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.