General Notes

PREWITT


Much of the information here comes from Phyllis Hickey-Kay, Carl Edward Bird and the referenced Order Book.

RICHARD PREWITT1

DAVID PREWITT2, I

DAVID PREWITT3, II

He was born in the 1746-51 time frame, perhaps in Virginia. He died after 6 Jan 1806 and probably before 1820 (C.E. Bird states he flourished 1746-1820). The finding of two Davids, Senior and Junior, on the 1807 Knox tax rolls and only one on the 1808 roll probably means that this David died about 1808.

The Virginia Census of 1787, supra, p.635 shows a David Prewit in Franklin County with 2 horses/mules, 5 cattle, no blacks and no white males between 16 and 21. He was not tithable. There was also an Elijah, but because of his age he cannot be the son of David. He may have been in Henry County, Virginia in 1779 and he served in the Revolution as a member of the Virginia Militia. Crozier's Virginia Military Records, 975.5 V817m, pp. 185-189, lists Henry County Militia called to aid General Greene at Hilsborough, North Carolina on 11 March 1781, preparatory to the battle at Guilford Court House. David Pruit was in Tully Choice's Company.

In 1787 he received a grant for 115 acres in Greene County, North Carolina (now Tennessee) on the Little Chucky River. North Carolina Land Grants in Tennessee 1778-1791, supra, p.41.

A David Prewit appears, without land, on the 1802 Knox tax rolls. On the 1803 Knox tax rolls a David appears with 150 acres on the Cumberland and another David appears with no land; abbreviated references after their names may mean Jr. or Sr. On the rolls for 1804 is a David,Sr., with 150 acres and Jr. with no land. In Knox County Order Book A at page 104, by virtue of actual settlement he is given, as Prewit, a certificate for settlement on 150 acres on 7 November 1803; at page 179 he is paid a bounty on 5 Nov 1805 for killing a "woolf"; and at page 189 is recorded a 6 January 1806 entry for 300 acres. He is in the 1810 Knox census. It is probably this David that appears on the 1807 tax roll with 150 acres on the Cumberland River, with one white male above 21, one male between 16 and 21 and three horses/mules.

He married Jane Parrott, in 1770 according to Bird. They had five children.
David Prewitt4. It is highly unlikely that David I ever made it to Kentucky, so the Jr. must be a son of our David, though no source has mentioned a David. On 23 February 1839 a warrant was issued in Whitley County for a David Pruit, on the grounds that he had abandoned his unnamed wife, leaving her destitute and a charge on the county, but it is not certain this was our David. A David appears on the 1807 tax roll with one white male and one horse/mule, and on the 1808 tax roll with one white male and two horses/mules; this is probably Junior.

John Prewitt4. Married Judith DeMoss on 10 Aug 1805, in Knox County. Kozee, Pioneer Families, supra, p.72; Tri- County Knox-Laurel-Whitley Early Marriages, supra, p.74. A John appears on the 1807 Knox tax roll with one white male. A John is listed on the 1808 Knox tax roll with 114 acres on Rockcastle, one white male above 21 and one horse/mule. He is possibly the John Prewitt who held 50 acres on Brian Creek, surveyed 1-2-1833. Whitley County Survey Book 1-169.

Elijah Prewitt4. Our ancestor.

William Prewitt4? (nearby in 1810 census but not in the 1795 census.)

Uriah Prewitt4? He appears on an 1807 Knox tax roll and a 1808 tax list. Knox County Order Book A, p.310.