James Witherspoon, the builder of Thorntree
Immigrated to Carolina in 1734, landing at Charles Town with many relatives and friends, who came over on the "Good Intent." His land grant of three hundred acres on Black River was certified on Jan. 11, 1735. James Witherspoon, the son of John and Janet Witherspoon, was born at Knockbracken, County Down, Ireland in 1700. The Witherspoon family is directly descended from Robert Bruce, the great Scotch King, and John Knox, the Scotch Reformer. The famous Rev. John Witherspoon, D.D. of Princeton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a grandson of the Rev. James Witherspoon, which made him a nephew of Janet and John Witherspoon (1670-1737), the progenitor of the Williamsburgh Witherspoons.
In 1725, James Witherspoon married Elizabeth McQuoid, and the following children lived to maturity: Robert, John, Ann, James, and Gavin. In 1780, Robert Witherspoon, their son, recorded the early records of the family and related families in what is known today as the "Witherspoon Family Chronicles."
The following is chronicled concerning James Witherspoon's arrival to Williamsburgh Township: " . . . it was the 1st of Feb. (1735) when we came to the Bluff. My mother and us children were still in expectation that we were coming to an agreeable place, but when we arrived and saw nothing but a wilderness and instead of a fine timbered house, nothing but a very mean dirt house, our spirits quite sunk … Father had heard that up the river swamp was the King's Tree ...I remember that amongst the first thing my father brought from the boat was his gun, which was one of Queen Ann's muskets...The family lived at the Bluff until March, 1749, my father moved his family to Thorntree...he died in November of 1768."
The will of James Witherspoon, dated September 13, 1768, reveals the following: "I will and bequeath to Elizabeth my dearly beloved wife, a convenient room in my dwelling house…"
The "Inventory and Appraisement of the Estate of James Witherspoon", dated January 20, 1769, indicates that he was a man of considerable means during his day. His "Parcel of Books" was appraised at sixty-three pounds.
James Witherspoon was buried in what is known today as the Witherspoon family cemetery on Thorntree creek about one mile from his home. Many of the graves in this cemetery are marked with large stones which were native to Williamsburgh. The inscriptions of these stones are now obliterated. There are eight stones of a different type which still bear the inscriptions. One of these is the marker of Robert Witherspoon, who wrote the "Witherspoon Family Chronicle."
Thorntree later became the home of Gavin Witherspoon, the son of James and Elizabeth Witherspoon. During the Revolution, Tarleton with one hundred British dragoons, and a large number of Tories under Col. Elias Ball, encamped at the plantation (Thorntree) of Gavin Witherspoon, south of the lower bridge on Black River, early in August, 1780. Gavin married first, Esther Jane Witherspoon, his first cousin, and second, Ann Witherspoon, also his cousin. Of the sixteen children of these two unions, only eight lived to maturity.
The "Will of Gavin Witherspoon," dated January 30, 1816, and re-corded deeds, indicate the following as heirs of his estate: Samuel Witherspoon, his son of Greene Co. Alabama; Elizabeth W. Montgomery, his daughter of Williamsburgh District; Thomas Reese Witherspoon, his son of Sumter District; Thomas Sydenham Witherspoon, his grandson of Greene Co., Alabama; Mary Ann W. Reese, his daughter of Anderson District; also, Dr. James Minto Witherspoon and Robert Franklin Witherspoon, his grandsons of Tuscaloosa and Greene Counties, Ala. Deeds recorded in Williamsburg County Court House disclose that all of the above heirs sold their part of the Thorntree Plantation, containing eight hundred acres, to John A. Gordon of Williamsburgh District.
