Thomas Whitted, Esquire, also known as Thomas Whitted Sr., was the progenitor of the Whitteds on this website. He lived in Orange County, North Carolina, and was probably born in the early 1750s. Around 1804 he began buying property for a new plantation, called Mt. Willing, not far from his Whitted Creek property in Orange County. Thomas was also a justice of the peace. He had two wives, the first one’s name is not known. By his first wife he had nine children between about 1774 and 1793. His first wife must have died by 1813, because he married Sarah Kirk, the widow of Lewis Kirk, on 4 September 1813. They had no children together. Thomas died at Mt. Willing 5 August 1820. Most of his children left North Carolina for Indiana and Tennessee.

There has been much research and speculation concerning the ancestry of Thomas Whitted. In Thomas's descendents the name has been spelled Whitted, Whited, Whithed. Some researchers think that Thomas descended from a Robert Whitehead from Isle of Wight County, Virginia. It is easy to see how the name might have changed from Whitehead to Whitted with the spelling and pronunciation at the time. A definite connection has yet to be made. There is also a William Whitted living at the same time and in the same area as Thomas and some researchers feel that the two were brothers. There is no proof of this as yet. There were a number of Whitted families living in North Carolina in the 1700s and 1800s and our Whitted may or may not be related to them. Much more research needs to be done.



Probate records: Thomas Whitted, Esq.:
Thomas Whitted's probate took several years. The file covers 273 pages, including many pages of household items, crops, equipment and slaves that were sold in September 1820.


Children of Thomas Whitted, Esq.:

Robert Whitted, ca. 1774-1839, and Nancy McMullin

Eleanor Whitted, ca. 1777- , and William Gappins

John Wesley Whitted, 1779-1866, and Ruth Allen

Mary Whitted, ca. 1780-1850

James Whitted, ca. 1783-

Thomas Whitted Jr., 1784-1851 and Peggy Lashley

William Whitted, 1787-1840, and Aratha Howard

Joseph Whitted, 1789-1860, and Mary "Polly" Sykes

Ruth Whitted, ca. 1793- , and Richard Howard