Family of William West, Sr.

(This person can be viewed within the Melton/Sharp Ancestry Chart by clicking here)

 

 

1.  CAPT. WILLIAM1 WEST, SR.1,2,3 was born Abt. 1715, and died 1780 in South Carolina3.  He married (1) UNKNOWN3.    He married (2) MARY UNKNOWN4. 

 

Notes for CAPT. WILLIAM WEST, SR.:

THE FOLLOWING INFO TAKEN FROM "SOME SOUTHERN COLONIAL FAMILIES, VOL 2, DAVID A. AVANT, JR. 1982"

 

Capt. William West, Sr. was in the 96th District, South Carolina, Little Saluda Area in 1778-1779 according to "The Jury Lists of South Carolina, 1778-1779", pp 81-99......1)Nathan Melton   2)William West, Sr. (Savannah)   3)William West, Jr.   4)Robert Allen   5)Josiah Allen 

 

COMMENT:  Old 96th Dist., Saluda Area, adjoins Orangeburgh Dist., North Part and both are on the Georgia state line.

 

1790 U.S. Census, Orangeburgh Dist., South Carolina-North Part: Head of Family:  William West...1 adult male...2 males under 16....3 females.....no slaves

 

S.C. Archives, Colonial Plats, 6:190.....29 Apr 1756 - By precept dated 5 Aug 1755, surveyed for William West 250 acres on Little Saludy...in Berkley Co.

                   7:348   18 Jan 1763 - by precept dated 7 Dec 1762, surveyed for William West 250 acres on Little Saludy

 

S.C. Archives, Royal Grants, 9:268     13 Oct 1759 - granted to William West 250 acres of land on Little Saludy adjoining lands surveyed for Conrad Kinsler.

                  11:95    18 May 1763 - granted to William West 250 acres of land on Little Saludy.

 

S.C. Dept of Archives, Edgefield Probate, Box 47, No. 2029, "Entered in Will Book, A:46....Last Will and Testament of William West, "Of South Carolina, in the district of Ninety-Six, Planter...."

 

         14 Jul 1799 -      To my beloved son, William West, the plantation on which he now lives containing 150 acres.....

            To my son, Thomas West, the plantation on which he now lives, "Being part of the tract belonging to Nathan Melton...."

            To my son, James West, I give and bequeath a piece of land lying on Persimmon Creek, on Edisto....where he formerly lived and now run by Thomas Clark.....

            To Martha Cox.......four cows and calves......

            To my grandson, Charles Leperd, a cow and a calf......

            To my daughter, Nancy Myers, one good riding horse.....

            To Mary [Doty?] one shilling sterling.....

            To my daughter, Sarah Leperd, one cow and calf......

            To my daughter, Elizabeth Allen, three sheep and likewise to my grandson, Jesse Allen, I give one heifer and calf.......

            To my daughter, Betty West, one good feather bed, a cow and calf, and a young horse or mare......

            To my daughter, Presiller West, one good feather bed, a cow and calf, and one horse or mare......

            To my daughter, Patience West, one good feather bed, a cow and calf, and one horse or mare......

            Likewise to my wife, Mary West, two cows and calves, one horse, bridle and saddle, one feather bed for her to remain on the plantation for her widowhood.....

            Likewise to John West, Joseph West, and Jacob West my plantation on which I now live and likewise two negroes, Judy and Jack.....

 

      Executors:  My sons, William West and Thomas West and my wife, Mary West.

      Witnesses:  John Warren, William Melton and John Cook

      Proved by oath of John Cook 18 Mar 1780 before Russell Wilson, J.P.

      Recorded Edgefield Co., S.C. September Term 1792.

 

COMMENT:  The above abstract of William West's Will is from a copy of the original.  The date of recordation in Edgefield County Court has been claimed by error as the date of probate that actually occurred in March, 1780, 12 years earlier.  It is apparent that William West lived on Little Saludy, in Old 96 Dist., in that portion which became Edgefield Co. in 1785.

 

It is now evident that the Will had been held in the "Unrecorded Wills: among its "Loose Papers" by the Clerk of Edgefield Co. (which it had inherited from "Old 96") because it had been proven by only witness, John Cook, and needed at least the oath of one other witness to prove and record.  This was finally accomplished by a Didimus dated March Term 1792 to "Any Two Justices of the Peace in the State of Georgia to take the Examination of William Milton [Melton] on Oath...."  As on of the witnesses.  On the 25 of Aug 1792 William Melton, being duly sworn, on his oath, deposed that he was present 14 July 1779 when William West signed his Will.  Certified by Thomas Houghton, J.P. and Lewis Lanier, J.P. at Greensboro, in the County of Greene, State of Georgia.

 

In Sumner's "History of Newberry Co., S.C.", pg. 394, he states that "William West was the earliest known settler in Ninety-Six Dist., S.C., living in the section which became Edgefield and died in 1780."  Pope, in his new "History of Newberry Co., S.C." 1:9 in a footnote refers to "Journal of the Council, 1755, pp 32-34" and gives a list of the men who signed a petition for a troop of Rangers to protect them from Indian Raids in 1755, which included the signature of William West.  These signers were the inhabitants of Saludy, Enorre and parts adjacent.  It is generally believed that the first settlers in this area arrived about 1745 to 1750 except for a few scattered Indian traders.

 

S.C. Council Journal, British Public Records Office, p. 262.....

      5 Aug 1755 - "Read the Petition of William West, dated 4 July 1755, humbly setting forth that the Petitioner had five persons in his family for whom he never had any warrant or survey or grant of land in this Province....Ordered that 250 acres on the Branches of the Little Saluda be surveyed for William West...."

 

Capt. William West, Sr. and his growing family migrated to S.C. before July 1755 (possibly ca. 1750).  Capt William West, Jr. was born in Virginia, according to the "Ledger Diary of William A. Melton".  This writer observes that William, Sr. may have lived in N.C. before moving to S.C.  There is no positive proof as to this at this time.  We are able to estimate that he must have been born ca. 1715 or thereabouts from the fact that his daughter, Elizabeth (West) Allen was born ca 1740, which dates are subject to correction.  If the birth year of 1715 is approximately correct he would have been 65 years of age when he died in 1780.  So, this date cannot be too far wrong.  When he died, his wife was named Mary and it is proven that she cosigned deeds of sale of property in 1770.  It is not proven whether she was a second wife or the only wife, but since William had at least 15 children, it is more likely the former.

 

William West may have migrated from Edgecombe County, North Carolina, to Edgefield County County, South Carolina.

 

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From: page 116 of "Twenty-One Southern Families"

 

... the "great grand-father" of William A. Melton (i.e., grand-father of William Sr.) was Capt. WILLIAM WEST who moved from Virginia to SC, that William WEST's sons were William A, Thomas and James by his first wife, and Arter and Joseph by his second wife, that William WEST was his ancestor on his mother's side.

     

Children of WILLIAM WEST and UNKNOWN are:

              i.   ARTHUR WEST 5,6.

              ii.   JOSEPH WEST 7,8.

             iii.   BETTY WEST, b. Abt. 1775, South Carolina; d. Abt. 1820.

 

     

Children of WILLIAM WEST and MARY UNKNOWN are:

             iv.   PATIENCE2 WEST, b. Abt. 1737, Edgefield, South Carolina; d. June 17, 1798, South Carolina; m. CHARLES GARY; b. 1733, Prince George County, Virginia; d. July 18, 1808.

 

More About PATIENCE WEST:

Burial: Bush River Cemetery, SC

 

             v.   WILLIAM A. WEST9,10, b. Abt. 1740, Virginia; d. 1785, South Carolina; m. JANE UNKNOWN, Abt. 1770.

 

More About WILLIAM A. WEST:

Residence: 1778, his farm, Saluda, Saluda Co., SC

Will: February 14, 1785, Abbeville Co., 96th District, SC

 

More About WILLIAM WEST and JANE UNKNOWN:

Marriage: Abt. 1770

 

             vi.   ELIZABETH WEST 11, b. Abt. 1740; d. November 07, 1805, Richmond County, Georgia12; m. ROBERT ALLEN III 13,14, 1761; b. Bet. June 1734 - May 1735, Hanover County, Virginia; d. August 03, 1801, Richmond County, Georgia15,16.

 

            vii.   THOMAS WEST17, b. Abt. 1745; d. Abt. 1810.

 

More About THOMAS WEST:

Residence: 1779, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina

 

           viii.   NANCY WEST, b. Abt. 1745; d. Abt. 1810; m. UNKNOWN MYERS.

             ix.   JAMES WEST 17, b. Abt. 1750, South Carolina; d. Abt. 1820.

             x.   MARTHA WEST, b. Abt. 1750, South Carolina; d. Abt. 1820; m. UNKNOWN COX, Abt. 1775.

 

More About UNKNOWN COX and MARTHA WEST:

Marriage: Abt. 1775

 

             xi.   SARAH WEST, b. Abt. 1750; d. Abt. 1820; m. UNKNOWN LEPERD, Abt 1770.

 

More About UNKNOWN LEPERD and SARAH WEST:

Marriage: Abt 1770

 

            xii.   MARY WEST, m. UNKNOWN DOTY.

           xiii.   PRISCILLA WEST, b. 1755; d. 1820.

           xiv.   JOHN WEST.

            xv.   JACOB WEST.

 

 

 

Endnotes

 

1.  Pope, Thomas H. 1913-, History of Newberry County, South Carolina,  (Columbia: University of S.C. Press, 1973), page 394, William West , who  died in 1780 was the earliest settler in the Ninety Sixth District, South Carolina, living in the section which became Edgefield.

2.  Harper, Elizabeth Pryor, Twenty-One Southern Families: notes & genealogies,  (Patricia Freeman, Compiler & Editor), page 116.

3.  Avant, David A., Jr., Some Southern Colonial Families Vol. II,  (L'Avant Studios, Tallahassee, Florida).

4.  Avant, David A., Jr., Some Southern Colonial Families Vol. II,  (L'Avant Studios, Tallahassee, Florida), Book shows William to have had two wives, but doesn't give names for either wife.

5.  Harper, Elizabeth Pryor, Twenty-One Southern Families: notes & genealogies,  (Patricia Freeman, Compiler & Editor), page 116, Shown with the first name of "Arter" in this book, the book doesn't point out this name as a spelling error, as does the Avant book.

6.  Avant, David A., Jr., Some Southern Colonial Families Vol. II,  (L'Avant Studios, Tallahassee, Florida).

7.  Harper, Elizabeth Pryor, Twenty-One Southern Families: notes & genealogies,  (Patricia Freeman, Compiler & Editor), page 116.

8.  Avant, David A., Jr., Some Southern Colonial Families Vol. II,  (L'Avant Studios, Tallahassee, Florida).

9.  Harper, Elizabeth Pryor, Twenty-One Southern Families: notes & genealogies,  (Patricia Freeman, Compiler & Editor), page 116.

10.  Avant, David A., Jr., Some Southern Colonial Families Vol. II,  (L'Avant Studios, Tallahassee, Florida), Referred to several times in this book, William is shown with a middle initial "A.". At other times, the book shows him as "William Jr.", or simply "William".

11.  Avant, David A., Jr., Some Southern Colonial Families Vol. II,  (L'Avant Studios, Tallahassee, Florida), In this book, a statement is made that it is unclear which of the two wives of William West was Elizabeth's mother.

12.  "Mississippi Bible Records, Volume 6," Mississippi Genealogical Society, Shows year of death and location.

13.  Harper, Elizabeth Pryor, Twenty-One Southern Families: notes & genealogies,  (Patricia Freeman, Compiler & Editor).

14.  Avant, David A., Jr., Some Southern Colonial Families Vol. II,  (L'Avant Studios, Tallahassee, Florida).

15.  1782 Personal Property Tax List for Henry Co, VA.

16.  "Mississippi Bible Records, Volume 6," Mississippi Genealogical Society, Shows year of death and location.

17.  Harper, Elizabeth Pryor, Twenty-One Southern Families: notes & genealogies,  (Patricia Freeman, Compiler & Editor), page 116.