Moses and William Pruitt, Indiana Pioneers
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MOSES AND WILLIAM PRUITT, INDIANA PIONEERS. Compilers, REBA GEPHART RUTH PRUITT CHELSEA DINN Printed by UNIGRAPIC, INC. Evansville IN. Bound by THE MODERN BINDING CORP. Portland IN Published by CHELSEA & RUTH DINN Franklin IN REX & RUbY PRUITT Nevis MN, & t' ALL THE DONORS. 1973 YOU WILL FIND A LIST OF THE DONORS & THE FINANCIAL REPORT INSIDE THE BACK COVER. There is no known copyright on anything in this Book. "Man builds on what has gone before." This Book will be given to any Pruitt Descendant as long as the 400 published copies last. Contact Chelsea Dinn, RR 5 Box 318, Franklin IN 46131. 73B-2574. THE PRUITT MIGRATION FROM VIRGINIA TO INDIANA. In the 1782 census of Virginia several Prewitts, among them John & Samuel, were listed in Pittsylvania County. That county is located on the Virginia-North Carolina horder about the middle. Danville VA is the County Seat. After the Revolution the John Prewitts went to South Carolina. They located in the District of Abbeville. After the 1812 War the children scattered, Samuel, Archibald, Moses, William and Absolon found their way to Indiana, the counties of Franklin, Fayette, Shelby and Bartholomew. Very little is known of the 8 other children. Jacob died in Abbeville District for his estate was administrated by/Mofies, Joshua & John Pruitt. Jacob could have died in the 1812 War. These recoi/d!s Wrned in 1873« 1. PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY 2. ABBEVILLE DISTRICT' 3. FRANKLIN COUNTY 4. SHELBY & BARTHOLOMEW COUNTIES. This study was undertaken in order to gather together most of the known information concerning the Pruitt family, including genealogies and life history. Since, to the best of our knowledge,, this had never been done, Reba Bryson Gephart and I began this compilation of data in 1948. With out doubt, the person to whom we are most indebted for the early history of the Pruitt*s is Mary Pruitt Thompson (1851-1902). She was a sister of my father-in-law, Jacob Pruitt (1858-1928), and did considerable traveling going to the Carolinas, Virginia, England and other places in search of authentic data. Mrs. Gephart and I started by contacting members of the different branches of the family, checking family Bibles, courthouse re cords, libraries, cemeteries, and following leads given us by the younger generations which proved very helpful. The results of Mrs. Thompson's efforts were recorded in a small genealogy book dated I896 and given to me by my rnother-in-law. It is to Mrs. Thompson that I dedicate my part in this publication. REBA BRYSON GEPHART, MARY PRUITT THOMPSON, RUTH HAMBLEN PRUITT, I899-I967 I85I-I902 1898- THE ORIGINAL PRUITT RESEARCHERS. THE PRUITT FAMILY ^ Virginia to South Carolina to Indiana. ' Maturity kindles an interest in family lineage. When we're young we couldn't care less about antecedents who have passed from the scene and exist as mere names and dates on tombstones in cemetery plots. But as we pass into middle age we tend to become fascinated by the panorama of family heritage and find ourselves wishing we had some personal record of each of our immediate ancestors. This is only natural, for we are living manifestations of our forebears. The genes in our bodies have come from them, along with a string of tendencies and characteristics including occupational ones and the color of our eyes and the cut of our profiles.' BISHOP FULTON JOHN SHEEN once said, " Anyone without regard for his ancestors, who disavows his forefathers in any way, has only to lift his shirt to see the connection!" Let us take that look! The PRUITT FAMILY is no different from anyother pioneer family living out the history of our country, no worse and no better. One finds disreputable members as well as members of the highest type. THIS BOOK WAS COMPILED MAINLY BY t REBA GEPHART, (Dec.)»RUTH PRUITT, 601 N. Clay, Edinburg IN 46124 CHELSEA DINE, R.R. 5, Box 318, Franklin IN 46131 j aided by a host of Pruitt Descendants , financed by REX PRUITT, Route 2, Nevis MN 56467 (Tel. 218-732-5339) thru contributions and published by CHELSEA DINN, 1973 . TRE PRUITT FAMILY, VA , SC, & IN. Records of our Family are found in England as early as the thirteenth century, In " The Hundred Rolls", spelled Pruet, and in the 1558 Bristol Wills. There are several branches to the Pruet Family. Our branch settled in Virginia about 1700, it is believed,and must have been led by Henry & John Pruet, of English & Scotch descent . There was also a direct French migration from Alsace-Lorraine about the same time to Mannikintown VA led by Huguenot refugees, Roger & Mary Pruit. Many of our Pruitt Ancestors claimed Scotch-Irish blood. In answer to a request from Dr. Charles Raymond Dillon, PsD for a book on the Pruitt-Prewitt Family, WILLIAM M. PRUITT, Attorney-at-Law, from Edinburg IN, on 13 July 1917 wrote in part i M My grandfather, HARRISON PRUITT, and his two brothers, JACKSON & PLEASANT, came from North Carolina in 1816 and settled in Shelby County, about 2 \ miles northeast of Edinburg. Three or four years later their father and mother, MOSES PRUITT and wife came and settled in the neighborhood. They brought their only daughter, PEGGY, who afterwards married NELSON TYNER with whom she moved to Texas and later to New Mexico. What became of her I do not know. All the PHUITTS around Edinburg, and they are numerous, are the direct descendants of HARRISON, PLEASANT & JACKSON PRUITT. My father, MOSES PRUITT, was a son of HAURISON PRUITT. My father had three brothers and one sister. All are dead but one, my Uncle PLEASANT PRUITT, now 75 years old. He never married. My father died 12 years ago. At the same time that my great-grandfather MOSES PRUITT came, his brother WILLIAM PRUITT settled in Bartholomew County about 2 miles south of this place . He had several children'who left here and went west. I have heard my father say that his great-grandfather came from England to North Carolina. I one time had a London paper with a list of names of escheated estates and I noticed some whose owners were PRUETS. That was the way our people spelled their names, but gradually 7 they have come to spell lt PRUITT, though I have seen it spelled as follows« PRUET, PRUIT, PRUITT, PREWITT, PREWET, PREWETT, by persons I knew to be related to me. I have noted the recurrence of the names MOSES, PLEASANT, and WILLIAM among the men and ELIZABETH and JANE among the women " ( Note. As a former student of Uncle Bill, I beg the prerogative to correct some of his mistakes. The Pruitts came from South Carolina, Abbeville County. In I8l6,JACKSON was but one year old, PLEASANT was five and HARRISON lacked a year of birth. Besides PEGGY the MOSES PRUITTS had three other daughters, namely, MARY ANN, RACHEL & REBECCA. Several PRUITTS around Edinburg name as ancestors others than these three brothers. Other Pruitts trace their ancestry back to Virginia Patriots MICHAEL & JOSHUA PRUITT thru Joshua Jr. who settled in Brown County. Some of them are Arthur G. Pruitt, one time teacher & Coach, Clell Pruitt, Carl Pruitt, Ernest Pruitt, Frank Pruitt, Allen Pruitt and his children & many others. C. Dinn ) DEDICATION MY EFFORTS Sc EXPENDITURES TOWARDS THE PRODUCTION OF THIS PRUITT BOOK ARE DEDICATED TO MY GOOD & BEAUTIFUL MOTHER, MARTHA ARMINDA PRUITT MELVIN DINN, 18?1-1958 MOSES PRUITT,I787-I833, LAND 6} Original entry,$200.00 1820 Purchase,$400.00 1827 160 A Purchase,$250.00 1829 l6l A Purchase,#500.00 1831 160 A (g)240 A,MOSES PRUITT, 1840-1907, from George Pruitt & James Hayes,I865 and sold to James Hayes in 186?. MOSES is said to have lost this land in a lawsuit for defaming a lady. Brockman Cemetery. 0 Original Pruitt burial ground in section 26. ® E£$SEi,Sec. 24, 80 A entered by Lewis Barlow,April 5,1822.f EDINBURG VICINITY SHOWING OCT. 5, 1820 LAND ENTRY,160 A. IN SHELBY COUNTY,JACKSON TOWNSHIP, SECTION 26 DIRECT LY EAST OP CUTSINGER BRIDGE. HERE MOSES & JAMES HARRISON PRUITT &. OTHERS WERE BURIED. AFTER YEARS OF NO CARE THE MARKERS WERE MOVED TO THE BROCKMAN CEMETERY THREE MILES TO THE NORTH IN SECTION 11. CARD RECEIV ED FROM A.R. "MOSE" " PRUITT: Great-Great- Grandfather Moses Pruitt settled on the now Don Garrison farm in 1810 just east h mile of the Cutsinger Bridge. R. STOTT 20 EARLY GENEALOGY OF THE PRUITT FAMILYi ° Most of the known facts concerning the different members of our family are based on data in MARY PRUITT THOMPSON'S GENEALOGY BOOK, dated 1896. Mary was a daughter of John Jackson Pruitt,I8l5-l86l| a granddau. of Moses Pruitt,I787-I833, and a great-granddaughter of John Pruitt & Mary Hopper Pruitt of Virginia and South Carolina, the first Pruitts we know of. Where Mary got the facts for her book, no one seems to know. Said book is now possessed by Ruth Pruitt, also of the John Jackson line, portions of which are given further on. Mary lists 13 children for John and Mary. 2 Samuel Pruitt,1777-1841, Capt. in the War of 1812,m,Elizabeth Webb. After the War,Samuel came to Indiana for he is listed in the Whitewater area early. In fact all the Pruitt people who came to Indiana after the I812 War seem to have come there. 2 John Pruitt. Mary gave nothing for him and there are too many John Pruitts for one to be able to separate them. 2 Archibald Pruitt. Mary gives nothing on him.