John Litteral, Father of Eastern Kentucky Litterals

There are several of our ancestors that stand out or serve as a focal point in the story of our family. One example would be Sir Geoffery De Lotrial that is credited with establishing the family duringthe reign of Kings Richard and John.  James Luttrell, sometimes referred to as “the immigrant” is another as he established the line of our family in the new world.  I would make the same argument for John Litteral that was the progenitor of the family in Eastern Kentucky.

John Litteral was born abt 1790 in Southwestern Virginia to Daniel Littrell and Abigail Bayless. Daniel and Abigail were married in Lee Co., Virginia.  John was the oldest of eleven children.  John’s father Daniel was born abt 1755 in Prince William County, Virginia and died 1809 in Lee County, Virginia. John’s mother Abigail was born abt 1758 in Virginia. Unfortunately that is all I know of Abigail Bayless. She has a few contemporaries that share her name and they are all sometimes confused in family trees I have seen.

Daniel Littrell and his wife Abigail are mentioned in the book Early Settlers of
Lee County, Virginia and Adjacent Counties Vol. II. by Hattie Byrd Muncy
Bales. I have not seen this book but there supposedly is a copy in the Lee County, Virginia, public library.  As of this writing, parts of it are posted under this link.  According to the book, Daniel purchased land along Indian Creek in Lee County on April 12, 1796.  He and his wife lived there until their deaths.

The children of Daniel Littrell and Abigail Bayless are:

  1. John Litteral. Born abt 1790 and died 4 OCT 1840.
  2. Samuel Litteral. Born abt 1793 and died March, 1833.
  3. William Littrell. Moved to Clairborne County, Tennessee.
  4. Daniel Littrell, Jr.. Born abt 1796 in Lee County Virginia. He married Mary Polly in Lee County, Virginia in 1817. He died 9 JAN 1862.
  5. Ewing Littrell, born abt 1798 and died 12 DEC 1857 in Wayne County, Kentucky.  He married Rebecca Jane “Jincy” Rowland in 1817 in Tennessee.  Jincy Rowland was the younger sister of Elizabeth Rowland that married Ewing’s older brother, John Litteral.
  6. Charles Litteral.
  7. Susannah Litteral. Born abt 1805, Lee County, Virginia.
  8. Polly Littrell. Also Mary Polly Littrell. Died abt 1835. Married Emmanual Sandusky.
  9. Abigail Litteral. Moved to Wayne County, Kentucky.
  10. Isaac Littrell.
  11. Bayless Littrell.  Born 2 FEB 1809 and died 23 JAN 1883 in Lee County, Virginia.  He was buried on the family property and his grave is marked. Bayless Married Polly Ann Lorton. She was born abt 1811 and died in 1878 in Lee County, Virginia.  According to the above mentioned book, Bayless acquired all of the shares of the property that had been divided among his brother at the death of Daniel. His mother Abigail continued to live with him there while most of the family moved West.

John Litteral was to have served in the War 1812 in the Virginia Militia. There is a John Littrell listed on the muster rolls of the 41st Virginia Militia.  A Corporal John Littrell also appears on the War of 1812 payroll presented by the Online Catalog Library of Virginia.  I will have to research his military records to see if it is our same John Litteral. It is unclear if his wife Elizabeth ever filed for a pension under John after he died.

John Litteral passed away on 4 OCT 1840. His wife Elizabeth would live on for another 38 years and there is no record of her ever remarrying.  John’s legacy is in his sons, Hairston, Daniel, George and John, Jr.  These men stayed in the Johnson-Magoffin region and are the ancestors to probably most, if not all, Litterals that still live in that region today.

 


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John Litteral, Father of Eastern Kentucky Litterals — 2 Comments

  1. Pingback: Elizabeth Rowland | litterals.com

  2. I’m searching for the roots of my ancestor, James Litteral Briggs, born in Virginia about 1808. In 1829 he married Ann Manley of Monroe County, Mississippi. The couple was in Monroe, MS, in 1820 and in Lafayette, MS, by 1830. He farmed and lived out his life in Lafayette, MS. I have nothing at all on him before his wedding. Assuming he was named for a James Litteral who was important in some way to his parents, I’ve been searching for a James Littrell and a Briggs family living in close proximity and found one in Fauquier County, VA:

    Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890 about Saml Lattrell
    Name: Saml Lattrell
    State: VA
    County: Fauquier County
    Township: Leeds Manor
    Year: 1770
    Record Type: Rent Role
    Database: VA Early Census Index

    Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890 about Wm Briggs
    Name: Wm Briggs
    State: VA
    County: Fauquier County
    Township: Leeds Manour
    Year: 1777
    Record Type: Rent Role
    Database: VA Early Census Index

    Virginia, Marriages, 1660-1800 about James Luttrell
    Name: James Luttrell
    Spouse: Elizabeth Wood
    Marriage Date: 9 Jun 1797
    Marriage Location: Fauquier County, Virginia
    This James Luttrell would be a contemporary of my James L. Briggs’ father.

    I’d appreciate hearing from you if you run across any clues to any close associations between your early Luttrells and a Briggs family (neighbors, witnesses to documents, marriage bonds, etc.). Thank you.

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