About us
The objectives of the John P. Waters Family Project are:
Summary of what we know and the controversies about John P. Waters/Watters. For full discussions of our research and copies of documents, please join our Facebook group here.
Birth
John P. Waters/Watters was born about 1770. His birthplace is unknown and under great debate. Some say Scotland, while others say North Carolina, and still others claim France. In the 1880 US census, John P.'s daughter Louise claims that her parents were both born in Georgia.
France is based on a semi-autobiographical book written by Charles Coale about John's son Wilburn, which claims his father, John P., was a "French Huguenot, who immigrated to America early in life" and settled in South Carolina. The full book can be read here, The life and adventures of Wilburn Waters: the famous hunter and trapper of White Top Mountain. While this book claims to have been written with the aid of Wilburn, Wilburn died the year after it was published at the age of 69, was only 2 or 3 years old when his mother died, and he was bound out, and dementia runs in his descendants, so there is quite a bit of scepticism as to the accuracy of the information in the book. It also should be noted that this book was compiled from a series of articles written for a newspaper; so we can surmise, that a number of the facts and stories contained within have been sensationalized to entertain and garner readership for the paper.
Current research on the family has disproven some facts found in the book, and some has offered drastically different facts. For instance, we believe that John P.s son Wilburn Waters (1810-abt.1879) was remembering information about the Vannoy family with whom he had been bound out and spent his childhood with and mistakenly attributed it to his father. In the book, he recalls the name as "Flannoy", but the court records list the name as "Vannoy". More research needs to be done on the Vannoy family, but we currently believe that the Vannoy family likely were the French Huguenots, although it is also possible that his mother's Wooten family may be the French Huguenots. Or it is possible that he is remembering some generations back to a couple who may be his Grandparents (the wife in the couple seems to have been a Huguenot).
Scotland as a birthplace comes from the Eastern Cherokee applications filed by his descendants, and DNA. We need more Y-DNA to compare, as we only have the one test.
Only Louise knows why she put Georgia. Although it should be noted that at the time Louisa was living in South Carolina, and there was a Wilkes County in Georgia not too far from where she was living; perhaps she simply said "Wilkes County" and the census taker assumed Georgia since it was closer.
Currently, the earliest record for John P. is a land record in Wilkes County, North Carolina dated 1 Dec 1796.
Relationship & Children
According to a 1809 court affidavit, John began a relationship with Elisabeth Cullom/Culom/Cullums about 1795. However, the couple never legally married.
In 1800 the family can be found in the US census in Wilkes County, North Carolina.
The1809 affidavit claims the couple had "six fine children", while the Coale book lists 5 children to the couple. So far, we have been able to find documented evidence identifying the following children for John and Elisabeth:
William P Waters 1798-1864
Westley Wilkes 1799-1894
Louisa Eliza 1805-1881
Wallace 1809-1866
Wilburn 1810-1879
Rachel Sturgill 1790-1864 (wife of Joel Sturgill)
Many people link a woman named Rachel Waters Sturgill to John P. Waters as one of his children. This link is based on a book written by someone in the Sturgill family, however neither traditional research nor DNA, currently support this theory. Research has led us to believe she may be the child of William Walters 1760-1829 and Catherine Peck 1755-unknown, rather than John P. and Elisabeth.
In 1810 the John P. Waters family is still found in Wilkes County, North Carolina.
According to the Coale book, Elisabeth died when Wilburn was between two and three years old. After Elisabeth's death, between 1812-1813, John disappears from records in North Carolina. According to the Coale book, John P. "soon married another woman, left the community and his children with their relatives, and was never after heard from by his family".
John P. is found in 1812 and 1815 in South Carolina land records.
4 May 1813 two of the children, Wilburn and Wallace, were listed as "orphans" and bound out to learn a trade. The term "orphan" was applied to children who had lost both parents, one parent, or had been abandoned by their parents, so it does not aid us in determining what happened to John P.
By 1820 John P. is married to a Nancy. There is a Nancy Waters in the census of Chester County, South Carolina in 1840 that we believe to be his widow. Her age corresponds to the age of the woman who is probably his wife on 1820 & 1830 census. The Wylie family are neighbours on both censuses; John P. Waters purchased land in 1815 from the Wylie family.
Some people claim John P. married a woman named “Nancy Elliott”, others “Nancy Smiling Bird”. So far, there is no evidence of any Nancy Smiling Bird. There is a Nancy Ellet who married a man named “John Walters”; his surname changes spelling often, sometimes being Watters or Waters. This couple married in 1870, owned slaves, and later moved to Kentucky. Also, it has to be noted this John did not use the middle initial “P” and was unable to write, using “X” as his mark when signing documents. All the information so far found about this couple, sets them apart as different people.
Death
John again disappears from records after 1830. His wife Nancy is listed as a widow in the 1840 US census, currently, we hypothesize that John P. died between 1830 and 1840, most likely in South Carolina. Currently, we do not know where he is buried, but most likely it is also in South Carolina.
- To illuminate the origins and evolution of the John P. Waters family.
- To discover the birthplace of John P. Waters.
- To sort out and answer questions about the children of John P. Waters.
Summary of what we know and the controversies about John P. Waters/Watters. For full discussions of our research and copies of documents, please join our Facebook group here.
Birth
John P. Waters/Watters was born about 1770. His birthplace is unknown and under great debate. Some say Scotland, while others say North Carolina, and still others claim France. In the 1880 US census, John P.'s daughter Louise claims that her parents were both born in Georgia.
France is based on a semi-autobiographical book written by Charles Coale about John's son Wilburn, which claims his father, John P., was a "French Huguenot, who immigrated to America early in life" and settled in South Carolina. The full book can be read here, The life and adventures of Wilburn Waters: the famous hunter and trapper of White Top Mountain. While this book claims to have been written with the aid of Wilburn, Wilburn died the year after it was published at the age of 69, was only 2 or 3 years old when his mother died, and he was bound out, and dementia runs in his descendants, so there is quite a bit of scepticism as to the accuracy of the information in the book. It also should be noted that this book was compiled from a series of articles written for a newspaper; so we can surmise, that a number of the facts and stories contained within have been sensationalized to entertain and garner readership for the paper.
Current research on the family has disproven some facts found in the book, and some has offered drastically different facts. For instance, we believe that John P.s son Wilburn Waters (1810-abt.1879) was remembering information about the Vannoy family with whom he had been bound out and spent his childhood with and mistakenly attributed it to his father. In the book, he recalls the name as "Flannoy", but the court records list the name as "Vannoy". More research needs to be done on the Vannoy family, but we currently believe that the Vannoy family likely were the French Huguenots, although it is also possible that his mother's Wooten family may be the French Huguenots. Or it is possible that he is remembering some generations back to a couple who may be his Grandparents (the wife in the couple seems to have been a Huguenot).
Scotland as a birthplace comes from the Eastern Cherokee applications filed by his descendants, and DNA. We need more Y-DNA to compare, as we only have the one test.
Only Louise knows why she put Georgia. Although it should be noted that at the time Louisa was living in South Carolina, and there was a Wilkes County in Georgia not too far from where she was living; perhaps she simply said "Wilkes County" and the census taker assumed Georgia since it was closer.
Currently, the earliest record for John P. is a land record in Wilkes County, North Carolina dated 1 Dec 1796.
Relationship & Children
According to a 1809 court affidavit, John began a relationship with Elisabeth Cullom/Culom/Cullums about 1795. However, the couple never legally married.
In 1800 the family can be found in the US census in Wilkes County, North Carolina.
The1809 affidavit claims the couple had "six fine children", while the Coale book lists 5 children to the couple. So far, we have been able to find documented evidence identifying the following children for John and Elisabeth:
William P Waters 1798-1864
Westley Wilkes 1799-1894
Louisa Eliza 1805-1881
Wallace 1809-1866
Wilburn 1810-1879
Rachel Sturgill 1790-1864 (wife of Joel Sturgill)
Many people link a woman named Rachel Waters Sturgill to John P. Waters as one of his children. This link is based on a book written by someone in the Sturgill family, however neither traditional research nor DNA, currently support this theory. Research has led us to believe she may be the child of William Walters 1760-1829 and Catherine Peck 1755-unknown, rather than John P. and Elisabeth.
In 1810 the John P. Waters family is still found in Wilkes County, North Carolina.
According to the Coale book, Elisabeth died when Wilburn was between two and three years old. After Elisabeth's death, between 1812-1813, John disappears from records in North Carolina. According to the Coale book, John P. "soon married another woman, left the community and his children with their relatives, and was never after heard from by his family".
John P. is found in 1812 and 1815 in South Carolina land records.
4 May 1813 two of the children, Wilburn and Wallace, were listed as "orphans" and bound out to learn a trade. The term "orphan" was applied to children who had lost both parents, one parent, or had been abandoned by their parents, so it does not aid us in determining what happened to John P.
By 1820 John P. is married to a Nancy. There is a Nancy Waters in the census of Chester County, South Carolina in 1840 that we believe to be his widow. Her age corresponds to the age of the woman who is probably his wife on 1820 & 1830 census. The Wylie family are neighbours on both censuses; John P. Waters purchased land in 1815 from the Wylie family.
Some people claim John P. married a woman named “Nancy Elliott”, others “Nancy Smiling Bird”. So far, there is no evidence of any Nancy Smiling Bird. There is a Nancy Ellet who married a man named “John Walters”; his surname changes spelling often, sometimes being Watters or Waters. This couple married in 1870, owned slaves, and later moved to Kentucky. Also, it has to be noted this John did not use the middle initial “P” and was unable to write, using “X” as his mark when signing documents. All the information so far found about this couple, sets them apart as different people.
Death
John again disappears from records after 1830. His wife Nancy is listed as a widow in the 1840 US census, currently, we hypothesize that John P. died between 1830 and 1840, most likely in South Carolina. Currently, we do not know where he is buried, but most likely it is also in South Carolina.