Tombstone Tuesday~Eli Whittington

In yesterday’s post we saw the “Petition for Guardian” for two of the three daughters of Eli Whittington and his wife Margaret Elizabeth Brock. The focus today will be on their Father – Eli Whittington.

Photo Courtesy of Julious Burr

Eli Whittington was born in 1840 according to the 1850 and 1860 Census for Chesterfield County, South Carolina. He is enumerated in the Household of Matthew White in both Censuses listed as age 9 and 17 respectively. His tombstone has a birth year of 1840 and a death year of 1876.[1][2]

The Whittington Surname is very limited in the county and the only likely source for Eli’s parents are Moses Whittington and Rachel White. Rachel White Whittington, age 35, is also enumerated with Matthew White in the 1860 Census for Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Matthew and his Wife Jane are the grandparents of Eli Whittington.
On 26 December 1861 Eli Whittington enlisted into the Civil War as a Private with Company A, 4th Cavalry Regiment South Carolina. Eli survived the War,  returns to Chesterfield and marries Margaret Elizabeth Brock about 1868. No marriage records or newspapers account of the marriage exist and the date is calculated based on the birth of their first born child – Massey Lou Jane Whittington, b. 26 June 1869.[3]

Eli Whittington died in 1876 as a very young man approximately 33-36 years old. 

Eli was the only known child of Moses and Rachel White Whittington and they had three daughters before his death in 1876. Thus, the Whittington surname is no longer found in Chesterfield County and to my knowledge the above tombstone and the tombstone of his wife Elizabeth Brock are the only two known WHITTINGTON tombstones to exist in the county. 









 
 
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[1] 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 179B-180, Line 36, Dwelling 1246, Family 1246, Household of Matthew WHITE; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 18 November 2012); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
[2] 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 48/117B (stamped), Line 1, Dwelling 333, Family 332, Household of Matthew WHITE; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 18 November 2012); citing National Archives Microfilm M653-1217.
[3] Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, Military Service Records (http://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 30 March 2013), entry for Eli Whittington, Private; Twelfth Battalion, Cavalry (Fourth Squadron Cavalry); Confederate.