Joshua Westcott

Whitelaw, in his land books, states that Joshua "dies without issue" however, this compiler believes that to be in error. Other genealogies, including the well-documented "Miles Files" at the Eastern Shore Public Library, show this Joshua as marrying Mary Pitts and having sons Edmund P. and Hezekiah P. and this fits well circumstantially as Mary Pitts had brothers Edmund and Hezekiah Pitts. It should be noted that there is some uncertainty here, however. Whitelaw does a yeoman's effort sorting out the early Eastern Shore of Virginia land but, this compiler has found quite a few errors in his genealogical information of the people who owned the land.

In this case, he is tracing tract N89 and, in 1770, Jonathan Stott sells 80a of the tract to John Wescote who adds to it a contiguous segment of land making 150a in total. Wescote in turn left this land to a son Joshua in 1786 who was living on the parcel at the time. Whitelaw then makes the statement that Joshua died without issue and then some inter-family transactions happened to divide the land which eventually ends up in the hands of Hezekiah P. Wescott in 1829. This compiler believes that Hezekiah P. Westcott in short for Hezekiah Pitts Westcott who is son, along with Edmund P. Westcott, of Joshua and Mary (Pitts) Westcott. The original owner John Wescote only had two surviving sons that are mentioned in his will - Littleton and Joshua - and we know Littleton is not a candidate as husband of Mary Pitts as he has a large family with wife Jemima when John Wescote died c1786.

It seems that John Westcott also also a son named John as mentioned in the will of John Wesctcott's father John in 1728 but he must not have survived till the younger John leaves his will in 1786. All this leaves Joshua as the only possible husband for Mary Pitts and this is corraborated in the Virginia marriage records that Joshua married Mary Pitts in 1771. So, there is a very high level of proof that Joshua/Mary Pitts had a family that carried on into the 19th century with at least two sons Edmind P. and Hezekiah P. Westcott, named for brothers of Mary Pitts.

Joshua Westcoat's estate was administered on Jan 14 1795 by Hezekiah Pitts with appraisers John Elliott, James Heath, Thomas Elliott and Covington Stott (NoVAW-XXXVIII-O-32:400).

Joshua married Mary Pitts, daughter of Major Pitts and Jemima Gray, on 17 Sep 1771 in Northampton Co., VA.¹ (Mary Pitts was born about 1745 in Northampton Co., VA and died about 1820 in Northampton Co., VA.)