HOWELL HATHCOCK2357

Howell Hathcock was born in Old Brunswick County, Virginia, about 1768, the son of Mary Hathcock and grandson of Joseph and Elizabeth Hathcock of Brunswick County (later Greensville County). The name of Howell's father is unknown and is not recorded. His mother Mary, daughter of Joseph Hathcock, could have married a man by the name of Hathcock or she retained her maiden name for some reason unknown. {See following note, added in 2010.] Shortly after Howell's mother died, he married Mary Woodell. daughter of Alley Woodell, in Greensville County on 30 January 1788. Soon they moved to Orange County, North Carolina and appear on the Orange County census of 1800 with two male children. (Only one son, Miles, is known to have been born about this time).

Howell Hathcock and his family perhaps moved to South Carolina from Orange County, for his son Miles is reported to have been born in South Carolina. A petition dated in 1809, to the Legislature of the State of Tennessee, by Agness Thompson of Knox County, asking for a divorce from William Thompson of Jackson County, Tennessee, has the signature of Howell Heathcock. This proves that Howell had lived in Knox County in East Tennessee before settling in Middle Tennessee.2358 He must have moved from Knox County to Bedford County between 1809 and 1812. By 1820 Howell and Miles appear as heads of households in Warren County, Tennessee. He settled on Barren Fork of Duck River, now in Coffee County. During the 1820's Mary Woodell died and Howell married Mary Nelson Duncan, the widow of Lewis Duncan, son of John Duncan and Patsy Dennis. Mary Nelson, born 25 May 1789 in or around Moore County, North Carolina, was the daughter of John Nelson and Lucy Hart. John Nelson was a Captain in North Carolina during the American Revolution. John Nelson also lived on Barren Fork of Duck River.

Howell died in Coffee County, Tennessee, about 1848. His Last Will and Testament names his oldest child as Miles, mentions two sons, Howell P.J., who died in the Civil War, and John, who moved to Ozark County, Missouri, about 1855; and names one daughter. The daughter, Queen Nashti, is mentioned in the Will but nothing is known of her. It seems that the last three children were born to Howell and Mary Nelson Duncan and Miles was the child of Howell's first wife. The census records indicate other older children but no names are included.

The descendants of Howell Hathcock today spell their name Haithcock or Hathcock and live in Indiana, Tennessee and Missouri. A descendant of Mary Nelson Duncan Hathcock is Helen L. Douglas of 205 North N, Duncan, Oklahoma 73533 (in 1983). More details on Howell and his descendants appear in Hathcock Families of Tennessee, Hathcock Family History, Volume VIII and will not be repeated in this volume.

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Note, 2010: A direct male-line descendant of Howell Hathcock is David Lee Hathcock, who had his Y-chromosome DNA test carried out in October of 2010. David’s profile is quite different from the Hathcock-Heathcock-Hathcoat profile but is almost an exact match for individuals descended from several men named Moseley, who lived in Brunswick Co VA in the late 1700s.

The 1748 Poll List for Brunswick Co VA (from the William and Mary Quarterly)2359 includes Joseph Hathcock and a number of Moseleys:  William Moseley, George Moseley, Thomas Moseley.

It is likely that Howell Hathcock’s father was one of the Moseleys who lived in Brunswick Co VA when he was born in about 1768.

1850 Census of District 6, Coffee Co TN

Name Age
Mary Haithcock 60
William Duncan 12

adjacent listing:

Name Age
John N Haithcock 21
Martha Haithcock 16