginia. The family migrated through Kentucky to Madison County, Alabama and probably traveled along the Wilderness Road in Western Virginia which Daniel Boone had blazed through the Cumberland Gap in 1774. They may have come through Montgomery County, Kentucky, as Pitman had two war land grants there. The family bible was lost somewhere along this route between Kentucky and Alabama. We know that they were in Madison County, Alabama, by 1825 and they had four more children in Madison County Alabama (Susan Ware, William Charles, Mary Lenora, and John P. S. Pitts). Between 1841 and 1851 some of the family moved to Tishomingo County Mississippi and Washington County Arkansas, while some stayed in Madison County Alabama. We have accounted for over 1,200 descendants of Pitman Pitts and Mary C Andrews Pitts. Many descendants of these families live in the northeast Mississippi area. Others have been traced to Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Oregon, California, Washington, Arizona, Virginia and many other states. However, very few descendants have been found for the line of Younger Pitts (b. 1812 Virginia, son of Pitman).

 

 

 

Group 2 (Group 2a and Group 2b share the same DNA)

 

Group 2a

 

During the mid 1700s four brothers migrated to Newberry Co, South Carolina. These brothers were Henry, Charles, William, and Daniel. In the early 1800s many descendants of this family migrated to Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and Mississippi, and from there moved on to Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and many other states. Much research has been done on this Pitts family. Books have been written tracing this family back to England and beyond but there are disagreements between researchers, therefore, the information will vary depending on which book one reads. The most commonly accepted research claims ancestry back to Col Robert Pitt of Isle of Wight Co VA. Unfortunately, the early research which has been accepted for many years seems to have been based on inaccurate data.  The research was based on a son of Col Robert Pitt named Henry, b 1645, however, there is no evidence that Col Robert Pitt had a son named Henry. DNA has proven that there is no blood relationship between the PITT family of Isle of Wight Co VA (See Group 10 below) and the PITTS families in Group 2 and 2b. The descendants of the Newberry Co SC PITTS families and the Halifax Co, NC PITTS families do NOT share the same DNA with the PITT family of Isle of Wight Co VA, therefore do not share a Common Ancestor with the PITT family descendants. Accepted research states that Henry Pitt, b 1645, married to Mary Galloway/Calloway, had a son named Charles Pitt, b either 1677 or 1667. He married Sarah Ann Hardy, daughter of George Hardy and Mary Jackson. Charles died in Surry Co VA in 1751 and he did name a son Joseph in his will.  It is said that Joseph Pitt, b c1700, married Nancy Slaughter who is said to be the parents of Henry, Daniel, Charles, and William Pitts of Newberry Co SC. The problem is that much of the information for this story cannot be verified. While Charles Pitt of Surry Co VA did name a son Joseph, there is no evidence that the Joseph in question had a wife named Nancy Slaughter nor evidence that he had any sons. Joseph died in 1789 in VA. To my knowledge there has been no verifiable documentation found to connect the Pitts families of Newberry SC back to any Pitt or Pitts family in Isle of Wight or Surry Co VA.  It is generally accepted that Charles, William, Daniel, and Henry were all sons of Joseph Pitt and that the spelling changed from Pitt to Pitts with this generation. This change in the spelling of the surname was an assumption made by someone, not based in reality or fact. Research says that the Newberry, South Carolina, Pitts were brothers, uncles, and cousins which is being proven by DNA. There was another Henry Pitts, died 1817, in Newberry about the same age as Henry, Sr, died 1803. Although I have found no documentation substantiating that these two Henry Pitts were related, the DNA of the descendants of both Henry's are the same so we know that they shared a common male ancestor. The families intermarried and many of the same names are found in both, making research difficult. Mark Pitts, of Lincoln Co., Tennessee, can be traced back to Henry, Sr, as he is named in Henry’s will.  We do not yet know the common ancestor between Group 2a and 2b. I have established 2b simply to keep the early Halifax Co, NC Pitts group separated from the SC group to make it easier to locate each set of descendants in the project. Both 2a and 2b are blood related and share a common ancestor. We just don't know who the common ancestor was at this time.  See also Group 2b.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

§  Levi Pitts, b Jan 16, 1814, TN d Sept 20, 1864 Pulaski Co, AR m Elizabeth Matthews b July 15, 1816 TN d Mar 10, 1883 WashingtonCo, AR

o   John Samuel Pitts, b June 6, 1836 Overton Co, TN m Ellen Kazar Hatchett b c1845 Overton Co, TN

§  Uriah Pitts, b 1867 m Mary Meeks

·       Toy Pitts, b July 24, 1882 m Nettie Mae Hinson

o   Harley Vernon Pitts, b 1920 and Elizabeth Eaton P-16, FF-135

§  Edward Levi Pitts

·       Coy Levi Pitts P-73, FF-20

§  Hasten Pitts, b c1823, TN, d Bet 1880-1900 buried in Overton Co, TN, m Amanda unk b c1826, d bet 1880-1900

o   Sarah Francis Pitts, b Jan 28, 1853, d June 13, 1907 Overton Co, TN, m Robert Pinkney Austin, b 1852, d 1919

§  Robert Talmadge Austin, b Nov 1890 Overton Co TN, d June 22, 1965, Morgan Co., AL, m Sarah Francis Ferrill, b 1892, d 1968

·       Flossie Austin, b Feb 3, 1913, Overton Co, TN, d Sept 15, 1974, Pulaski Co., KY, m Willis May, b Jan 21, 1910, Floyd Co, KY, d Nov 23, 1983, Pulaski Co., KY

o   Henry May, b 1935, d 2015 FF-150

§  Aaron Pitts, b 1820 TN, d Overton Co., TN, m Nancy Bilbrey, b 1827 Overton Co., TN, d 1880 Overton Co., TN

o   William Sewell Pitts, b Oct 18, 1853, d May 26, 1927 Putnam Co., TN, m Armanda Jane Jackson, b Apr 28, 1850, Overton Co., TN, d Jul 2, 1933, Putnam Co., TN

§  Georgy Mae Pitts, b TN, d June 30, 1955, Putnam Co., TN, m Joseph Marce Reeves, b TN, d Jan 29, 1970, Crossville, Cumberland Co., TN

·       James Edward Reeves, b Feb 19, 1922, Dripping Springs, Cumberland Co., TN, d Mar 4, 1991, Rhea Co., TN, m Alice Ann Scher, b Illinois, d July 16, 2015, Davidson Co., TN FF-178, FF-187

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

o   Nancy Jane Bishop, b Mar 13, 1849, Barbour Co., AL, d March 2, 1914, Barbour Co., AL, m James Harvey Long, b Feb 16, 1840, Barbour Co., AL, d Nov 29, 1923, Barbour Co., AL

§  Willie B Long, b Apr 1, 1872, Barbour Co., AL, d Jan 12, 1941, Kerr Co., Texas, m Ida Ellen Edwards, b Oct 29, 1879, AR, d Oct 10, 1926 McCurtain Co., OK FF-144, FF-145, FF-146, FF-147

§  Jesse Pitts, b c1781, SC, d after 1831, Pinson, Jefferson Co., AL, m Elizabeth

·       Eli Benson Pitts, b 1824, d Oct 30, 1864, Confederate Prison, Rock Island Arsenal, Moline, Ill, m, Ruthiann Reed, b Nov 27, 1830 Jefferson Co., AL, d June 24, 1907, Pinson, Jefferson Co., AL

o   Eli Nathaniel Pitts, b Mar 1863, Pinson, Jefferson Co., AL, d 1948 Dayton, Green Co., Oh, m Cattie King, b July 1873, Green Co., Ky, d 1949 Dayton, Oh

§  Joseph Staton Pitts, b June 14, 1907 Birmingham, Jefferson Co., AL, d April 19, 2006, Marion, Ind, m1 Mattie Fae Leckie b Dec 31, 1906, Jackson, La, d Dec 27, 1929, Seward, Kansas, m2 Pearl Jackson, b Nov 6, 1901, Clay Co., Ar, d June 22, 1977, Anderson, Ind P-69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·       Aaron Pitts, b 1828 SC, m Lucy

o   James Henry Pitts, b 1857, Abbeville, SC, d 1888 Ninety Six Dist, m Nancy Ann Walton White, b Aug 19, 1860, d July 10, 1918

§  Mamie Sallie Lenora Pitts, b Aug 23, 1885, Goodsey, near Ninety Six, Dysons Crossroads, Greenwood Co., SC, m John Debert Harrison, b Oct 5, 1882, Greenville, SC, d Jan 13, 1947, Gaston Co., NC

·       John Achlie Harrison, b Nov 3, 1910, Greer, Greenville, SC, d Jan 1, 2002, Florence, SC, m Ellie Elizabeth Greer, b Feb 14, 1912, Union Co., SC, d Nov 22, 2003, Florence, SC FF-48, FF-13

 

 

·       Unknown Pitts female - It is believed that the mother of Elizabeth Johnson may have been Rachael Johnston wife of Thomas Johnston. Verbal history claims the mother of Elizabeth Johnson was a Pitts

o   James Henry Smith, Dec 8, 1808, SC, d Feb 3, 1899 Rockdale Co., Ga m Elizabeth Johnson

§  John Henry Smith, b Feb 18, 1834, Ga, d Nov 11, 1920, Gilmer, Upshur Co., TX, m Anna Jane Christian

·       James Henry Smith, b Feb 9, 1868, Newton Co., Ga, d April 22, 1941, Dallas Co., TX m Rosabell Simmons

o   John Russell Smith, Dec 31, 1897, Glenwood, Upshur Co., TX, d Apr 23, 1966 FF-191

·       Jake Smith, b March 19, 1885, TX, d May 4, 1969, Gilmer, Upshur Co., TX, m Frances Missouri Baxter

o   Gene Everett Smith, b Oct 17, 1924, Gilmer, Upshur Co., TX, d Sept 27, 1994, Longview, Gregg Co., TX, m Doris Nell Faires FF-192

 

 

 

Group 2b

 

Please read the history for Group 2a. The DNA for this group of Pitts is an exact match to Group 2-a so we know that Group 2a and 2b have a common ancestor. I have set up a Group a and b because we do not know who the Common Ancestor was between the early Newberry SC Pitts line, Group 2a, and the early Halifax Co NC line of Pitts, Group 2b. According to family research, Anthony Pitts was born abt 1765 in Halifax Co., NC and married Nancy Ann Rawlinson. Anthony Pitts is found in early land records in Effingham Co GA and moves his family to Mississippi by 1820. Like the early research for the SC Pitts, it is said that this line of Pitts descends from Col Robert Pitt, of Bristol England who died in Isle of Wight Co., VA through the son Lt Col John Pitt, however. there are many discrepancies in the research and DNA proves no relationship between the PITT family of Isle of Wight VA and the Halifax Co PITTS families. The line of John Pitts who died in 1819 in Baldwin Co GA has been traced back to Walter Pitts of Halifax Co NC proving that the Halifax Co NC Pitts share a common ancestor with the Newberry Co SC line of Pitts. I have been told that historians in the Edgecombe County and Halifax Counties in NC claim that the Pitt families in Edgecombe Co NC and the Pitts families in Halifax Co NC are the same family. They are not. They do not have the same DNA and they do not share a common ancestor. While there are always errors found on various documents, most of the families can be identified through the years by the spelling of the name, ie: the use of or the absence of the s in the surname. When we can find the Common Ancestor for these two lines I will merge both A and B under one Group 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group 3

 

Silas Pitts was born about 1786 in South Carolina. He was in Pendleton, South Carolina in 1812-13 where he married first Rebecca Barnett, daughter of James Barnett and Isabella (or Elizabeth) Johnston. According to the census records Silas was in Monroe Co, Alabama by 1815 and in Pike Co Alabama by 1830. He sold his property in Pike Co Alabama and moved to Shelby Co, Alabama by 1835. Silas and Rebecca had nine children. He married 2nd to Nancy Ellison and had two more children. Silas died October 2, 1859 and his will is on file in Shelby Co, Alabama. His daughter, Emily Eliza Pitts gave an accounting of her life in the “The Troy Messenger”, Troy, Alabama in 1889 wherein she stated she was born in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, near the Indian Town in the neighborhood where Andrew Jackson defeated the Indians. Eliza married a Jackson and this article with a picture is cited in “The Jackson Cousins by Kathlyn Folmar” a copy of which is in the library in Troy, Alabama. There was an obvious connection of some kind to Mark Pitts and Joel Pitts in Pendleton Co SC in the 1812 time frame. In addition, Silas married Rebecca Barnett who may have been cousin to Mary Barnett that married Joseph Pitts, also of Pendleton Co, SC. However, DNA has proven that the paternal parentage of Silas Pitts was not related to those in Group 2. DNA for this group doesn’t match with any other Pitts donor that has been tested. It seems that this line of Pitts is a match to several donors of the Griffin DNA group. We believe that Silas may have been the child of a Pitts female and a Griffin male. The Pitts and Griffins were closely affiliated in SC.

 

 

 

Group 4

 

Verbal family history indicates that the family of John and Elizabeth Pitts migrated to America in the mid-1700s and settled in Frederick Co., VA. Other records show that John came to America in 1721 in bondage. John died in 1739 and Elizabeth remarried to Henry Robinson in 1745. Andrew Pitts, b about 1726, son of John and Elizabeth, married Martha Stroud, daughter of Samuel and Ann Stroud of Loudoun Co., VA. Andrew and Martha moved from Frederick Co., VA to Rowan Co., NC around 1750. Together they raised 9 children. John and Elizabeth were Quakers. Many of this family migrated from NC to Indiana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group 5

 

William Pitts died in 1838 in Laurens Co, SC. He left a will naming his wife Sally, and children: Daniel, David, William Jr, Reuben Griffin, Jesse J, John, Thomas, and one daughter, Nelly Frasier. Other research claims that this William was the son of William Pitts, b c1737 and Elizabeth Griffin. So far, DNA does not prove that to be true. The William, b 1737, was supposedly the son of Joseph Pitt and Nancy Slaughter. That would mean that all his descendants would carry the same DNA as Group 2. The three descendants that have been tested do NOT match Group 2. It is believed that William Pitts, b 1802, Reuben Griffin Pitts, b 1816, and Daniel P Pitts, b 1804 were sons of the William who died in 1838. This William, according to the census records for the William Pitts living in Laurens Co SC during this time period was born between 1770-1780. Other research claims that his wife, Sally, was Sarah (Sally) Cunningham. I have found nothing to substantiate that her last name was Cunningham. However, Sally is a nickname for Sarah and census records would tend to substantiate that her name was actually Sarah. She was found living beside Reuben Griffin Pitts in 1860. Our 4th donor is a descendant of James Madison Pitts.  According to the bible records in possession of a descendant, James was a son of Thomas Pitts and Priscilla. James is found as a child living in the home of David Pitts and is listed as a grandchild, however, we have found no evidence that David Pitts had a son named Thomas.  He did have a brother named Thomas.  Until this conflict has been resolved we are listing James Madison Pitts as the earliest known ancestor for our fourth donor.

 

 

 

 

Group 6

 

John Pitts, Sr. was born bet. 1726-30. It is not known where but we suspect VA as his wife Mical Ann Barbee was born c 1723 in Essex Co., VA, daughter of John Barbee & Ann Miller.  There were other Pitts families living in Essex Co., VA  and we suspect we are part of this Pitts family but no known male descendants of this line have completed a DNA test yet.  John and Mical were married c 1752 probably in Essex Co., VA or Orange/Chatham Co., NC (Part of Orange Co., NC later became Chatham Co., NC).  No marriage records have been located.  A couple of Mical (Barbee) Pitts' brothers moved to Orange/Chatham Co., NC. John and Mical were the parents of 7 children 1) Barbee Pitts d. during Rev War 2) Burwell Pitts d. during the Rev War 3) Elizabeth Pitts m: Unk Brassel 4) Mary Pitts m: Unk Lear 5) Pegey Pitts m: Unk Mimes/Mimms 6) John Pitts Jr. (listed below) and 7) Joseph Pitts b. 1756 in Orange/Chatham Co., NC served in Rev War d. 1819 in Robertson Co., TN.  John Pitts, Senior’s, earliest known records is the 700 acres he purchased in Orange Co., NC on 20 Aug 1761.  In 1766, John & Mical (Barbee) Pitts inherited 1 negro and 1/8 of her estate in Essex Co., VA.  In 1780, John Pitts, Sr. purchases 200 acres in Chatham Co., NC.  John Sr’s Will was written on 29 Nov 1780 so we know he died after this date.  John Pitts, Jr. married twice 1) Mary Henry b. 1753 d. aft 17 Sep 1798 in Chatham Co., NC married abt 1770 prob. In Chatham Co., NC (no marriage records have been found) 2) Lucy Kendrick m: abt 1805 in Robertson Co., TN.  John Jr. purchased lands in Chatham Co., NC, Logan Co., KY and Robertson Co., TN.  John Jr’s Will is dated 5 May 1834 in Logan Co., KY.  He died from a blow to the head according to probate records.  John Jr’s children  either stayed in KY and TN or migrated into IN but mostly all went to MO.

 

It is not known how the John Pitts, Sr. and Younger Pitts lineage connect but we suspect either in VA, NC or even KY.  No known NC records exist for this Pitts family though.  More research is needed on the connection.  One similarity is that the John Sr. line has several male descendants named Young Pitts (without the “er”) and of course, many males with the name of John.  Both families lived in KY but different counties.