James Thomas Pettigrew, a resident of Tupelo, Mississippi, born December 9, 1892 at Plantersville, Ms., son of Ebenezer N. Pettigrew (1868-1952) and Ada Waycaster (1871-1897) of Chesterville, Ms., has traced ancestry of his branch of the Pettigrew family which originated in France, went to England and Ireland and thence to America; settled first in Pennsylvania and gravitated through Virginia to South and North Carolina with branches moving to Alabama and thence to Itawamba County, Ms. and Lee County, Ms.

His father, E. N. Pettigrew, is the son of W. L. (William) Pettigrew (1835-1917) and Sarah Lancaster Pettigrew (1835-1923). He was born in South Carolina and moved at the age of six years to Itawamba County, Ms., with his father, William Pettigrew who was born January 14, 1809 in South Carolina.

William Pettigrew (1809) was the son of James Pettigrew (1761) born in Prince Edward County, Virginia and died in Green County, Alabama, April 2, 1841.

This James Pettigrew (1761) was the son of John Pettigrew (1736) and grandson of James Pettigrew (1713) born in County Tyrone, Ireland, who married Mary Cochran, daughter of Captain George and Rachel (Higgenbotham) Cochran of the "Grange." This family set sail for America in 1743, landing at New Castle, Delaware, and pushing into Pennsylvania where he secured 300 acres of land on Marsh Creek, near the present location of Chambersburg.

In the search through genealogy sites, and through a wide and varied correspondence, James Thomas Pettigrew of Tupelo, Ms., has in the latter years of his life gathered this material for posterity of the Pettigrew family.

"Our family, The Pettigrew, dates back to about 1474, as near as I have been able to ascertain from Huguenot history in France." One, Matthew Petigru (the original spelling of the name in France) was shown in 1496 as holding lands under The Archbishop of Glasgow under King James IV of Scotland. An estimated 20,000 French Huguenots were massacred in Paris, France in 1565 at the order of the Queen Mother. The Petigru's left France due to the heavy persecution of Protestants. Most of the family settled in England and Ireland, and later migrated to America. The family was almost exterminated at this time.

The first known ancestor was an officer in the army of Oliver Cromwell. His name was James Petigru. This James sired a son, James Petigru who became an officer in the army of King William II of England. He served as an officer in The Battle of the River Boyne, 1681.

Due to the unfriendliness between England and France, and after peace was declared, the family chose to change the spelling of Petigru to Pettigrew.

King William II granted to James Pettigrew a tract of 300 acres in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. On this acreage James Pettigrew built his home in 1682 and named it, "The Crilly House." The large stone and slate home of three stories, was occupied by Pettigrew families until 1945 when the Pettigrew family became extinct in the area. "The Crilly House" at the present date, 1972, is owned by a family named Vaughan.

This James Pettigrew, the second one listed to this date, 1682, married Martha Moore in 1682. Nine children were born to this union. Among the nine, was a son, James Pettigrew, born April 1713 at the Irish estate, "The Crilly House." This James, the third mentioned to date, was sent to Trinity College in Dublin to study medicine. After two years of study, he eloped with Mary, the daughter of Captain George and Rachel (Higgenbotham) Cochran of "The Grange." Mary was the prize winning beauty at Trinity College.

In 1743 the couple sailed for America to seek their fortune. They were accompanied by three of their children, one daughter and two sons. The oldest daughter was left at "The Crilly House" with her grandmother, but died in later years aboard ship, en route to America to join the family in Pennsylvania.

This James Pettigrew (1713) is the first American ancestor of the Pettigrew lineage that has been traced and established. James with his wife, Mary, and three children, landed at New Castle, Delaware and pushed into Pennsylvania where he secured 300 acres of land on Marsh Creek, near the present location of Chambersburg. He is said to have been of a daring disposition and adventurous. Somewhere near the year 1744 he became very religious. He was well acquainted with the notables of the time, one of whom, was Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who strongly advised James Pettigrew to continue his career in medicine.

The family remained in Pennsylvania until 1756, then moved to Virginia, and settled later in North Carolina and later moved into South Carolina where he spent the closing years of his life.

An interesting episode in the lives of this family is told. James Pettigrew, after his return to religion, became so strict in the observance of the Sabbath that he allowed no cooking to be done on that day. It is to this interesting bit of history, that his family averted being massacred by Indians along with all the other inhabitants of the village. It is supposed that the Indians upon seeing no smoke coming from his chimney, presumed the home unoccupied.

To this union 13 children were born, 12 of whom, six boys and six girls, reached maturity. The fifth child, Charles Pettigrew, born 1743, the first child to have been born to the union in America, was born in Pennsylvania.

But life on the Pennsylvania frontier became so perilous, and after Braddock's defeat in 1755, James Pettigrew moved his family to Lunenburg County, Virginia. His last and 13th child, William Pettigrew, was born in Virginia in 1758.

Later James Pettigrew moved his family to Greenville, N. C. where he remained 10 years. He gave the land in this area for the establishment of a Presbyterian Church.

In 1768, James Pettigrew and family reached "Long Cane Settlement" about seven miles above Abbeville Court House, South Carolina. They remained in this locality for four years. In 1773, James Pettigrew bought a farm in what is known as "flat section": of Abbeville District, situated on Little River, South Carolina. An outbreak among the Cherokee Indians in 1776 forced all the settlement folk to abandon their plantations, and seek safety in the Huguenot Fort of James Noble, which was commanded by Patrick Calhoun, father of John C. Calhoun. Settlers were able to return to enjoy life on the plantations after a short time, until the American Revolution swept to the locality in 1779.

James Pettigrew III was a Whig. He served the Colonial troops in the Revolutionary Army with several of his sons, sons-in-law and grandsons. At the age of 71 he died on December 24, 1784. His wife survived him by two years and died October 7, 1786.

The written declaration for Revolutionary pension of James Pettigrew III is on file in the Pension Bureau of Washington D.C. The record shows him to have been a grandson of James Pettigrew, Sr., and also show him to have had a brother, William Pettigrew.

In the land records in the secretary of state's office at Columbia, South Carolina, there is the following group of records: James Pettigrew, Granville County, S. Carolina on Calhoun's Creek, 250 acres, June 19, 1772, Vol. 26, Page 48; James Pettigrew, Granville County, S. Carolina, on Lone Cane, 300 acres, July 8, 1774, Vol. 31, Page 363; James Pettigrew, Granville County, S. Carolina, Long Cane, 150 acres, September 30, 1774.

The will of James Pettigrew III is recorded in Book I, page 14, "Wills of Abbeville District, S. Carolina." The will was made December 18, 1784, a matter of a few days before he died. The will was proven July 7, 1789. The will mentions his children and wife, Mary. Children mentioned are Martha, who married a Witherspoon, John Pettigrew, Mary Pettigrew Verner, Jean Pettigrew Tilley, Hames Pettigrew, George Pettigrew, one dollar each, if demanded. Land to sons, Ebenezer and William Pettigrew. William Pettigrew qualified as administrator on November 29, 1788.

1. Daughter, eldest, died aboard ship as a child en route to America to join the family.
2. Martha Pettigrew, born 1734, County Tyrone, Ireland. Came with the family to America in 1743. She married John Witherspoon of the family of Dr. John Witherspoon, President of Princeton College. She died May 1796 in Wilkes County, North Carolina.
3. John Pettigrew, born 1736, County Tyrone, Ireland. He came with the family to America in 1743. Died November 8, 1806 in Abbeville District, South Carolina.
* The lineage and heirs of John Pettigrew will be given in full on the following pages. The American Pettigrew heirs descended from John Pettigrew.
4. James Pettigrew, Jr. (the fourth James Pettigrew mentioned to date). He came with the family to America in 1743. Moved with them to South Carolina. Served in the American Revolution. He is mentioned in his father's will and in many other records.
5. Charles Pettigrew. The first child born to the union in America. Born March 20, 1743 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Died April 8, 1805. Charles remained all of his life in Tyrell County North Carolina. He owned landed estates in both Tyrell and Pasquotank Counties. In 1773 he was a master of a school in Edenton, North Carolina. He became a minister and during the year 1774 was admitted to The Holy Order and ordained by the Bishop of London and Rochester in England. He returned to America on the last boat to sail before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.

Charles was a man of wealth, a physician, pastor of a church, slave owner, built a church for his congregation at his own expense in 1787 which is standing today. He was elected Bishop of North Carolina. He was married twice, first on October 29, 1778 to Mary, daughter of Colonel John and Sarah Elizabeth Blount of "Mulberry Hill." The second marriage was June 12, 1794 to Mary, daughter of James R. Lockhart of "Scotch Hall." There were two children by the first union, and three children by the second union.*
* Children of the two unions will be given later.
6. Mary Pettigrew, sixth child of James and Martha Cochran Pettigrew, was married to John Verner and settled in Anderson County, South Carolina. Some of the descendants of this union removed to Alabama.
7. George Pettigrew was born circa 1746.
8. A child who died young, leaving no heirs.
9. Jean Pettigrew born in 1750 in Pennsylvania. She died in 1838 in Gwinette County, Georgia. She was married to Stephen Tilly.
10. Ebenezer Pettigrew, born 1752 in Pennsylvania.
11. and 12. Two daughters who died during the fever epidemic, of 1770 leaving no heirs.
13. William Pettigrew, born February 1758 in Lunenburg County, Virginia. Married Louise Guy Gilbert. To this union James Louis Petigru* who practiced law with his cousin, James Johnston Pettigrew in Charleston, South Carolina before the Civil War, was born.

1. *James Louis Petigru chose the original French spelling of family mane after he reached maturity.
2. Thomas Pettigrew, Captain, U.S. Navy
3. Charles Pettigrew, U.S.A.
4. John G. Pettigrew. Who went west.
5. Mary Pettigrew, who never married.
6. Jane Gilbert Pettigrew, who married her cousin, John Gough North.
7. Louise Pettigrew. Married Phillip Johnson Porcher.
8. Adeline Pettigrew, who married Robert F. A. Aliston, Governor of South Carolina. Adeline was a writer. She wrote "A Woman Rice Planter" and "Chronicles of Chicora Wood."
9. Harriet Pettigrew married Henry Deas Lesesne.

When William Pettigrew died in 1837, his slave quarters held more than 350 slaves.

1. Ebenezer Pettigrew, born March 10, 1783. He inherited his father's extensive plantations. Served in the North Carolina Legislature, and also in the United States Congress. He married Ann Blount Shepard of Newbern, North Carolina, May 17, 1815. Their home, a very large estate, was named "Bon Arva" and located on the Eastern shore of Lake Phelps, near the Atlantic Coast. It was burned by the United States Army in 1863. He also owned more than 300 slaves.
2. John Pettigrew, the second son, was born in 1799 and died in 1819. He was never married.

1. Charles Lockhart Pettigrew, born February 1816, married April 1853 to Jane North, daughter of John Gough North and Jane Gilbert North. Died November 20, 1873.
2. William Pettigrew, born October 3, 1818, died July 24, 1900. the homestead and land of this William Shepard Pettigrew is now Pettigrew State Park in North Carolina.
3. James Johnston Pettigrew, born July 4, 1828 at the family estate, "Bon Arva" in Tyrell County, North Carolina; is recorded as General James Johnston Pettigrew, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and of Oxford, England. He traveled in Europe and America, lectured on tours after finishing Oxford. He was a gifted writer and author. Served in the army with General Robert E. Lee. He led Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. He practiced law with his cousin, The Honorable James Louis Petigru of Charleston, South Carolina, a well-known statesman. General James Johnston Pettigrew was never married, left no heirs. He was killed in a battle of withdrawal at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.

* The tombstone of James Louis Petigru bears an epitaph so impressive that President Woodrow Wilson, attending the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, requested the epitaph be sent to him. The simple marble headstone bears these words:

"Born at Abbeville, May 10, 1789. Died at Charleston, March 9th, 1863. Jurist. Orator. Statesman. Patriot."
"Future times will hardly know how great a life this simple stone commemorates-"
"The tradition of his Eloquence, his Wisdom and his Wit may fade; But he lived for ends more durable than fame, His Eloquence was the protection of the poor and wronged; His learning illuminated the principles of Law-"
"In the admiration of his Peers, In the respect of his People, in the affection of his Family, His was the highest place; The just meed of his kindness and forbearance, His dignity and simplicity, His brilliant genius and his unweared industry."
"Unawed by Opinion, Unseduced by Flattery, undismayed by Disaster, He confronted life with antique courage and Death with Christian Hope."
"In the great Civil War He withstood his people for his Country, But His People did homage to the man who held his conscience higher than their praise. And his country Heaped her honors on the living, His own righteous self respect sufficed alike for Motive and Reward."
"Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail or knock the breast; nothing but well and fair And what may quiet us in a life so noble."

From the "Story of Petigru Refutes Canards"
by Jack Leland, Evening Post Writer
Charleston, South Carolina
Page 1-B, May 21, 1968

He, John Pettigrew, was born in Ireland and came to America with his mother, father, a sister and brother. John grew to manhood in Pennsylvania. He married Sarah Mathews. In 1761 they resided in Price Edward County, Virginia, and later moved to Granville County, North Carolina where they lived during the American Revolution. John, and at least two of his sons were Revolutionary soldiers. John Pettigrew served with Captain Joseph Calhoun and Captain James Caldwell in a Company of Calvary. John Pettigrew died in 1806 in Abbeville District, South Carolina. He was survived by his wife and the following children:

1. James Pettigrew, born November (1761), the fifth James mentioned to date in this genealogy, son of John and Sarah Mathews Pettigrew at Price Edward County, Virginia. He was a Revolutionary soldier. He was at one time overseer of Patrick Calhoun, Senator of South Carolina. James married Jane Harkness, November 3, 1785. She was the daughter of Robert Harkness of Abbeville District, South Carolina. James Pettigrew died in 1806 in Green County, Alabama.
2. George Pettigrew
3. William Pettigrew died in service in the 8th United States Infantry in 1814.
4. Polly Pettigrew married a Mr. Wilson.
5. Samuel Pettigrew died in 1794 in Abbeville District, South Carolina. Samuel and wife were the parents of one son, named James Pettigrew.
6. Robert Pettigrew
7. Betsy Pettigrew was unmarried at the time of her father's death in 1806.

1. John Pettigrew born October 14, 1786.
2. Sarah Pettigrew born November 29, 1790.
3. Robert Pettigrew born May 24, 1788.
4. Rosannah Pettigrew born April 3, 1793.
5. Mary Harkness Pettigrew born August 6, 1794.
6. Agness Pettigrew born June 15, 1798.
7. James Harkness Pettigrew born February 16, 1800.
8. Ebenezer Pettigrew born June 19, 1806.
9. William Pettigrew* born January 14, 1809

*William Pettigrew erected a home on the Eastern portion of his homestead and entered business in the old town of Richmond, which was located just East of his original land holdings. There were no roads that rated better than wagon trails, no railroads until shortly before the Civil War. Tupelo did not exist. Just before the Civil War a wagon road known as the Fulton and Verona Road, connected the two towns via Richmond. William Pettigrew (1809) and wife are buried in a private Family Cemetery on his original grant of land. Burial was several years before the Civil War days. Hannah Pettigrew Ivy (daughter of William Pettigrew) and husband Richard Ivy are buried in the same family plot. Their graves are marked but there are no stones to be found for the graves of William Pettigrew and wife.

1. William L. Pettigrew born December 31, 1835 in South Carolina before his parents moved to Mississippi. He was age six when the family moved from South Carolina. He was known as "Bill" . William L. Pettigrew married Sarah Lancaster of Georgia in 1855. He served in the Civil War. Sarah Lancaster Pettigrew was born February 23, 1835 and died July 5, 1923 while living in their original home. William preceded her in death on July 8, 1917 on his original homesite.
2. Hannah Pettigrew married Richard (Dick) Ivy of Old Richmond.

1. William A. Pettigrew born November 16, 1856, died 1948.
2. Sallie Pettigrew, born August 20, 1859, married Jessie Cain, died March 17, 1938.
3. John Franklin Pettigrew, born December 15, 1860, died June 9, 1943.
4. Ebenezer N. Pettigrew, born January 27, 1868, died January 2, 1952.
5. George Pettigrew, burned to death in his youth.
6. Henry L. Pettigrew, born July 14, 1870, died September 1, 1931.
7. Thomas Pettigrew, born May 28, 1873.
8. Mary Elizabeth Pettigrew, born June 21, 1883. Mary married a Mr. Fowler. She lives in the Western States.

A. William A. Pettigrew and Fannie Evans Pettigrew:
1. William L. Pettigrew, born 1883, died 1965, married Ira Scribner, who sired:
a) A. F. Pettigrew, born October 30, 1906 and married Annice Young. To this union were born two sons:
(1) Leon Pettigrew, manager of the Bank of Nettleton, Ms., born February 5, 1941. Married Linda Estes. To this union were born two daughters:
(a) Janet Lynn
(b) Lindy Carole
B. Charley Pettigrew, born 1889, married Emma Barnett. Both were killed in the great tornado of April 5, 1936. Two children survived the tornado.
1. Opal Pettigrew, who married Claude Roebuck.
2. Clifford Pettigrew, Lee County 4th district supervisor at the time of his death in 1966 after a serious operation. He had one daughter.
a) Ruby Pettigrew, married a Mr. Carr.

1. Emma Lou Pettigrew, who married Clifford Montgomery.
2. Ada Belle Pettigrew, who married Grady McKissick.

1. Katie Belle, died in infancy
2. Annie May Pettigrew, born May 20, 1893, married Mitchell Waycaster, died April 24, 1965.
3. John Willis Pettigrew, born March 19, 1895, married Larcenia Cole, died January 24, 1968.
a) Eugene Pettigrew, August 28, 1923. Mayor of Nettleton, Ms., married Hazel Shumpert. No heirs as of 1972.
b) Theron Pettigrew, born ?, married Miss Conwell. To this union was born:
1) Mary Eleen Pettigrew.
4. Jim Lee Pettigrew, born July 22, 1896, died March 22, 1897
5. Porter Pettigrew, born December 20, 1900. Married Virginia Edwards. To this union was born:
a) Earnest Pettigrew on March 24, 1924 who sired:
1) Earnest Paul Pettigrew, born January 14, 1945
b) George Pettigrew, born October 25, 1926.
6. Murl Pettigrew, born October 11, +1903. Married Mittie Monagan. To this union were born:
a) Murl Frances Pettigrew
b) Joan Pettigrew
7. Dollie Pettigrew, born August 8, 1907, married C. S. Williams.
8. Robert C. (Tanner) Pettigrew, born August 7, 1910. Married Irene Coggin. Married the second time to Laney Gibson.
a) Robert Clanton Pettigrew, son of Robert and Laney Gibson Pettigrew.

HEIRS OF EBENEZER N. PETTIGREW (1868-1952) AND ADA WAYCASTER (1871-1897)

(Ebenezer Pettigrew married the second time to Cynthia Smith of South Carolina, but to this union there were no children.)

1. James Thomas Pettigrew, born December 9, 1892. Married Effie Ivy, November 27, 1918. She died August 15, 1938 after a number of serious operations. James Thomas married a second time to Ethel Dendy who died June 10, 1960. To this union was born one son who died at birth in 1942. Mrs. Pettigrew operated Pettigrew's Flower Shop and Greenhouses until retirement in 1952. James Thomas married a third time November 16, 1963 to Mrs. Molly Hodges, a business woman in Amory, Ms.
2. John Lee Pettigrew, born January 31, 1894 died November 3, 1969. Married Bessie Smith who was born November 29, 1896 and died December 8, 1967.
a) John Carlos Pettigrew, born July3, 1915. Married Valera Roebuck.
1) Joan Carlos Pettigrew, born ?, married to Owen Taylor.
A) Child born 1972?
b) Ethel Newell Pettigrew, born February 11, 1918, died August 23, 1929.
c) Lucille Pettigrew, born December 31, 1918, married Ronald Clayton.

1. Myrtle Pettigrew, born August 6, 1896.
2. Ollie Pettigrew, born April 7, 1901.
3. Cliff Pettigrew, born September 29, 1902.
4. Kilmer Pettigrew, born April 8, 1899, died November 6, 1951. Married Gertrude Monaghan.
a) Josephine Pettigrew, born November 28, 1919
b) Lafronia Pettigrew, born March 27, 1924.
c) Helen Pettigrew, born May 1, 1926.
d) Wallace Pettigrew, born February 27, 1922, died July 28, 1958. Married Mabeline Conwil.
1) James Harold Pettigrew, born November 7, 1946, a teacher in the Amory High School in the present year of 1972.
2) Wallace Carroll Pettigrew, born January 18, 1943.

1. Maurice Miller Pettigrew, born July 27, 1906, married Essie Wallace.
a) Charles Pettigrew, born March 10, 1930. He married Adeline Bacon. Th this union three sons and one daughter were born.
1) Stephen Pettigrew, born April 28, 1953.
2) Anthony Pettigrew, born February 1, 1959.
3) Karen Pettigrew, born May 16, 1951.
4) Samuel Pettigrew, born August 19, 1966.
b) Lamar Pettigrew, born May 4, 1934. Married Frances Coggin.
1) Donna Kay Pettigrew, born January 13, 1956.
2) David Pettigrew, born July 30, 1958.
3) Lisha Pettigrew, born August 14, 1960.
c) Fred Pettigrew, born November 29, 1937, a member of The Tupelo High School Faculty. He married Brenda Box.
1) Jeffrey Pettigrew, born June 17, 1963.
2) Craig Pettigrew, born October 27, 1964.
d) The Rev. Jerry Pettigrew, born February 15, 1943, pastor of Guntown Methodist Church. He married Sarah Pennington.
1) Jerrry Pettigrew Jr., born October 11, 1969.
2. Flora Pettigrew, born August 25, 1910, married J. T. Young.
3. Lavera Pettigrew, born July 18, 1917, married Bill Grissom.

Items that I have not had sufficient time for fully developing before giving a copy to the printer: Due to the fact that some of the Pettigrew family in the Carolinas removed from that section to points in Tennessee and Kentucky, their families were not enumerated and listed as were those in the Carolinas during Revolutionary War Days. I refer to a family of Pettigrews who removed west from the Carolinas some time before the Civil War.

In this group is the family of Dr. Robert H. Pettigrew of Madison County, Tn. Dr. Pettigrew graduated from Southwestern Baptist University - Union University, Jackson, Tn. He followed this schooling by being graduated from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. He was appointed by the Mission Board in 1904 serving as a missionary in Brazil, in several states until he retired in 1934. He returned to his home at Walnut, Ms. He finally retired from the service in 1962 and died September 4, almost 100 years of age!

Dr. R. H. Pettigrew, a nephew of Dr. Robert E. Pettigrew, for some thirty years was pastor of the Walnut Street Baptist Chruch, Louisville, KY. This church is the largest Baptist church east of the Mississippi River. He died just recently. A few years ago it was my privilge to attend the Southeastern Floral Convention. It was before my wife Ethel died and we had the honor of being ushered to the visitor seat and introduced. The Louisville pastor died only a few months ago. He is also of the Tennessee family.

James T. Pettigrew

1972

I am not sure if this has been pointed out or not but James T. Pettigrew has the wrong William Pettigrew listed as the patriarch of his Mississippi Pettigrew family. His William Pettigrew was born about 1802, not 1809 as he has listed, and was not the son of James Pettigrew(1761-1841) and Jane Harkness Pettigrew(1766-1851). 

 While what I have stated above I believe to be correct, I do believe his William Pettigrew(1802) is related to James Pettigrew(1761-1841) and Jane Harkness Pettigrew(1766-1851). Probably a grandson or a great nephew. His William Pettigrew(1802) came to northern Mississippi in 1841-42 from South Carolina. The William Pettigrew(1809) that was the son of James and Jane Harkness Pettigrew lived in Eutaw, Greene County, Alabama, where his parents lived and was listed on the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses of that Alabama county. In fact, in the 1850 census, his mother Jane Pettigrew, age 85, is listed as living with her son William Pettigrew(1809) and his family. 

 William Pettigrew(1809) was married two times in Greene County, AL, first to a Juliann R. Cosper on April 30, 1833 and then to a Mrs. Henrietta Knowles on February 10, 1853. He had eight children with his first wife and none with his second. One of his eight children was a son named William McKee Pettigrew that was born in 1843. William McKee Pettigrew was killed in May 1871 in Eutaw, AL, and is buried in Mesopotamia Cemetery. The William L. Pettigrew(1835-1917) and his sister Hannah Pettigrew Ivy were two of the children of William Pettigrew(1802) and not the William Pettigrew(1809), son of James and Jane Harkness Pettigrew. We know, based on court documents from Greene County, Alabama(Revolutionary War pension application), the birthdates of the heirs of James and Jane Harkness Pettigrew and their son William was born January 14, 1809 in South Carolina. The Mississippi William Pettigrew is listed on multiple censuses as being born around 1802, so I'm pretty confident James Thomas Pettigrew has the wrong William Pettigrew patriarch listed.

 James T. Pettigrew supplied a lot of great information on the Pettigrew family and he should be commended, but some of it is incorrect. Of course, in 1972 he didn't have the easy access to censuses, land deeds, court documents, and marriage records that we have nowadays.

 I would like for you to place this post as a response to the Pettigrew Family History by James T. Pettigrew so others won't make the same genealogy mistakes.

 Regards,

 Stephen L. Oubre