The Ancestry of
William G. Huitt

Compiled by:
Harvey E. Huitt
Theodore, AL 36582
December, 1994

Revised by:
William G. Huitt
December 2019

The Huitt (var. Hewitt, Huit, Huet, Hughitt) Family

Much of the following information comes from family members in Missouri and Oregon and obtained through research of family bibles, legal documents, and various U. S. Census Reports. Some personal information was obtained through stories passed down from generation to generation.  Additional information was obtain via internet searches.

We believe that William Huitt (or Hewitt) was born about 1735. An interview with his son, John, stated that William lived in Virginia as a child. William lived in Granville County, North Carolina (1769); Brunswick County, Virginia/North Carolina, and South Carolina (ca 1781). He married Tacey Wilkinson (or Wilkerson) in 1778 and they had four to six sons and possibly three daughters. The sons that are definitely known are William, John, James, and Jonathan. Two additional sons are believed to be Solomon and Daniel, but this information is not certain. William and John served in the Revolutionary War with a North Carolina regiment (see documents).

William took his family to Washington County (1785) and Wilkes (now Franklin) County, Georgia (1788). He then moved to Washington County, Missouri between 1802 and 1805, with his son James. [Note: This was about the time when the Creek Indians were forcibly removed from their lands in this area of Georgia by General James Wilkinson.] This was across the river from his son, John, who had moved to Illinois. He died in Amite County, Mississippi (ca 1810) where he had moved with his grandson, William.

James is the son from which we trace our lineage. Bill Holder and William D. Huitt provided additional information on John and his descendants that is available on the Wikitree Website and Ancestry Website.

James Huitt, Sr. and his wife, Elizabeth Webb, were born in South Carolina. James and Elizabeth spent a few of their early marriage years in Wilkes County, Georgia. There, four sons were born, including Lemuel, father of Elvira S., and Elijah, father of James. About 1804 the family migrated to Missouri. Missouri Land Records show that about 1805 a land deed for about 800 arpens on the Big River, in the District of St. Genevieve, Missouri. The transcript shows that William Reede testified before the Commission, that James Hewitt actually inhabited and cultivated the land, and at the time had a wife, four children and a slave. Nothing more is known of the family, until 1814, when James, Sr. died. In August of that year, court records show that Elizabeth was appointed administratrix of his estate, after an estate inventory had been completed. Several documents relating to the administration and settlement of the estate were filed with the court between that time and 1829. Lemuel and Elijah apparently left home about 1818, as that was the last year Elizabeth had made a claim from the estate for their support. In the final settlement in 1829, Elijah was listed as an absent heir; however, Lemuel had returned to the area, as he is recorded as having received his share.

Lemuel and Elijah must have gone to Arkansas, then a Missouri County, as Lemuel's first born is recorded as having been born there in the 1850 U. S. Census. The family bible records the date as April 2, 1819. Elijah is mentioned in only one researched record after his departure from home. Elizabeth had married Thomas Brock, and in his will, dated 1861, Elijah is referred to as deceased, and his heirs were listed as Susan and James. No records have been discovered for James, who is listed in family records as having been born March 15, 1830 at Fort Smith, Arkansas, until his marriage to Elvira, 17 February 1853, in Crawford County, Missouri. Susan first appears in the 1850 U. S. Census, Marion Township, Crawford County, with the surname of Price, along with four children. The husband is not included.

James and Elvira must have started their journey to California shortly after their marriage, as William C. was born in Rough and Ready, 4 December 1853. He was fond of saying, "I was ordered in Missouri and delivered in California."

On their arrival, James and Elvira established a placer mining claim in Rough and Ready. The Rough and Ready Mining Camp had a population of about 6000 at its peak, and boomed throughout the 1850's.  They apparently lived in a semi-tent structure where 11 children were born over the next 21 years.  By the middle of 1859, the placer mines were becoming exhausted. Additionally, a bad fire destroyed all but about six of Rough and Ready's 300 buildings. It was never completely rebuilt and only a few of its old buildings remain today.

The Nevada County, California Deed Books show that James and Elvira started selling their land in 1865, with the final sale being made in July 1878. They left California and lived in Eugene, Oregon for a short time and then moved to Portland. They bought land from a map and did not know what they had until their arrival on Marquam Hill. They first established a temporary home and then later built a permanent house. The 1900 U. S. Census shows James, Elvira, and son George W. (never married) living at Marquam Hill, Multnomah County, Portland, Oregon.

James died July 1, 1912 in a Salem, Oregon Hospital and the death certificate provided no vital information other than the date. Elvira' died shortly thereafter. They are both buried in Portland, Oregon.

William C. and some of his brothers remained in Rough and Ready. He and Elijah P. are listed in the Nevada County Voters Register for the 1878 elections.

On February 29, 1880, William C. Huitt and Leila Murphy, both residents of Rough and Ready, were married in Nevada County, Calif. Leila's parents were James Ramsey Murphy and Sally (Sallie) Hopkins Allin, natives of Huntsville, Missouri. Both James and Sally are listed in the 1850 U. S. Census, Huntsville Township, Missouri as living with their respective parents. James was then 22, and Sally 15. They were married in Huntsville, October 14, 1852. Their date of migration to California has not been established but it was between 1852 and 1860, as Leila Harper Murphy was born in Auburn, Calif. March 10, 1860.

William C. and his brother James L. Huitt established a homestead and mining claim on the Rogue River about 1880, and called it the Huitt Brothers Mining Co. A story is told that they tired of working the claim and in 1881 turned it over to their cousin Elijah Huitt Thurston Price. A deed on file in Curry County, Oregon shows that the above three were paid the sum of $150 for the claim, and the deed transferred January 18, 1897. It is thought that James and William then returned to California. William C. and Leila returned to Oregon with three children at a later date. Grace, Edward T., and Jessie were born in California; Edith L., Frank W., and James W. were born in Oregon. They lived in several areas in Oregon over the years before finally settling in Portland. The 1900 U. S. Census lists them as living in Big Bend Township, Curry County, Oregon; a postal register shows a registered letter mailed from Marshfield, Oregon to Wedderburn Oregon by W. C. Huitt; and the 1917 Wedderburn School Census includes James W., 17 and Robert, age 4, eldest son of Frank and Lucy Huitt.

William C. Huitt died July 22, 1935 and is buried in a Milwaukee, Oregon Cemetery. Leila Murphy Huitt died July 30, 1945 and is buried in Portland, Oregon.

Frank Huitt married Lucy Irene Dark on January 14, 1913; they had three children: Robert, Harvey, and Francis. Harvey Edward Huitt married Christine Emma Begley on January 15, 1943 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and have three children: William Gregory (b Cincinnati, Ohio, June 8, 1944; Diane Christine (b Portland, Oregon, March 4, 1946; and Michael Kline (b Portland, Oregon, June 24, 1949). William (Bill) Huitt married Marsha Kathryn Anderson (b Mobile, AL, July 15, 1947) and have three children: Kevin Lyle and Geoffrey Alan (b Gainesville, FL, December 3, 1975) and Kathryn Elizabeth (b Valdosta, GA, November 20, 1985).

The Dark/Darke Family

The earliest known ancestor of Lucy Dark is John Darke, born 1590 in England.  His son, William Thomas Darke, born 1622, married Allis (or Alys or Alice) Butcher, born 1623.  They arrived in the colonies aboard the ship "Charles" that sailed from London in 1684.  It was one of the first ships commissioned by William Penn for the Quaker Colony.  They arrived shortly thereafter in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  Their son, John Darke, born 1667 in Chipping Camden in Gloucestershire, England, married Jane Rush, born 1673 in England.  They had 7 children, 5 sons and 2 daughters.

Samuel Darke was born in 1706 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania moved to North Carolina with his wife, Ruth (or Mary) Pope and his son, Samuel Dark, Jr., born 1736 in Pennsylvania.  Samuel Dark, Jr. married Agnes Copeland, born about 1745.  He was a Captain in the North Carolina Tory militia.  They moved to Wilson County, Tennessee, where he died before 1830.  His son, Oliver Dark, born 1776 in Chatham County, North Carolina, married Amy Frances Hayes, born 1775 in Augusta County, VA.  Her family practically disowned her for marrying the son of a Tory officer. They had 10 children, 4 sons and 6 daughters.

Oliver's first-born son, Micajah S. Dark, born 1800 in North Carolina and moved with his father to Tennessee.  He married Elizabeth Dudley, born 1805 in North Carolina, and then to Murray, Kentucky, where several of their 9 children (3 sons and 6 daughters) were born.  Elizabeth died in 1859 in Hickory, Missouri, and Micajah married Nancy Dunlap Guinn, the wife of his best friend, Champion Guinn, who was killed during the pillaging and burning of Osceola, Missouri by Senator Jim Lane of Kansas and 1500 Kansans who was trying to rob the bank and accused the town folk of supporting the Confederates because they tried to stop him.  Micajah Dark rode with Quantrill, the James, and Youngers to Lawrence, Kansas in 1863 in revenge for what happened in Osceola.  After the Civil War, the Kansans, with the help of the Union Army, made a deliberate effort to hunt down and kill all the men who could be identified as having been among the Missourians who burned Lawrence, Kansas.  The Union Army occupation of Missouri ended in 1874 and Micajah Dark was literally one of the very last hunted down.  His wife and children were hiding in the woods nearby with livestock and possessions after they’d gotten word that riders from Kansas were in the immediate area looking for Micajah.  He had had a bit of trouble getting two horses out of the barn.  His little daughter Martha had one of them and barely gotten it into the woods when the riders appeared.  She was hiding in a nearby bush.  They caught her father and beat him senseless while she watched.  She apparently cried out a small cry and they heard her though she had quickly stuffed her fist into her mouth.  They thought about it and realized they were being watched by the family and the cry had been from a child.  So, they slung Micajah’s unconscious body over his own horse, and rode off south toward the river.  He was then shot and dumped in the river and found by others almost immediately who recognized him and notified the family.  

Micajah's son, Thomas Oliver Dark, was born in 1828 in Murray, Kentucky.  He married Clarissa Isabelle Conner, born 1846 in Henry County, Missouri.  She was 13 at the time and had her first child at age 15.  According to Kith and Kin of the Darke-Dark Clan, 1680-1973 compiled by Mary Eugenia DeGroat, Thomas was a Confederate soldier.  They had 10 children (7 sons and 3 daughters). 

Thomas Oliver's son, Horace William (also referred to as William Henry in some accounts), was born in 1861 in Chalk Level, Missouri. He married Effie Estelle Lewis, born 1868 in Danville, Illinois in 1884.  They had 7 children (5 sons and 2 daughters).  He is listed on the 1910 Federal Census as residing in Mulnomah County, Oregon.  

Lucy Irene Dark was born September 5, 1892, in Chalk Level, St. Clair County, Missouri.  She is also listed on the 1910 Federal Census as residing in Mulnomah County, Oregon.  

Interesting Tidbits

Frank Wesley Huitt and Lucy Irene Dark had a common ancestor, Robert Overton Harris (1696-1765). Robert's son James Harris (1722-1992) was an ancestor of Lucy while his daughter, Mourning Glen Harris (1732-1805) was an ancestor of Frank.  Robert Overton Harris's ancestry can be traced to Scottish royalty, including Maldred, Lord of Allerdale, the brother of Duncan I of Scotland who was killed by Macbeth in about 1040.  This ancestry includes royalty from the Picts, the Druids of Wales, and a Roman from 4th century Roman Britannia. 

The vast majority of the Huitt/Dark ancestors left England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland in the late 17th and early 18th century. Most of the Huitt ancestors initially settled in Virginia with the Darkes, as Quakers, settling in Pennsylvania.  There were also McAfee ancestors who initially lived in Pennsylvania. However, by the middle of the 19th century, the Huitt's had moved south to North and South Carolina and then to Georgia, Illinois, and Missouri.  The Darks had move to North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky.  Both sets of families then migrated to California or Oregon.  The majority of descendants from the 1850s continue to live in those two states.

The Begley's and Barger's

The earliest known Begley/Baguley is Robert Baguley, born 1550 in England.  There are several versions of the Begley/Baguley ancestry, but all involve a history of fighting. His son, Hugh Baguley, born in 1580, married Anne Chauntrell, born about 1580 in 1599 in Macclesfield or Prestbury, Cheshire, England.  They had 7 children (5 sons and 2 daughters). 

Hugh's son, Peter, born 1608, was the first immigrant to the colonies.  He and his wife (an unknown Wilkin) had 5 children (3 sons and 2 daughters).  Their third son, Peter Bagley, Jr. was born in 1658 in Isle of Wight City, Virginia.

Peter, Jr. and an unknown wife had 3 children (2 sons and 1 daughter).  His second son, John Bagley, born 1683 in Isle of Wight, Virginia, married Elizabeth Carr, born 1685 in Isle of Wight, Virginia.  They had 5 children (3 sons and 2 daughters). 

John's son Peter, born 1708 in Southwark, Surry County, Virginia, married Elizabeth Perry, born 1716, location unknown. They had 8 children (4 sons and 4 daughters).  

Peter's son, Henry Begley, born 1734 in Albermarle District, Sussex County, Virginia had two wives.  He first married Elizabeth Cook, born 1735 in Virginia.  They had 5 children (4 sons and 1 daughter).  He then married Elizabeth Pearsall, born about 1740 in Succex County, Virginia. They had two children, both sons.

Henry Bagley's second son, Thomas Bagley, born 1757, first married Elizabeth Cox, born about 1768. They had 6 children (3 sons and 3 daughters).  Their first son, John Begley, born about 1790 is an ancestor of my grandfather, Saul C. Begley, Their second son, Henry C. Begley, born about 1792 is an ancestor of my grandmother, Emma Barger.  Thomas then married Elizabeth Piersall; they had 5 children (3 sons and 2 daughters). 

John Begley, born 1790 in Virginia, married Rebecca Stewart, born about 1792 in Stokes County, North Carolina. They had 8 children (5 sons and 3 daughters).  Their third son, John Stewart Begley, born about 1821, was married first to Nancy Davidson and then to Mary Jane Hignite, born in 1827 in Know County, Kentucky.  They had 10 children (7 sons and 3 daughters). John and Mary Jane's first son, John Alexander Begley, was born in Gay's Creek, Perry County, Kentucky.  He married Rebecca Campbell, born 1853 in Perry County, Kentucky.  They had 5 children (2 sons and 3 daughters).  Their second son, Saul C. Begley, born in 1875 in Krypton, Perry County, Kentucky, married his third wife, Emma Barger, born in Perry County, Kentucky, in 1918.  They had 3 children, but only my mother, Christine Emma Begley, born 1919, in Krypton, Perry County, Kentucky, survived past childhood.

Henry C. Begley, born about 1792, in Hawkins County, Tennessee, married Elizabeth Roberts, born about 1792 in Buncombe County, North Carolina.  They had 10 children (5 sons and 5 daughters). Their second daughter, Marinda Begley, born in 1822 in Clay County, Kentucky, married Isaac T. Langdon, born 1815 in Virginia. They had 9 children (4 sons and 5 daughters).  Their second daughter Letha Ann Langdon, born 1846 in Perry County, Kentucky, married Henry Clark, born about 1837 in Kentucky. According to 23andme.com they had at least 7 children. Their daughter, Theresa Clark, was born in 1875 in Perry County, Kentucky.  She married Alfred (or Alford) Barger, born 1874 in Perry County, Kentucky in about 1889. They had 6 children (3 sons and 3 daughters) including my grandmother, Emma Barger, born December 22, 1897, in Perry County, Kentucky.

The first known Barger, is George Barger, born in 1762, in North Carolina. It is thought that the Barger's originated in Switzerland, but that is uncertain.  George married Cahterine Cross, born 1765 in North Carolina.  They had 4 children, all sons. Their first son, Abraham Barger, born 1785 in North Carolina, married Mary (Polly) Bolling, born in 1786 in North Carolina in about 1810. They had 5 children (1 son and 4 daughters).

Their son, Jesse Andrew Barger, was born in 1811 in Saul, Perry County, Kentucky.  He married Elizabeth (Betty) Johnston, born in 1816 in Buckhorn, Perry County, Kentucky. They had 12 children (8 sons and 4 daughters). Their fourth son, Nelson Gay Barger, born in 1843 in Clay County, Kentucky, married Tabitha Davidson, born 1844 in Clay County, Kentucky. They had 10 children (6 sons and 4 daughters).  

Nelson and Tabitha's fourth son was Alfred (or Alford) Barger. He was born in 1874 in Perry County, Kentucky.  He married Theresa Clark, born 1875 in Perry County, Kentucky.  They had 6 children (3 sons and 3 daughters). Their second daughter, Emma, born December 22, 1897, in Perry County, is my grandmother.

Interesting Tidbits

The Barger/Begley lines connect several times to the Pennington and Bolling/Bowling lines. These were both prominent families in the establishment of the colonies.The earliest known Pennington is John Pennington, born 1434 in England. The first to migrate to the colonies was Ephraim Pennington I who was born in about 1620 in Muncaster Parish, Cumberland, England, and died about 1660 in New Haven County, Connecticut. A descendant, Micajah Pennington, was a Captain in the Revolutionary Army.  He was born in 1743 in Rowan, North Carolina.

Micajah's daughter, Mary Elizabeth Pennington, was born in  1765 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. She married Jesse Bolling, born 1758 in Hillsboro, Orange County, North Carolina. Jesse's exact ancestry is still under investigation, but it appears that they are connected to the Bollings who migrated to the Virginia colony in the 1600s.

Rebecca Campbell's mother, Rachail Allin, born about 1828 was also related to the Bolling/Bowlings through her mother, Susan Sizemore, born about 1808 in Kentucky. Her ancestor was William (Blackwater Bill) Bolling, born 1734 in Wilkes County, North Carolina.  He was the brother of Jesse Bolling. Their father, Benjamin F. Bolling, Sr., married Martha Patsy Gibson Phelps. She was born in 1737 in either North Carolina or Virginia. Martha's grandparents were Auther Allen I, born 1602 in St. Andrews Parish, Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, and Alice Tucker Hardy, born 1606 in England. The migrated to the Virginia colony prior to 1627 as their first son was born in t that date in Bacons Castle, Surry County, Virginia.

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