West Virginia Pioneers
John DEWITT
1758 - 1820 (61 years)-
Name John DEWITT Born 23 Apr 1758 [1, 2] Gender Male Died 14 Jan 1820 Jackson County, West Virginia, USA 
[2] Notes
Jackson County (WV) Hist Soc Mag - April 1979 - History of Grant Dist by HD Somerville:
The first settlement made in Grant district was that of John Dewitt, below Murraysville, in 1807, who erected the first cabin in the area, In the same year came John Boso, Thomas Dewitt, John Powers, and John Coleman. During the next few years, AW Alkire, Adam Alkire, Joel Buffington, Isaac Lockhart, John Nesselroad, Samuel Summerville, Elijah Staats, Thomas Coleman, jr, and several others also settled in the district. The first marriage performed in the district was between William Harrison and Margaret, Daughter of John & Margaret Coleman.
Dewitt Cemetery
Located on a hill on the old Dewitt farm, owned by Clare Polk in 1952, near the junction of Route 2 and the Murraysville road, is an old cemetery known as the Dewitt cemetery, probably one of the oldest in the Murraysville area. Here are interred some of the first settlers of Muses Bottom, including two Revolutionary soldiers, John Dewitt and Charles smith . . . .Some markers..
John Dewitt d.1810
Thomas D Dewitt d.1879 age 90
John B Dewitt b. 1823 d. 1849
Mary A, wife of John Dewitt b. 1825 d. 1848
1790 census Hempfield twp, Westmoreland Co, PA
John Dewitt and wife, age 16+
According to Cheryl Gallagher, John died 14 Jan 1820. From correspondence 9/1998:
I, too have heard that John DeWitt was in the Revolutionary War. In the Grant District Cemeteries Jackson County, WV Tombstone Inscriptions and Genealogical Information, it says "Dewitt, John Departed this life Jan 14, 1820, aged 61 yrs (Revolutionary Service: Pa. Archives (5th Series)Vol 8, pp 380, 421, 426, 435. This tombstone was destroyed by the blasting).'' I found these pages in the PA Archives and there is a John DeWitt listed but how do we know that he is our John DeWitt? (It's a company of the Militia of Northampton County, PA. On a couple of the pages there is a Jacob Dewit and Cornelius Dewit, Jr and Sr
listed. Relatives of this John DeWitt?)
John died in Jan so he wouldn't be on the 1820 census anyhow, however if he died in Jan 1810, he shouldn't be in the 1810!
One source gives his father as Johannes Dewitt, and for a long time I have him connected to this family, but since there is no proof, I am disconnecting him from Johannes.
Person ID I601 WVPioneers Last Modified 29 Aug 2018
Family Nancy CULBERTSON, b. 1770, d. 15 Aug 1841 (Age 71 years) Married Abt 1789 Probably in Westmoreland Co, PA Notes
1790 Hempfield, Westmoreland, PA
John Dewit
1 free white male 16+
1 free white female 16+
John Culbertson is listed next
Mason Co tax list
John Dewitt sr 1811-13-14
1810 Mason, VA
John Dewit
1m 10-15 Alexander?
1m 16-25 John?
1m 26-44 John would have been about 51
2f 0-10
1f 10-15
1f 26-44 Nancy should have been about 40
1820 Mason Co, VA
Thomas Duett (6 people, 1 in agriculture)
Males 0-10: 1; 16-26: 1
Females 0-10: 2; 16-26: 2
John Duett (4 people, 2 in agriculture)
Males 16-26: 2
Females 16-26: 2
Nancy Duett (6 people listed, 1 in agriculture)
males 10-16: 1, 16-26: 1 (
females 10-16: 1, 16-26: 1, 26-45: 1, 45+: 1 (Charlotte, Lydia,
1830 Mason Co, VA
John Duett
males 5-10: 1, 10-15: 1, 20-30: 2, 30-40: 1
females 10-15: 1, 30-40: 1
Thomas Duett
males 0-5: 2, 5-10: 1, 10-15: 1, 30-40: 1
females 5-10: 1, 10-15: 1, 20-30: 1
Revolutionary War Service; PA Archives Vol 8, pp 380, 421, 426, 435
Buried Dewitt Cemetery,
Tombstone destroyed when rocks were quarried out of the bank of the river below the cemetery
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"Jackson County in the Wars"
Revolutionary Soldiers
John Dewitt. A Revolutionary soldier who was the first settler at Muses Bottom in 1811; believed to have been the first white settler in Grant district. He died in 1810. (Date of settlement was 1807, not 1811. . drh) His son, John Jr, is listed in Mason County Tax Lists for 1811-14 and census for 1820. There seems to have been three John Dewitts in that area of the county at that time.
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This sketch taken from "Pioneers of Jackson County", by John House, it appears in the Section "Lower Sandy Valley".
Dewitt Family
The first settler at Muse's Bottom was John DeWitt (some of the old settlers pronounce it Doo-it), who built the first cabin, in 1807.
Soon after, Thomas DeWitt, John Powers, Thomas Coleman, Ellis Nesselrode, and John Boso came. It is not at all certain that these parties all came the same year, but they were all among the very early pioneers.
Where the DeWitts were from is not given, but the name recurs several times in the early history of Mill creek and Sandy, and parties of the same name are still to be found in Grant District. [3]
Children 1. Thomas Dewitt, b. Abt 1790, Pennsylvania, USA , d. 16 Mar 1879, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA (Age ~ 89 years)2. Margaret Elizabeth Dewitt, b. 1796, d. 1823 (Age 27 years) 3. John Dewitt, b. 25 Nov 1792, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA , d. 1 Dec 1840, Grant Dist, Jackson Co, WV (Age 48 years)4. Martha Charlotte Dewitt, b. 14 Aug 1797, d. 7 May 1877 (Age 79 years) 5. Nancy Elizabeth DEWITT, b. 1803 OR 1801, West Virginia, USA , d. 1838 OR 19 Mar 1834, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA (Age 33 years)6. Alexander C Dewitt, b. Abt 1803, or (1805) , d. 19 Feb 1823 OR 1825 (Age ~ 22 years)7. Lydia Dewitt, b. Abt 1804, d. 28 Dec 1884 (Age ~ 80 years) 8. Charlotte Dewitt, b. 1807, Virginia, USA , d. 28 Dec 1884 (Age 77 years)Family ID F215 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Sources