Descendants of William C. EVERITT

William C. Everett Linked to the Northumberland County, Virginia Everett Family

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UPDATE: DECEMBER, 2003

For years, many of the descendants of William C. and Mary C. (Lewellen) Everett have been curious about and/or actively researching to find answers to questions about William's ancestry. Who were his parents? Did he have siblings? How long had the family been in this country? Where did they come from? Finally, this year, with the aid of the internet, modern science and old fashioned research, answers to some of these questions are finally being answered.

Some Background
It was known that William was born in Virginia sometime in the late 1780s to around 1790. The precise date of February 8, 1788 was often listed in family histories but this date could not be supported by any original documentation. It was also believed that he served in the War of 1812. This was verified when a copy of his pension application was obtained from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This application provided the first clue as to his origins in that it indicated he enlisted at Richmond Court House and served at the North Farnham Parish church (photos below). Both of these are located in Richmond County in what is known as the "Northern Neck" of Virginia. Check these web sites for maps of the Northern Neck: 1 2 3 4 5

First Hint
Birth records from the North Farnham Parish exist from the time of William's birth, but there is no record his his birth contained within them. There is, however, one Everett family listed in those records as having children born during that time period. Their names were William and Winifred Everett. The research again stalled here until it was discovered that the oldest child of William and Winifred, John Everett, was also listed in the birth records of St. Stephen's Parish in neighboring Northumberland County, Virginia.

Salt Lake City Find
During the Spring of 2003, about the time the dual birth records for John Everett were found, our cousin, Beverlee Stuart-Borok, was planning a visit to the extensive Latter Day Saints genealogy research facility in Salt Lake City. It was there that she discovered that other children born to William and Winifred Everett were recorded in the St. Stephen's Parish records as well, some of which were listed in the North Farnham Parish records, and some not. One of those that was found only in the St. Stephen's Parish records was a son named William Conway Everett, born February 23, 1786.

Children of William and Winifred Everett
From the two sets of records, a list of known children of William and Winifred Everett can be compiled, as follows:

John Everett, born February 10, 1783
William Conway Everett, born February 23, 1786
Thomas Everett, born November 4, 1788
Sarah Everett, born February 10, 1792
Rawleigh Everett, born August 29, 1795
Charles Simmons Everett, born October 17, 1798
Bettey Nut Everett, born February 25, 1802

Wanted - Proof
Further proof was needed to verify that our William C. Everett was the same person as William Conway Everett. Other evidence, such as the naming of a daughter "Winna Jane" by William C. and Mary Everett, possibly after William's mother, Winifred, and the fact that William's War of 1812 service was in the same county where a number of his supposed sibling's births were recorded is not enough to prove the case.

Everett DNA Project
During 2002, a project was started by the editors of an Everett family newsletter, "Everett Generations", to examine various Everett family lines using modern DNA testing. This test, simply put, examines a set of 12 points on a male's Y chromosome, obtained from a swab of the cheek. The results of the test are then compared to those of other males with the same last name. An estimate of the probability of a common male ancestor, and the number of generations to that ancestor, can be made. An exact match at all 12 points generally means the two men have a common male ancestor within the last few hundred years.

Our cousin, Thomas B. Everitt, was one of the first to contribute a sample to the project, the cost sponsored by our reunion fund. Not long after Beverlee's trip to Salt Lake City, a sample was found that matched Tom's.

The web page of the newsletter editors can be viewed here. There is a link on the page to the current results of the Everett DNA Project.

To find out more about the use of genetics in genealogy, visit the Family Tree DNA web site.

Matching Sample
The June 2003 issue of "Everett Generations" contained an article written by Robert Lewis Everett about his Everett ancestry in Virginia and an earlier query in the newsletter had indicated that Mr. Everett had traced his family line back to Northumberland County. Mr. Everett was contacted and a copy of his book, "The Everetts of Albemarle County Virginia" was purchased. On reading the book, it seemed very likely that this was the same family that our William C. Everett would connect with. Mr. Everett was asked if he had submitted to the DNA test. He had not, but was considering it. After a few months went by, Mr. Everett's results were available, and found to be an exact match to Tom Everitt's.

Robert Lewis Everett's Ancestry
Mr. Everett has done an admirable job of tracing, to the best of his ability given the records that exist, his ancestry as follows:

Robert Louis Everett (born 1928,Oroville, CA - living)
Father: Charles Joseph Everett (born 1896, Upland, VA - died 1946, Feather Falls, CA)
Grandfather: John Coleman Everett (born 1862, Albemarle Co, VA - died 1935, Charlottesville, VA)
Great-Grandfather: Charles Denny Everett (born 1806, Lewis Co., KY - died 1877, Albemarle Co., VA)
2nd Great-Grandfather: John Denny Everett (born 1772, Lancaster Co., VA - died 1848, Lewis Co., KY)
3rd Great-Grandfather: Thomas Everett (born 1745, Lancaster Co., VA - died 1772, Lancaster Co., VA)
4th Great-Grandfather: John Everett (born abt 1705, probably Lancaster Co., VA - died abt 1757, Lancaster Co., VA)
5th Great-Grandfather: Thomas Everett (born abt 1678, Northumberland Co., VA - died abt 1736, Lancaster Co., VA)
It is believed that Thomas' parents were likely George Everett who it is thought arrived in Northumberland County in 1656 and was married to Mary Taylor.

Where Does William C. Fit In? (Warning, Speculation Ahead)
It is speculated at this point, based on circumstantial evidence, that William C. connects to the above line through a brother to John Everett (1705-1757) by the name of Rawleigh Everett. Rawleigh was born about 1710 and died about 1757. He left four sons, Leroy, John, William and Simmons (Simeon). It is documented that the son named William had a family but no further information has been found. It is speculated that Rawleigh's son, William, may be the husband of Winifred, parents of William Conway Everett.

Captain Everitt Visited by a Cousin in 1895?
One of the reasons for compiling all of the references to the Everitt family from early issues of The Chronicle was to look for possible mentions of unknown relatives visiting or corresponding with known family members. As it turns out, there apparently was such a mention that has recently come to light which has provided additional evidence that William C. Everett is indeed William Conway Everett, son of William and Winifred.

The September 19, 1895 issue of The Chronicle contains the following bit of information: "Mrs. Martha Balmer, Herman Waddy and wife, of Washington D. C., who had been visiting Capt. W. D. Everitt near Vienna departed for home yesterday morning." Who were these people? Relatives? War acquaintances? After several false starts at answering these questions, another attempt was recently made. The name Waddy, or Waddey, is found associated with the Northern Neck of Virginia so this line was pursued without any luck. Then it was discovered that Mr. Waddy's wife's maiden name was Palmer. It was further discovered that her mother's married name was Martha Palmer (NOT Balmer), so this was a husband, wife and mother-in-law. Then, in a couple of census records, it was found that an unmarried sister of Mrs. Palmer was living in the household by the name of Ann Everett. This meant that Martha Palmer was an Everett. Further research showed Ann to be Charlotte Ann who was apparently the daughter of a Thomas Everett who was living in Westmoreland County, Virginia just across the line from Northumberland County, in 1850. Thomas' age was given as 61 years, exactly the right age to be the son of William and Winifred.

So, from this, it appears likely that Martha Palmer was a first cousin to Captain Everitt and was likely one of the cousins he referred to in his letter of April, 1865 when he said "...I hope to again open a correspondence with my Virginia cousins".

Ancestry of Winifred Everett
A recent visit to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne turned up a record that had led to some information on the ancestry of Winifred Everett, the likely mother of our William C. Everett. First, it was found that her maiden name was Nutt, a name not uncommon to the Northern Neck at that time. Note that "Nut" was the middle name of her youngest daughter, Bettey. Winifred's parents were identified as John and Winifred (maiden name Christopher) Nutt. Note that "Christopher" was the middle name of William C.'s son, Thomas.

Beverlee has looked into the Nutt family ancestry and it appears that the following is Winifred's ancestry, although this information has not been verified:

Father

 

John Nutt born abt. 1707 in Northumberland County, VA
died abt. 1767
Mother Winifred Christopher
Paternal Grandfather Richard Nutt born in England
died 1715 in Northumberland County, VA
Paternal Grandmother Ann (Downing) Nutt born about 1672 in Northumberland County, VA
died in 1718
Great Grandfather William Nutt born in England
died abt 1668 in Northumberland County, VA
Great Grandmother Elizabeth (unknown) Nutt born in England
died in Virginia
Great Grandfather William Downing Jr.

born in Northumberland County, VA
died bef 1712 Northumberland County, VA

Great Grandmother Mary (Nichols) Downing
Great great grandfather John Nutt
Great great grandmother Ann (unknown) Nutt
Great great grandfather William Downing Sr.

died in 1683 in Northumberland County, VA

For a web site relating to the Nutt family, visit here.

For a web site relating to the Downing family, visit here.

The Tutt-Everett War
Apparently, some of our distant cousins were involved in a Hatfield and McCoy type feud in Marion County, Arkansas in the mid 1800s. If, in fact, Rawleigh Everett's son William was the father of our William C., then it was the descendants of William C.'s cousin, Jeremiah Everett, a son of Simmons (or Simeon), that were engaged in this feud. The following links take you to web sites about this "war":

The Tutt, King, Everett War

The Tutt - Everett War

The Everetts of Marion County, Arkansas


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