A Short History Of The Wilkerson Family In Warren County

Diane Wilkerson Jordan of Waynesville gave a short history of the Wilkerson family to the writer. It was compiled mostly by Thaddeus Wilkerson. I found much interest in it since my Bogan family settled, in 1832, in the same general area as the Wilkersons in Clarksville and Spring Hill.
The compilation of the Wilkersons was found mainly from scanty family Bible records, memory and from tombstones in the Wilkerson cemetery in Spring Hill.
(Spring Hill is located a few miles east on Wilmington Road from Mather's Mill roadside park in Washington Twp. It was at one time an old camping ground and resort for the hunting tribes of the Delaware, Shawnee and Miami Indians. It is a low sector of land, crudely circular in outline. It is about one mile across and slightly more than one thousand feet above sea level. The hill is fifty to seventy feet above the surrounding country and has a remarkably fertile soil. It is one of the more pleasant sights in the county.)
James Harris, Sr., and James H. Wilkerson owned Land on Spring Hill. Both men served in the Revolutionary War. Intermarriages of the two families have produced many descendants.
The first record of the Warren County Wilkerson family was a descendant of Moses, a native of either Louden or Orange County, Va. Moses was married to Elethe, no last name mentioned.
Six sons were born to this union, however, only five could be accounted for. They are: William, Dr. Walter B., Haney H., Peter and James H.
In the year 1787, James H., the youngest of the family, and his brothers and affiliated families headed west. James and one of his brothers settled near Lexington, Ky. Two of the brothers traveled to western Tennessee and northern Louisiana. The remaining two migrated to Missouri and the Northwest.
The method of transportation westward in those days was mainly by the Ohio River. As the family was floating down the river on a flat boat, John Wilkerson, second son of James H. was born. Daniel Boone's wife was the attending mid-wife.
James H., as was noted earlier, enlisted in the Revolutionary War from Louden County, Va., late in July or early in August, 1780. He served as a private with the Virginia troops under Captain James Hudage Lane and Samuel Selden.
He was later transferred to the Corps of Artificers under Captain N. Pendelton, and was discharged January 2, 1782. He applied for a pension and received it on October 3, 1832. (His certificate, number 7996, was issued May 3, 1833. His claim number was S-4727.)
James H. Wilkerson was born November 29, 1758, and died December 4, 1834. His wife, Sarah Moore Wilkerson, was born November 4, 1763, and died July 17, 1841. They were joined in marriage April 30, 1782, in Virginia; both were born in Louden County, Virginia.
James and Sarah, the family of nine, three sons and six daughters, first settled on the College Township Road (S.R. 350) about 1803. About 1809 or 1810 they gave their farm to their daughters and removed to Spring Hill, where they purchased two thousand acres of land on "The Knobs" which encompassed the southern and western slopes of Spring Hill and adjacent low lands. James Wilkerson built a distillery at the foot of the hill, which was in operation for many years. His product was mostly peach and apple brandy. His sons, William, John and James located on lands near the distillery. In 1860, improvements included a steam sawmill built by his son, John, and grandson, James H.
A church meeting was held in 1827 in the old Flatfork Schoolhouse. James H., Sr., in an aged condition, arose and said he could no longer conscientiously carry on a distillery.
His son, William, operated a distillery near by, but discontinued it in 1820. John conducted a distillery for making apple brandy that was discontinued in 1841.
The Wilkerson family descendant list is unusually long, with offspring's in all parts of the County. The Warren County Genealogical Society has in its records group charts of many of the family members.

FOOTNOTES: [a place to add additional information that you might want to submit]

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This page created 14 September 2004 and last updated 12 October, 2010
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