Bibb-Jones-Harris County GaArchives Biographies.....Petty, Luke August 11, 1792 - February 23, 1865 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: andy petty ajpetty@cox.net July 19, 2006, 7:39 pm Author: Andy Petty GEORGIA FAMILY The Pettys of Kershaw County, South Carolina moved to Jones County, Georgia between 1801 and 1811. Their father was Captain Luke Petty, Revolutionary War Veteran, who died circa 1782. Luke’s father was John Petty and his mother was Rebecca Sims of Richmond County, Virginia. Their mother was Elizabeth Hood, who received compensation for her contributions to the war effort from South Carolina. In 1817 Elizabeth Hood filed a will in Jones County naming her children as Winney Dimsdale, Lucretia Burton, William Petty, and Zachariah Petty. The earliest Petty record in Jones County occurs in the 1811 Tax Roll by William for acreage on Commissioners Creek. Additional Pettys named in the 1816 Tax Digest include Zachariah and Luke, who was a tax defaulters in Captain Wallers District. The Georgia Legislature in 1817 passed a bill prohibiting cohabitation without proper credentials. Marriages that coincided with this bill include Elizabeth Petty to David Hudson, Luke Petty to Mary Coward, and George Petty to Nelly Coward. The Pettys, Cowards, and Dimsdales were neighbors in Kershaw County, South Carolina. A common practice of the day was to name the oldest grandson after the paternal grandfather and it is believed that Luke was named after Captain Luke Petty who was married to Elizabeth Hood. George was the first of the group to have a son named after William and it is also believed that George is William’s son and therefore a brother to Luke. It is further thought the reason for migration from Kershaw County, South Carolina to Jones County, Georgia was to acquire land from the land lotteries held between 1805 and 1832. Both Zachariah in 1820 and William in 1821 were fortunate drawers in the lottery. Their sons, Littleton in 1820, Luke in 1821, and George in 1821 also were winners in the land lotteries. Littleton, who lived in Appling County, Georgia, never claimed his winnings and settled in Newton County, Georgia. George settled in Bibb County, Georgia while Luke moved to Harris County, Georgia then to Bibb County by 1833. Aside from living in the same county, George named a son Luke and Luke named a son George. It is thought that Luke and George were brothers that married Coward sisters that were neighbors back in South Carolina. Family tradition tells of Luke youngest son, Andrew Jackson, being administered to by a cousin Littleton Petty after receiving wounds in the battle of Chicamunga. If Littleton were a cousin he would have to be a son of Zachariah. Therefore the following family structure is proposed: 1 Captain Luke Petty-m-Elizabeth Hood 2 Winney Petty-m-Mr. (Benjamin) Dimsdale 2 Lucretia Petty-m-Mr. Burton 2 William Petty-m-Unknown 3 Luke Pettey-m-Mary Coward 3 George Petty-m-Eleanor Coward 3 Susan Petty-m-Hezekiah Harmon 3 Rebecca Petty-m-Nathaniel Smith 2 Zachariah Petty-m-Unknown 3 Littleton Petty-m-Nancy Freeman 3 John Petty 3 Elizabeth Petty-m-David Hudson +-m-Isaac Duncan William Petty We first see records of him in Georgia on a tax digest roll in 1811 as owning 50 acres of land (Tax Digest Jones County Georgia 1811). By 1813 he acquired 101.5 acres of land and had one slave. The land was originally granted to Mr. Laramore and was adjacent to Mr. Cox on Commissioner’s Creek (1813 Tax Digest). Then he was a defaulter of taxes in 1816 (Williams, 1957; Taylor, 1986). He also served as a private in the War of 1812 between August 23, 1813 to March 8, 1814 with the 2nd Regiment Jenkins Georgia Volunteers and Militia (Kratovil, 1986). William received $52.78 for serving 6 months and 18 days (Compiled service record group 94). He is in the 1820 Jones Co. Georgia census in Captain Waller’s District where there are two females age 26-45 (Susan and Elizabeth) and one other male age 16-26 (possibly James) in the household. William is shown to be over 45 years old in 1820. He won a parcel in the Georgia land lottery of 1821 in Fayette County (Lucas, S.E., 1986). The land lot was granted November 15, 1825 and William probably either gave or sold the land lottery to his brother Zachariah. William stayed behind in Jones County and was granted on February 5, 1827guardianship of William O. Daniel an “idiot” to take care of his person and property (Guardian Bonds 1821-1841, Jones County, Georgia). In 1821 William had 75 acres on Wolf Creek next to Mr. Duncan and owned one slave in Jones County (Reynolds, 1970). He is not mentioned in any 1830 Georgia census and is probably deceased by that time. Luke and Mary Coward Petty Luke was born August 11, 1792 in Kershaw County (Craven), South Carolina (Luke’s Family Bible). His mother is unknown. At some point Luke moved with his family and neighbors to Georgia in an effort to acquire tracts from the land lotteries being held beginning in 1805. Luke is first mention as a tax defaulter in 1816 Tax Digest in Jones County Captain Wallers District along with his father William and Uncle Zachariah. We see him in the marriage lists the following year where he married Mary Coward on June 19, 1817 (Murray, 1991). Mary’s sister Nelly Coward married Luke’s brother George on July 10, 1817. The Cowards were neighbors of the Pettys in South Carolina (State Plats Volume 15, pg. 199), and their father was Benjamin Coward and their mother was Millie Coward (Lancaster County, South Carolina Deed Book A, 1788). Luke appears in the Georgia 1821 Land Lottery where he was a fortunate drawer (Lucas, S.E., 1986). He obtained a 202½ acre plot by paying a $19 fee for lot 226 section 3 in Monroe County. One year later Luke was forced to sell his lottery land winnings to satisfy two small executions in favor of Joel Rushin (Hartz and Hartz, 1992). Luke is in the 1830 Harris County Georgia census, and the county first opened up to settlement in 1828 (Barfield, 1991; Thomason, 1986). Along with Luke was his sister Susan Petty, who was married to Hezekiah Harmon, and sister-in-law Elizabeth Coward who married William Gardner. About 1833 Susan died, probably in childbirth. Luke moved his family back to Bibb County (formerly Houston County) Georgia to be near his brother George. There he purchased land in 1833 from Millie Parks (Index to Deeds Grantees 1823-1919 Book D p. 67). He later sold that land, in 1841 to his nephew George Petty Jr. (Index to Deeds Grantors 1823-1919 Book G p. 403). Mary was a member of the Mt. Paron Primitive Baptist Church located at the county line with Bibb and Crawford Counties on the Echeconnee Creek near present day Hwy 80 in Crawford County. The Pettys must have lived close to this church, as travel was difficult. Mary was recorded as joining by letter on June 1, 1833 and was later dismissed by letter on August 3, 1844 after she moved to Pontotoc County, Mississippi (Taylor Co. Tracer, 2002). George’s children are recorded in business transaction in Crawford County as well. Family tradition tells of the Luke and Mary Petty family moving to Mississippi, arriving in the winter of 1842 (Coffey, 1986; Wilkerson letter, 1957). The original destination was the independent nation of Texas but winter overtook the family at Pontotoc County, Mississippi and they settled there and in Lafayette County. The Petteys settled on the Tallahachie River in the Rockyford District. Luke and Mary are buried in the Old Covered Wagon Cemetery in Lafayette county, Georgia. Luke died February 23, 1865 and Mary was buried at his side, dying on July 4, 1865. George and Eleanor Coward Petty Sr. George Sr. was married to Eleanor Coward and they had 8 children, and lived in Bibb Co., Georgia. George Sr. is first recorded as winning a wagon in a law suite in Jones Co., Ga. from Benjamin Dimsdale, who was a cousin or an uncle. Along with eldest son William, George Sr. had a son Luke named after his brother, and a son George Jr. George Jr. bought the land from his Uncle Luke Pettey in 1841 when Luke moved to Mississippi. George Jr. is mentioned in the 1840 census as living in Bibb County, Ga. in the 1850 census of Greene Co., Ga., and the 1870 census of Carroll Co., Ga. By 1880 he moved his family to Houston County, serving as a Methodist minister. George Jr. was married to Elizabeth Dukes and in the 1880 census had a cousin Walter living in the household. Walter Lewis was the son of James Monroe Troup Petty, who was the son of Littleton. The 1880 census record of Houston County provides a link to the Littleton and George Petty Sr. branches. George Jr. served in the Georgia Infantry State guards Regiment 8. Luke, the son of George Sr., married Sarah McYoung in 1849 and they had five children recorded in the 1860 Bibb Co., Ga. census. The 1870 Bibb County, Georgia census only Sarah is listed as a domestic servant for John Mackenzie. Luke Pitty served in the 14th Battalion Georgia State guards that were organized in the summer of 1863 in case the state was invaded. The guards mustered out February 4th, 1864 but were relied upon during the battle for Atlanta and Sherman’s march to the sea in March 1864. Service of six months was required to be in the State Guards. Since Luke does not appear in the 1870 census, but his wife and children do it is believed that he did not survive his state guard obligation. One of Luke and Sarah’s sons, William B. Petty, moved to Pulaski Co., Ga. and he became road superintendent by 1893. William’s children Minnie L. Petty and Samuel B. Petty married George E. Chapman (Feb. 3, 1892) and Laura Arde (Jan. 17, 1903) respectively. George Sr.’s oldest son William had a second wife, Mary McCrady, the name of his first wife is lost. William enrolled in the 10th Georgia Regiment Whittle Guards as a private. While in service William contracted dysentery and died July 11, 1863 in Federicksburg, Virginia. The children of William and Mary are living with relatives between the Civil War’s end and the 1870 census: George age 13 is living with Jessie M. Calloway, Mary age 8 is living with Nancy McCrady, and Rebecca age 13 is living with Maryman B. Herndon. Mary McCrady Petty was buried in the Bethel Baptist cemetery in Bibb County, Georgia in 1914. George Sr.’s daughters Frances Jane married Benjamin Dixon and Louisa married William B. Newsom. Benjamin was a wagon maker and blacksmith that worked with Luke and Sarah McYoung Petty. Ben died while guarding troops in Andersonville, Ga. Benjamin’s death left Frances and their two daughters Emma and Frances destitute. William Newsom was mentioned in his father’s will filed in 1856 as being deceased, but he also mentioned having a granddaughter named Elizabeth Ellen who was named after the girl’s grandmothers. George’s youngest son John is listed, as a store clerk in 1860 census and a carpenter in the 1880 census. John married a Georgia Wadsworth and had four children. Zachariah Petty According to the 1850 Newton County, Georgia census Zachariah was born in North Carolina in 1767. One year later his father Captain Luke Petty was granted a Royal Memorial of 200 acres on Beaver Creek in Kershaw County, South Carolina. While living in Kershaw County Zachariah paid bail for his Uncle John Hood in 1798. In 1799 Zachariah and mother Elizabeth Hood sold the Beaver Creek acreage. Zachariah is mentioned in the 1800 Kershaw County census as having four sons and five daughters. At some point after the birth of his son Littleton in 1801, Zachariah move to Georgia with his mother, sisters, children, and brother William. While living in Jones County Zachariah was engaged in a fight altercation in 1819 and was incarcerated. After winning the land lottery with son Littleton in 1820, Zachariah moved to Fayette County, Georgia by 1824. The earliest record we have is a estray record filed in 1824. An estray record reports missing cattle. Both Zachariah and his son John, who owned 77.5 acres, are found on the 1827 Fayette County tax roll. Zachariah’s daughter Elizabeth is mention as being in the Jones County 1820 census with two small daughters. She was born at Kershaw County, South Carolina in 1788 and married David Hudson in 1817, and was apparently not with Elizabeth by 1820. The two daughters were Melissa A. born 1818 and Caroline Ellen born 1820. Mentioned in the 1850 Fayette County census are Zachariah’s two granddaughters Martha M. and Evelyn and great grandson Archy. Caroline (Ellen) Petty married Archibald Booth in 1839, but he died shortly afterwards with Caroline and Zachariah appointed executors of the estate. A son, Archy, was born posthumously to Archibald in 1840. Another great granddaughter Louisa M. (Amanda) married Walter Terry Eason in 1848. The couple moved to Chapel Hill, Covington County, Alabama in 1855 where they lived on a 200 acre farm. Walter was a Baptist preacher who lost his life during the Civil War near Atlanta. Louisa died in 1880 and is buried in the Chapel Hill cemetery. Land records in Fayette Co., Ga. show Martha Petty and Caroline Ellen Booth bought land from Walter T. Eason on January 7, 1860 for $65.80 Fayette County Deed Book H p.354). Elizabeth also bought land from a cousin or aunt Nancy Dimsdale in 1853 (Fayette County Deed Book G p. 212). Littleton and Nancy Freeman Petty Adjoining Fayette County, Georgia is Newton County, Georgia where Zachariah’s son Littleton resided. Littleton was born at Kershaw County, South Carolina on August 18, 1801. Littleton is first mentioned in the 1820 Land Lottery as living in Appling County, Georgia. On April 13, 1822 he married Nancy Freeman at Jackson County, Georgia, and by 1827 Littleton had moved to Newton County, Georgia where he served as cornier from 1828 to 1830. The couple had five boys and three girls. Littleton and Nancy are buried in the Old Covington Cemetery in Newton County. Littleton was listed as a carpenter in the census and he and Nancy were Methodist. Children of Littleton and Nancy Petty Littleton contributed three sons to the cause of the confederacy, all served the Georgia 53rd regiment and all survived the fighting to raise families of their own. James Monroe Troup served as clerk of inferior court for Coweta County, Georgia. James married Eliza Gibson and they had six children, later James married Mary Nunnally after Eliza’s death. Mary and James had one son, Walter Lewis, who became a businessman in St. Louis, Missouri. James Monroe Troup Petty was murdered in Greene County, Georgia, but is buried in Macedonia Baptist cemetery in Coweta County, Georgia. Thomas F. married Sarah Beavers and about six months before his death in 1886 he married Julia Dukes. Thomas had no children. Thomas received a medical discharge from the Civil War on December 27, 1862. His service records show him to be 5 feet 10 inches tall. Sarah owned and operated Petty’s Tan Yard Place near Covington, Georgia. She later sold the business and 2.36 acres to Hugh B. Johnson about 1863. Richard M. taught school in Covington, Newton County, Georgia, and likewise served in the Georgia 53rd infantry. By 1864 Richard is living in Henry County, Georgia where he met and married Caroline V. Smith. They had five children, and were members of the Methodist Church. At life’s end in 1887 Richard wanted family and friends to meet him in heaven. William H. was a sergeant in the Georgia 53rd enlisting in May 1862, was captured April 1865, and was repatriated June 16, 1865 after swearing an oath of allegiance to the union. William married Marsh D. Fambrough in Greene County, Ga. and had three daughters. William died of asthma in 1896, was likewise a Methodist, and was 5 feet 5 inches tall. Littleton praised his son William for taking care of his parents in their old age. The James Monroe Troup Petty Family The oldest son was unmarried and known as “old man Jake Petty”. Joshua Gibson Petty’s chief goal in life was to die worth $100,000. He was a planter, Democrat, and a Baptist. Active in the Macedonia Baptist Church, he served in the capacity of deacon, trustee, Sunday school superintendent, and teacher. It is thought that he attained his goal by having 684 acres, and a house. Despite his accumulated wealth he was known as a generous man and is quoted as saying about charity work “get what you can and I’ll make up the rest.” James Daniel Petty died unmarried and lived in Cedar Keys, Florida. Mary Emma Petty was also unmarried and is buried in the Macedonia Cemetery in Coweta Co., Ga. John Calloway Petty married Mattie Barnes and they had five children. Sallie Petty married John Camp and they had two children. James Monroe Troupe Petty married a second time to Mary Jenkins Nunally and they had a son Walter Lewis. He married Carrie Moscot and they lived in St Louis, Missouri. Walter owed a linotype business of Zimmerman and Petty. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/bibb/bios/petty891gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 17.5 Kb