CHES (T) NUT (T) - TO: ALL CHES(T)NUT(T) DESCENDANTS RE: CHES(T)NUT(T)

GENEALOGY PROJECT UNDERWAY

Locations: NC, SC, FL, GA, AL, MS, TX, VA, IL, TN

The late Joseph H. Chesnutt, author of "Voices From The Past, Chesnutt, A Southern Colonial Family" gave A. Ray Griffin Jr of Danville VA the rights to revise and expand that book. Unaware of Griffin's project, Eloise F. Potter also began working on a book about the Chesnutt family in southeastern North Carolina. Learning of their mutual interests, Ray and Eloise agreed to cooperate in the publication of one book that surely will be better than whatever manuscript either of them could have prepared independently. The Ches(t)nut(t) family of Sampson and Duplin Counties, NC of the 1750s descend from Alexander Chesnutt (d. 1690) of Isle of Wight County, Virgina and their descendants are legion, having spread across the United States, particularly the Southern States of NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, TX. In NC, Chesnutts were prevalant in Sampson, Duplin, Wayne, New Hanover, Craven, and old Anson and its subsequent divisions. Many of these descendants are involved with genealogical research and probably have useful information on these early Chesnutts, particularly those that settled on the west side of the Six Runs River in the Stewarts Branch area in the 1750s. All correspondence is welcome, but information on the children of Felix Chesnutt (son of David Chesnutt and his first wife Sarah Hollingsworth) would be especially helpful. Almost nothing is known about the Rebecca Chesnutt who married John Chesnutt in Duplin County in 1779 or several Chesnutts who headed households in the 1790 census, namely, Solomon, Shadrick, and Mourning. Anyone who needs basic information on the early Chesnutts of Sampson County is referred to photocopy pages 777-782 in the 1996 edition of "Rackley: A Southern Colonial Family," compiled by Eloise F. Potter and Timothy W. Rackley. Please send Ches(t)nut(t) information or inquiries to: A. Ray Griffin, Jr. 333 Chadwyck Drive Danville, VA 24541-3306 rgriffin@ns.gamewood.net or Eloise F. Potter 9433 Baker Road Zebulon, NC 27597

May 1, 1997 - 19:59 - From: - Ray Griffin