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French & Swiss Protestants:
From an old manuscript "French and Swiss Protestants who settled in Charleston, on the Santee and at the Orange Quarter in Carolina who desired naturalization". 132 - Noel Royer de Tours, fils de Sebastien Royer et Marie Rendons, ses pere et mere demeurant a Tours et Madelainne Sannier, sa femme, natit de Chateeraulx, fille de Jacques Sannier et Judith Baudon ses pere et mere. Pierre Royer, Madelinne Royer et Marie Royer, leurs enfans nez a Tours. Noel Royer natif de Tours, fils de Noel Royer et Madelainne Sannier. Judith Giton, sa femme, native de la Voulte en Dauphinee, fille de -----Giton et de --------Cottin, ses pere et mere.
Letter:
The name "Cottin" is generally considered to originate from Normandy.
Other French variations are C'ottin and le Cottin. Cotin, Cotton, and
Coton are from the same root. Some researchers believe the Norman names
Coffyn and Coffin also derive from the same root. There was a clerk by the
name of Coffyn in the court of William the Conquerer. The earliest known
example of the name "Cottin" in France was in 1529. There was a Jean
Cottin who held a fief with a mill at Buire in a place called Peronne. All
Cottins in France are considered to be a direct descendents of Jean Cottin.
Cottin family members were involved with several famous banking houses in
Paris before the revolution. According to the book, More Colonial Women - Twenty-Five Pioneers of Early America by Carole Chandler Waldrup, this son migrated to Holland.
Some Authors have somehow concluded that it was Louis Gitton that died in Carolina 18 months after their arrival there. The records clearly show, however, that it was Pierre Gitton that died. Judith Gitton in her letter said that it was her "eldest brother" that died. It was obvious from her letter that the eldest brother was, as would be expected, the head of the family since the father had died before they left France. After they arrived in England, it was Pierre Gitton that signed the receipt for their passage to Carolina. It seems very clear to me that the head of the family would have been the one to book the passage and sign the receipt. It was also obvious from Judith's letter that Pierre made all the decision regarding the family. Therefore, Pierre had to be the one described by Judith as the "master" of the family and as the "eldest brother" who died. Perhaps more importantly is the fact that Lewis Giton was a witness on a document in South Carolina in 1692 and became a freeman of New York city in 1695. Francois Bonnet: Francois Bonnet is believed to have been a servant based on the will of Francois Macaire who left a bequest to Francois Bonnet, a servant. December 2, 1687 - S.C. Historical Magazine, V-225.
Bachelor's Adventure; James Smailey:
Minutes of His Majesty's Council - Bermuda June ye 5th 1686
A History of New York, compiled by William I. Paulding and published under D. T. Valentine-Cushing, Putnam 1853. Lewis Giton was listed as a Chirurgeon under the "Names of Physicians and Surgeons" practicing in the city between 1695 and the revolutionary war.
Burgers of New Amsterdam (pages 58-59) and The Freeman of New York Historical and Genealogical Miscellany by John E. Stillwell In a New York Colonial Manuscript (vol. 42 page 60) entitled
"List of the people of the Towns of New Rochelle and West
Chester" for the year 1698 is a census that purports to be a census
for those two cities but is in reality a census for Staten Island. This
is based on land and other known records of who lived on Staten Island
at the time. The exact date of the census is not known but John E.
Stillwell, "Historical and Genealogical Miscellany", believed
the date of the census was 1706. His conclusion was based on the ages of
some of the men listed on the census whose birth dates were known from
Bible and other records. Staten Island and It's People by Charles W. Lang No single document has been found to date that shows John Jetton's wife Elizabeth was Elizabeth Brevard. The following items, if presented individually, would not be sufficient evidence but presented together they provide a preponderance of evidence that in my opinion is sufficient evidence to show she was Elizabeth Brevard. 1. The Brevards and the Jettons lived in the same basic area in Cecil Co., Md and New Castle Co., De. They were also closely connected in the same area of North Carolina. 2. Was there an Elizabeth Brevard? Yes, she was the daughter of Jean Brevard and Mary Katherine McKnitt whose children included John, Robert, Zebulon, Benjamin, Adam and Elizabeth. 3. Was Elizabeth Brevard in the same basic age group as John Jetton? Yes, based on the ages of her brothers, John (1716), Robert (1718), Zebulon (1724), Benjamin (17..) and Adam (17..), Elizabeth was born in the 1720s, as was John Jetton. 4. Did the Brevards and Jettons move to North Carolina circa 1750s. Yes, according to North Carolina Historical Sketches 1584-1851 by John H.Wheeler, three of the Brevard brothers, John, Robert, and Zebulon, along with their sister Elizabeth and her husband, left Maryland and moved to North Carolina between 1740 and 1750. John Jetton and his wife Elizabeth sold their land in Delaware in 1749. North Carolina land patents and deeds show the Brevard brothers and John Jetton acquiring land during the early 1750s in the same area. 6. The Brevard name shows up regularly in the naming pattern of John Jetton's family. Too often, in fact, for these families to have just been friends.
North Carolina Historical Sketches, 1584-1851 Vol I-II by John H. Wheeler
17 April 1744, Delaware Orphan's Court. Came into court James See and Rachel his wife, admx. of the estate of Lewis Jeton, dec'd. and produced the account of their admin.
The marriages of Isaac Jetton to Esther Oliphant and his brother Abraham Jetton to Esther's sister Jane Oliphant and Esther's subsequent marriage to James Gillespie is based on the following: Isaac Jetton's estate was administered on 28 September 1786 by Lewis Jetton [his brother], wife Esther and John Oliphant Jr. [brother-in-law]. Isaac Jetton was an administrator for John Oliphant Sr.'s estate in 1783. Isaac and Esther Jetton were appointed guardians of Jane Oliphant after the death of her father in 1783. James Gillespie was named guardian of Isaac and Esther Jetton's son Zebulon in 1792. Jane Jetton named her sisters Esther Gillaspie and Martha Frohock [see next item for John Oliphant's children] in her will dated 11 April 1801. Abraham Jetton named his wife Jane Jetton in his will dated 7 April 1800. A John Harris and James Gillaspie were named executors of Abraham's will.
Will dated 12 February 1783 Rowan Co., NC Elizabeth Allison was John Oliphant's second wife. They were married 16 April 1770 in Rowan Co. NC. Since John's daughter Ester married Isaac Jetton circa 1778, Ester could not be the daughter of John's wife Elizabeth Allison unless the marriage date is incorrect. Since Esther had a child in 1779, however, it seems more likely that she was born in the 1750s and was not a daughter of Elizabeth Allison who is believed to have been born in the 1740s. According to Andrew Allison's will, his daughter Elizabeth had a son Andrew Oliphant. If John Oliphant named his children in order in his will, then we can assume that John Oliphant and Elizabeth Allison's children were Andrew, William and Jean [Jane] who we know was a minor in 1783 because she became a ward of James Gillespie and wife Esther after the death of her father John.
Will dated 20 May 1780 Rowan Co., NC Sons Adam and Theophilus Daus Sarah, Elizabeth and Elizabeth's son Andrew Oliphant [see above item]
In Tennessee Deed Book H, pages 305/6 there is a promissory note between Thomas White and Zebulon Jetton, both of Rutherford Co. This was dated 20 April 1810 and was for $100 for a tract of land on Lytle's Creek, now the Black Fox Camp, that Thomas White lived on and contained 25 acres. The land bounded James Wilson on the west, Isaac Jetton on the east, Thomas White on the south and Zebulon Jetton's line on the north. The above deed was apparently a family affair and the land would not go to Zebulon until Thomas White died, which he did in 1812. This may have been the father of Margaret White who was married to Zebulon's uncle John Jetton Jr. In Deed Book H, pages 342/3 dated 21 September 1812 between John L. Jetton, administrator of Thomas White, deceased, and Zebulon Jetton for $100 to the estate of Thomas White. It was signed by John L. Jetton and witnessed by Robert Jetton. In 1812 (Deed Book H, pages 280/1) Zebulon purchased an additional 115 acres for $460 from James Neeley. This land was located at the southwest corner of the land owned by Thomas White's heirs and east of Isaac Jetton's land. It is not clear but this 115 acres was probably contiguous with the 25 acres Zebulon purchased from Thomas White. According to Deed Book K, page 361, dated 10 November 1815 Zebulon sold 140 acres on Lytles Creek of Stones River to John Kirk Sr. for $600. The deed was registered on 27 June 1816. He had paid a total of $560 for the land so he cleared $40. James Matthews' will was dated March 18, 1776 and recorded March 4, 1777. James named his wife Ann, son Thomas and daughters Lydia and Hester. Ann and a David Howel were named executors but David Howel renounced his appointment. On February 18, 1779, Ann Matthews, extrx of James Matthews gave her account to the Orphan's Court. There was a balance of £128.6.11 remaining in the account. On April 16, 1782, Ann Matthews, extrx of James Matthews gave her account to the Orphan's Court. There was a balance of £4.7.6 remaining in the account. Ann Matthews gave her account to the Orphan's Court on 16 April 1782 and on July 15, 1783, Peter Jeton and his wife Ann, late Ann Matthews and Samuel Smith, admin of Robert Matthews, dec'd appeared before the court on a matter involving the estate of John Matthews. According to John Matthews' will, his sons were James, Robert and Samuel and his daughters were Margaret, wife of John Gill and Jane, wife of John Evans. On April 15, 1777, Thomas Matthews chose Robert Matthews [his uncle] as his guardian, which means he was 14 or more years old, and Robert Matthews was appointed guardian of Lydia Matthews, which means she was under 14 years old. Their sister Hester was not involved in a guardianship so she is presumed to have been 18 or older in 1777. After his uncle Robert died, Thomas chose Capt. Samuel Smith as his guardian on March 12, 1779, and his mother Ann Matthews and Samuel Smith were appointed administrators of Robert Matthews' estate. It seems likely that Ann Matthews, who was the executrix of James Matthews' estate, was appointed administratrix of Robert Matthews' estate because Robert was guardian to her children. It also seems likely that the Ann Mathews, wife of James Matthews, who was named executrix of James Matthews' will is the same Ann Matthews in the above records and the one who married Peter Jetton II.
Pictorial and Biographical Memoirs of Elkhart and St. Joseph Cos., Indiana. Page 301 certified: I certify that the accounts written by W. S. Jett of the murdering of my grandfather and old man Farmer and his son and the burning of Mrs. Howell and Mrs. Swagerty is true. I was nine years old at the time and remember it well. /s/ W. Z. Jetton
I certify that the account written by W. S. Jett of the murdering of my grandfather, Daniel Farmer and my Uncle Jim Farmer is true. I was ten years old at the time and was so impressed that I remember it well. /s/ Mrs. M. E. Reese
Affidavit: Affidavit by W. S. Jett on Zebulon Jetton's death titled "A Bit of Civil War History" On the 29th of January, 1865 there was one of the most serious (?)and heinous crimes committed in what was then known as the South Bend in Johnson County that was committed during the four years of the war. There were ten or fifteen Federal soldiers that belonged to the 2nd Arkansas Regiment stationed at Clarksville, who took an old man, Daniel Farmer and his son about 15 years of age, and old man Jetton who was eighty-five years old, down near the Arkansas river, one and one-half miles south of where Knoxville is now, and killed them. The party then went to my grandfather's, Seth Utley, where my mother was and demanded money and other valuables which they supposed were hidden about the place. When my mother could not produce anything they put a rope around my grandfather's neck and said that they would hang him although he was eighty-three years old and was in bed sick at the time. After parleying awhile they took the rope off and told mother that if she did not tell them where things were hidden they would burn her. She replied "You can burn my body, but you cannot burn my soul." They then raked out some coals on the hearth and took hold of her, when she began to pray to God for help. They finally turned her loose, but one of them sized my little sister, three years old and threw her into the open fire place. My mother and an old negro woman, Lucy, pulled her out before she was badly burned. They then went to Mrs. Swagerty's and Mrs. Howell's and demanded their valuables which they supposed were hidden and when the women could not produce anything they put them both on the fire and burned them so severely that Mrs. Howell died soon afterward and Mrs. Swagerty did not recover for more than a year. When the bodies of the men who were killed were found my mother and the old negro woman, Lucy, Mrs. W. S. King, Mrs. John Gilliland, Miss Charity Wolf, and Miss Emily Jetton, the daughter of the old man who had been killed, went and buried Mr. Jetton. It was impossible to get a coffin or even to have one made, so they dug a grave as best they could and Miss Emily brought several nice home-made quilts some of which they used to line the grave, wrapping the body in the others, and buried him on the spot where he was killed. Mrs. Cal Farmer, a daughter-in-law of Dan Farmer, Miss Fanny Blalock, Miss Lou Blackard, Miss Kit Blackard and Sid Wallace, John Blaylock and Tom Blackard went down with a yoke of small oxen hitched to a wagon and brought the bodies of Mr. Farmer and his son up to Clarksville and buried them in the Clarksville cemetery. The boys mentioned were ten or twelve years old and went with the women and drove the oxen. Jayhawkers: The meaning of the jayhawkers term evolved in the opening year of the Civil War. When Charles Jennison, one of the territorial-era jayhawkers, was authorized to raise a regiment of cavalry to serve in the Union army, he characterized the unit as the "Independent Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, but was popularly known as Jennison's Jayhawkers. Thus, the term became associated with the Union troops from Kansas. The jayhawker term was applied not only to Jennison and his command, but to any Kansas troops engaged in predatory operations against the civilian population of western Missouri, in which the plundering and arson that characterized the territorial struggles were repeated. A number of other smaller Missouri towns, and large swaths of of the Missouri countryside, were similarly plundered and laid waste by Union forces as back and forth raids were undertaken by forces from both sides. The term was also adopted by, and referred to militant bands, who were basically guerrilla fighters, affiliated with the free-state cause and although affiliated with Federal troops they were not official soldiers. In W. S. Jett's affidavit concerning the killing of Zebulon Jetton and other events, he states that the individuals involved were Federal soldiers from the 2nd Arkansas Regiment stationed at Clarksville. This may very well be true but it seems more probable, given the nature of the events, that the people who committed these atrocities were actually a militant band of "jayhawkers" as described above. After the Civil War, the word "jayhawker" became synonymous with the people of Kansas and is used today as a nickname for a native born Kansan.
Isaac's Letter:
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