Daniel~Trusted Son, Brother and Father

The Sixth Son of John Ichabod and Lucy Eunice emerged as the strongest link in their family chain of children.  Through out his adult life he was the one his siblings turned to and relied on to take care of family business. 

While his older brothers established their own homes and families on the Pittman Plantation lands, it appears from records that Daniel was the son who spent his life as the caretaker of his father's original home in what finally became Gwinnet County, Georgia.  He was educated, motivated, capable and dedicated to his family and country.

Certainly, Daniels handling of the Pittman Plantations during the 1820's into the 1840's was a period of significant financial growth as well as accumulations of land and prestige among Southern Plantation owners.   In the 1830 Census, Daniel, his wife Asenath, infant daughter and his father John Ichabod age 78, were listed as residents of the home with thirty-five slave workers...the majority of them being women and children.  Daniel was thirty-two when he married Asenath Haynes Baber, twenty, on March 17, 1826.  Their first child was named Eunice Marshall after his mother Lucy Eunice Marshall Pittman who died in 1821.

Daniel and Asenath had five more children...two sons and three daughters.  Three years after Eunice, Abigail Baber was born.  Abigail lived to the age of 96 and was the source of much of the family history being preserved in her letters to later generations.  One of which has been included in Eight Is Enough...Second Son's Testament to The Scriptures. 

Daniel J. was born in 1837, and as an adult he was probably instrumental in the legal complications that would befall the Pittman land holdings by the 1840's through the 1860's as the US government began what is generally accepted as Pre-Civil War land taxes.  Known as the Honorable Daniel J. Pittman of Atlanta, he followed in his father's footsteps, not as a farmer, but as a well educated and civic minded Attorney and Judge. 

The two younger daughters, Lucy Asenath and Henrietta Lucinda were born in 1844 and 1846, respectively.  Lucy married Billings Socrates Ivy who had the distinction of being the first male child born in Atlanta, Georgia.  His family were early Pioneers in Atlanta and Lucy and 'Sock' lived their entire married life in the city where he was a Foundry Foreman.  Lucy's mother Asenath was listed as residing with them in the 1880 Census which would have been nine years after Daniel's death in 1871.  Lucy and 'Sock' had four children, one son Lyman and three daughters Cora, Mary Ellen and Rosamond.  These four 2ndCousins3xRemoved, along with other Cousins from this Second Generation will be profiled in 'Georgia Cousins'...a later section to come.

Before I lay Daniel to rest, there is the matter of what is referred to by previous family historians as the 'Financial Reversals of the Wealthy'.  A National Financial Crisis in 1829 through 1838 resulted in multiple Court Judgments against Daniel Pittman et. al, in the sale of land by Gwinnet County Sheriff's Land Sales.  Lots of Pittman Land were sold off in 150 to 500 acres at a time. The  Court Judgments were conducted well into the 1840's with hundreds of acres of the Pittman Family land sold to satisfy Banks and private citizens claims.  Also during these years, Daniel represented Gwinnett County in the State Legislature and served in the State Senate. 

In the 1850 Census, Daniel lists himself as a farmer on property valued at $800.  His land dealings had to do with the donation of five acres for the formation of Mount Carmel Methodist Church where his parents are buried as well as other family members.  Missing from the 1860 Census, it is presumed that Daniel, Asenath and their children continued their lives on the same property as was enumerated in 1850.  However, it is known that Daniel served the Confederacy during the 1860's Civil War.  His daughter Lucy Pittman Ivy wrote that he was stationed in Pensacola and Mobile.  He was in several battles but was not injured. 

At the end of the Civil War and documented in the 1870 Census, Daniel and Asenath were living in Evans District in DeKalb County which was next to Gwinnett County.  It is not known by this author if the lines of the counties were redrawn or if Daniel and Asenath were on a different property, which Daniel listed as valued at $1000 and personal property valued at $745.  On this property, Daniel had one farm hand, 18 year old John M. Tweedy.  The ravages of the Civil War and the beginnings of the Re-Construction of the South had taken a toll on Daniel and the Pittman Family holdings in Georgia. 

Daniel died on August 18, 1871 at the age of 78.  He is buried at Stone Mountain Cemetery near Stone Mountain Baptist Church where he and Asenath were founding members.  Stone Mountain is in DeKalb County, not far from Atlanta where Asenath went to live with daughter Lucy and husband Socrates Ivy.  Asenath died ten years later on October 29, 1881.  Her obituary appeared in the Atlanta paper.

PITTMAN.~Mrs. Asenath Haynes Pittman, widow of the late Daniel N. Pitman, deceased, died at the residence of her son-in-law, Mr. B.S. Ivy, No 113 Walton Street, Atlanta, Georgia, at sunset, Saturday evening, October 29th, 1881.  She was born in Oglethorpe county, Georgia, August 24, 1805, and died in the 78th year of her age. 
Funeral services at her grave in the cemetery at Stone Mountain, 10 o'clock a.m., Monday, October 31st, 1881.  Rev. H.C. Hornady, of the Baptist church, will officiate.  Friends and acquaintances affectionately invited to attend.  Train leaves the union passenger depot at half-past eight o'clock Monday morning.

Daniel a Hebrew name meaning 'God is my judge'.

Inscription on his headstone...

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel.

Jefferson~Born In Time of Peace~ Died In Time of War

By 1820 Jefferson 'Jeffery' Pittman, the fifth son of John Ichabod and Lucy, had married his brother's wife's sister, had two children, and was farming in Columbia County.  His farm was most likely in close proximity to his fathers and brothers and for all practical purposes was probably still land owned by his father and sectioned off for Jeffery and his wife Rachel's home.

Jeffery and Rachel were married on July 7, 1814 when he was just twenty-two years of age.  In those days that was considered quite young for a male to marry.  However, in Jefferson's case, he was the son of a wealthy land owner, and was financially stable.  Rachel was the sister of Priscilla Harden Pittman, the wife of her husbands older brother Marshall...his story Eight Is Enough...Second Son's Testament to The Scriptures.

In the next ten years, by 1830, Jeffery and Rachel had completed their family of six children with the youngest Mordecai having been born in 1829.  Jeffery was now thirty-eight, a successful farmer in his own right whose farm supported his family of eight and several families of slaves numbering thirteen.  As was his fathers and brothers, Jeffery's farms main crop was cotton, and by this time, Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 was making a major impact on the Pittman Plantations.  Although the cotton gin was not  patented and validated until 1807, Whitney's early model had a monumental impact on the Cotton Industry of the South.

By the 1840 Census, Jeffery's family structure and numbers had changed only slightly with only one of his older children, Henry Harden, having married and established his own home.  Still at home and shown on the 1840 Census as employed in agriculture were eight persons.  Daughters, America and Lucy would not marry for several years more, and younger children, Jabez Pleiadas, Martha and Mordecai were in school which was also documented for the first time on the Census Form.  Schools-Primary and Common and Schools-No. of Scholars (Pri/Comm): were the two categories enumerated.  As has been noted previously, the Pittman's interest and endeavors in education were of great importance.  In the category of No. of Scholars, 60 was the number listed.

In 1850, Jeffery and Rachel were in their late fifty's.  All their children had married and settled in homes and communities nearby.  Their daughter Martha and her husband, Benjamin Franklin Miller, a school teacher were living with them on the farm.  Daughter America had married in 1846 to Jackson Boyd Sloan, who would later become a Second Lieutenant and survivor of the Civil War.  They had five children, three sons and two daughters, with daughter Mary living until 1943.

Rachel died on February 12, 1858 at the age of 65.  Two years later her daughter Lucy died at age 37.  Lucy had married Bodwell E. Wells, a Civil Engineer and had six children before her early death in 1860.  Her husband remarried and left Georgia for Texas where he was laid to rest at age 80 in 1900 at Fairview Cemetery, Hubbard County, Hill, Texas. 

Jefferson 'Jeffery' Pittman died at age 71 on August 29, 1863.  He was born at a time of prosperity, lived during the golden age of cotton in the South, and died with the knowledge that life as he had known it and hoped it would be for his children and grandchildren would be forever changed with the outcome of the Civil War.  This he knew a year before President Abraham Lincoln said:

"There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one. 

There is involved in this struggle the question whether your children and my children

shall enjoy the privilege we have enjoyed."

August 22, 1864 ~ Speech to the 160th Ohio Regiment

He died in Resaca, Gordon County, Georgia, most likely at the home of his daughter America and son-in-law Second Lieutenant Jackson Boyd Sloan, Confederate Army, Resaca, Georgia, a short three months after one of the best documented and described battles of the Civil War...The Battle of Resaca.

The Missing Life of Jeptha

Born in 1787. Died in 1864. That is all. There's not one record of anything inbetween for John and Lucy's fourth son, brother of Ichabod, Marshall and John.  Not a scrap of information that he was even on the roll of the early census when the count was determined by the number of  Free White Males living in a household.

At the time of his death at age 77, Jeptha surely would have been buried near someone in his family even if he had never married or fathered any children.  He was one of nine children....five younger than he, and with many nieces and nephews who as family tradition dictated took care of old uncles.

Gone But Not Forgotten for old Jeptha, did not seem to be written on any tombstone, either.  Instead it seems he was 'Gone and Forgotten' for his name does not appear in any of the cemeteries that were the final resting places of his family.  There are several that bare his family name and Mount Carmel Methodist Church Cemetery where his parents are buried on land donated by his brother Daniel for the church and cemetery.

So for Jeptha, we will have to be satisfied knowing that his early years were lived much like his brothers, and he grew up with the same values and good intentions for living a Christian life with the idea that he too would marry, have children and grandchildren and be buried in a family plot.  Most likely all of that did happen for Jeptha.  However, there is always the possibility that a completely unforeseen turn of events sent him down a different path...at least at the end of his life.  It was, afterall, during the Civil War.

The one bit of information that hints at the possibility of his death being related somehow to the Civil War is the place of his death....Whitfield County, Georgia.  Whitfield was a hotbed of  skirmishes  in 1864 from January through October, and Whitfield organized almost 20 outfits of Infantry, Volunteer and Guard Units.  Even at age 77 Jeptha could have been in one of the Home Guard Units or a Volunteer fighter at the Battle of Buzzards Roost or the Battle of Nickajack Gap.  Perhaps one day, another scrap of information will be found, and the missing life of Jeptha will be found.  Until then...

Rest In Peace, Uncle Jeptha in your virtual cemetery beside your parents at Mount Carmel.

You may be Gone but You are Not Forgotten in Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors...for as I continue to say....

"Every person in your Family Tree is 'Significant In Time' for there is no such thing as a life not meant for the person living it."

Your 4th Great niece from Texas

John...Son of John, Grandson of John and On and On John's

If one was inclined, one could trace their family John's all the way back to Yochanan ben Zechariah aka John the Baptist.  The names John and William shared the most popular names in English-speaking countries from around 1550 until the middle of the twentieth century. 

Since John was the MOST popular name given to male infants in the US until about 1924, it is no surprise to find fifteen John Pittman's from 1726 through 1882 in our Direct Line only.

John, son of John Ichabod and grandson of John and Mary Polly, the Colonials, was born September 11, 1784 in Gwinnett County, Georgia, the third son of Lucy Eunice and John Ichabod. From birth through his youth, what as been said about his brothers Ichabod Byrd and Marshall also applies to John as boys raised by a successful farmer father and a mother who instilled a strong Christian faith on one hand with a firm grip on discipline on the other.

There are not many records to shed light on this John, as has been the case with his father and grandfather, however it is known that in his 58 years of life in Georgia, he was married twice,  fathered at least eight children and laid to rest one wife and three children before his own death on January 14, 1843.   At the age of 29, he married Mary Nobles in January 1814 and by June that same year he was a widower.  The cause of Mary's death is not known and it is also not proven that she was somehow related to John's Aunt Zilpha through her marriage to Blanton Nobles.  That story titled Colonial Daughter's Biblical Name Prophecy.

In 1819 at the age of 34, John and Martha Drucilla Johnson, 18 years of age were wed.  Martha gave birth to eight children from 1821 through 1842.  She outlived all of them and her husband, John.  Two of the children died as infants including son John, their only daughter Martha Elizabeth died at age ten, other sons died in their twenty's including Columbus C., a casualty of the Civil War.  His profile sketch will be in the Civil War section.

John, son of John, Grandson of John died on January 14, 1843.  His namesake, grandson John Anderson born in 1853, the son of John's son Joseph, would be the last hope for this line of John's to pass on the name John.  John Anderson's father Joseph was the longest living of John and Martha Drucillia's children.  He died at age 39 in August 1864...possibly another son lost to the Civil War.

This John's most notable contribution to the Pittman Family Tree may have been his second wife Martha Drucilla.  Without her, there would not have been  his namesake John Anderson and a direct line of descendants.  Martha Drucilla remarried after John's death to a man whose last name would change only tree letters of her last name....Isaac Pitts.  Thankfully his first name was not John. 

She died in 1868 at age 68 in Dooly County, Georgia where records indicate her son and grandson John Anderson resided.  She and all John's are perfect examples of.....

Every person in your Family Tree is 'Significant In Time' for there is no such thing

 as a life not meant for the person living it. 

Eight Is Enough...Second Son's Testament to the Scriptures

To say that Lucy Eunice Marshall Pittman must have been one tough woman would be an understatement. With her right hand on the Bible and the left carrying a switch, it's not hard to imagine her riding roughshod over a bunch of boys.

After all, Lucy was raised with seven brothers who as youngsters lived among a tribe of Mohawk Indians on the Susquehanna River. Her father, Daniel Marshall felt called to the Missionary service of converting the Mohawk to Christianity.  That experience and Lucy's education on living with a tribe of wild children has been written about in the Colonial period...Making Tracks Out of Virginia.

It is with this background, a strong moral character, and prominent and successful husband that Lucy Eunice raised eight sons and one daughter.  Her husband as a large land owner and farmer, relied on those sons to become caretakers of their properties and to carry on the family ethics of hardworking, Christian and community minded citizens.

The first born, and my direct ancestor was Ichabod Byrd, and although there is a question as to the exact date of his birth was born  about 1782.  Because he is the Direct Ancestor and the link to the next  generation of Pittmans in Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors, his 'Profile and History' will be last in the list of Second Generation Pittmans.

That brings us to Marshall, the second son, third great uncle and father of  eleven First Cousins 4xRemoved.   His given name of Marshall was his mother Lucy's maiden name and bestowed in honor of her father the Reverend Daniel Marshall.  He shared that namesake honor with  brother Daniel, ten years younger.  Marshall was born in March 1783 in Franklin County, Georgia, most likely at home on the property his father had earned for his service in the Revolutionary War.  His birth would have been remarkable and memorable as he was one of the first children born in the newly formed county.

Franklin County, located in Northeast Georgia was the first county established in the state after the American Revolution.  At that time members of the Lower Cherokee Indian tribe lived there until the Treaty of Augusta established the land claim from the native residents.   The county was named after Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Franklin.  Marshall's father Ichabod was no doubt one of the first settlers to make a claim to the heavily forested land that was covered with mainly oak and hickory trees which were cleared for large tracts of land devoted to agriculture.

At age 29, Marshall married 19 year old Priscilla Ann Harden on November 17, 1812.  Two years later on July 7, 1814 his brother Jefferson married Priscilla's sister Rachel making their combined 17 children 'Double Cousins' with 9 sons to carry on the Pittman name.  Marshall and Priscilla's  eleven children were all born in Georgia.  Several of their sons headed west to Arkansas and Nevada, son Calvin died at age 15, and son John died at age 41 on June 18, 1865, a casualty of the Civil War.  His biographical sketch will be presented in the Civil War section. 

Marshall and Priscilla were residents of Macon, Georgia in the years after their marriage in Columbia County.  Sometime after the birth of their last child, a daughter, the family moved to Mississippi.  The reason for the move West has been documented by earlier family historians as a way of protecting the property rights of their daughters.  At the time, these rights were better protected by Mississippi statues than those of Georgia.  This change to an out of state residence was common among wealthy land owners.

Priscilla died in January 1845 in Mississippi.  She was 52 years old, and Marshall was 62.  Her death took a toll on Marshall, and not long after he returned to Georgia.  The last years of his life were fraught with bouts of erratic behavior as described in a letter written by his niece Abigail, daughter of his brother Daniel.

 In 1914 she wrote to her Pittman cousin, "Your grandfather Marshall was immensely wealthy and lived in Macon, which is a hundred miles south of here.  He was a southern cotton planter and buyer and his wife, Aunt Cilla, said he went wrong.  I remember when he passed our house and she begged my father to persuade him to buy a farm near us on the Chattahoochee River, but they could not do a thing with him.  He seemed to quote scriptures all the time, and was down on Masons and Methodists.  He was as fine a looking man as you ever saw.  He was well educated and talented but got wrong, his daughters said...or he would have never left Mississippi." (this in part letter submitted to ancestry.com on July 23, 2010)

Marshall Pittman died on September 14, 1861 in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia, where he had been confined in the Milledgeville State Hospital.  He was interred at the Central State Hospital Cemetery #2...Find A Grave Memorial. 

Through out his life and to the very end, Marshall's one constant was

his namesake minister grandfather Marshall's legacy of devotion to the scriptures.

Beaver Dam Creek Land Grant Leads To Soldiers Fortune

With his casualty discharge papers and 'Land Grant' abstracts in hand, John Ichabod made his way home to Kiokee Creek.  Waiting for him there were his mother, sisters, and Lucy Eunice Marshall. 

In time, after recovering from his wounds received on the battlefield,  John traveled to Franklin County and his Bounty Land Grant of 287.5 acres on Flat Creek which later was known as Beaver Dam Creek.  He filed his Grant with Franklin County, and the original is now in the Georgia Dept. of History and Archives.

John Ichabod and Lucy Eunice were married in 1781, two years after his discharge.   There is some question as to the place they were married as some records indicate they were married in Richmond County, near Kiokee Creek where both of their parents resided in 1781.  Another source claims they were married in Windsor, Connecticut where Lucy was born, and where she and her father the Reverend Daniel Marshall had relatives.

During the first year of their marriage, at least, they resided in Richmond County where their first son, Ichabod Byrd was born.  By 1783 the couple had moved to Franklin County, presumably having established a home on the Bounty Grant land.  Their second son Marshall was born in March 1783 in Franklin County.  A year later a third son, John was born, but records show him as born in Gwinnet County.

Again, Franklin County Records indicate John sold some of the Land Grant acreage to neighbors, and as late as 1821 his name is associated with land transactions of Beaver Dam Creek, although his name does not appear on the Extant Tax Lists.  Finally in 1821 and Executor's Deed gives a new boundary for the John Pittman Property and is granted to the descendent of one of the early neighbors.

In 1788, John is recorded as a Magistrate Judge in Richmond County which confirms the change of residence as early as 1784 when son Marshall was born.   It is known that he later sold his Bounty Land Grant property in Franklin County along with other land in Washington and Wilkes Counties and moved to Gwinnet County between Pinkneyville and the Chattahooche River. A Ferry across the Chattahooche River was called Pittman's Ferry and Pittman's Crossing on the Southern Railroad was well known.

After son John, the rest of the Pittman children were born in Gwinnet County.   Altogether, eight sons and one daughter were born to the union of John and Lucy Pittman.  They spent the rest of their lives in Pinkneyville, Gwinnet County, and at the time of his death, John Ichabod was one of the richest men in the state of Georgia.  He resided with his son Daniel N. at the time of his death on December 12, 1831.  Lucy Eunice died ten years earlier on October 17, 1821.  It is believed they were both buried in The Pittman Cemetery near Pinkneyville.  However, their gravesites are in question and therefore, their Find A Grave Memorials are registered at The Mount Carmel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Norcross, Gwinnett County, Georgia.  A rather ironic twist of fate for a Baptist Preachers Daughter and  the son of a Baptist Deacon.

Fourth Great Grandfather A Continental Freedom Fighter

Headquarters, Savannah, Georgia 19th August, 1778
The first Battalion is ordered to march to the western frontiers, as soon as possible; those in Savannah must be sent to Augusta immediately, and Lt. Colonel Harris will give the necessary directions for having the remainder who are to the southward marched after them. As the laws of self preservation will justify the measures, such of that battalion who are prisoners of war are ordered to be armed, for the purpose of securing helpless and innocent women and children from the scalping knife of the bloody allies of the British King.
By order of Commander Colonel Samuel Elbert
2nd Georgia Battalion, Continental Army

From: The Collections of the Georgia Historical Society Vol. V. part 2 Order Book of Samuel Elbert, Colonel and Brigadier General in the Continental Army, Oct. 1776 to Nov. 1778

The order given by Brigadier General Elbert for the 2nd Georgia Battalion to be sent to Augusta immediately, set into motion Private John Ichabod Pittman's march into battle against the British King and his bloody allies.   As a soldier under the command of Colonel Elbert and Captain George Hancock, it is probable he saw action at The Battle of  Kettle Creek, a major encounter in the back country of Georgia, near what would become the Pittman Plantation in Wilkes County.  That February 14th of 1779, the Continentals decisively defeated and scattered a Loyalist force that was on it's way to British-controlled Augusta. 

The 2nd Georgia Battalion under Col. Elbert met the British again in the Battle of Brier Creek.  On the afternoon of March 3, 1779, the Continental Army camp was warned of the approaching British, and hurriedly deployed about 900 troops with a short supply of ammunition and varying muskets.  They finally arrived at Brier Creek and positioned their troops in the center formation with a North Carolina regiment to their right and a large gap and the river on the left.  The British engaged with long range artillery forcing the Americans to split ranks and advance into the British Calvary and foot soldiers armed with bayonets.  Outnumbered and armed with only muskets, the Patriot Militia broke and ran without firing a shot.  The North Carolina regiment fired a few shots and then abandoned the fight.  Col. Elbert's 2nd Georgia Battalion held formation in the center while the militia around them fled for the swamps, and were eventually surrounded, forcing Elbert to surrender.  Two hundred of his re-enforcement troops arrived too late, and withdrew before getting caught in the surrender.

In the aftermath, the British counted five dead and eleven wounded.  The devastation of the Americans was never fully tallied, as many militiamen retreated all the way back to North Carolina, and an unknown number drowned in the swamps.  The British claimed that 150 American bodies were found on the battlefield, and 227 captives were taken, mostly from Colonel Elbert's Continentals.

Several months after the Battle of Brier Creek, Private John Ichabod Pittman's name was among the names on the 'Casualty List' in Augusta.  The extent of his injuries is not known, but he survived and  was among the Pittman Revolutionary Soldiers to receive land grants for their service in the Sons of Liberty Militia and the Continental Army.  He was discharged in September 1779 as a result of his injuries.

John Ichabod Pittman  was 28 years old at the end of his service in the Continental Army.  He lived a long and prosperous life on the 287.5 acres from the land grant and other Georgia land he bought and sold throughout his life.   His descendants continued to farm and raise families on those properties as well as continued to serve the State of Georgia, the Confederacy, and the United States Armed Forces in World War I and II. 

The Colonial Period for Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors has been a genealogy dream come true with the discovery of  Fifth Great Grandparents John and Mary Polly Rowe Pittman.  The events of their lives in conjunction with the historical events of their time has enriched my knowledge and appreciation for Colonial America, The Revolutionary War, the History of Georgia, and my Ancestors.  

"Yesterday the greatest question was decided... and a greater question perhaps never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states."
John Adams, Letter to his wife, Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776

Pittman/Carroll/Marley Family Tree on Ancestry.com

 ~ Public ~ Membership required to view.

John Ichabod Pittman, Jr. Profile...HERE

The Second Generation

 

John Ichabod Pittman as son of the First Generation of Pittmans in America has been established in that periods history and referenced numerous times.  His early years are as described in the previous accounts of his brothers Buckner and James Greene.  Their migration from Virginia through South Carolina and settlement in Georgia are documented in the earlier writings of the Pittman Colonials.  Although, John Ichabod was born and raised in the Colonial Period, as our Direct Descendant, he will stand as the first of 'The Second Generation of Georgia Pittman's.

 

Lucy Eunice Marshall's early years have also been written about and closely connected with the Pittman Family as a result of religious ties between her father, Reverend Daniel Marshall and John I. Pittman Sr., father of John Ichabod.  Their association and lifelong friendship have been written about in length in this account of Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors.

 

With that said and their background firmly established in the Colonial Period,  we will begin

'The Second Generation' of Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors with

John Ichabod Pittman ~ Private Continental Army

Second Georgia Battalion

Commanded by Brigadier General Samuel Elbert

Revolutionary Soldiers Monuments

Erected A.D. 1967

In Loving Memory of

Soldiers of the Revolutionary War

John Pittman 4th Art. ACG. S.C.

SONS

Bunckner - VA. Troops

John Jr. 2nd Bat.

James - Lt. GA.

Phillip & Timothy

*****

WAR of 1812

John Green Pittman

Maj. 53rd Bat. GA. Militia

*****

Sarah Christian Pittman

James Gresham Maddox

Guard Andersonville Prison CFA

*****

Chas. Wm. Gresham Maddox

Clara Melissa Stark

by Maddox Descendants

 

 

Bronze Marker of the United States Daughters of the War of 1812

Secured through the efforts of great-granddaughters of James Greene Pittman.

Honoring John Pittman and Sons - Revolutionary War

James Greene Pittman - War of 1812

Erected in the Pittman Cemetery ~ Madison County Georgia

John Pittman - 5th Great Grandfather

John Ichabod Pittman -4th Great Grandfather

James Greene, Buckner, Phillip and Timothy Pittman - 4th Great Uncles

John Green Pittman - 1st Cousin 5xRemoved
 

"We have therefore to resolve to conquer or to die. Our own, our country's honor, calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion; and if we now shameful fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us then rely on the goodness of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny mediated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a freeman contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth."

George Washington - General Orders, July 2, 1776

Colonial Will and Summary of 1700's Ancestors

State of Georgia, Richmond County

I, John Pittman, being in a low state of health, but in perfect sense and memory give and bequeath my estate, as followeth, both real and personal.

I give and bequeath unto my wife, Mary Pittman, my Kiokee plantation of 200 acres of land, and Tony and Jack during her life and widowhood, and then I give and bequeath the said plantation of land unto my well-beloved son Timothy, and the two Negroes to be equally divided among Grace Pittman, and if they die without heirs the land and Negroes to be divided among my five youngest children.

I give and bequeath unto my well beloved son Phillip Pittman 200 acres of land in Wilkes County.

I give and bequeath unto my well beloved daughter Patty Pittman 100 acres of said tract.

I give and bequeath unto my well beloved grandson, Jesse Pittman, 100 acres of the same tract.

I give and bequeath unto my well beloved son, Buckner Pittman, one shilling.

I give and bequeath unto my well beloved son, John Pittman, one shilling.

I give and bequeath the rest of my estate to be equally divided among my 7 youngest children, Mary Rogers, James Pittman, Patty Pittman, Zilpha Nobles, Phillip Pittman, Timothy and Grace Pittman and them that have received beds, the other to be made equal out of the estate, and the rest divided, only James Pittman is to be paid 25 pound Sterling.

I leave my well beloved son-in-law Peleg Rogers and Phillip Pittman whole and sole Executors of my estate this being my last will and testament as Witness my hand and seal this 19th day of April 1782.

Signed:  John Pittman

Attest:  William Courson, Zachariah Marshall, James Simson

Execution and Subsequent Events of John Pittman's Last Will and Testament

(in order as named in the will)

~John Pittman died three years later, to the day of signing his will at age 58.  Wife Mary Polly Rowe lived out her life on the Kiokee Plantation.  She died on May 1, 1810 at the age of 80 years.  It is believed that she and John were buried on the plantation.

~Timothy Pittman lived in Columbia County as late as 1816, most likely on the land left to him in said Will.  He married Sarah Lazenby  on Feb. 21, 1796...they had twelve children.  In the 1850 Census his residence was Randolph County, formerly Columbia County, presumably the Kiokee Plantation.  He died in 1854 at the age of  87.

~Phillip Pittman was granted 287.5 acres of land in Washington County, Georgia for his service in the Revolutionary War even though, if records are correct, he was only 10 years old.  Other than his father's will his name does not appear again until is marriage to Espie Jasper 1792 in Jackson County, Georgia.  In 1820 he lived in Wilkinson County and later at the time of his death at age 74 he resided in  Bainbridge, Decatur County, Georgia.  It is not know at this time if he ever lived on or sold the land in Wilkes county he inherited from his father's estate.

~Patty Pittman married David Langston in 1791 taking her dowry of 100 acres in Wilkes County to the marriage.  Her story:  Colonial Daughter's Dowry 100 Acres of Cherokee Land.

~Jesse Pittman was the son of Buckner Pittman from his first marriage.  His mother died in childbirth, and Jesse was raised by his grandparents when Buckner left Georgia for Kentucky.  He married Jincie Garrett in 1790 and fathered at least twelve children.  In 1820 and 1830 Census he was listed in Wilkinson County, Georgia.  At the time of his death in 1836, he was in Yalobusha, Mississippi, where several of his children resided including Samuel Moon and Buckner Pittman.  Buckner having been named after Jesse's father who eventually settled in Missississippi.  The Wilkes County land inherited from his grandfather John appears to have been passed down through Jesse's descendents who remained in Georgia.

~Buckner Pittman was bequeathed one shilling, which converts to under $10 in today's (2013) market.  Buckner having left Georgia and settled in Mississippi after his service in the Revolutionary War in Kentucky, most likely never returned.  As the oldest son and apparent heir to his fathers estate, his son Jesse was given his inheritance.  Buckner's stories:  Colonial First Born Son and Revolutionary Soldier,  Pennsylvania to Kentucky In A Flat Bottom Boat, The Patriot and The Pennsylvania Farmer's Daughter.

~John Pittman was also bequeathed only one shilling.  Due to the fact that both of his older sons John and James Greene Pittman were granted land for their service in the Revolutionary War and had become what was considered at the time wealthy land owners in their own right, they were not in need of an inheritance from their father.  John Ichabod Pittman's one shilling was, it seems, simply a way of recognizing him as a descendent.  John Ichabod married Lucy Eunice Marshall, the daughter of Rev. Daniel Marshall and one of John and Mary Polly's most beloved friends.  John Ichabod and Lucy Eunice's story as our Line of Direct Descendants to follow.

~Mary Pittman Rogers, wife of Beloved son-in-law Peleg Rogers.  Their story:  Colonial Daughter Weds for Love. 

~Zilpha Pittman Nobles was the seventh child of John and Mary Polly.  She was married to Blanton Nobles at the time of the Will's writing.  She later married Simon Peacock.  Her story:  Colonial Daughter's Biblical Name Prophecy.

~James Pittman was the third born child of John and Mary Polly.  His 25 lb. Sterling inheritance converts to about $40 in todays (2013) market.  As stated earlier James Greene Pittman was a wealthy man in his own right.  Georgia history and records make him the most Notable of John and Polly's children.  His story:  Colonials Third Son A Georgia Soldier, Statesman and Judge.

 

John and his wife Mary Polly Rowe moved from Virginia to Edgefield District, South Carolina about 1770 and later to Georgia, settling in the part of St. Paul's Parish that became Richmond and then Columbia County.  He left a will in Richmond County, where he died April 19, 1785.  He and his five sons were Revolutionary soldiers.

John Pittman was of Scotch-English descent.  He lived in Bucking ham County, Virginia then moved to Edgefield, South Carolina.  Prior to 1770 he moved to St. Paul's Parish, Georgia and settled on Kiokee Creek.  His plantation was located in that portion of land later named Richmond County and in 1790 was cut off and named Columbia County, Georgia.

John Pittman and some of his children were charter members of Kiokee Baptist Church, the first Baptist church established in Georgia.  (Kiokee Baptist Church established by Reverend Daniel Marshall, father of Lucy Eunice Marshall Pittman, wife of John Ichabod Pittman). 

John Pittman enlisted on December 18, 1778 in the 4th Artillery Regiment of South Carolina, commanded by Col. Barnard Beckman.  He served as Matros in Capt. Harmon Davis's company.  Five of his sons also saw service in the Revolutionary War.  While they were in service, the Torres invaded their home and Mary Pittman was thrown from the front steps and crippled for life when she tried to resist the invasion of her home.

John Pittman's name is last borne on the roll for the period from November 1,1779 to January 1, 1780 with remark:  "Paid to Jan 1, 17__," and signed "Col. F.C. Ainsworth, USA."  (See National Numbers DAR 36513, 87362, 178600). 

From the book: 

Pittman Descendants of the Revolutionary Soldier John Pittman 1725-1784

by Lynne Pittman Selzer

(listed on Amazon.com as 'out of print-limited availability')



Millicent's Son ~ Minister of the Scriptures

Throughout the early history of my Colonial Georgia Ancestors, Religious Freedom played a significant role in their lives beginning with their migration from the Virginia to Georgia. Passionately devoted to the early Baptist Separatist Theology, the sons and daughters of John and Mary Polly Rowe raised their children in the same vein of what would prove to be a dominate force in their spiritual and daily lives.

So it would be for John and Mary's grandson, Elisha Coleman.  Elisha was born four years to the month after the death of his grandfather John, and although he didn't experience his  grandfather's passionate Baptist beliefs, he was strongly influenced by his mother, Millicent, John and Mary's fourth daughter.

Elisha was born on April 2, 1789, the fourth child of Jonathan and Millie Pittman Coleman.  His older siblings were brothers Charles born in 1786, and Jesse and Joseph who from all indications of their birthdates were twins.  Elisha would become the older brother to fifteen younger siblings among them another set of twin brothers

His parents were founders and Charter Members of The Bark Camp Baptist Church in Burke County, Georgia on land that once was hunting and grazing land of the Indian Nations.  After the Indian Treaty of 1763 people moved into the area in large numbers.  The church was organized in 1788, even before George Washington was elected president.  It was a center of worship, culture and hospitality in one of the oldest settlements in Burke County. 

Elisha remained a faithful member of Bark Camp Church for 52 years.  During those years, his father Jonathan was buried in the churches cemetery along with his older brother Charles.  His mother Millicent, would join them in a matter of years.  His calling to the ministry in 1841, moved Elisha and his family to Emanuel County, Georgia where he joined the Old Canoochee Church.  After a few years of his service there, he went on to build his own church in Swainsboro, Emanuel County Georgia on land surveyed by and deeded to Elisha's older brother Charles Coleman.  Charles had obtained a grant from the state of Georgia and deeded a part of the tract to Nathaniel Daniels who in turn made a deed to the church dated October 16, 1849.  The Hawhammock Baptist Church continues to be an active part of the community today.

His obituary stated:  The church has lost her brightest light, and the county one of it's best citizens, ever ready to lend the helping hand to the needy and distressed.  His theme was to hear and expound the Scriptures.  ~The Christian Index, Feb. 13, 1861~

Reverend Elisha Coleman died on October 30, 1860 and was buried in a cemetery named in his honor, Elisha Coleman Cemetery in Swainsboro, Emanuel County, Georgia.  His life and service are well documented in Georgia history, and now in 'Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors'.  Reverend Elisha Coleman's branch in our family tree puts him as 1st cousin 5x removed.  His mother was my 4th great aunt, sister to my direct ancestor and 4th great grandfather John Ichabod Pittman, Jr.

Elisha's mother, Millicent 'Millie' Pittman Coleman's story.

Colonial Daughter Raised In The Revolutionary War

Colonial Daughter Raised In The Revolutionary War

From the day she was born until the day she married, Millicent 'Millie' Pittman lived in the turmoil of the Revolutionary War.   Born February 3, 1766 to John and Mary Polly Rowe Pittman, her birth coincided with the much anticipated Repeal of the Stamp Act.  Her father and brothers along with other Virginia colonists, were actively involved in the Sons of Liberty and the resistance to the British Taxation without Representation.

The following month of her birth  in March, the Stamp Act was repealed by the British Parliament.  The colonists victory was short lived, however, when Parliament  followed the repeal of The Stamp Act with the Declaratory Act of 1766.  This act provided the British with a broad mandate to impose laws, and taxes on the colonies as it had done with the Irish in 1719.  The Declaratory Act of 1766, along with other imposed tax acts in the following months drove the American Colonists closer to the Revolution.

In 1784 with the Revolutionary War officially over and the Treaty of Paris ratified by Congress, Millie married Private Jonathan Coleman of the Burke County Georgia Militia.  At thirty-four years of age, Jonathan was sixteen years older than young Millie when they married.  Her youth, however was in her favor as she gave birth to 17 children over a period of  30 years.  Of those births there were two sets of twins. 

Millicent and Jonathan lived most of their lives in Burke County Georgia where they were known for their devotion to their family and their church.  They were charter members of the Bark Camp Church organized in 1788, before George Washington was elected president. 

Both Jonathan and Millie are buried in the Bark Camp Church Cemetery.  Jonathan died at age 74 on January 13, 1825 and Millie at age 72 on December 30, 1838.  Their oldest son Charles is buried there as well.  He died in 1831.

Their son Elisha Coleman followed in his parents faithful Christian life and became a minister.  He was a member of the Bark Camp Baptist Church until 1832, when he moved to Emanuel County and began his ministry in 1841.  Some years later he built Hawhammock Church and remained there until his death in 1860.

He is buried in a cemetery named after him, Elisha Coleman Cemetery in Swainsboro , Emanuel County, Georgia.

 

Millicent 'Millie' Pittman Coleman was the only daughter of John Pittman NOT mentioned in his 'Will'.

Colonial Daughter's Biblical Name Prophecy

 Zilpha was the seventh child of John and Mary Polly Rowe Pittman.  Of their twelve children, daughter number seven appears to be the only child given a really uncommon name.

Their other children had relatively simple and traditional names like Martha, Grace, Timothy, and Lucy...so how and why Zilpha?  Several of their children had names found in the Bible like John, Sarah, and Mary, which was not surprising as John and Mary Polly were devout and passionate Baptist Seperatists and naming their seventh daughter a Biblical name followed the established trend.

In the Bible, Zilpha was the handmaid of Leah and the concubine of Jacob. Her sons Gad and Asher were the founders of two of the twelve tribes of Israel. It is Hebrew in origin and means dropping or sprinkling. 

Zilpha was born January 16, 1762 in Amelia, Virginia. She was a young girl during the American Revolution. Her father and brothers were soldiers and Virginia Patriots. Zilpha was with her mother when the Tories raided their home and threw Mary Polly off the porch leaving her with a broken hip and a cripple for the rest of her life. 

Zilpha's first marriage was to Blanton Nobles from Edgefield County, South Carolina, with one child, a son, Theodore, born to the marriage.  She is named as Zilpha Nobles in her father John's will written and sealed on April 19, 1782 which casts some doubt on the date of her second marriage to Simon Peacock and puts into perspective the following account of Blanton Nobles.

In 1780, Blanton Nobles, age 18, was listed in the service of Loyalist Colonel John Fisher's Regiment, Orangeburgh Militia, under the command of Captain Joseph Nobles Company.  Captain Nobles was killed in action that same year leaving his son Joshua and nephew (?) Blanton without their leader.  The following year in September 1781, Blanton and Joshua defected from the Loyalists Ninety-Six Brigade/Stevensen's Creek Militia of South Carolina over to the rebels also known as the Sons of Liberty, of which Zilpha's father John and brothers Buckner, John, James and Phillip were active members. 

After the birth of their son Theodore, Blanton disappeared...according to Nobles Family History documentation.  It is thought that he re-invented himself as Beland Nobles and started a new life in Orangeburgh, South Carolina.  Dates are not included here as they are highly speculative and in direct conflict with dates from the Pittman Family history that are historically documented and correct.  In summary, it is probable that Zilpha and Blanton were married sometime in 1781 after his defection from from the Loyalist.  The birth and subsequent history of their son Theodore is not documented in Zilpha's  history...unless...he became Barnabas T. Peacock born in 1782.

Zilpha and Simon Peacock had 10 sons and 4 daughters.  The last child, son Washington born in 1801 would have been just two years old when his mother died at the age of 41.  Simon lived until 1831 and died in Wayne County, North Carolina at the age of  78.  He and Zilpha Pittman Peacock are the Patriarch/Matriarch's of a long and well documented line of Peacock descendants in North and South Carolina. 

As it turned out Zilpha's parents were prophetic in the naming of their seventh daughter.

Like her namesake, whose sons became the founders of Two Tribes of Israel,

 Zilpha's sons became the founders of Ten Tribes of Peacocks.

Colonial Daughter's Dowry 100 Acres of Cherokee Land

I give and bequeath unto my well-beloved daughter Patty Pittman 100 acres of land in Wilkes County.

Martha Patsy, referred to as Patty by her father, was the sixth child of John and Mary Polly Pittman.  She no doubt was very close to her parents, having been with them until she was thirty years of age. 

She was likely the one to care for her mother after the Torries attack on their home while her father and brothers were off fighting on behalf of the Sons of Liberty during the height of the Revolutionary War.  The Torries ransacked the log cabin and Mary Polly was thrown from the porch while defending her home and children.  She suffered a broken hip which left her a cripple for the rest of her life.  Patty was about fifteen at the time.

On April 9, 1791, at the age of 31, Martha Patsy Pittman married David Langston and brought to the marriage her dowry of 100 acres in Wilkes County.  Wilkes county was unique among the early seven counties in that it was formed from land ceded in 1773 by the Creek and Cherokee Nations in the Treaties of Augusta.  With it's location on the Savannah River, it was considered prime land, and the owners were fortunate indeed. 

Patsy and David Langston spent most of their 47 years of marriage in Georgia.  They had four children with the oldest Etheldred born in Virginia in 1796, and Mary, Isaac and Frances born in Georgia in  1797, 1892 and 1803 respectively.

David died on Christmas Eve, 1838 at the age of 75 and is buried in Cherokee Corner Cemetery in Oglethorpe County, Georgia next to his daughter Mary who died at the age of 25 in 1822.  Her headstone inscription an eerie prediction...

The debt of natures paid.

My grave you see:

Look: reflect, and prepare

To follow me.

John Pittman's beloved daughter Patty, outlived all but one of her children,  and all but one of her siblings. Her death was recorded in Madison County, Georgia Death Register with cause of death listed as Old Age.  She died in March 1850 at 90 years of age.  She was laid to rest beside her husband, daughter Mary and daughter Frances who died in 1825 at age 34.  Martha Patsy's son Isaac died six years after his mother at age 56.  Records indicate that Martha Patsy and David had only one grandson by their oldest son Etheldred.

Daughter Mary's Tombstone's inscription may have set the tone for the those who followed all to quickly.

Colonial Daughter Weds for Love

Mary Ann had the typical Colonial upbringing with two older brothers and an older sister, Lucy. She followed in her sisters footsteps in learning the domestic lessons of colonial girls and was herself a big sister to seven younger siblings. This meant that she was well prepared for becoming a wife and mother when the time came for what she hoped would be marriage for love...unlike her sister Lucy's somewhat arranged marriage.

She knew Lucy was fond of Peleg.  He was a fine man, and would be a good provider, and their children would be the links for two closely tied families to be joined together for many generations to come.  With Lucy's marriage, Mary would be free to look for love in a union that would also be blessed by her parents.  By the age of twenty years old, Mary Ann had not found true love.  Little did she know that true love would come from tragedy and a family obligation she once thought was not hers to fulfill.

In the aftermath of her sisters tragic death, Mary Ann, her parents John and Mary, and the youngers were in a state of shock and devastation.   The mourning was twofold for the bridegroom to be, Peleg Rogers.  He had lost his future wife and mother of his children, and it was his fault she was dead.  He was seriously wounded, inconsolable, and bent on revenge.  Mary Ann's nursing and compassion for Peleg touched him deeply.  Her admiration and respect for him grew into something more as he recovered.

It would be eight years of courtship before Mary Ann Pittman and Peleg Rogers would marry. 

Revenge for the death of Lucy was first and foremost on the minds of Peleg and Lucy's brothers Buckner and John along with many of the Colonial Sons of Liberty.  Despite his mourning and injuries, the next month after Lucy's death, Peleg gave a rousing and passionate speech on behalf of the Virginia Sons of Liberty to the First Continental Congress.  His personal tragedy and the attempt on his own life by the British, added fuel to the already outraged colonials over the British Crowns Proclamations and Intolerable Tax Acts levied against the Colonies.

In the following years, Peleg and Mary Ann would be caught up in the Colonials Pre-Revolutionary War events and support for the Continental Congress during  1774-1775.  With Patrick Henry's "Give me Liberty, or give me Death", the Virginia Sons of Liberty were thrown into the beginning of the American Revolution.  John Pittman and sons, Buckner, John Ichabod, James Greene, Phillip and even young Timothy served in the Virginia, Georgia and Kentucky Regiments. 

Lucy's memory and Mary Ann's promise to wait for him sustained Peleg Rogers through the war.  In March of 1781 with the adoption of the Articles of  Confederation, and the surrender of Cornwallis, Peleg and the Patriot Colonists were hopeful the end was near.   One year later the Preliminary Articles of Peace set the stage for the Treaty of Paris which formally ended the American Revolutionary War in 1784.

 In May 1782, Mary Ann Pittman became the wife of Peleg Rogers.
They married for LOVE.

A historically based creative writing...Mary Ann and Pelegs love story based on family history research.

Colonial Daughter of Liberty

John and Mary Pittman had seven daughters with first born daughter Lucy born in 1750 and seventh daughter Grace in 1773.  With seven daughters and five sons, the Colonial Pittman Family was very interdependent on each other, and like most colonial families, were God-fearing and tight-knit with family life centered around religion and hard work.

Unquestioned obedience was expected of children and their life of working for the good of the family began at a very early age.  Girls were trained by their mothers to help with cooking, gardening and learning how to make soap, candles, clothing and blankets. 

Their education revolved around learning The Bible, and the necessary skills to provide and care for the family.  Boys in particular were taught reading, writing and numbers for the purpose of record keeping for farming and family  interests.

Among the many skills girls learned was spinning, weaving and knitting which were essential to the production of clothing and blankets.  Women and girls hatched, combed and spun flax for thread, and for woolen yarn they separated, cleaned, oiled, carded, combed and rolled the fleeces in preparation for spinning.  Bleached in the sun and dyed with a mixture of herbs and berries, yarn was knit into coarse stockings, caps and woolen fabrics for coats, hats and blankets.

Colonial Pittman Daughter~My 4x Great Aunt 

Lucy Pittman...Born June 4, 1750 in Amelia County, Virginia, second child of John and Mary, brother Buckner was two.  Lucy did not get to be the baby for long as another brother, John Ichabod was born in 1752, and by the time she was four a sister, Mary Ann was born.  As the oldest daughter Lucy was big sister and care taker of her eight younger siblings.

Lucy was a young woman in the pre-Revolution days, and no doubt was influenced by her father and brothers' political views as Sons of Liberty.   Colonial women supported their husbands views and disdain of England by boycotting British goods and forming sewing and knitting groups like the Daughters of Liberty.  It was possibly her involvement in support of the Revolution and her impending marriage that led to her early demise...which is undocumented and therefore purely speculation.

However, it is known that in April 1774, a military uprising in Williamsburg, Virginia called the Gunpowder Alarm became a concern for the Pittman men as members of the Sons of Liberty.  This incident along with the British Crowns Proclamation of 1763, the Currency Act and the Sugar Act set in motion the plans for the First Continental Congress.  The Sugar Act most directly inflamed the sensibilities of colonial women with the heavy taxes on imported household staples as well as textiles and indigo.

At the time, Lucy was engaged to a man whose family was close friends and immigrant travelers on the same ship from England with her grandparents John and Elizabeth Pittman.   Her fiance' was an outspoken and passionate patriot in support of the First Continental Congress which was set to meet in September of 1774.  The couple planned to marry in August and then travel to Pennsylvania arriving in time for her new husband to speak on behalf of the Virginia Sons of Liberty before the Continental Congress.

Although, the couple had known each other all of their lives and were compatible, the marriage uniting the two families would solidify their merging estates and religious beliefs for generations to come.  On the day of the wedding, Lucy sat beside her groom as he drove the team of horses down the rutted road to the frontier church. 

They arrived to a large crowd of happy family and friends who were preparing for the day of celebration when a contingent of British Militia emerged from the surrounding wooded area firing their muskets at the wedding party with intent to kill the Patriot Groom.  He was wounded.  His bride to be fell into his arms and with her last breath declared her love for him.

Lucy died on August 11, 1774...she was 24. 

 
A historically based creative writing...bride and groom story based on family history research.

Photos:  Spinner...Decoupage Wood Plaque  Colonial Woman...Painted Metal Etching

From the collection of CollectInTexas Gal


Pittman Family Statistic Charts

Colonial's Third Son A Georgia Soldier Statesman and Judge

Son of John and Mary Polly Rowe Pittman

Brother of

Buckner Pittman

Phillip Pittman

Timothy Pittman

John Ichabod Pittman

James Greene, his Father John and four Brothers were soliders in the Revolutionary War where James rose to the rank of Lieutenant.  When Georgia fell into the hands of the British, James Greene returned to Virginia the state of his birth. 

July 2, 1781 Marriage To

Martha Patsy Taylor

Daughter of James and Nancy Owens Taylor

Family Lineage of

President Zachary Taylor

In September 1788 James Greene, Martha and three children born in Virginia, returned to Georgia.  Documents of Letters and Land Grants show that he owned large tracts of land in Franklin County which in 1796 became a part of newly formed Jackson County, Georgia.  In 1812 a portion of the Pittman land was made part of another new county, Madison County.   He also owned a large tract of land in Wilkes County, Georgia where the Pittman Family home once stood, but was destroyed by fire.

After the war, James Greene took an active role in the affairs of Georgia.  In 1796 he represented Jackson County at the 1795 Convention.  He returned to the 1798 Convention, again as a Representative of Jackson County which has been referred to as *the largest and ablest that ever assembled in Georgia.  They formed the Constitution that was not materially changed until after the War between the States.  *Historian George Smith.

James Greene Pittman State of Georgia Appointments

Judge of the Inferior Court of Jackson County - June 21, 1796

by Gov. Jared Irwin

Captain in the Jackson County Militia - Oct. 13, 1798

House of Representatiaves 1797-1799

Commissioner of Jackson County Academy - Feb. 11, 1797

In 1812 Jackson County was divided and Madison County was formed. 
Commissioner of Madison County Academy - Nov. 6, 1812

Legislative Representative for Madison County

Militia District of Madison County Honoree

Dist. named for James G. Pittman

James Greene Pittman died on Christmas Day, December 25, 1850 at the age of 94 years. 
He is buried in the Pittman Cemetery in Madison County, Georgia.
James Greene Pittman Memorial - Find A Grave Website
PITTMAN CEMETERY
Donated By
LIEUTENANT JAMES PITTMAN
1845
FROM HIS ORIGINAL U.S. GOVERNMENT
LAND GRANT SIGNED BY
PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON FOR SERVICE
IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Erected In Memory of Lieut. Pittman
By His Descendants
1953
Find A Grave Memorial and Photos by Leigh Williams Kitchens
4X Great Granddaughter of James Greene Pittman

Martha Taylor Pittman, wife of James Greene died in May 1850, seven months before his death in December.  During the summer of 1850, he had his slaves build a rock wall enclosing her grave and that of his daughter Martha and her husband, Abner Wells.  James Greene's grave is marked with the Bronze Marker of the United States Daughters of 1812 and with the Government Marker of the Revolutionary War.  This was secured through the efforts of two of his great -granddaughters in 1912. 

James Greene and Martha Patsy Taylor Pittman Children

John Green Pittman  1782-1873

Pleasant Owen Pittman 1784-1849

Martin Hughes Pittman 1786-1836

Sir James Pittman 1788-1848

Elizabeth Alice Pittman 1790-1850

Nancy Sarah Pittman 1792-1830

Lucinda Pittman 1794-1864

Timothy Franklin Pittman 1797-1883

Sarah Ann Pittman 1798-1854

Martha Diana Pittman 1801-1890

Noah Washington Pittman 1803-1890

Teresa Pittman 1807-1888

Elizabeth Ann Pittman 1822-1888

 

Acknowledgements

Ancestry.com Public Document

Judges James Greene and John Greene Memorial Presentation

Find A Grave Memorial

Leigh Williams Kitchens

The Georgia Historical Society's

Index To US Census of Georgia for 1820

 

James Greene Pittman

4X Great Uncle

of

Sandra Sue Pittman, Author

Tracks of My Texas Ancestors