SAMANTHA BLEVINS PRUITT

Hampton & Samantha Blevins Pruitt

   Samantha Blevins was born December 2,
1870, in Wilkes County, North Carolina,
the daughter of Calloway Blevins and Lucinda Caudill. She married Hampton Pruitt on December 31, 1885, at the age of fifteen, and they had twelve children, seven boys and five girls.  Hampton died at age 53, in 1916, due to colon cancer.

  

    Taken before 1904, this could be the oldest family photograph of Samantha and Hampton Pruitt.  Back row left to right:  Addie, Callie, Mack, Ida, DeEtte.  Front row left to right:  Charlie, Dora on Hampton's lap, and Fay on Samantha's lap.

   In 1926, Samantha and five children
moved to Winston-Salem, NC, and
dwelt at 221 East 13th Street.      
   Seated left to right is Gar, Samantha, and Fay.  Standing left to right is Vestal, Dennis, and Zona.
   Samantha and Fay returned to live at Walnut Grove and Fay died there, in 1930, due to tuberculosis at age 28.

Samantha married Ambrose Adams

in 1931 and he died in 1941.

The children are Samantha's
grandchildren from her son, Vestal.

Samantha lived with us in our home

on Cool Springs Road near Elkin

in the spring of 1957 and passed away

on April 2 at the age of 86.

CHILDREN OF HAMPTON AND SAMANTHA BLEVINS PRUITT:

Ida Victoria Pruitt (Cleary)……….1887-1957

John Calloway Pruitt...……………1889-1976

Adam Wesley Pruitt...…………….1891-1978

Myrtle DeEtte Pruitt (Felts)………1897-1957

William Mack Pruitt...……………1896-1968

Charlie Pruitt...……………………1897-1980

Mindora Pruitt...…………………..1899-1921

Fay Pruitt...………………………..1902-1930

James Garfield Pruitt...……………1904-1962

Sherman Vestal Pruitt...…………...1907-1989

Zone Pruitt (Wheeling)…………….1909-1991

Leonard Dennis Pruitt...…………...1911-1960

PRUITT PICTURES

Bobby Joe, Franky, and Wade Pruitt with
 nephew Ronnie Mathis.

Jean, Wade, Franky, and Bobby Joe Pruitt

Franky and Linda Pruitt

Franky Pruitt, first grade.

Gar and Lola Pruitt

Grandma Samantha with Gar, daughter Hazel,

and Hazel's son, Ronnie Mathis.

Gar Pruitt, working in barbershop.

Grandparents, Hampton and Samantha Blevins Pruitt

Hampton and Samantha Pruitt Family
Back row left to right: Addie, Callie,
Ida, and DeEtte.
Front row left to right:  Charlie, Dora
on Hampton's lap, and Fay on Samantha's
lap.

Mother Lola with Wade and Franky

Bobby Joe Pruitt, 8th grade class, Pleasant Hill School

Franky and Wade Pruitt

Gar Pruitt with friends.

Wade and Franky Pruitt

Gar and Lola Carter Pruitt

Gar and Lola Pruitt with Betty, Wade, Franky, and Bobby Joe

Gar Pruitt with stringer of squirrels.

Gar Pruitt

Gar Pruitt

Hazel and Jimmie Pruitt, 1936

Jean, Betty, Wade, Franky, and Bobby Joe Pruitt

Our home on Cool Springs Road

from 1949-1967

Mother Lola with Franky

Samantha Pruitt and children.
Front row left to right:  Gar, Samantha, and Fay.
Second row left to right:  Vestal, Dennis, and Zona.

Gar and Lola Carter Pruitt

Jimmie Pruitt with sisters 

Betty, Jean, Hazel

Wade, Franky, and Bobby Joe Pruitt

Bobby Joe, Wade, and Franky Pruitt

Franky with Indian chief,

Cherokee, North Carolina

Franky Pruitt in white shoes.

SAFE IS THE HEART

I'm a man who dreams like all men dream
   of mountains to conquer
      places unseen
         sites to escape to the happiest hours---
   to retreat
      to the loneliest nights
                          alone.

Whenever the sea storms over the land
   I still dream of castles
     it can't knock down---
         to places unknown
            hurt of any kind.

Dreams are dreams
   hearts are hearts
      and together they are
         forever and ever---
   weathering the storms of darkest night
                   gloom without end
   when the aches and pains of emotions and feelings
      cut deep the very core
         of the living soul---
   taking hearts and dreams and making them laugh
      turning them right around
         and making them cry.

Oh, how I've tried and tried to explore
   of how the heart climbs and soars
      to heights unknown to any man---
   and how it can plunge to the lowliest depths
      when even the soul
          can't be much help.

But, alas!
   You came along
       threw out your hand
          and I reached out
             where the heart is safe;
   and to castles we have flown
      where storms can't destroy
         tho' they try and they try
            to knock at the door:
               to get to our hearts
               to pull them apart.

G. Franklin Pruitt
      Published:  The DeKalb Literary Arts Journal, DeKalb College, Clarkston, GA., 1979

1800-1865

   In the early census records of Wilkes County, 1784-1787, the names Joseph Pruitt and Isaac Preston appear.
   In the 1790 census, Jo Prewitt is there, but not Isaac Preston.  Neither is Joel Prewitt in this 1790 census even though he was born in 1786 to Jo Prewitt.
   Furthermore, in all Federal census records of Wilkes County, from 1800-1860, the Preston surname does not appear again in any of the census records in the time period of fifty years.
   On October 21, 1835, however, a marriage bond was issued for Charlotte Richardson and Isaac Preston.
   Strangely, on that exact date---October 21, 1835---a marriage certificate was signed for Charlotte Richardson and Isaac Preuett.
   Joel Prewett is the son of Joseph Pruitt, and Joel and Polly____ had the following children:
      1810, Isaac
      1812, Polly
      1815, Joel, Jr.
      1821, Jeremiah
      1823, Sally
      1827, Hardin
   Children of Charlotte Richardson and Isaac Preuett are these:
      1838-1922  Pheraby:  she is buried at Dehart Baptist Church.
      1841, Mary
      1843, Preston
      1846, Isaac
      1848, Nancy
      1850, Celia
      1852, Joel
      1856, Hardin
      1858-1928, John A. married Irene Billings (1858-1918).  They are buried at Rachel Baptist Church cemetery in Roaring River.
   In Marriages of Wilkes County, North Carolina 1778-1868, there were no marriages with the surname Preston, and only seven marriages with the surnames Pruett, Pruit, Prewit, Prewitt for the same time period of 1778 to 1868.
  So was the name of Isaac Preston on the marriage bond of 1835 a mistake, which was corrected on the marriage certificate on the same day?  Or should we use the names of Isaac Preuett and Charlotte Richardson for future generations with Isaac being the son of Joel Prewit?  And what became of Isaac Preston?
   On May 7, 1787, a marriage bond was recorded for Isaac Low and Mary Preston.  But after the date of that marriage bond, I have not been able to locate another document for Isaac Low or Mary Preston in Wilkes County.  Perhaps they moved out of the county, or out of the state.
    Isaac Preston is also named as a head of household in 1790 with a total of five people in his house, but the names of his wife and children are not recorded.  Could Mary Preston be the daughter of Isaac Preston?
   Meanwhile, Isaac Prewett and Charlotte Richardson had a total of nine children and one of the sons was named Isaac, born in 1846.
  
     
     
  
  

ANDREW PRUITT, 1822- ?

   Andrew Pruitt was born in Burke County, NC, in 1822, one of thirteen children in the family of Joseph Pruitt and Nancy White.
   Andrew's first wife was Louisa Verble, and, by 1860, they had eight children, all born in Wilkes County:  Noah, Jacob, Joseph, William Wesley, Carolina, Cicero, Prudence, and Tumas. 
   Between 1860 and 1868, however, there are no more records available for Louisa, or for their son, Noah, who was four years old in the 1850 census.
   In 1868, Andrew married Almeda Lee, and the family moved from Wilkes to the Elkin area of Surry County.
   As for their children:
      Jacob married Sarah Cockerham in Surry County in 1864 and they had four children.
      Joseph:  after the 1860 census, records are inclusive.
      William Wesley's first wife was Nancy Flanagan, then he married Sarah Delia Blevins in Johnson City, Tennessee, in 1892.  He died in 1944 and is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery, Beckley, West Virginia.
      Caroline:  after the 1860 census, records are inclusive.
      Cicero married Mary Ann Fields and they lived in the East Bend area of Surry County.  They are buried at Cool Springs Baptist Church, located on Cool Springs Road, in Elkin.
      Prudence married Thomas William Edmond Hemric, and they are buried at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, located on Pleasant Hill Drive, in Elkin.
      Tumas married Mary Jane Dunn in Surry County.
   Andrew Pruitt's wife, Almeda, was born in 1840, died in 1911, and she is buried at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Elkin. 
   After Andrew's marriage to Almeda Lee on May 19, 1868, his name never appears again on any public record, such as a property deed, census record, death record, or grave marker.  The same can be said for Andrew's first wife, Louisa Verble, and their son, Noah.  All three appear to have vanished without a trace.
   While it is not known if Andrew Pruitt is directly related to my Pruitt family of Wilkes County, I wanted to post this information in case other people are looking for their Pruitt kin.
     
     
     


     

HAMPTON PRUITT, 1838-1863

    Hampton Pruitt was born in Wilkes County to Joel Pruitt, Jr. and Elizabeth Durham.
    On May 31, 1862, Hampton received a marriage bond to marry Mary Wagoner, daughter of Adam Wagoner and Sarah Whitehead of Alleghany County, and, on June 1, 1862, they were married.

     In 1850, Hampton was living with his parents in Mulberry, but, by 1860, he was living with his grandfather, Joel Pruitt, Sr., in Traphill, after Joel had moved there from Wilkesboro. 

     In September, 1862, Hampton enlisted in the Confederate Army, 30th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company G.  On July 10, 1863, he deserted his unit and later returned to duty.  On December 15, 1863, he died in a Confederate hospital in Winchester, Virginia, perhaps from pneumonia. 
    While Hampton was gone to fight in the war, Mary gave birth to a boy, Adam Hampton, on July 19, 1863.
     According to census records, Mary was living with her family in Alleghany County in 1860. By 1870, she had moved with her parents to Union, thirty miles west from Traphill.  By 1880, however, she had moved to Walnut Grove to live with her sister, Lucinda, and her brother-in-law, John P. Adams. When her son, Adam Hampton, married Samantha Blevins in 1885, Mary lived with them and their family until her death in 1909.
    At this time, perhaps it is fitting to offer a tribute for Hampton Pruitt's friend, Owen Absher, a resident of Mulberry.
    When Hampton applied for a marriage bond on May 31, 1862, he was accompanied by Owen, who appeared on Hampton's behalf as his bondsman, or witness.
    On September 22, 1862, Owen enlisted in the Confederate Army and served with the North Carolina 52nd Infantry Regiment, Company F.  On December 17th, 1862, in the Battle of Goldsboro Bridge, Owen was killed.  He was buried at Willow Dale Cemetery near Goldsboro in Wayne County.  He was the son of Jacob Absher and Sarah Hall of Wilkes County and 24 years old.
   Strangely, Hampton Pruitt enlisted in the Confederacy exactly one week after Owen's enlistment, and Hampton died almost one year to the day, December 15, 1863, following Owen's death on December 17, 1862.  Their ages also were nearly identical.
                     

Hampton and Samantha Blevins Pruitt

Children of Hampton Pruitt and Samantha Blevins:

Cordillia...............1886-1886
Ida Victoria..........1887-1957
John Calloway......1889-1976
Adam Wesley.......1891-1978
Myrtle DeEtte.......1894-1970
William Mack.......1896-1968
Charlie...................1897-1980
Sarah Mindora.......1899-1921
Rhoda Fay..............1902-1930
James Garfield.......1904-1962
Sherman Vestal......1907-1989
Martha Zona...........1909-1991
Leonard Dennis......1911-1960

     

PRESTON PRUITT, 1843-1863

   Preston Pruitt was born in Wilkes County in 1843, one of nine children in the household of Isaac Pruitt & Charlotte Richardson.  He was also the grandson of Joel Pruitt & Polly, the brother of Joel Pruitt, Jr., and a first cousin of Hampton Pruitt, my great grandfather.

   According to Wilkes County Sketches, by J. Jay Anderson, "Traphill was a haven for Union sympathizers led by John Quincy Adams Bryan.  Known as the 'Red Fox', Bryan led almost 1,000 men from Wilkes County to Tennessee to join the Union Army."

   In Wilkes County Bits and Pieces, by Fay Byrd, Wilkes Community College, she relates the story of an event in the Civil War that has been called The Limestone Cove Massacre.

   On November 21, 1863, Bryan was leading a company of 57 men from Wilkes County, through the mountains of western North Carolina, planning to cross Tennessee and merge with the Union Army in Kentucky.  They stopped at the farm of Dr. David Bell, a Union sympathizer, located in Limestone Cove, Unicoi County, Tennessee. 

   Just before the men were to eat breakfast on that day, they were attacked by Col. W. P. Witcher and his Confederate calvary from Virginia.  Bryan and his men scattered and fought, and most of the men were able to escape the battle with their lives, including Billie Gambill and Lewis Hanks of Traphill.

   Bryan survived the attack, and, after the war, returned to Wilkes County, where he lived until 1905.

   Matt Pruitt of Traphill was shot in the stomach; he survived the wound, however, and lived after the war.

   But nine other men in Bryan's company did not survive.  They were buried in a mass grave in Bell Cemetery in Limestone Cove, Unicoi County, Tennessee.

   In addition to Preston Pruitt, the names of the others from Traphill that died include:  Calvin Cantrel, John Sparks, Wiley Royal, Elijah Gentry, Jacob Lyons, James B. Blackburn, and two unnamed.

   John Sparks was the son of Reuben Sparks and Phoebe Blackburn.

   James B. Blackburn was the son of Columbus Franklin Blackburn and Sarah Jane Crouse.

   Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate the names of families of the other victims.

   Preston Pruitt was twenty years old when he and the other men from Traphill died in a war less than eighty miles from their homes and families.