Rich Man - Henry Pitts, Sr. about 1729 - about 1817

In the 19th Century a man's wealth, or if he was "rich", was primarily determined by the amount of land and personal property he owned.  At his death, this became very evident in the administration of his Estate.  Whether he had a Last Will and Testament or not, there was still a great deal to be dealt with by the Executors or Administrators of an Estate.  This week we will look at the evidence of one man's wealth by looking at his family, Land, Deeds and Estate.

Henry Pitts, Sr. lived from about 1729 to about 1817.  Some online trees state that his death date was December 14, 1817, but I am not sure where that date came from.  There is another document that states he died "on or about the 31st of December 1817".  I'm still searching for some original documentation to help solve this mystery!  He was my 4th great grandfather.  The entire Estate package is 36 pages - that alone tells us that Henry must have been a wealthy man.

Letters of Administration for the Estate of Henry Pitts, Sr. were filed on January 5, 1818 in Newberry District, South Carolina by his sons Thomas Pitts, Jehu Pitts, Henry Pitts [Jr] and son-in-law, John Johnson.  Thomas and Jehu were made Administrators of the Estate.  Here is a copy of the Letters of Administration:

Newberry District, South Carolina, Estate Records; Package 70, Box 34, Estate 806

One exciting item on the above document is the actual signature of Thomas Pitts, my 3rd great grandfather!  There are also signatures from Henry [Jr] and John Johnson, while Jehu placed his "Mark" on the document.  As was customary, the Court ordered that an Inventory be taken of the Estate.  Here is the Inventory page:

Appraisal Page, Henry Pitts, Sr., deceased
Newberry District, South Carolina, Estate Records; Package 70, Box 34, Estate 806

The total Appraised Value of the Estate was approximately $5,480, including 10 enslaved persons, farming equipment, household and kitchen items, crops, cattle, horses, geese, sheep, hogs, turkeys, and various other items.  This did not include any land that he owned.  (According to the site, 

https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1818?amount=5480, that equals approximately $110,790 in today's dollars.)  The law required all of the appraised items be sold at an open sale and the Administrators were required to keep accurate records of this sale and all income and payouts from the estate - sometimes for years.  Family members, friends and the public were allowed to purchase items from the estate and there were many family members who did just that.

The sale was held on January 13, 1818.  

One Page from Bill of Sale, Henry Pitts, Sr., deceased
Newberry District, South Carolina, Estate Records; Package 70, Box 34, Estate 806

The total amount taken in at the Sale of the Estate was $7,758.97.  After expenses were paid, each of the 12 Legatees received $648.56 and 5/12 cents.  The Legatees listed in the Estate papers were:

• Elizabeth Smith
• Thomas Pitts
• The heirs of Polly Coates, deceased
• Rachel Butler
• The heirs of John Pitts, deceased
• The heirs of Rebekah Sterling, deceased
• Jane Johnston/Johnson
• Jehu Pitts
• Milley Pitts
• Robert Pitts
• Sarah Waldrop
• Henry Pitts [Jr]

Newberry District, South Carolina, Estate Records; Package 70, Box 34, Estate 806

All of the above heirs were children of Henry, suggesting that his wife/wives had predeceased him.  The Estate was active until 1828 according to the papers in the file.

In 1811 Henry had sold land in Newberry County to his four sons.  Here is the summary of the four Deeds:

• August 17, 1811 - Henry sold to Jehu Pitts - 50 acres for $400. (Page 46, Image 682 of 1065)
• August 31, 1811 - Henry sold to John Pitts - 50 acres for $200 - land on which he now lives. (Page 24, Image 671 of 1065)
• August 31, 1811 - Henry sold to Thomas Pitts - 50 acres for $200 - land on which he now lives. (Page 45, Image 681 of 1065)
• August 31, 1811 - Henry sold to Robert Pitts - 50 acres for $200 - land on which he now lives. (Page 48, Image 683 of 1065)

On December 2, 1813, Henry also gave his young daughter, Milly Pitts, one negro woman girl "Sene" (sic) who was about 6 or 7 years old, one bed and furniture, and one side saddle. (Page 382, Image 855 of 1065)

The original documents can be found at Familysearch.org, Newberry County, South Carolina, Deed Book K. You can go to

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLK-6S7W-4?mode=g&cat=472605 to see these originals. Book K begins with image 631 of 1065.  The "P" Index page for this volume is on Image 649 of 1065.  See above for Page and Image Number for each document.

These are the only Deeds I have found thus far from Henry to family members, but there may be other deeds earlier than these where he gave or sold land to his daughters and their husbands.  Deed Book I, 1806-1808 and Deed Book J, 1809-1811 (on the same reel as Book K), have no individual Indexes, so I will need to go page by page looking for Henry Pitts, Grantor, to see if there are any records there.  

All of these lands were part of an original 200 acre land grant Henry acquired on January 12, 1769, and/or an original 100 acre land grant which he had acquired on July 13, 1770, both of which were received from His Excellency the Honorable William Bull, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.  Both pieces of land are located on/near the mouth of the Sandy Run Creek and the Henry Pitts Spring Branch.  There is a plat map and description of the original land grants in the book, Laurens & Newberry Counties, SC: Saluda & Little River Settlements 1749-1775, Neighborhood Maps, and Abstracts of Colonial Surveys and Memorials and Land Titles, Including a Case Study, Jonathan Motes 1727-1763 Migration to Little River, by Jesse Hogan Motes III and Margaret Peckham Motes, 1994, Southern Historical Press, Inc., South Carolina.  The map i¹¹s on page 94 and the Land Description is on page 104.  Since the book is copyrighted, I will not post copies of these pages here.

Note: Owning enslaved persons was horrible, but it was a common practice in this particular time and place.  The names of the enslaved persons owned by Henry Pitts, Sr. at the time of his death were recorded in the Appraisal and the name of the family member who purchased them is in the Bill of Sale.  Here are those names:

• Willis, a boy - purchased by Jehu Pitts
• Terry, a boy - purchased by Robert Pitts
• George, a man - purchased by John Johnson (son-in-law of Henry, Sr)
• Jude, a woman - purchased by Henry Pitts, Jr.
• Annaby (sic), a woman with 2 children - purchased by Benjamin Butler (son-in-law of Henry, Sr)
• Charles, a boy - purchased by Benjamin Butler, (son-in-law of Henry, Sr)
• Jenny, a girl - purchased by Hannah Pitts (widow of John Pitts, deceased son of Henry, Sr.)
• George, a boy - purchased by Jehu Pitts

I believe that by most standards, Henry Pitts, Sr. would be considered a "rich" man.  It is  amazing to me that there are documents today that can tell us so much about the belongings of persons - even those who died more than 200 years ago.

'Til Next Time!

#52Ancestors