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From: "lynn.bill.king" <>
Subject: [Witherington] James Ware, Capt of 17th Regiment, Miss Militia. <Swore in Ensign William Witherington on 7 July 1813>
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 23:43:50 -0500
RE: WILLIAM WITHERINGTON (Jr.)
Ensign, 17th Regiment, Mississippi Militia 1813
Visit the following web page for info on Captain James Ware of the 17th
Regiment, Mississippi Territory Militia (Jackson County). It was Captain
James Ware that swore in WILLIAM WITHERINGTON as an Ensign in the 17th
Regiment, Mississippi Militia on 7 July 1813.
Again, however, no mention of William Witherington is found on this web
page.
Click on: http://www.rootsweb.com/~jecain/ware080.htm
Bill King
__________________________
SOURCE1: "FOUR CENTURIES ON THE PASCAGOULA" Vol I and II
AUTHOR: Dr. Cyril E. Cain
PUB: The Reprint Company; Spartanburg, SC 29304. 1983
LOCATION: Dallas, TX Public Library CAT#: R976.212 F773
VOLUME I
Page 7 Period of Settlement - Spanish
------
1803 - JAMES WARE settled at Martin's Bluff. Later, under American rule
he was given permission to lay out a town to be known as Jacksonboro.
Page 12 - Mississippi Territory, 1812-1817
-------
1812 - The first civil officers for Jackson county were: Thomas Bilbo,
JAMES WARE, Wheeler Gresham, Benjamin Youngblood and Robert Williamson,
Justices of the Quorum Court; Malcolm Monroe, George Davis and Moses
Collins, Justices of the Peace; Percy King, Sheriff; John Dease, Coroner;
William Bates, Clerk of the Court.
Page 52
--------
...Practically no Spanish settlers came into the province, but Americans
did come in, in such numbers that by the turn of the century there was
considerable agitation for American rule. This was especially true after
the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and with it the belief that Spanish West
Florida was a part of this purchase. The Kemper brothers in 1804 staged
an ill-timed and fruitless rebellion, and this caused the Spaniards to
tighten their regulations concerning land ownership and citizenship.
This is evidenced by a letter written in March, 1804, to Gov. Vincent
Folch by JAMES WARE, who lived at Martin's Bluff. In this letter WARE
asked that he be given more time in which to appear before the governor
at Pensacola to take the oath of allegiance. This was necessary as the
first step toward confirming his title to the land which he had been
permitted to enter some two years before by the alcalde at Mobile. [This
letter is on record at the courthouse in Pascagoula, and the original, in
almost perfect condition, is the property of Miss LIZZIE WARE,
Vancleave.] (note from jec: copy of letter is on p 181.)
Page 55 - The Election of 1813
-------
...The other remarkable thing is the distance some of these men traveled
in order to cast their ballots. JAMES WARE lived at WARE'S Bluff, now
known as Martin's Bluff, and John Cumbest lived just across the river
from him at what is now Moss Point. If they went up the west side of the
river, they had to cross ferries on Bluff Creek, Red Creek, Black Creek,
and probably the river, a round trip on horseback or on foot of over
sixty miles, just to vote.
WARE and Cumbest had both lived under Spanish rule, with no voting
privileges, and were showing their appreciation. Also, the
representative was the only county officer elected, the others being
appointed by the legislature; hence the choice of a legislator determined
all officers.
>>>>>Page 69 Militia Organization<<<<<
-------
Jackson Countians as Commissioned Officers:
14th Regiment organized for Mobile county: Stephen Bradford and Benjamin
Youngblood were captains; Richard Roberts, Benjamin Gresham, and Antoine
Ellis, lieutenants; and LARD WARE, Benjamin Williamson, and William
Mills, ensigns.
17th Regiment organized for Jackson County: The captains were as follows;
1812, JAMES WARE, John Dease, and Benjamin Gresham. The lieutenants:
1812, LARD WARE, Benjamin Williamson, and William Mills; The ensigns:
1816, William Baker, Edward Ball, and W. WARE.
Page 72
-------
Coroners: 1812, John Dease; 1819, JAMES WARE; 1823, Henry Fletcher.
Page 93
-------
When the organization of Jackson and Hancock Counties took place, four
officers of the 14th regiment, which had been organized while they were a
part of Mobile County, were brought over into the 17th Regiment in
Jackson County, probably because they lived in that area. These were:
Lt. Benj. Youngblood, and Ens. LARD WARE, Benj. Williamson, and William
Mills. The 17th Regiment, when its organization was completed late in
1812 or early 1813, had the following officers: Lt. Col. William Bates;
Maj. Thomas Bilbo; Capt. JAMES WARE, John Dease, and Benjamin Gresham;
Lt. LARD WARE, Benjamin Williamson, and William Mills.
Page 98 Jackson and George Countians in the War of 1812.
-------
WARE, LARD, Lt.
WARE, WM.
Page 170
--------
Signers of a petition to the Congress of the United States asking that
the persons who held land under Spanish rule in West Florida be allowed
to keep that land after annexation by the United States. 11 Dec 1816.
Charles Baker John Eubanks Hugh McDonald
James Baker Wm Eubanks John McLeod
Wm Baker Andre Founier A McManus
Edward M. Ball James Garnett John Miller
William Ball Hugh Gillander Wm Miller
Jacob Bang Wm Goff Wm Mills
James Bilbo Joseph Graham John Mizle
Richard Brashears Jesse Graves Wm Mizle
John Brewer, Sr. Wm Hamilton John Mounger
John Brewer, Jr. Chas S Holland Joshua Murray
John Bridges Jacob Holland Aaron Parker
Matthew Carter Bryant Howell Lewis Parker
Wm Carter Henry Hoskins Jonathan Selser
John Clowdess George Hutson David D Smith
Burrell Cochrane Noah N Hutson Ed Smith
Carlton Cooper James Hunt Robert D Smith
Rodney Cooper Hardy R Jernigan L G S Stroud
Wm N Cooper Presley Johnson John Tanner
Wm Davidson Minor Johnston Henry Walters
John Dease Wm Kates James B Wardeen
Walter Denny Joshua Ketes John Wardeen
Sterling Dupree Perry King >>JAMES WARE<<
Isaac Ellison E Lewis George Williams
James Eubanks Abm Lott Edards Williamson
Page 178
--------
Second Report on Land Claims, 1817. All claims of Spanish origin. These
were recommended to be approved:
JAMES WARE, 1804, Pascagoula River, Section 12, T7S, R7W and S3,T7S,R6W.
Page 181
--------
Letter from JAMES WARE to the Spanish Governor at Pensacola concerning
his claim on WARE'S Bluff. [Orders had been issued in 1804 by the
Spanish Governor at Pensacola, Vincent Folch, that required all
inhabitants to among other things, take an oath of allegiance to the King
of Spain and to the Catholic Church.]
(Note from jc: This letter is also re-recorded in Jackson County MS Deed
Book 38-126. The patent issued by US is on 38-129)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To his Excellency _______________ Vincent Folk, Esq.
Governor of the province of West Florida.
The Memorial and Petition of JAMES WARE inhabitant of Pascagoulas
respectfully sheweth
That your memorialist, a native of Ireland, presented himself to Don
Joachin de Orsono commandt at Mobile about eighteen months ago offered to
take the oath of allegiance to his Majesty, in order to cultivate some of
the waste land of Pascagoulas, bringing with him certificates of his
inoffensive & orderly character; in consequence of which certificates the
Commandt was so good as to permit him to settle on a track of vacant
land, with orders, as soon as convenient, to repair to the governor of
Louisiana to take the necessary oaths; which order your said memorialist
has ever since had an intention, & wish, to comply with as early as
possible; the said WARE has on his hand the charge of a weakly wife &
seven children, the biggest of which is a girl under age to contribute to
her own support, & the rest infants or a little better; he has not hither
to been able, thro poverty, to absent himself from the support of this
numerous & helpless family, to present himself to the Governor as he
could wish & was his duty to do; he relied also on humanity & indulgence
of the governor considering the nature of his situation.
But as the syndic of this place is constantly reminding your
memorialist of the necessity of presenting himself to your Excellency to
take the necessary oath, the said memorialist thus lays the situation of
his family before you praying leave to be indulged till autumn when his
crops will be finished. Or if it is consistent that the said oath be
administered to him at some post nearer than that of Pensacola that he
may be permitted to repair there in consideration of the injury to result
to his helpless family by a long absence as would happen in the voyage to
Pensacola.
The said WARE begs leave to state that before settling on this spot of
land he now occupys call the "grande Ecore" he applied to the Syndic to
know if it was vacant, who told him to the best of his knowledge & belief
it was vacant, tho formally occupied, as he understood, by Jean Bete
Boderou, to whom the said syndic referred your memorialist; who answered
he believed the place to be abandoned & that he had no claim against it,
tho his mother had once settled thereon. Whereupon the said WARE has
cleared & improved the place with houses, & fencing at vast labor and
cost, considering his circumstances.
Your Petitioner therefore humbly prays that he may be confirmed in the
property of the said grande Ecore, he paying and performing whatever
might be required of other of his Majestys subjects, & that he may not be
ejected without notice from your Excellency, as he has been informed that
one Fisher of Mobille threatens to eject him, the wife of said Fisher
claiming under a descent from the mother of Jean B. Boderou who had not
only abandoned this place but occupied others & left extensive landed
possessions to her descendants of which Fisher has part.
The Petitioner further begs to be informed if it will be necessary for
him to repair immediately to Pensacola or if he may be indulged for a
time more convenient for the supporting of his family & for him to take
the oaths of allegiance.
s/ JAMES WARE
Inhabitant of Pascagoulas
Pascagoulas
12th June, 1804
------------------------------------------------------------------------A
translation of Governor Folch's letter which was written in Spanish:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pensacola, July, 1804.
It is permitted to the petitioner that he live in the residence and
that he occupy it until the one who believes himself the owner proves
decidedly that he is and two months are given him after the date on which
the decree is issued in order that he may go on foot -(illegible)
s/ Folch
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evidently WARE did not have to give up the place on which he was living,
since his claim is listed some thirteen years later as one that should be
confirmed. Then in 1848 the United States finally issued a patent for
two sections of land, 1280 acres, under the signature of James K. Polk.
(The above letter and the land patent are on record in the Jackson County
courthouse.)
VOLUME II
Page 14
-------
Board of Supervisors - 1874, JOHNSON WARE; 1878, JOHNSON WARE; 1888,
JOHNSON WARE;
Page 16
-------
Justices of the Quorum Court - 1812, JAMES WARE.
Page 18
-------
Justices of the Peace - 1896, JOHNSON WARE; 1912, SAM WARE; 1916, SAM
WARE;
1920, SAM WARE; 1924, SAM WARE; 1928, SAM WARE;
Page 99 - The Georgia Passports
-------
1801. JAMES WARE, wife and family to Tombigbee.
(note from jec: The actual wording is shown below:
Saturday, 31 Oct 1801.
Ordered: That passports through the Creek Nation to the settlements on
the Tom or Don Bigby River be prepared for JAMES WARE and John Deane with
their families. Which were presented and signed. )
1811. NATHANIEL WARE, Abbeville Dist. SC
Page 100
--------
JAMES WARE, of the Rowan County NC Militia, is buried in an unmarked
grave on his home place at Martin's Bluff, to which it took him forty
years to get clear title.
Page 122
--------
Data from census of 1850 and 1860.
WARE, JAMES, Sr. 1806 m Miss
Mary Ann /Fletcher/ 1821 f Miss
Benjamin 1837 m Miss
James 1840 m Miss
Thomas H. 1845 m Miss
Henry 1849 m Miss
WARE, JAMES, Jr. 1827 m Miss
Susan /Fletcher/ 1827 f Miss
Nicholas N. 1849 m Miss
Lard 1829 m Miss
Samuel 1830 m Miss
Johnson 1833 m Miss
Silas 1835 m Miss
Sarah 1838 f Miss
Allen D 1840 m Miss
D K 1851 m Miss
Page 245 - WARE Family Outline
--------
1. JAMES WARE, a Revolutionary Soldier, was given in the Georgia
Passports as coming to the Tombigbee in 1801; was living on the
Pascagoula in 1804; in a petition to Spanish governor he stated that he
had a wife and seven children; also that he was a native of Ireland; he
was a justice of Quorum Court in 1812 and voted in the election of 1813
in Jackson County.
2. JAMES WARE, II, b 1806; m. two Holden sisters and after their deaths
married Mary Ann Fletcher, b 2-28-1821; dau. of Henry and Elizabeth
Fletcher.
3. MIDDY EMMELINE Fletcher, b 10-22-1839; d 2-12-1905; m Rev. John
Thomas Morgan Gregory, M. D., b 2-24-1827 d 1-6-1879; chaplain in
the Confederate Army; both buried Smithville, Miss.
3. CAROLINE WARE, m __________ Abernathy; lived around Tuscaloosa,
Ala.
2. SAMUEL WARE -- named by Miss Lizzie Ware as her grandfather
3. JAMES WARE, III, b 1827; m Susan Fletcher, b 9-26-1822; d 1866;
dau of Henry and Elizabeth Goff Fletcher.
4. AMA WARE, 1855-1926; m James William DePriest, 1846-1926
4. SELEMA WARE, b 1862; m William (Bill) Parker.
4. DORMAN WARE, m Julia Forehand
3. SAMUEL WARE, II died in Civil War.
3. LAIRD WARE, died in Civil War.
3. ALLEN WARE, died in Civil War.
3. JOHNSON WARE, b 3-5-1833; d 11-6-1906; m Elizabeth Williams
4. SAMUEL M. WARE
4. KIT WARE, m Laura Belle Roberts, b 7-31-1876; d 3-1-1949.
4. LIZZIE WARE, never married.
4. SIPPIE WARE, m Joe Riley
4. ELLA WARE, never married.
4. JOSEPH JOHNSON WARE, b 1876; d 4-27-1954; m Carrie Roberts
2. Five other children of JAMES WARE I, in 1804 but names unknown.
[See note below]
------------
Sources of information: Letter of JAMES WARE 1, in 1804; Mrs AMA WARE
DEPRIEST on her uncles in Civil War; Mrs Vida DePriest Solomon; Mrs. J.
C. Evans of Grenada.
------------
NOTE from jec: Further research has determined that three of JAMES WARE
children were probably: LARD (Laird) WARE; WILLIAM WARE; JOSEPH WARE; See
Hinds co. MS, Newton co. MS,
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The following article was found in "Jackson County Genealogical Society"
V4 - #4, P O Box 984; Pascagoula, MS. (Dallas Public Library).
The Pascagoula Democrat-Star
July 13, 1888
Page 3, Column 3
REMINISCENCES
Early Days in Jackson County Mississippi
Editor Democrat Star:
If you can find room in your pages, I will give you a brief history of
my first trip to Jackson County, in 1813. I was then a boy of about
eight years of age; had been to school two years and a half, and was a
fair average boy of my age. My father was told by an old Indian that
this was a very fine country, and he decided to come down. He built a
large boat with two large cypress trees. The boat being ready we left
our home, which was in Wayne County, near where the town of Waynesboro is
now located. Our crew consisted of the old Negro Jack, the old Indian
(who called himself Pushmataha) and myself. That was a trying time, and
the neighbors were on the bank of the river to see us depart. After a
hearty shaking of hands the boat was shoved off. Just as we started Old
Jack broke out with his favorite tune -
"Up Roanoke and down the river,
Two overseers and one pore nigger."
which seemed to revive my spirits, and we got on all right.
We were now coming right through a wild, wilderness country. We had
plenty of sport all the way down. We would see old bears coming down
trees, or with their cubs on sand bars shuffling off for dear life;
droves of deer scampering away, and turkeys by the thousand. Old "Push"
with his old gun would knock one over just whenever he wanted to. Here
let me say more about that Indian. He said he was born on Choctaw Point.
That is about where old Mr. Wm Griffin lives. He was then between 45 and
60 years of age. He was a Choctaw and claimed to be a relative of
Pushmataha, who was the Chief of the Choctaws in the War of 1812, and who
gave 300 of his warriors to General Jackson, and they were with him at
the battles of of the Cowpens and Tallapoosa, which wound up the Indian
war.
We were soon in the Pascagoula River. The first man we met on the way
was McManus. We found him quite a gentleman, and he told us all about
the convention and all their trouble. The next was Thomas Bilbo. Thomas
Bilbo was a man of note in the county, and was in the Legislature when
the lines of Jackson County were established. He was a surveyor, and run
out all those Spanish grants. He was also a boat builder, and supplied
the old settlers with boats, and the Bilbo model is still kept up. Isaac
Ryan, his brother-in-law, lived just below him on the river, and they
were the rich men of the county at that time. They were among the first
settlers on the river. When we came by they were all camping in the cane
brake to keep out of the way of the Indians. Old Aunt Nancy Davis would
have the men in arms at every shriek of the night owl. She would not let
the children cry, though there was not an Indian this side of the Bigby
River.
John Cramer lived at Rice's Bluff. He had a number of boys, one of
whom had just been killed by Mr. Lewis, the grandfather of our present
sheriff. It was said to have been done in self-defense. The next on the
route was Wm. Cates, then JAMES WARE, at Martin's Bluff, and then Pierre
Ladiner, lower down. Those who lived above the line of demarkation (sic)
were in the Territory, and those below were under Spanish authority and
law. Dupre lived just below McManus, and was all the time in a row with
those below him. He wanted to smuggle, but they would push him so close
he could not do it. They met one day out back of Plum Bluff and had a
fight, in which one of the three Davises was killed, the uncle of Judge
Davis.
Coming on down we found Mr. Budreaux, his brother-in-law, Mr. Bang,
and Mr. Lewis, a daring young lawyer from Kentucky. They were on the
West side, Bapt. Delmas, the Krebses, the Rabys, the Elys, the Cumbests
and the Duponts were all on the east side of the river. They all lived
in small houses built with mud and sticks, and nicely plastered with
lime. Their chief occupation was burning lime for the New Orleans
market. Some made tar for the same market. They had three small
schooners to carry their products to market. Capt. Delmas seemed to be
the leading man among them.
Thus we found the early settlement of Jackson County seventy-five
years ago.
Old Settler
--------------------------------------------
Wonder who this is? (Editor)
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