The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: NC
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
Find-a-Grave dates are different (1734 - 10 Apr 1796) from record dates - spouse / children match
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: Thomas Lesser
Martha Pettigrew was born in 1734 in County Tyrone, Ireland, to James Lewis Pettigrew III and Mary Ann Higgenbotham Cochran. She was one of 21 children in her family. She immigrated to America with her parents and siblings around 1740.
In 1747, she married John Wesley Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister and a cousin of the famous signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Witherspoon. They settled in Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, where they had 13 children: Thomas, Flora, David, James, John Jr., Mary Polly, Martha, Elizabeth, Jane, Nancy, Nancy, Jane, and Elizabeth.
In 1778, John Wesley Witherspoon died of smallpox while serving as a chaplain in the Continental Army. Martha Pettigrew Witherspoon moved with her children to Wilkes County, North Carolina, where she owned a large plantation and several slaves. During the American Revolution she furnishing supplies to the Continental Army.
She died on April 10, 1796, in Wilkes County, North Carolina and was buried in Witherspoon Cemetery, Kings Creek, Caldwell County, North Carolina.
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