Lydia Eva WHITAKER b. 24 Jun 1830 Washington, Co. VA d. 31 May 1901 Washington Co. VA: Appalachian Aristocracy

1830 - 1901 (70 years)

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Name	Lydia Eva WHITAKER
Born	24 Jun 1830	Washington, Co. VA
Gender	Female
_UID	A79891316F7140ABA9E16E0C8419EFA80475
Died	31 May 1901	Washington Co. VA [1]
Buried	Hayter Cemetery, Washington Co. VA
	Grave location: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46430990
Notes	CENSUS RECORDS 1850 Census Name: Lydia E Litton Age: 22 Birth Year: abt 1828 Birthplace: Virginia Home in 1850: District 54, Russell, Virginia Gender: Female Family Number: 85 Household Members: Name Age John W Litton 21 Lydia E Litton 22 Louisa C Litton 3 Moses W Litton 2 1860 Census Name: Lydia Sitton [Lydia Litton] Age: 33 Birth Year: abt 1827 Gender: Female Birth Place: Virginia Home in 1860: Western District, Washington, Virginia Post Office: Abingdon Family Number: 63 Household Members: Name Age John W Litton 30 Lydia Litton 33 Lavica Litton 14 Moses Litton 12 Lafayette Litton 10 Lilburn Litton 8 Donaldson Litton4 1870 Census Name: L E Liten [L E Litton] Age in 1870: 42 Birth Year: abt 1828 Birthplace: Virginia Home in 1870: Division 3, Washington, Virginia Race: White Gender: Female Post Office: Abingdon Household Members: Name Age L E Litton 42 Moses Litton 22 Lilburn Litton 17 Dolison Litton 14 Clemetime Litton 9 Cordelia Litton 5 1880 Census Name: Lydia A. Littin [Litton] Age: 51 Birth Year: abt 1829 Birthplace: Virginia Home in 1880: Saltville, Washington, Virginia Race: White Gender: Female Relation to Head of House: Self (Head) Marital Status: Widowed Father's Birthplace: Virginia Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee Occupation: Keeping House Household Members: Name Age Lydia A. Litton 51 Moses W. Litton 31 Lilburn Litton 26 Donelson Litton 22 Clementine Litton 19 Mollie Litton 15 Rachel Woodward 70 [boarder] Thomas Grady 21 [boarder] William Johnson 22 [boarder] James Leonard 32 [boarder, huckster] born Ireland 1900 Census Name: Liddie E Lytton Birth Date: Jun 1829 Birthplace: Virginia Home in 1900: Saltville, Washington, Virginia Race: White Gender: Female Relation to Head of House: Head Marital Status: Widowed Father's Birthplace: North Carolina Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee Mother: number of living children: 7 Mother: How many children: 8 Occupation: Farmer Months not employed: 0 Can Read: No Can Write: No Can Speak English: Yes House Owned or Rented: R Farm or House: F Household Members: Name Age Liddie E Lytton 70 Rebecca Welch 67 [housekeeper] Caraline Mcreylolds 38 [boarder, school teacher] James Mcreylolds 44 [boarder, day labor] Moses Whitaker left in his will land to Lydia with the notation "The land was not to be in the hands of John Litton - if he was alive" -. He wasn't. From family stories handed down, John Whitley Litton III was a gambler and kept race horses. It is told the Litton Plantation was a good place to raise hell on weekends. Family stories having John joining the US Army after the war ended and supposedly dying in the Mountain Meadow Indian Massacre in 1867 Utah. This was the story told by his son, Lilburn to cover the fact that he may have deserted his family. This story is documented in "Russell County, Virginia: History Revealed Through Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of Its Ancestors" M. Secrist, Lulu Press, Inc, Feb 18, 2013. However, the massacre took place in 1857. The Mountain Meadows Association has the following information showing he was not a victim of the is massacre. http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/john_w__linton.htm The MMA investigates every person who is believed to have died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. According to a family tradition, John Whitely Litton died in a "Mormon Indian Massacre in Utah", in 1867. Although the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place in 1857, stories usually get some facts wrong, and he was investigated as a possible victim. John Whitely Litton was the son of John S. Litton and Catherine Younce, born 5 March 1830 in Elk Grove, Russell County, Virginia. He married Lydia Eva Whitaker on 14 May 1845 in Russell County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Moses Whitaker and Polly Bowman. In the 1850 census, they are enumerated in Russell County, Virginia, and in the 1860 census they are enumerated in the Western District of Washington County, Virginia. Lydia (Whitaker) Litton is enumerated as a widow in both the 1870 and 1880 census for Washington County, Virginia. These census records indicate that Litton probably died sometime between 1860 and 1870, and not before 1860, which would have been the case if he was a victim of the Mountain Meadows Massacre in September 1857. John W. Litton was in Wade's Regiment, Local Defense (Washington County VA Militia), in April 1862, before he enlisted in the Confederate Army. Litton served the Confederacy during the Civil War, in Company A (originally Stevenson's Company, Ferguson's Battalion) of the 16th Virginia Calvary. This Company was primarily made up of men from Russell County, Virginia. John W. Litton was a wagon master in the Civil War. Most Confederate records from Virginia were burned in Richmond, however a copy of a Company Muster roll for 31 October 1863 to 1 April 1864 shows he enlisted 5 August 1862 at Lebanon, VA. for a period of 3 years. He was signed in by Capt. Stevenson. He appears on a Receipt Roll for pay on 31 December 1863. He was paid $.25 for service from 1 August 1863 to 31 December 1863. These records indicate that Litton was still alive in at the end of December in 1863. There is no record of Litton's wife filing for a widow's pension. Lydia (Whitaker) and John W. Litton had seven children. The two youngest children were Clementine Catherine Litton, born in September 1861, and Mary Cordelia Litton, born 31 March 1865. The birth of Litton's youngest daughter indicates that he was living in 1864. The census records, military records, and birth date of his youngest daughter, prove that he was not a victim of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre. Another family story states that when he returned from the Civil War, he didn't like the reconstruction, so he enlisted in U.S. Army and was sent to Utah, where he died as an Indian fighter. A different story said that he settled in Texas and married again. He was rumored to have several children and was living in Campbell County, Texas. [Note: There is no Campbell Co. TX. There is the town of Campbell in Hunt Co. TX] No evidence, that would support either story, has been found. In Lydia (Whitaker) Litton's father's will of 31 March 1874, proved 22 November 1875, Moses Whitaker left her land, and other property, and further stated that the "devise to Lydia E. Litton, dau., are not to be liable for any debts due for any one from her husband, John Litton, if he is now alive." When and where John Whitely Litton died remains a mystery. It is evident, from her father's Will, that as late as 1874, Litton's wife did not know what happened to her husband. She never remarried, and Lydia Eva (Whitaker) Litton died 14 May 1901 and is buried in the Hayter Cemetery in Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia. © 2013 A.C. Wallner for the Mountain Meadows Association. All rights reserved There may be records of him in Texas around 1880. BURIAL She is buried Hayter/Litton Cemeter in Poor Valley, VA. Her tombstone is shared with her father, Moses. One side says 'father' with name and information and the other side states 'daughter'. [1, 2]
Person ID	I823	Master File
Last Modified	24 May 2017

Father	Moses X. WHITAKER, b. 1791, Lincoln Co. NC , d. 14 Sep 1875, Washington, Co. VA (Age 84 years)
Mother	Mary (Polly) BOWMAN, b. Abt 1805, TN , d. 10 Feb 1870, Washington Co. VA (Age ~ 65 years)
Family ID	F129	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family John Whitley LITTON, III, b. 28 Mar 1830, Elk Garden, Russell Co. VA , d. Aft 1880, Texas (Age 50 years)

Married 14 May 1845 Elk Garden, Russell Co. VA [2]

Children

	1. Luvicia Caldonia LITTON, b. 20 Oct 1846, Elk Garden, VA , d. 12 Feb 1933 (Age 86 years)
	2. Moses Whitaker LITTON, b. Feb 1848, d. Aft 1920 (Age ~ 73 years)
	3. Lafayette Monk LITTON, b. 23 Apr 1850, Elk Garden, VA , d. 9 Jun 1925 (Age 75 years)
	4. Lilburn Rutus LITTON, b. 14 Dec 1852, Elk Garden, VA , d. 22 Aug 1933 (Age 80 years)
	5. John Davidson (Jerre) LITTON, b. 17 Mar 1856, Washington Co. VA , d. Aft 1920 (Age > 65 years)
	6. Clementine Yontz LITTON, b. 1861, Washington Co. VA , d. Aft 1920 (Age > 60 years)
	7. Mary Cordelia Lydia LITTON, b. Abt 1865, Washington Co. VA

Family ID F288 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Sources
[S25] Descendants of Richard Whitaker, Jr. and Rachel Bentley, Joye Boardman.

[S15] Nancy A. Nash Material, 1997.