"Our Heritage"
Mt. Olive Tribune
By Claude Moore

Last week in this column I featured old Sloop Point plantation in Pender Count built in 1727 by the Honorable John Baptista Ashe (died 1734) and then after the death of Governor Samuel Ashe, his heirs sold it to Lewis Whitfield of Wayne County. The Whitfield descendants owned it for more than 150 years. I found much data on the Reverend Lewis Whitfield of White Hall (now Seven Springs) and found that he willed more than 52,000 acres of land to his descendants.

Lewis Whitfield was born at White Hall (Seven Springs) in 1765, and was the son of William Whitfield III by his first wife, Hester Williams. His father later married Mrs. Sarah Oliver Hurst, Hephzibah Hatch, and Sarah Bryan Hatch, and in all, he had 29 children, 21 of whom reached maturity. William Whitfield III was born at Rickford, east of Seven Springs in 1743 and was the son of William Whitfield II (1715-1795) by his first wife, Rachel BRYAN. William Whitfield II was a soldier of the American Revolution.

Lewis Whitfield was reared in the Anglican Church, but when he became an adult he joined the Primitive Baptist Church and was ordained into the ministry. His father was opposed to this move but later the father, William Whitfield, also joined the Primitive Baptists and in 1782 built a church at his plantation, Pleasant Plains near White Hall. The Reverend Lewis Whitfield served in the ministry for 60 years and was moderator of the Kehukee Association. In his old age he had his coffin made and when he would go on preaching trips and to his scattered plantations he would carry the coffin in his covered wagon and would sometimes sleep in it.

Lewis Whitfield had good business ability, and during his life he established plantations in Lenoir County called LaFayette, Nature's Beauty, Jefferson Hall, and Monticello. He owned a plantation in Carteret County called the Hammocks. He owned Sloop Point in what was then New Hanover County. His home plantation in Wayne County was called Baptist Hall. All the plantations were stocked with cattle and slaves.

The Reverend Lewis Whitfield first married (1782) Charlotte Moore BRYAN and they had the following five children: Rachel Whitfield, who married William Wright and lived at Sloop Point; William Whitfield who married Elizabeth Wimberly and lived in Johnston County; Allen Whitfield who married (1) Edith Whitfield 2)Mary Jane Sloan and lived at White Hall; Janet Whitfield who married Colonel Alexander Moseley and lived at Palatka, Florida; and Harriett Whitfield who married (1)Samuel Wiggins (2) S.B. Carraway and lived in Lenoir County.

After the death of his first wife, the Reverend Lewis Whitfield was married to Tabitha Atkinson, and they had the following children: Tabitha Whitfield, died young; Julia Whitfield who married William R. Beck of Duplin County; and Lewis Starke Whitfield (1809-1845) who married Mary Glasgow and lived in Lenoir County.

After the death of his second wife, the Reverend Lewis Whitfield was married to Mrs. Martha Hinton Bryan and they had a son, Hazard, who died young. Lewis Whitfield died in 1848 and is buried on his plantation called Nature's Beau' near LaGrange. He left many descendants.