Naming Allen Waits' Father and Half-brother

By Wally Waits

©2016

There is no known documentation that directly ties Allen Waits with his father.  The previous blog article http://www.waitsfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/ identifies two brothers.  This article identifies a half-brother and establishes a link with a proposed father.

Allen lived in close proximity with another Waits between 1830 and 1832.  This was after Allen migrated into Jackson County, Alabama where Allen purchased 153 acres of land from the federal government on 10 May 1831.  This was a pre-emption purchase.

The land office in Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama was only open about once every ten days or so.  During the time Allen purchased his land, deeds were issued on May 2^nd, May 10^th, May 20^th, June 1^st and June 15^th.  Allen purchased his land on May 10^th and a James Waits acquired 80 acres on 1 Jun 1831.  That delay allowed Allen to definitely acquire his property.  Then James was able to identify property near Allen’s land.  The land James chose was adjacent to Allen’s southern boundary.  It seems likely the purchasing of adjacent property implies that a relationship existed between the two.

Just a year earlier, James was a 30 to 40 year old resident of Conecuh County, Alabama in southern Alabama.  He was living in the vicinity where Allen’s presumed brother, Joseph, resided.  James left south Alabama where he was living about July, 1830 and traveled to northeast Alabama where he purchased land adjacent to Allen less than a year later.  If Allen had a strong bond with James, one strong enough to prompt James to migrate 200 miles in order to live close to Allen, this relationship has to be important.

I believe that Allen and James Waits were half-brothers.  They could not be full brothers because James, but not Allen, is listed on an 1855 application for pension benefits filed by descendants of Samuel Waits, a Revolutionary War veteran.  James was listed as the eldest of eight children by the veteran’s wife. 

This list in the pension application mentions no children born before 1796.  Yet, the 1790 and 1800 Newberry County, South Carolina census clearly lists earlier children in Samuel’s household.

Since Allen was born about 1790, he has to be a child of the first marriage.  Therefore, Allen and James have to be half-brothers.  This logic would make the Samuel Waits, the Revolutionary War veteran, Allen’s father.

The Search for Allen Waits' Brothers

By Wally Waits

©2016

Allen Waits, for many researchers, had no family of origin.  That is, it was not possible to identify either his parents or his brothers or sisters.  At last, I begin to part the curtain of the past enough to glimpse some of the family members that surrounded Allen’s youth.

I will explore the search for his brothers. I hoped that it would be a successful search because his brothers would have carried the same surname.  During the search, it was possible to locate two brothers with a reasonable amount of trust because they lived during the first half of the nineteenth century, a better documented era than the century earlier.

My strategy in looking for Allen’s siblings was constructed to take advantage of the common practice of naming children after close family members.  I used Allen’s forename to pinpoint otherwise hidden kinships.  If Allen had been named John or William, this avenue would not work because these Christian names are too common.  But Allen’s given name is not that common.  Even then there was no guarantee that this search would be successful because Allen may not have any nephews named for him.

The technique used involved a search for grown nephews who might be named for their Uncle Allen.  Such adults were expected to be the head of their own family.  Such men would likely have been listed on federal population schedules.  Now that most of these heads of household would appear in an alphabetical index, the search began with the 1820 census.  This was because it was believed to be the first census that might contain a grown nephew named Allen.  That year the only Allen Waits (of any variant spelling) was listed as a resident in Warren County, Tennessee.  And of course we know this is the Allen Waits who was born in 1790 because of his marriage in 1814 in this county.

The 1830 census lists an Allen Waits as living in Jackson County, Alabama.  This again is the 1790 Allen.  All other Allen Waitses listed in the 1830 census live in the northern states and can thereby be ruled out.  A couple of other Waitses were ruled out of the list for the 1820 census for the same reason.

The 1840 and 1850 censuses only list men named Allen Waits who lived in northern states.  The Allen Waits who was born in 1790 died in 1832 therefore cannot be listed on any subsequent census.

The 1860 census finally lists another Allen Waits who lived in the American South who might be a nephew named after the Allen Waits born in 1790.  This second Allen Waits was born about 1814 in Georgia.  This geographical connection fits with the Bible entry that said Allen was from Georgia.  This younger Allen Waits was living in Alachua County, Florida in 1860.  Further research proves that this Allen Waits was the son of Joseph Waits who was born between 1770 and 1774.

This Joseph Waits happened to have had another son named Bolin.  Bolin is an even rarer forename than Allen.  So Bolin was used to locate additional relatives in the census records.  A second Bolin Waits proved to be the son of John C. Waits.  This John C. Waits was born between 1780 and 1785.

These two Waits, Joseph and John C., are believed to be brothers of Allen because of the sharing of uncommon forenames.  The connection between Allen and John C. Waits is enhanced by the following discovery.

The earliest record of Allen Waits (b. c1790) appears on a deed that he witnessed on 22 Dec 1809 in Jasper County, Georgia.  In this deed, Jacob Warbington sells half of Lot #11 to Ellemander Warbington and Samuel Warbington.  Virginia Weeks believes Ellemander and Samuel Warbington were Jacob’s sons.  Slightly over a year later,John C. Waits married Martha Jacob’s daughter, “Patsey” Warbington.  Allen, we can see, was associated with John C. Waits’ future father-in-law thirteen months before John married Patsey.

Jonathan Waits' Birth

By Wally Waits

©2016

Jonathan Waits claimed to have been born in the 1740’s according to the 1830 census.  This date may be incorrect as he was illiterate.  Both the census of 1790 and of 1820, loosely collaborates this date by saying he was born before 1775.

He consistently is associated people who lived in the back country.  He is never listed on documents with the older South Carolina Waight families who lived in the coastal area.  This suggests that he was not born in the colony, but rather immigrated into the colony.

The makeup of Jonathan’s household in 1790 includes four young males and ten females.  If one of the females was the mother of these children and there are no additional relatives residing in the household, it appears that he had thirteen children by the fall of 1790.  This suggest that children began appearing in his household about 1765.

Another way to calculate Jonathan’s birth date is by looking at his military service during the American Revolution.  He joined a British supporting militia in 1780 and had to be at least sixteen years of age to do so.  This indicates that his birth occurred before 1764.

A third indicator of Jonathan’s birth date is based on his acquiring a land grant from the colonial government of South Carolina.  Because he received the grant in 1784 and also had to be at least sixteen years of age to do so, his birth occurred sometime before 1768.

Collaborating census records include an entry for a son, Humphry. This son claimed to be born in 1784 in South Carolina.  This age agrees with the birth of a son in the 1775/1790 time frame.  Unfortunately, the sparsity of information on most of Jonathan’s children prevents a more detailed understanding of Jonathan’s birth.

If Jonathan married in the 1760’s, he likely was born in the 1740’s as reported in 1830.  His wife, who is unidentified, likely was born in the late 1740’s or early 1750’s.  The 1830 census reports a birth in the 1750’s.

Jonathan Waits may have arrived in South Carolina at any time.

Waits - Sanders Bible Records

By Wally Waits

©2016

It is believed that the information originally was recorded in the Bible belonging to George Woodard Sanders.  Being literate, George likely received the Bible upon his marriage to Drucilla Best in 1805.

Unfortunately, the copy of the information extracted from the Bible by Henry Newton Sanders was torn at the top of the page and George and Drucilla’s marriage date does not appear with the remaining information.

But the record of births and deaths of George and Drucilla’s children are recorded in chronological order, suggesting that the information was written contemporaneously. This sequence of vital information suggests that the Sanders Bible dates from at least 1806 when the first Sanders child was born.

The notation about the marriage of George W. Sanders and “Rhoda Waits widow of Allen Waits Sen” proceeds the list of their offspring.  It follows the record about the death of Drucilla Sanders, George’s first wife.  George and Rhoda’s children appear after the notation documenting their marriage.

The next notation is the reference to three more children who did not survive to adulthood probably the last children Rhoda delivered.

On a second sheet of paper are the birth records of Allen Waits and Rhoda Cope and all ten of their children.  At the bottom of the births of Waits children appears the record documenting Allen’s death in 1832.  What is missing is the death record of the youngest Waits child who died in 1848.  This entry should have been in the Sanders Bible and only possibly in the Waits Bible if it still survived that late.

It is possible that this information was recorded in the same Sanders Bible with the records documenting George’s first family.  Or Newt Sanders, the first born child of the second marriage, may have been in the possession of the original Waits Bible.  It is not clear whether the information he is copying in 1904 is derived from one or two Bibles.

The origin of this information is included in the following statement appearing at the bottom of the Bible records:

“Copied from the original record by H. Newt. Sanders of Wesley Ark for Wash J. Sanders of Hindsville Ark this the 3^rd day of Jan. 1904.”  These two pages were photocopied for the author by Mrs. James H. McCoy of Tulsa, OK in 1972.

The following is Larry Bohannon’s transcript of the photocopied pages.  The information was published in Madison County Genealogist, vol. 4, no. 4 (Winter, 1972), page 126.

Page 1

(top of page torn) - - of George W. and Drucilla Sanders his first wife also their names and births

George Woodard Sanders Sen was born in Bedford Co Va Sept 24, 1785

Drucilla Best his wife was born Sept 6 1787

Below is the names and date of Births of their children

Kitty Sanders was born Nov. the 8^th 1806

Matilda Sanders was born Feb 27^th 1808

John Sanders was born Nov 23^rd 1809

Patsy Rice Sanders was born Oct 18^th 1811

George Woodard Sanders Jr. was born Sept 2^nd 1813

Drucilla Sanders was born July 5^th 1815

   And departed this live Jan the 25^th 1816

Levi Best Sanders was born Dec 25^th 1816

Drucilla Banks Sanders was born Feb 2^nd 1819

Polly Holeman Sanders was born March 27^th 1821

William Bobbert Sanders was born Jan 16^th 1823

Samuel Gover Sanders was born Oct 24^th 1824

Charles Burton Sanders was born Sept 14^th 1826

Lockey Sanders was born May 29^th 1828

One More Boy, Born and died in infancy

Drucilla, wife of G. W. Sanders Sen Departed this life Nov 17 1835

G. W. Sanders Sen and Rhoda Waits widow of of  Allen Waits Sen Deceased were married in Alabama in 1836

Below is the names and Birth of the Children born to them [George and Rhoda]

Henry Newton Sanders was born Mar 23^rd 1837

Osina Malona Woodard Throckmorton Jackson Sanders June 22, 1839

Washington Jefferson Madison - - (torn) - - Delalb Co-pe Sanders, Dec 9, 1840

Three more Children - - (torn) - - and one Boy

Page 2

Allen Waits Sen was Born in the State of Georgia A. D. - - (torn) - -

Rhoda Cope was born in Warren Co Tenn Nov 4^th 1800

Allen Waits Sen and Rhoda Cope were married in Warren Co Tenn A. D. 1814

Below is the names and dates of Birth of their Children

Polly Waits was born July 24^th 1815

James Waits was born May 11^th, 1817

Cartrel Bethel Waits was born Aug 2^nd 1818

Allen Waits Jr was born July 20^th 1820

William S. Waits was born Jan. 14^th 1822

Joseph Waits was born Dec. 4^th 1823

Elizabeth Waits was born Jan 12^th 1826

Linea Doran Waits was born Apr 19^th 1827

Rhoda Emeline Waits was born Dec 19^th 1829 (Orig. mis-transcribed by Bohannon as Nov 5^th 1831)

Matilda Jane Waits was born Nov 5^th 1831

Allen Waits Sen departed this life July 29^th 1832

Copied from the original record by H. Newt. Sanders of Wesley Ark for Wash J. Sanders of Hindsville Ark this the 3^rd day of Jan 1904.

(End of transcription)