Joseph, son of William Fitzpatrick (FT15113)
According to Lea (1954), William Fitzpatrick also had a son called Joseph. Joseph has several land purchases documented around the same time and location, some properties adjacent to William and his wife, Sarah. A sixth-great-grandson (FT15113-B) of Joseph Fitzpatrick has traced his line back to him commencing with his great-grandfather Robert Worrill Fitzpatrick (1888 – 1967), who was born in Warren County, Georgia. A commercial photographer, Robert was the son of Henry Harris Fitzpatrick and Martha Jane Worrill.
Henry Harris Fitzpatrick (Plate 1) was born in Morgan County, Georgia, on October 18, 1833. He is listed on the 1860 United States census as a farmer in Warren County, Georgia. He was the father to nine children (Robert being his eighth) and was the son of James Fitzpatrick (1801 – 1847). James Fitzpatrick was born July 5, 1801, in Greene County, Georgia, and he married Sarah Harris on December 28, 1824; the couple's two other children were Mary and William Benjamin Fitzpatrick.
James was the son of Benjamin Fitzpatrick and Sarah Jones, who was Benjamin's second wife. For his service in the Revolutionary War, Benjamin was among the first to settle the lands granted in Georgia:
Benjamin Fitzpatrick, b. Va 1745; d. Buckhead, Morgan Co., Ga., 1821. Served as private, Va. Line;
received bounty grant of land in Ga. For his service. Mar. (1) Mary Perkins; in 1784, (2) Sarah Jones. His
grave marked by D.A.R.
Children by (1) wife:
Nancy, mar. John High
Constantine (1771-1845), mar. Mary Perkins (1778-1856); 5 children
Frances mar. — Stewart
Children by (2) wife:
Elizabeth, mar. Samuel Clay
William, b. 1786, mar. Nancy Green
Joseph, mar. Nancy Hunter.
Alexander, mar. Nancy Hill.
Susan, mar. (1) Charles Matthews; (2) John Emerson
Bennett, mar. Eliza Shackelford
Mary, mar. Thomas Brown.
James, mar Sarah Harris.
Jesse, mar. (1) Nancy McGowan; (2) Mrs. Phillips (McCall, 1996).
Benjamin and his son William settled the land they claimed along the Oconee River in Green County, Georgia. The river was dammed in 1912 to generate hydropower for nearby textile mills, and the sites of the Fitzpatrick settlements were lost. However, a map dated 1793 (Figure 2) provides the location of Fort Fitzpatrick on the Oconee’s upper fork at Fitzpatrick’s Ford; Ford and Fort seem to used almost interchangeably in the old records (Hunt, 1973).
Benjamin was the son of Joseph Fitzpatrick and Mary Perrin Woodson; the connection is made very clear here when, in 1761, Benjamin was gifted 200 acres in Albemarle County, Virginia, by his grandfather and namesake Benjamin Woodson, the father of Mary Perrin Woodson:
Benjamin Woodson, of St. Ann’s Parish, Albemarle Co. to his grandson Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Co. afsd.
deed of gift: 200 acres on head of Cary Creek, in Co. afsd. Part of 400 acres (Valentine, 2007);
October 25, 1770. Benjamin Fitzpatrick to Mary Perkins, dau. of Mary Perkins X, who consents to dau’s
m’ge; sec., Joseph Fitzpatrick (Bentley, 1984);
Children of Joseph Fitzpatrick (1) and Mary Perrin Fitzpatrick
Benjamin, born 1746, married, first, Mary Perkins; second, Sarah Jones (seven sons and five daughters).
William, married Miss Phillips (six sons and three daughters)
Joseph, married Elizabeth Jones (two sons and three daughters)
Booth, married Miss Brown (two sons)
Rene, married Miss Hartredge. Family not known
Mrs. Joe Heard
Mrs. Robert Wright (Wynn, 1940).
The three brothers Benjamin, William, and Rene were very active on the lands in Greene and Morgan Counties, Georgia; several of their cousins, and eventually their mother Mary Perrin Fitzpatrick, made their homes in the area after the death of Joseph (Hunt, 1973).
Joseph Fitzpatrick has several land purchases documented around the same time and location, some properties adjacent to William Fitzpatrick (FT15113) and his wife, Sarah:
January 12, 1746 Joseph Fitzpatrick: Patent for “400 acres in Goochland County on north Fork of
Hardware River and bounded by Mildred Merewether’s corner.” From William Gooch, Lt. Governor and
Commander-in-Chief at Williamsburg (Wynn, 1940).
Hence, we arrive, having the three men, William, Thomas, and Joseph Fitzpatrick, all located in the same time and place, on land that makes up the North and South Garden between the North Fork and the South Forks of the Hardware River. By all accounts, documented in the official records and anecdotal, the relationship between the three men has William Fitzpatrick (FT15113) and Sarah as the parents of Thomas and Joseph. But 100% proof is lacking: William, Thomas, and Joseph could be brothers, uncles or cousins, or not related at all.
The latter, however, can be verified by Y-DNA analysis.
