James Pittillo

James Pittillo was a Scots Jacobite rebel and expert Virginia woodsman.

Biography

James Pittillo was born between 1690 and 1698 in Scotland. Records in the British Archives of those captured in the Jacobite rising of 1715 and deported to the colonies list James Pittillo as a laborer from the parish of Logierait in the ancient county of Perthshire (or Perth). James Pittillo was captured at the Battle of Preston, tried, and transported on the ship Elizabeth and Anne to Virginia in June/July 1716.

James settled in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia. His name was first found in colonial Virginia records in February 1723/24 when he witnessed the will of Richard Smith. In April 1724, he had surveyed 200 acres (0.8 km2) on the north side of Moccosoneck (presently called Rowanty) Creek in Prince George County, Virginia. In October 1726, he was granted 242 acres (1.0 km2) on Wagua Creek in Brunswick County (Brunswick County was partly formed from Prince George County in 1720.) In 1734, he received a grant for 844 acres (3.4 km2) on both sides of White Oak Swamp of Rowanty. In 1735, he was granted 252 acres (1.0 km2) on Sturgeon Run, land which he later sold in 1742. In 1745-6, he received grants for over 2500 acres (10 km²) on Stony and Moccosoneck Creeks in Prince George County. In all, through land grants and purchases, he acquired over 4,000 acres (16 km2) in the area of Prince George, Brunswick, and Dinwiddie Counties in southside Virginia. His largest land holdings were on the north side of Moccosoneck Creek in the area that was in Prince George County but became Dinwiddie County in 1752 (south of present-day Petersburg).

In 1728, William Byrd II was commissioned to survey the boundary line between the colonies of Virginia and North Carolina. Byrd assembled an expeditionary force of about twenty men whom he considered expert woodsmen and Indian traders. They first set out on 5 March 1728. After six weeks, survey work was halted until September when the weather was cooler. James Pittillo was listed by Byrd as being present for both the spring and fall expeditions. In 1728, James Pittillo was appointed as a tobacco inspector in Bristol Parish. James Pittillo died about 1754 in Dinwiddie County (formed from Prince George County in 1752), Virginia. His wife, Mary, survived him.

Family of James and Mary Pittillo of Prince George County, Virginia

1. James Pittillo was born 25 December 1725 in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia. He married Martha Burge about 1745. He died about 1782 in Brunswick County, Virginia. His widow, Martha, and oldest son James were shown on the 1788 Brunswick County Tax List.

2. Ann Pittillo was born 15 July 1728 in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia. She married James Williams and they made their home in Lunenburg County, Virginia.

3. Henry Pittillo was born 31 October 1730 in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia. This man was not the Rev. Henry Pattillo (later of North Carolina), the famed Presbyterian minister and teacher.

4. Mary Pittillo was born about 1732. She was not married at the time of her father’s will.

5. Lucy S. Pittillo was born 11 November 1733 in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia. She may have married James Moses.

6. John Pittillo was born about 1734 in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia. His first wife was probably a Millington. His second wife was Rachel (surname unknown). John Pittillo died 10 April 1827 in Burke County, North Carolina.

References

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