PENNINGTON

1. Benajah PENNINGTON, (1725-1790)

Benajah PENNINGTON was born 1 Jan 1724/25 at Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina. He married Elizabeth HUMPHRIES. They had five known children.

Benajah appears in the 1759 Tax List of Rowan County, NC. He and several PENNINGTON men are listed in the 1770 Tax List of the upper parts of the Catawba River, Wilkes County, NC (Abel his son, Micajah, Benjamin, and William). He is also in the 1772, 1778 and 1782 tax lists there; however, his death is recorded as 1790 in Grayson County, VA. There is no record of Elizabeth PENNINGTON's death.

The known children of Benajah and Elizabeth PENNINGTON were:

  1. Benjamin/Benajah PENNINGTON -
  2. William PENNINGTON -
  3. Andrew/Levi PENNINGTON -
  4. Abel PENNINGTON - See the next section for details.
  5. Micajah PENNINGTON (RevWar) - b. 1743. He lived in Capt. Baker's Tax District, Wilkes County, NC in 1788. I do not know who he married, but he five known sons: Elijah, Micajah, Levi, Edward, and Benajah. Micajah PENNINGTON died in 1813 in Wilkes County, NC

2. Abel PENNINGTON, (aft 1737-1819)

Abel PENNINGTON was born between 1737 and 1755 at NC. In 1770, Abel lived in Wilkes County, NC. He is listed as a land owner there in 1774, and was a tax assessor in 1778.

During the Revolutionary War years, Abel served on a road jury to layout a road from Deep Found to Benajah Pennington's mill. This qualified him for Revolutionary War patriot status by the NSDAR.

In 1778 the Wilkes County Grand Jury issued warrants for the arrest of four couples for "living and cohabiting together without being lawfully married." One of the couples was Abel PENNINGTON and Sarah SWEETIN, possibly the daughter of Dutton SWEETEN. The couple already had their first five children by this date.

By September 1778, Abel was in court because Enoch OSBURN accused him of "concealing horses and other crimes". Abel was found innocent. Abel sued Enoch for slander and won payment from him. In DEC 1778 Abel posted bond to appear in court on the unlawful cohabitation charges - the case was never heard, so apparently Abel and Sarah were lawfully married or proved that they already were. The court cases did not seem to hurt his reputation, as he was called for jury duty in 1780.

In 1784, Abel PENNINGTON registered two tracts of land in Pickens County, South Carolina, just across the river from present day Greenville County. He still had business dealing in Wilkes County, NC, where he registered his brand and mark in 1788. BUT, that same year he purchased 250 acres of land on Cedar Creek, Wilkes County, Georgia. When they sold that land in 1789, Abel and Sarah signed the deed with their mark, indicating that they could not write.

In Georgia, between 1789 and 1800 Abel PENNINGTON appears in deed records in Wilkes County, Washington County, Jackson County, Greene County, and Oglethorpe County. For the 1800 Federal Census, they were in Oglethorpe County with their large family: 8 young men 16-26, 2 young ladies 10-16, 1 16-26, and Abel and Sarah were both over 45 years of age, with 10 slaves.

In 1801, they received land grants of 456.4 acres in Jackson County, GA and immediately had problems with the land:

In DEC 1801 Abel PENNINGTON humbly sheweth that Thompson BRUSTER with force & arm to wit, with clubs, staves, axes, mattocks, ploughs, & horses broke in & entered upon a certain tract of Land the property of your petitioner lying & being in the County aforesaid containing 300 acres originally granted to Richard Thurmond....did then and there cut down & destroy the timber then & there growing to the value of $200, & also other timber of your petitioner then & there growing in like manner to the value of $100 did cut down burn & destroy the grass of your petitioner then & there growing did tread down & consume with their feet in walking to the value of $400 & also the ground of your petitioner did plow, cast up, dig & still do to the value of $200 whereby your petitioner lost the profit of his ground aforesaid for a long time that is to say from the said 25 DEC 1801 untill the 27 AUG 1802, & all the trespass aforesaid ...continued & other wrongs then & there did to your petitioner against the peace & dignity of the State, & to the damage of your petitioner $1000. on 25 Dec 1801 at Jackson County, GA.

In APR 1803 the case was turned over to arbitration. The arbitrators agree that BRUSTER relinquish rights of the land to Pennington and pay 6 dollars and 3 barrels of corn as rent...

Abel lived an interesting life in court, this time along with his son Isaac, Abel was accused by Chatten D. SCROGGINS of harming his good reputation with malicious lies about him breaking into Abel and Isaac's storehouses and stealing. Abel defended his statements as true. Mr. SCROGGINS dropped the suit against Abel and had to pay his court expenses of $7.25. The case against Isaac was dropped at Isaac's own expense. (OCT 1803, Jackson County, GA)

In 1808 the State of Georgia created a new county called Randolph which quickly became Jasper County. Abel PENNINGTON was immediately recorded in land records in the new Jasper County through 1809.

It appears that Abel PENNINGTON went to Madison County, Mississippi Territory (now Alabama) between 1810-1816. He is said to have built Pennington's Grist Mill located on his substantial plantation on Hurricane Creek a few miles east of present day Tuscaloosa, AL. The PENNINGTONS were thought to have been Quakers in North Carolina and run mills there. The mill was referred to in the 1816 diary of Richard BRECKENRIDGE. A tree at the North Fork of the Warrior River had the initials "AP" carved into it.

Abel PENNINGTON died 19 Feb 1819 at Tuscaloosa County, AL, and is buried at Beulah Cemetery, near Ralph, AL. Sarah PENNINGTON had died sometime before him, possibly in 1818.

Abel and Sarah (SWEETIN) PENNINGTON had 10 children:

  1. Nancy PENNINGTON - b Wilkes County, NC, she married Henry JOHNSON 12 May 1794 at Oglethorpe County, GA.
  2. Abel PENNINGTON, Jr. - bb 1774 Wilkes County, NC. He married Patsy after 1803, and they had four children: James, Malinda M., Abel Lane, and William E. Abel PENNINGTON, Jr. died sometime after 1820, possibly in Clay County, KY.
  3. Sarah "Sally" PENNINGTON - See the next section for details.
  4. Isaac PENNINGTON - b Wilkes County, NC. It is not known whom Isaac married, but he did have a daughter Nancy born in 1804 in Georgia. Isaac died sometime after his father did in 1819.
  5. Samuel PENNINGTON - bc 1776 Wilkes County, NC. He married Mary some time before 1803 and married secondly to Eliza by whom he had one child in 1846. Samuel PENNINGTON died 22 Feb 1873, and was buried at Harwell Cemetery, Jasper County, GA.
  6. John L. PENNINGTON - bc 1782-1784 Wilkes County, NC. John married a woman Fanny and had eight children. He wrote a will on 17 Dec 1833 at Montgomery County, AL, and died by JAN 1834 there.
  7. William Thomas PENNINGTON - bc 1782-1784 Wilkes County, NC. He married Sally OSBORNE and they moved to Clay County, Kentucky. It is unclear when William died, but he is buried at Rock Springs Cemetery, Gatliff, Whitley County, KY.
  8. Elizabeth "Betsy" PENNINGTON - b 1786-1787 possibly at Greenville County, SC. She first married Henry RAMSEY, and then to Adam POOLE/POOL, a War of 1812 soldier after 1815.
  9. Rebekah PENNINGTON - bc 1788 in Georgia. She married John SMITH on 23 Sep 1812 at Jasper County, GA. She died on 25 Jan 1874 at Northport, Tuscaloosa County, AL (about 86 years of age).
  10. Mary "Polly" PENNINGTON - She married Eleazer LOVEJOY and lived in Jasper County, Georgia.

3. Sarah "Sally" PENNINGTON, (aft 1774 - bef 1837)

Sarah "Sally" PENNINGTON was born between 1774 and 1784 in Wilkes County, NC. She married Joseph WILSON, son of Benjamin WILSON, on 4 or 5 JUL 1798 in Oglethorpe County, GA. The WILSON family settled in Jasper County, Georgia and had 12 children. See the WILSON Family Page for more information.

LAST EDIT: *** 19 JULY 2015 ***