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The “White” Family of DeKalb and Fulton Counties, Georgia

Our Earliest Proven Ancestor (EPA)

Our family of „Whites‟ are proven to have descended from a man named Jacob “Jake”

White, who lived in Chatham County, North Carolina, Franklin County, Georgia (from

about 1799 to about 1825), and DeKalb/Fulton Counties, Georgia (from about 1830

through at least 1860). The evidence proving that Jacob “Jake” White was in fact our

earliest known ancestor will be shown below.

The census evidence on his date of birth is unfortunately conflicting, the 1850 census

saying he was “78” years old (thus born circa 1772), while the 1860 census says he was

“104” years old (thus born circa 1756). However, those were demonstrably not two

separate men with the same name, since the censuses in Georgia uniformly show that,

from 1830 to 1860, there was only one adult man named “Jacob White” in the entirety of

DeKalb/Fulton Counties. One of those stated ages, therefore, was clearly wrong. This

writer is now inclined to accept the younger age from the 1850 census, notwithstanding

that two separate branches of Jacob White‟s descendants, who lost contact with each

other for over 150 years, maintained solid traditions that Jacob White lived to be over 100

years old: “around 105 years old,” according to one branch, and “around 111 years old,”

according to the other branch. This writer‟s reason for believing Jacob White was born in

1772 instead of 1756, is that Jacob “Jake” White‟s apparent father, Jacob White Sr.,

clearly appears to have been born in the 1740s, and therefore cannot have fathered a child

as early as 1756. This will be discussed in more detail below.

Both censuses agree, however, in naming North Carolina as his birthplace. Several of

Jacob White‟s adult children in 1880 also reported their father‟s birthplace as “North

Carolina”. Regardless of his actual age at the time of his death, though, it is now proven

that Jacob White in fact came from Chatham County, North Carolina. The evidence for

this will be discussed below.

The early documentary evidence:

There were only three men named "Jacob White" in the 1790 census of North Carolina,

one in Perquimans County, one in Edgecombe County, and one in Chatham County.

The Jacob White of Chatham County is now solidly proven to have been the Jacob White

Sr. who later resided in Franklin County, Georgia, and we may therefore completely

discount both the Jacob White of Perquimans County, and the Jacob White of

Edgecombe County.

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We are able to say this by virtue of two major pieces of evidence:

One: There was a deposition in the year 1811 in Franklin County, Georgia, by "Jacob

White Sr.," in which deposition he stated the names of three of his neighbors in the year

1788. Two of those neighbors (one the son-in-law of the other) are now known and

proven to have resided in Chatham County before and during the American Revolution.

This therefore proves that Jacob White Sr. came from that county and state before

moving to Franklin County, Georgia. This important deposition by Jacob White Sr. will

be referred to hereafter as the "1811 Deposition". It will be discussed in more detail

below, and will also be shown below as an appendix, along with a transcription thereof.

From other Franklin County records of that time period, we see that Jacob White Sr.'s

wife was named "Mary". By the time of the 1850 census of DeKalb County, Georgia,

however, Jacob “Jake” White was shown with a wife named “Sarah”. This would also

seem to indicate that we are dealing with two separate men here (even though it is

possible for one man to have two or more successive wives). Given the fact in the

Franklin County tax records of contemporaneous men named Jacob White Sr. and Jacob

White Jr., this appears highly likely.

Two: the second piece of evidence proving that the Jacob White Sr. of Franklin County,

Georgia was one and the same man as the Jacob White of Chatham County, North

Carolina, is a deed from the year 1789 in Chatham County, North Carolina, in which

"Jacob White and Mary his wife" sold part of their property (see later). This in itself

would, of course, prove absolutely nothing, but taken in conjunction with the evidence

laid out in the previous paragraph, it does indeed prove to be additional solid evidence.

This deed is also attached below as another appendix, along with the earlier 1782 deed by

which Jacob White [Sr.] obtained that property from the State of North Carolina.

The tax records of Franklin County, Georgia, where he lived (as mentioned above) from

circa 1799 to circa 1829, do indeed show two men named "Jacob White," one notated as

"Sr." and one as "Jr." And yet, as also mentioned above, by the time our ancestor Jacob

“Jake” White moved to DeKalb County (later to become Fulton County) Georgia, around

the year 1830, there was only one man by that name in those two counties. Clearly,

therefore, one of those men—probably the elder of the two, Jacob White Sr..—had either

died or moved out of state after the year 1813 (the last year in which both men show up

in the records together). This, too, will be discussed below.

Our ancestor Jacob "Jake" White was probably Jacob White Jr., for the reasons

mentioned above.

Some data on Jacob White Sr. (probable father of Jacob “Jake” White):

A "Jacob Whit" [sic], probably this man, was one of the "Regulators" who, in May, 1768,

signed his name to a "Petition from the Regulators Concerning Public Fees". (Colonial

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and State Records of North Carolina, Vol. 07, Pages 733-737.) The fact that the name is

slightly misspelled appears to derive from the apparent fact that this was a document

whose signatories signed it in person, often misspelling their own names. Several other

names in that document are also misspelled, or phonetically spelled.

The “Regulators” were a loosely-allied group of Colonial North and South Carolina back-

country farmers who were often cheated out of their lands by corrupt Colonial

administrators. Having finally had enough, these farmers then took matters into their own

hands, in the late 1760s and early 1770s, by revolting against what they felt were unfair

and corrupt practices and administrators. This revolt will be mentioned in greater detail

below. These particular "Regulators" who signed the above-mentioned document were

then residents of Orange County, North Carolina, whose county seat was Hillsborough.

If it can be reasonably assumed that this Jacob White was at least 21 years old in May

1768, then he had to have been born by at least May 1747. The Jacob White who signed

his name to the "Petition from the Regulators" in May, 1768, cannot have been the Jacob

White who was alive in Fulton County, Georgia, in 1860, as that would have made him at

least 113 years old in 1860. He had to have been the elder of the two men, thus Jacob Sr.

(and not Jacob Jr.).

In the American Revolution, a "Jacob White Sr." enlisted on 21 April, 1777, for a period

of three years, in Lt. Col. Selby Harney's Company of the Second North Carolina

Regiment (Battalion) of the Continental Army. This unit was commanded by Col. John

Patton. A "Jacob White Jr." (probably his son, although this is not proven) enlisted in the

same unit on 27 April, 1777. A "Jacob White Jr." was also listed as a "musician" in

Stevenson's Company of the 10th North Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army. He

is shown as having enlisted (again) on 21 April 1777, for a term of three years. The only

other reference for him with this record says that he was "mustered for war, January,

1782." This writer has as yet seen no reference which would indicate where these units

were located, or where they served, or (indeed) from what counties the men forming them

were drawn. Although it is tempting to speculate that these men could have been our

ancestors, it must be stressed that this has not been proven yet.

As mentioned above, in the 1790 Federal census, Jacob White [Sr.] was recorded in the

Hillsborough District of nearby Chatham County, which had been formed from Orange

County in 1771. As also mentioned above, Jacob White purchased some 200 acres in

Chatham County from the State of North Carolina in 1782. Along with his wife Mary, he

sold part of this property to a Wiley Estes in 1789. On August 9th

, 1787, Jacob White

witnessed a deed in Chatham County between Henry Bray and Mathias Bray. In either

1793 or 1794 (the records are not clear just which year it was) a “Jacob White” was one

of several men requisitioned as road constructors in Chatham County, with William

Moody Sr. as overseer, to construct a road across the Rocky River. That Jacob White

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could have been either Jacob Sr. or Jacob Jr. Besides Jacob White, those men also

included a Philip White and an Andrew White. (That Philip White was probably Jacob

Sr.‟s brother. The location at the Rocky River will also figure prominently in the story of

this family. See later.)

"Jacob White Sr. and his wife Mary" were residents of Franklin County, Georgia, from

1799 to at least 1813, as reflected by tax and deed records there. Neither are recorded

after the year 1813, although a man named "Jacob White" (probably their son, Jacob

White Jr.) continued to be documented in Franklin County until about 1829, and also

documented in DeKalb and Fulton Counties, Georgia, from 1830 to 1860. Jacob “Jake”

White (probably Jacob Jr.) is known to have had a son and a probable grandson both

named “Andrew White”—perhaps after that man who was recorded in Chatham County,

North Carolina (his uncle?).

The above-mentioned “1811 Deposition” in Franklin County, Georgia by Jacob White

Sr., leaves no doubt that he was in fact the same man as the earlier Jacob White from

Chatham County, North Carolina, as in said deposition, White named three of his

neighbors in the year 1788, all three of which neighbors have been shown to have been

resident in Chatham County in the 1780s. Those neighbors' names were: Thomas Stanton

(who witnessed the 1789 deed by which Jacob White Sr. and his wife Mary sold their

Chatham County lands), Simon Thomason, and his son-in-law James Brooks.

According to this “1811 Deposition” by Jacob White Sr., said Thomas Stanton (his

neighbor) in 1788 swindled an elderly man named "Simond" Thomason [sic] out of a

female slave. Many years later, when the son-in-law James Brooks (who had married

Thomason's daughter Margaret) attempted to take rightful possession of the slave in

question (and/or her increase), a full-fledged court battle erupted, Stanton's son William

Stanton having assumed that the slave he had inherited from his late father Thomas

Stanton was in fact rightfully his (when it was not). The by then elderly himself Jacob

White Sr., who had been a subscribing witness to the 1788 swindle, was called upon to

testify, and at long last set the matter straight, once and for all. It is to his credit that he

did so. Better late to be honest, than not at all.

The tax digests of Franklin County, Georgia, indicate that this Jacob White Sr. continued

to reside there and pay taxes on his lands through the year 1813. No further record of him

there has yet been found, and no estate administration of any kind has yet been located. It

is presumed that he must have died about that time (1813). In it unlikely (at his advanced

age) that he would have moved elsewhere. This is also not impossible, however, and

should not be ruled out.

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The parentage of Jacob White Sr.

Almost unbelievably, Jacob White Sr. was apparently born as “Jakob Weiß” (Weiss), a

son of an immigrant German couple named Ulrich Weiß and his wife Catharina Herzog,

a daughter of a man named Friedrich Herzog.

According to several online websites (the veracity of which have not yet been checked by

this writer), Friedrich Herzog, in company with his son Johann Philip and daughters

Catharina and Elisabeth, and in company with his sons-in-law (or future sons-in-law)

Ulrich Weiß and Plickard Dietrich Seiler (a.k.a. Plickard Dederic Siler), emigrated from

Rotterdam, Holland to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They supposedly arrived on the ship

"St. Mark" on September the 11th, 1741. No mention is ever made of Friedrich's wife,

who may have been deceased before the family immigrated to America. Rotterdam was

at that time a common seaport and departure point for the American colonies. At least

one online source claims that Friedrich Herzog's son Johann Philip had been born in

Nördlingen, Bayern, Preußen (Germany) in 1720. Again, this writer has not yet been able

to verify that claim.

About this time, Friedrich Herzog apparently Anglicized his name to "Frederick

Hartsough". Later descendants were to spell the surname as "Hartsoe," apparently

reflecting its original Low German pronunciation.

From Philadelphia, these people apparently moved on to nearby Montgomery County,

Pennsylvania, where Friedrich Herzog owned and operated a grist mill for several years.

Friedrich Herzog is said to have sold his grist mill in Montgomery County, and relocated

to Augusta County, Virginia, by about 1753/1754, where he built another grist mill. That

mill was apparently the first one built in what was then Augusta County (it is now Craig

County, Virginia). The land on which this mill sat included the mouth of Mill Creek, a

branch of Craig's Creek, and a small section on Craig's Creek itself. The land that

Friedrich Herzog held is presently in the George Washington and Jefferson National

Forests, and close to the Fenwick Mines Recreation area. Friedrich's son-in-law Plickard

Seiler also held land in this area. "Hartsough's Mill" is mentioned several times in early

colonial public records of Augusta County (mainly records dealing with roads through

the area).

These closely-related families (the Herzogs, Seilers, and Weiß/Whites) then moved from

Virginia to what was then Orange County, North Carolina (remember, in 1771, the part in

which they lived became Chatham County). They settled in the area of the Rocky River, a

few miles north of what is now Siler City, probably so that their father-in-law/grandfather

"Frederick Hartsough" could build yet another grist mill. The first mention of these

families in Orange County (that this writer knows of) was when both "Ulrick White" (as

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he was now calling himself) and his son John were recorded as chain-bearers on a survey

for Zachariah Martin, their neighbor along the Rocky River. (This writer does not yet

have a date for that event.) At some point (this writer has yet to find the date for this one

also), Frederick Hartsough deeded some of his land to his two eldest grandsons, Philip

Hartsough and John White, "for love and affection".

Ulrich Weiß (White) and his wife Catharina Herzog (Hartsough) are known to have had

at least two other sons, Philip White and Jacob White [Sr.], both of whom are recorded as

having lived in this same area of Orange/Chatham County in the latter part of the

Eighteenth Century. In 1768, both "Ulrick Whit" and his son "Jacob Whit" (as mentioned

above) were among the signatories to that unique document, the "Petition from the

Regulators" to the then colonial governor, William Tryon, concerning abuses of local

officials and other severe hardships imposed upon the early "back-country" settlers. That

the pleas of these settlers went largely unheeded resulted in open insurrection by 1771,

culminating in the so-called "Battle of Alamance" on May 16th, 1771. In this two-hour

battle, a battle which clearly foreshadowed the larger full-scale American Revolution

soon to come, some nine members of the regular militia were killed outright, and another

sixty or so were wounded. In the brutal aftermath of this rebellion, Governor Tryon

ordered the courts-martial of six members of the "Regulator" movement; these were duly

convicted and hanged at Hillsborough on the 18th of June, 1771. Regulator James Few

had been summarily hanged (without trial) the evening of the very battle itself. By July,

1771, over 6,000 back-country settlers had accepted the Governor's pardon and taken the

oath of allegiance to the King. Regulator leader Herman Husband, along with three other

Regulator leaders, were declared outlaws by the Governor, and fled the province to avoid

capture and death.

It was about this very time that Ulrich Weiß (White), the father of Jacob White Sr.,

disappeared from the colonial records. Though there is no documentary proof of this

possibility, Ulrich may have been among those who were killed during these "Regulator"

uprisings. His sons Philip and Jacob (as already mentioned), as well as his brother-in-law

Plickard Seiler/Siler, continued to be documented in Chatham County after its formation

in 1771. Frederick Hartsough (Friedrich Herzog) himself is said to have died in Chatham

County around 1780. Supposedly, he is among those buried at the Rocky River (Baptist)

Church in Chatham County, a few miles north of the town his Seiler descendants

founded, Siler City. Certainly, his daughter Elisabeth and son-in-law Plickard Seiler

(Siler) do indeed lie buried there. This fact raises the distinct possibility that these people

may have already been Protestants (perhaps even German Anabaptists) before they even

left Germany, and this may account for why they might have wanted to leave Germany

and emigrate to America--they may well have experienced religious persecution. Couple

that with the fact that they joined the "Regulator" movement in 1760s back-country North

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Carolina, undoubtedly due to social and political harassment and hardships, and it is easy

to see why they would have wanted to not only speak up and protest, but also join in the

revolt. These people apparently could get no peace, no matter where they went!

By now, more than two whole centuries have passed since their deaths. May they at last

rest in peace! And may we, their descendants, always honor our ancestors, because of the

sacrifices they made, in order to ensure that we, their children, might live in happiness

and peace.

Evidence that Jacob “Jake” White was our ancestor:

We will now examine in some detail the evidence that Jacob “Jake” White was our

ancestor. In a 1936 Atlanta Journal article mainly

about his railroading exploits, William Cornelius

Green “Cap” White (1858-1942), was quoted as

saying that his great-grandfather had been named

“Jake White”. This article will also be

reproduced below as an additional appendix, but

a close-up of the relevant part of the article is

shown at right:

This statement was repeated almost verbatim in another similar article from the year

1938. Additionally, “Cap” White‟s August 1942 obituary, written by the same reporter as

the earlier articles, repeated the same exact statement. Moreover, a circa 1940s family

history of these Whites, put together by “Cap” White‟s

nephew Howard Franklin White (1895-1953) (see

right), who had been a clerk of court in Judge Jesse

Woods‟ criminal court (Fulton County), also named the

original founding ancestor of this family as “Jacob

White”. This writer once met Madelyn White Baker

(b.1921), the only child of Howard F. White. She

confirmed for him that her father did indeed write that

family history, as did Howard‟s brother Roy Enoch

White, when this writer also met him in the 1980s. A

scan of a 1954 version of this manuscript history (the

oldest version we now possess) will also be attached

below as another appendix. Another piece of relevant evidence tying our ancestors to

their father Jacob “Jake” White is the fact that the 1821 tax digest for Franklin County,

Georgia showed that William White (who only that year had turned twenty-one) had paid

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a poll tax for himself (meaning he was old enough to vote, but did not yet own any real

estate), and that he also paid the property tax on behalf of a man who can only have

been his father—Jacob White [Jr.]

The children of Jacob “Jake” White:

The different versions of this family history which appeared over the years after Howard

White‟s untimely death in 1953, gave differing versions of the names of Jacob “Jake”

White’s children. The 1954 version reproduced below only named seven such children,

viz., William W., Sallie, Andrew, Wright, Elizabeth, Pollyana, and Jim Jacob.

Subsequent versions, apparently produced with the input of “Cap” White‟s son Frank M.

White (1886-1950), and grandson Ferman Davis White (1905-1973) (since these versions

now reside with Ferman‟s heirs), named several additional children of Jacob “Jake”

White. These were Isabel, wife of Pleasant Sewell, Virgil, Isaiah, and Henry.

In the late 1970s, when this writer first began his own foray into the tantalizing and

frustrating world of genealogical research, he was given a copy of this manuscript history

originally written by Howard F. White. The relative who handed it to him was his Dad‟s

Aunt Bess White Parker (1923-2000), who was the youngest sibling of Ferman Davis

White. It was undoubtedly from him that she obtained her copy.

So now to sum up: the manuscript tradition of family history in our family states that

William Wilson White, Wright White, and “Isaiah” White were brothers. Genetic testing

(see below) now confirms that male descendants of those three men are indeed extremely

closely-related genetically. Taken as a whole, all of this evidence seems to leave us in no

doubt that the father of William Wilson White, Wright White, and Samuel Isaiah White

was indeed a man named Jacob “Jake” White. Though not quite absolute proof, this is

nonetheless tantamount to proof that those three men were in fact brothers, and sons of a

man named Jacob “Jake” White. The case appears to be firmly closed.

Closely-related to the “Brewers”

Recent yDNA tests (mentioned just now) have shown that this Jacob White is closely

related to a family surnamed "Brewer." His closest living male line relatives--besides his

descendants named "White"--are mostly males known or believed to be descended from a

man named George Brewer and his wife Sarah Lanier of Brunswick County, Virginia.

(Those close Brewer relatives also later lived, ironically enough, in Orange, Chatham,

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and Moore Counties, North Carolina—precisely the same area in which Jacob White Sr.

is known to have lived.) Jacob White's genetic Brewer relatives (for the most part) are

now referred to as the "Lanier-Brewers," because of their presumed descent from that

couple.

Three known, proven male descendants of this Jacob White submitted 67-marker yDNA

test kits to Family Tree DNA (FTDNA), a respected genetic testing company, during the

year 2010. They were:

Terrence James "Terry" White (Kit #177950),

Roger Alan White (Kit #177962), and

Montford Bailey "Monty" White (Kit # 188597),

All three are known and proven 4th cousins to each other (twice removed, in Terry's

case). Terry descends from William Wilson White (1800-1895), Roger descends from

Wright White (1807-1893), and Monty descends from Samuel Isaiah White (1810-1893),

all known sons of this Jacob White. A photograph of Samuel Isaiah White is shown at

right. It may be safely assumed that his father Jacob "Jake" White probably resembled

him to a large degree. This is the oldest-known photograph of any member of our family.

It is therefore of paramount importance. Thanks to Monty White and to our cousin Ed

Hutchison, both of Mississippi, for providing

this writer with copies of this photograph.

Not only did Roger's and Terry's results exactly

match each other at the full 67 markers, thus

establishing and proving the 'haplotype' (genetic

blueprint or 'signature') of their ancestor Jacob

White, but this Jacob White's 'haplotype' also

exactly matches (at 37 out of 67 markers) the

'modal haplotype' of the so-called "Lanier-

Brewer" group of descendants of that above-

mentioned George and Sarah Lanier Brewer.

Samuel Isaiah White

(1810-1893)

(That term 'modal haplotype' means the most common tested genetic values for

individual alleles--or genes --within any one particular group of related individuals--in

our case, the "Lanier Brewers".)

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An Excel Spreadsheet chart is available, made by Terry, showing our genetic values in

comparison to those of our other Brewer relatives (and others, like ourselves, who no

longer carry the Brewer surname). It is hoped that this chart will be of interest. This chart

is also available in PDF format.

It is not yet known just how our descent from Ulrich Weiß who came from Germany

might correlate with our close genetic relationship to a bunch of men named “Brewer”.

T.J. (Terry) White

11 January 2011

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Appendix A

State of North Carolina deed to Jacob White [Sr.], 1782 (top half):

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Appendix B

Deed from “Jacob White and Mary his wife” to Wiley Estes (1789), Chatham County,

NC

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(Notice that one of the witnesses to this 1789 deed was “Thomas Stanton,” whom Jacob

White Sr. in his “1811 Deposition” in Franklin County, Georgia, said was one of his

neighbors in 1788. Notice also that another neighbor was his brother Philip White.)

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Appendix C:

The “1811 Deposition” by Jacob White Sr., in Franklin County, Georgia (two pages):

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Appendix D:

Transcript of the "1811 Deposition" by Jacob White Sr. of Franklin County, Georgia:

Transcribed by T.J. (Terry) White on July 1st, 2010. Spelling and punctuation are rendered here exactly as

in the original. Uncertain readings are indicated by boldface italics.

Georgia } Personally before me appeared

Franklin County } Jacob White Senr. & after being

duly Sworn Deposeth &

Saith on oath on a matter of Controversy

between James Brooks of Said County and

William Stanton of South Carolina in which

Said White Sayeth on his Oath that Some

time in the year 1788 the month he doth

not recollect but this deponent Sayeth

that he was at the house of Thomas Stanton

Sometime in the date above & he said to me

to come next morning that he had it in

temptation to Get Old Simond Thomason -

__________ __[page break]______________________

to give him a deed of Gift to a certain negro Woman

Dinah by name & her increase from that time forth

also told your deponent how he meant to Contrive

it he said that he would draw an Article of

Agreement to live with him the Ensuing year

and that he would draw them nearly alike

so that the Old man would not know the ods

between the two we both went down next

morning your deponent and Thomas Stanton

to see Simond Thomason the old man was of

Sound mind Thomas Stanton gave him the

articles to read and asked him if it would do

the answer was yes with that Stanton took the

paper out of his hand but that Instant your

deponent further Sayeth that the dogs fell on

Some hogs in the yard your Father meaning

Thomas Stanton Run out to relieve the hogs

puts the agreement in his Bosom Coming

back Puls out the Deed of Gift comes in gives

it to mr. Thomason and mr. Thomason he

thinking it was the agreement Sets his name

to it & your deponent further Sayeth on Oath

that he was a Subscribing witneſs to Said Deed

of Gift & that he verily believes that Said Simond

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Thomason believed that it to be the articles

of agreement which he aſsigned the Same

Sworn to & Subscribed before me this 14th day

of December 1811---

the above Interlined before aſsigned --

Test Jacob White Senr.

Thomas Hollingsworth, JP

Recorded the 14th December 1811

__________________________

Here follows an edited version, with modern spelling, punctuation, and commentary,

of that same 1811 deposition. This should make it much easier to read and understand:

Georgia } Personally appeared before me Jacob White, Sr., and after being duly

Franklin County} sworn, deposeth and saith on oath, on a matter of controversy between

James Brooks of said county, and William Stanton of South Carolina, in [the] which said

White saith on his oath that

Sometime in the year 1788 (the month he doth not recollect), but this deponent saith that

he was at the house of Thomas Stanton, sometime on the date above-written, and that the

said Thomas Stanton “said to me to come [to his house the] next morning, that he had it

in temptation to get old Simond Thomason to give him a Deed of Gift to a certain Negro

woman, Dinah by name (and her increase), from that time forth.”

He (Stanton) also told your deponent how he meant to contrive it:

“ He said that he would draw an Article of Agreement to live with him [Thomason]

the Ensuing year, and that he would draw them [the two deeds] nearly alike, so that

the old man [Thomason] would not know the odds between the two.”

“ We both went down [the] next morning—your deponent and Thomas Stanton—

to see Simond Thomason. The old man was of sound mind. Thomas Stanton gave him

the Articles [of Agreement] to read, and asked him if it would do. The answer was yes.

With that, Stanton took the paper out of his [Thomason‟s] hand, but [in] that [very]

instant (your deponent further saith),” … “the dogs fell on some hogs in the yard.”

“ Your father—meaning Thomas Stanton—runs out to relieve the hogs, puts the

agreement

in his bosom, [and,] coming back, pulls out the Deed of Gift [instead,] comes in [to the

house and] gives it [the agreement] to Mr. Thomason, and Mr. Thomason—he thinking it

was the Agreement [to Cohabitate]—sets his name to it.”

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“ And your deponent further saith on oath that he was a subscribing witness to said Deed

of

Gift, and that he verily believes that said Simond Thomason believed … it to be the

Articles

of Agreement which he [had] [signed].”

The same sworn to and subscribed before me, this 14th day of December, 1811.

(The above was fully read and reviewed before being signed.)

(Signed) Jacob White Sr.

Attest: Thomas Hollingsworth, J.P.

[NOTE: it is humorous to notice that Jacob White Sr., having been a witness to a swindle

in 1788, whereby an old man was cheated out of a female slave (because he wasn‟t

careful to read what he was signing his name to), was very careful to read what he

himself was signing as an old man!]

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Appendix E:

Page from the 1954 version of Howard F. White‟s manuscript history of the White family

of DeKalb/Fulton County, Georgia, showing Jacob White and seven of his children:

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(Note: We now know that the part about Jacob White having come from Ireland “with

his parents at the age of 12 years” wasn‟t quite the case, although one or more of Jacob

White‟s maternal ancestors may well have come from Ireland. I was repeatedly told by

my older relatives, after all, that our White family were „Scots-Irish‟. Jacob White‟s

paternal ancestors, as has been shown above, however, were not “Whites” at all, but

were rather, Brewers, of the line apparently connected with George Brewer of Brunswick

County, Virginia (died 1744) and his first wife Sarah Lanier. Since that family of

Brewers has been much written-about elsewhere, I will not here take the time to repeat all

of that information.)

Appendix E:

Several articles about William Cornelius Green “Cap” White (1858-1942), mentioning,

among other things, the fact that his great-grandfather had been named “Jake” White.

Note that one of these articles (the one dating from 1938) mistakenly says that Jake

White had been Cap‟s grandfather. This was not the case: Cap‟s grandfather was

William Wilson White (1800-1895), a son of Jacob “Jake” White.

(The above article dates from May 1936.)

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(The article on this page dates from 1938, after “Cap” had been forced to retire by Southern

Railway.)

(The text of this article continues on the succeeding page.)

Although there is a great deal of history recounted here, plus a lot of interesting stories, I have

included these articles here mainly because they are documentary evidence that our earliest

known ancestor was indeed named “Jacob „Jake‟ White”.

22

23

(Left:) August, 1942 obituary of

William Cornelius Green “Cap”

White. This writer personally

knew and often spoke with several

of his grandchildren (his great-

aunts and great-uncles), who told

him many stories about “Cap” and

his wife. In other words, this writer

knew people who knew “Cap”

White, and he was alive when his

great-grandfather Jacob “Jake”

White was still alive, although a

very old man. What an improbable

chain of connections that is—from

this present writer, all the way

back to a man who apparently was

born in the year 1756—and that

covered by the space of only three

generations!

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Notes:

A researcher named Lucy McCoy has a man named Woolrick White in her online database, here:

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ogm&id=I8294 . His name was

originally “Ulrich Weiss,” as he was from Germany. Ms. McCoy has him listed as ID: I8294,

and shows him with sons named John (born 1744), Philip, and Jacob.

Both “Ulrick Whit" and Jacob "Whit" were signatories to the 1768 Regulator Petition in Orange

County, North Carolina, in 1768. There definitely does not appear to be another man named

"Jacob White" in either Orange or Chatham Counties for that early time period. In 1782, Jacob

"White" was granted land in Chatham County, NC (formed from Orange in 1771) from the State

of North Carolina. That Jacob's wife's name was Mary. On 9 Aug 1787, Jacob White witnessed a

deed in Chatham County between Henry Bray and Mathias Bray. In 1789, Jacob White and

Mary his wife sold part of that land to a Wiley Estes. Jacob White was listed in the 1790 census

of Chatham County, NC. In either 1793 or 1794 (the records are not clear which year it was),

Jacob White was one of several men appointed as road workers under the overseership of

William Moody Sr., to construct a road acorss the Rocky River (etc.). Those men included,

besides Jacob White, a Philip White, and an Andrew White.

Now-deceased researcher Charles Caldwell, who seems to have really known his stuff when it

comes to genealogy, had the following to say about these Weiss/Whites on March 2nd

, 2000:

ULRICH WEISS/WOOLRICK WHITE immigrated to America from Germany in 1743

along

with his father-in-law Friedrich Hertzog and his future brother in law Plickard D.

[Dietrich] Seiler/Siler.

Ulrich married CATHARINA HERTZOG, dau[ghter] of Friedrich, c. 1743. Their first

son JOHANN WEISS/JOHN WHITE SR. was born in 1744 in Pennsylvania, probably in

Montgomery Co. where his grandfather Friedrich owned a grist mill. These families

moved into Virginia and then into Orange Co., NC. Friedrich Hertzog sold his grist mill

in Pennsylvania and moved to Augusta Co., VA by 1753/4 and then on to the Rocky

River area of Orange Co., NC (now Chatham Co. north of Siler City). The first mention

of this White family appears in the Orange Co. records when Woolrick White and his son

John White are chain-bearers on a survey for Zacariah Martin, their neighbors along

Rocky River. Plickard Seiler/Siler has married Elisabeth Hertzog, dau[ghter] of Friedrich

and also moves to the Rocky River location. Friedrich Hertzog gave land to his two eldest

grandsons Philip Hertzog and John White in an

Orange Co. deed "for love and affection." (John White Jr.'s 1854 will in Pike Co., AL

mentions his "friend and kinsman, John Siler”, thus proving the White/Siler connection).

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Ulrich Weiss/White and his wife Catharina had at least two other sons: Philip White and

Jacob White who lived in Chatham Co., NC in the latter part of the 1700s in the same

area where the Hertzogs and Silers lived. In 1[7]84 John White, his wife Jane

(Crabtree)_Philip Siler, his wife Mary (Crabtree) and

their uncle Philip Hertzog/Hartsoe sold land in Chatham Co., which was left to them by

Friedrich Hertzog. The Sandy Creek area in present Randolph Co., NC is near the

headwaters of Rocky River not very far from the community in Chatham Co., where the

Weiss/Whites lived. John White moved to Randolph County perhaps because of his

married to Jane Crabtree, daughter of John Crabtree. He soon purchased land (in 1776)

from Semore York. After his wife Jane died he married (2) Rebecca Dorsett of Chatham

County. The Dorsett family lived near the Whites along Rocky River from an early time.

In 1810 he, his son in law Jabez York, and his son Josiah White were living in Moore

Co., NC. They left NC and moved to the West Bend area in Clarke Co., Mississippi

Territory by1813 or so. Jabez York served in the Mississippi Militia that year. I am of the

opinion that Jabez and his wife Elizabeth White likely moved to Clarke County first and

then two or three years later John Weiss/White, his father in law and Josiah White also

moved. There is a little paper about JOHANN WEISS/WHITE, written by a descendant

many years ago (when memories were still fresh) which tells a bit more.

Rocky River Baptist Church:

There is a granite stone back in the woods which says:

"Location of first church building of Rocky River Baptist Church. Organized 1756 by Elder

Shubal Starns."

There is a North Carolina Historical Marker #73 along the road in front of the present church

building which says:

"Rocky River Church. Baptist. Organized 1757. Used by Regulators for meetings after 1768.

Stands 200 yards east."

Plickard Dederic Siler historical marker placed on June 19, 2010.

Photos provided by Barbara C. Pugh in June 2010.

Owner: Trustees.

Legal Description: Deed 365-236, 16 Feb 1972, 14.0 acres from R. S. and Esther Short Pollock;

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Plat 91-108.

Topo Quadrant: Crutchfield Crossroads.

Church owned: Yes. Denomination: Baptist.

Used: Yes.

Number of graves: 362.

White: Yes.

Unrestricted access: Yes.

Well maintained: Yes.

Enclosed: No.

Markers: Yes.

Markers with inscriptions: Yes.

Number of readable markers: 362.

Last burial: 2000.

First burial: 1816.

Last canvassed by: Audrey Heiser, Rhea Worrell, Doris Flexner. Date: March 2000.