Find-a-Grave has a memorial to this fellow buried in the cemetery next to the Old Stone Presbyterian Church at Lewisburg, WV. His bio says “husband of Susannah Skaggs.” For years, I’ve gone along with that but it seemed odd to me that some of William’s sons claimed to be born in Monroe or Fayette County and died in either Kanawha or Putnam County. As I’ve said before, where the husband/father was located, you’d usually find his wife. So why is William, husband of Susannah Skaggs, buried in the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church where he wasn’t even a member?
Because William S. Withrow is NOT my ancestor nor was he the husband of Susannah Skaggs.
I put my detective skills to work to figure out, if in fact this William Withrow in the cemetery at Lewisburg was indeed the husband of Susannah Skaggs and found the answers to my question.
He wasn’t. There was another William Withrow who came to Greenbrier prior to the 1830 (possibly related to James Withrow, Esq of Lewisburg).
This was done by going through the county tax lists year by year beginning with Greenbrier in 1785 and following the trail all the way to Kanawha County 1843. I’m going to give you the links below so you can see these lists for yourself – So that you too can discover that I’m neither lying nor crazy. Bottom line: There must have been two William Withrows but somebody back up the line either didn’t have access to this information or failed to do the research and jumped the gun, assuming that the William Withrow in Lewisburg was their ancestor. Since then, there are a lot of family trees out there with this false info in them.
You will need a free account to sign in to FamilySearch.org. The tax lists are under Search > Catalog > after which you want to search “united states, west virginia, COUNTY NAME” (change county name to the county records you want to search) then click the button next to “Online” and click Search. Otherwise, you can use the links I’ve provided below once you’ve logged in.
Greenbrier County:
“Familysearch: Sign In”. 2023. Familysearch.Org. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQ2-3S7S-Z?i=191&cat=777465.
William Withrow – husband of Susannah Skaggs – first appears in the Greenbrier County Tax List beginning in 1788 on tax list B. That’s Image 130. The surname is spelled “Withero.” You’ll find someone (his father?) named Robert, listed right after him.
Withero William 1 – – 0 (one male of 16+, no slaves, ending with 0 horses)
Withero Robert 1 – – 1
Searching the tax list, William is LAST listed in Greenbrier County in 1800. For giggles, I searched the tax list up to 1815 with no further mention of William Withrow (until years later in the tax list).
Monroe County:
“Familysearch: Sign In”. 2023. Familysearch.Org. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS73-S9B1-Z?i=19&cat=637416.
The first mention of William Withrow is on 17 April 1802 in Monroe County. That is on Image 64.
1802 IMG 64 of 1190
17 Apr Wm Withero 1 – – 0 (1 male, no horses)
You’ll also recall that William married Susannah Skaggs on 3 Oct 1792. The marriage was officiated by John Alderson, founder and pastor of the Old Greenbrier Baptist Church. It turns out that K. Steele Barrera had copies of the members of the church in which are listed William and Susannah. Although the location of the marriage was technically Greenbrier County, the location officially became Monroe County in 1799. And it included John Alderson who you’ll also find listed in Greenbrier County until 24 May 1800. After that you find him listed in Monroe County tax lists.
You should also be able to find William listed in the 1810 Monroe County Census taken 6 Aug 1810 as follows:
4 Males under 10 years old
1 Male aged 26-44 years old
2 Females aged 10-15
1 Female aged 26-44
William Withrow is last listed in Monroe County tax lists on 13 Feb 1816 (Image 328):
1816 IMG 328 of 1190
13 Feb William Withrow 1 – – 3 (one male aged 16+ and 3 horses)
I would bet after this period, the family is actually moving to Nicholas County. According to the Greenbrier County Court Orders (Helen S. Stinson), William purchased about 200 acres of land from Thomas Masterson (of Greenbrier County) at the foot of Gauley Mountain (sorry, I forgot to copy the link to my source and don’t have it available this moment). It was then I jumped to the Nicholas County Tax Lists.
Nicholas County:
“Familysearch: Sign In”. 2023. Familysearch.Org. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKJ-W9V9-G?i=334&cat=637422.
William Withrow is first listed in the year 1818 on 2 May (Image 170)
1818
IMG 170 of 822
May 2, William Withrow, 2 males, 2 horses (one of the males in his family has attained the age of 16 by this point. The other is William himself).
He continues to be listed right up until 1821 (Image 208) where on 25 Mar he is paying tax on himself + 2 males 16 years or older and 2 horses:
1821
IMG 208 of 822
Mar 25, Wm Withrow, 3 males, 2 horses
In 1822, 1823, 1824, and 1825, there are no Withrows listed in the tax lists for Nicholas County. What happened? Again, referring to the Greenbrier County Court Orders – if memory serves correctly – he owes a big debt and has had to sell off what he owns. It is likely he went to debtors prison for a while until his debts were paid and was very likely working to regain cash to feed the family.
Recall that William and Susannah’s daughter, Caty Withrow a.k.a. Catherine, married Thomas McGraw on 31 July 1820 in Nicholas County. These same tax lists put Thomas in Nicholas County from 1819 to 1821 at which point he and Caty went back to Greenbrier County for a few years. (Again, tax lists prove it).
Come 1826 we begin to see Withrows again: First Abel and Alderson “Withero,” then Thomas, followed by the addition of Samuel in 1828 and finally, William Withrow Jr – its clearly marked – on 5 Mar 1829. That’s image 349.
But then comes the formation of Fayette County in 1831.
Fayette County:
“Familysearch: Sign In”. 2023. Familysearch.Org. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQK-19VN-H?i=20&cat=777450.
1831 Fayette
IMG 21 of 589
June 13, Jessie Withrow, 1 male
June 2, Thomas Withrow, 1 male
June 2, William Withrow, 1 male
IMG 22 of 589
June 3, Sam’l Withrow, Blacksmith, 1 male
June 4, Saml Withrow, Jr, 1 male
June 4, Saml Withrow, Sr, 2 males
June 5, James Withrow, 1 male
June 5, Isaac Withrow, 1 male
see also: IMG 18 of 589
June 3, Martin McGraw, 2 males, 3 horses
June 3, John McGraw, 1 male, *unrelated*
June 3, Big George McGraw, 1 male
June 13, Henry McGraw, 1 male, 3 horses
June 13, Samuel McGraw, 1 male, 3 horses
June 13, Thomas McGraw, 1 male, (husband of Caty Withrow, daughter of William and Susannah)
I added my McGraw ancestors for giggles. I descend from both brothers Martin (daughter Mary E. McGraw) and Thomas (son John O. McGrew). But you see the proximity of William Withrow to Martin McGraw from the dates they were visited for purposes of taxation.
William Withrow continues to be listed in Fayette County until 1833 on 15 Feb (IMG 49 of 589). There are still Withrows listed but not William. Where to from here? Why, Kanawha County, of course.
Kanawha County:
“Familysearch: Sign In”. 2023. Familysearch.Org. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQK-PSVR-W?i=73&cat=776502
Finally, to the “icing” on the cake, you might say. 1834 on 2 Apr, we find William “Witherow” is now residing in Kanawha County.
Apr 2, 1834 B Wm. Witherow, 2 horses: IMG 70 of 831
And it is in Kanawha County where he lived until at least 28 May 1843 – the last time he appeared in the tax list. How do I know its William Withrow Sr? Because his son William Withrow Jr is also listed on the same:
1843 Tax List B, IMG 437 of 831
May 15, 1843 Thomas Witherow, 1 male, 2 horses
May 15, 1843 James Witherow, 1 male, 1 horse
May 18, 1843 Wm Witherow Jr, 1 male, 1 horse – note the “Jr” to distinguish from his father.
May 18, 1843 Abel Witherow, 1 male, 1 horse
May 28, 1843 Wm Witherow, 1 male, 1 horse
May 18, 1843 Isaac Witherow, 1 male, 1 horse
In 1848, yet another county was formed: Putnam County was formed from a portion of Kanawha County, particularly the vicinity called “Poca” – short for “Pocatalico” which is the name of the river that empties into the Kanawha River at that point (pronounced “PO-kuh” and “Po-kuh-TAL-u-ko” if you’re from this area, which I am). Many times you’ll find in the records that the vicinity is referred to as “Mouth of Poca.”
The first Census of Putnam County (1850) shows William’s wife, Susannah, aged 75, living in the household of her son, William “Witherow.” Ah, and who do we find listed as the very next family? Andrew “Falan” a Collier, better known by his true surname: Phalen – My 4th great grandfather on my mother’s side. You would be hard pressed to throw a rock in these parts and hit someone to whom I am not related.
There is more information about who you cannot see listed in this census prior to William Withrow (Jr) in this blog post. Sadly, there are no headstones for William and Susannah Withrow but again, it appears the Withrows were rather partial to the Big Tyler Mountain vicinity (near Cross Lanes) where the Withrow Cemetery is located (about a mile from where my father is buried). I’m not saying that is where they are buried – only that it is much stronger possibility than the cemetery in Lewisburg at a church at which they were not members from the time of their marriage (1792) until the move to Nicholas County in 1817.
Did I mention that the trek from either Poca or Cross Lanes in those days was just under 120 miles? Over the turnpike road (James River – Kanawha Turnpike aka Midland Trail aka Rt. 60). With a horse drawn wagon hauling a dead body (in possibly a casket) is about a 6 day journey. On day 3 of the journey, without having been embalmed and without refrigeration, the deceased body begins to putrify.
No. They aren’t buried in Lewisburg at the Old Stone Presbyterian Church cemetery.
And the 1830 Greenbrier County Tax List? You’ll have a difficult time convincing me that William Withrow, husband of Susannah Skaggs, can be in both Nicholas and Greenbrier County. Not to mention that William Withrow, husband of Susannah Skaggs, wasn’t yet dead in 1836.
Hopefully, I’ve made my case.