Used with permission.
FIRST GENERATION
Samuel and James moved on to Orange County, Virginia (now Jefferson County, West Virginia) around 1740. They were members of the Hopewell Friends Church in Frederick County, Virginia. James owned property at this time on Opechon Creek in Frederick County, Virginia. He probably left about 1754 because he sold his property then. He married Mary Witty and moved to Guilford County, North Carolina with his brother-in-law, Simon Moon.
Samuel stayed in Jefferson County and transferred his membership from the friends church in Chester County, Pennsylvania to the Hopewell Meeting on December 28, 1737/38. Between 1735 and 40 he married Mary (Burtis) Worthington, widow of Robert Worthington, Sr. She was Robert Worthington's second wife (married in New Jersey, July 30, 1731). She had three children while married to Worthington - Martha, Mary and Robert. These children were made wards of Samuel Brittain in 1740.
Samuel Brittain treated Robert Worthington, Jr. harshly and bound him out to a severe master. As a result, the boy ran away to Philadelphia where he worked until he was 18, returning to the valley in 1748 to receive his patrimony.
Robert Worthington, Sr. was a very wealthy man. Before his death he had an attorney draw up a will which divided his estate of three thousand acres among his widow, his children - Robert, Mary, Martha and Jacob (by first wife) - - and a grandson, Bobby Dunblaen, first son of Samuel, who was Worthington's eldest son by his first wife. However, the lawyer failed to sepcify that the land was to be held in fee simple by each devisee and his heirs and assignees forever, and the Virginia law operated to give the heirs only a lifetime estate, with reversion to Bobby Dunblaen on their deaths.
Robert Worthington, Jr. returned to Jefferson County and took up farming, surveying and land-dealing in his own right. A tireless worker, he was soon able to buy the reversionary claims to most of his six-hundred acres from his nephew Bobby Dunblaen. Robert sometimes worked in surveying with George Washington, who was employed by Lord Thomas Fairfax. Robert's son was Thomas Worthington, the "Father" and third governor of the State of Ohio. Robert's son-in-law was the first governor of Ohio, Edward Tiffin.
Samuel and Mary Brittain lived in Jefferson County, probably on property left by Robert Worthington, Sr. Samuel signed a number of deeds when Bobby Dunblaen Worthington sold his property over the years. No date has been found of Samuel's death. (Mary died in 1794.) Samuel served in the Revolutionary War, and Mary received seven pounds for her support and that of her two children for the year 1778 in Berkeley County, Virginia. She also received as the administrator of Samuel's estate, one hundred acres in Ohio for his service.
Samuel Brittain's brother, William, stayed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He had six sons. Three of his sons, Nathaniel, Zebedee and Samuel joined the Colonial American Army, while their brothers, James, Joseph and William escaped to New Brunswick, Canada to fight on the British side.
Samuel Brittain and Mary Burtis had the following children:
+ i. Jonathan Brittain.
ii. Susannah Brittain.
iii. Sarah Brittain.
Jonathan was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He paid a man to be a soldier in the Revolution in 1777, and he signed the petition to establish Berkeley County in 1775. He bought property from his father-in-law, John Crow in 1771. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Crow) Brittain, were named in Mr. Crow's will when he died in 1774.
In the personal property tax lists of Berkeley County, he was a slaveowner and was listed with his sons, John Thomas, James and William. All were the owners of cattle and horses.
Jonathan Brittain, like his sisters, Susannah and Sarah, was dismissed from the Hopewell Friends Church because he married out of the denomination in 1765.
Jonathan Brittain and Elizabeth Crow had the following children:
+ i. JAMES BRITTON, b. abt. 1765; m. ELIZABETH SKIVER
ii. William Britton.
iii. John Britton.
iv. Thomas Britton.
James Britton also bought property in Monongalia County, West Virginia around 1804.
By 1810, when James and his family moved to Washington County, Ohio, Mary Pickenpaugh Britton had died, and James had married Elizabeth Skiver (Sciver), daughter of John Skiver and Catharine --. James and Mary Britton had six children, while he and Elizabeth had seven.
James Britton and Mary Pickenpaugh had the following children:
i. Nathan Britton, b. abt. 1788, Greene Co., PA; m. Jane.
ii. Jacob Britton, b. abt. 1795, Greene Co., PA; m. Evy.
iii. Mary (Polly) Britton, b. abt. 1795, Greene Co., PA;
m. Abraham Hill.
iv. William Britton, b. abt. 1790, Greene Co., PA
v. Mark Britton, b. abt. 1795, Greene Co., PA; m. Sally Kincade.
vi. Ann Britton, b. in 1825, Greene Co., PA
James Britton and Elizabeth Skiver had the following children:
i. Levi Britton, b. 1811, Washington Co., OH; m. Phoebe Kincade.
ii. John Britton, b. 1815, Washington Co., OH; d. 6 Jun 1871;
m. Marie Chapman, Jane Love.
iii. Joshua Britton, b. 1817, Washington Co., OH; d. 16 Nov 1898;
m. Barbara Karr, Nancy McKibbon.
iv. Pleasant Britton, b. 1819, Washington Co., OH; d. 9 May 1897;
m. Wm. Price.
+v. LEONARD BRITTON, b. 15 Apr 1821, Washington Co., OH;
d. 19 Dec 1902; m. SARAH PATTON, Catherine Patton.
vi. Isaiak Britton, b. 1825, Washington Co., OH; d. 1856;
m. Ruth Stephens.
viii. Rachel Britton, b. Washington Co., OH; m. David Martin
The Britton family lived in Fearing Township, Washington County, Ohio. Between 1825 and 1830 Elizabeth died and James married Sarah Dye, widow of Thomas Worthington (not to be confused with the father of Ohio). Sarah Dye and Worthington had been married since 1811. Sarah and James had two children.
James Britton died abt. 1832 in Washington County, Ohio.
Sarah Dye was born in 1790 in Prince William County, VA. She died about 1855 in Washington County, Ohio.
James Britton and Sarah Dye had the following children:
i. Alfred Danna Britton, b. 1831, Washington Co, OH.
ii. Luthur D. Britton, b. 1829, Washington Co., OH;
d. Feb 1865 of smallpox during Civil War.
Catherine (Patton) Britton, Leonard Britton, Wilber Britton, Ida (Britton) Thompson
Washington County, Ohio
Leonard Britton was born on April 15, 1821 in Fearingtownship, Washington, Ohio, the son of James and Elizabeth Skiver (Sciver) Britton. Leonard lived all his life in Fearing and Lawrence Townships, Washington County, Ohio.
On June 27, 1841, he was married to Sarah Patton (probably the daughter of Samuel Patton and Jane Bell) in Washington, Ohio. Sarah Patton was born on August 25, 1825 in Washington, Ohio and died there in 1862. Sarah was raised by her uncle and aunt, William and Nancy (Patton) Whittock. The Whittocks assumes the role of parents and grandparents to the Bitttons and their children during their lifetimes. Nancy (Patton) Whittock was the sister of Samuel Patton.
Leonard and Sarah had nine children. Their second child, Harriet, left home in her late teens to work for a family in Philadelphia. She wrote to her parents, telling them she was going to Europe with her employers. It is thought that the ship she sailed on went down in the Atlantic, Leonard Britton spent much time and money trying to find his daughter, Harriet, but he was inable to find even the name of the ship she sailed on. She was never heard from again.
Sarah Britton died August 11, 1862 (or Nov 12). Leonard then married Sarah's half-sister, Catherine Patton, daughter of Samuel and Mary Young Greenlee Patton. Catherine was a schoolteacher. They had five children.
Leonard Britton was the first postmaster of Fifteen Post Office in 1876. The property left to him by William and Nancy Whittock was oil-producing land in the late 1800's. Leonard died December 19, 1902.
Leonard Britton and Sarah Patton had the following children:
i. William Henry Britton, b. 10 Feb 1843, Stanleyville, Washington
Co., OH; m. Lucy Dye.
ii. Harriet Britton, b. 1846, Washington Co., OH; d. at sea?.
+iii. SARAH AGNES BRITTON, b. 28 May 1848, Washington Co., OH;
m. GEO. ATKINSON; d. 12 Oct 1917.
iv. Joshua (Isaiak) Britton, b. 15 Mar 1850, Washington Co., OH;
m. Carrie A. McGee; d. 8 Jan 1918.
v. John Hardy Britton, b. 27 Dec 1852, Washington Co., OH.
d. 16 Jun 1857.
vi. Julia Britton, b. 1 Sep 1853, Washington Co., OH; d. 16 Jun 1857.
vii. Margaret Jane Britton, b. 11 Nov 1854, Washington Co., OH;
m. Orlando Eddy, Harvey Smith; d. 8 Oct 1921.
viii. Barbara Ellen Britton, b. 12 Dec 1857, Washington Co., OH;
d. 6 Sep 1939, Wood Co., WV.
ix. Mary Adeline Britton, b. 16 Apr 1862, Washington Co., OH;
m. Rodom Eddy; d. 6 May 1945.
He was married to Catherine Patton on August 7, 1864 in Washington County, Ohio. Catherine Patton was born on July 28, 1841 in Washington County, Ohio. She died on November 10, 1918 in Washington County, Ohio.
Leonard Britton and Catherine Patton had the following children:
i. Edward Britton, b. 1876.
ii. Ida Britton, b. 1866.
iii. Rose Britton, b. 1878.
iv. Lillie Britton.
v. George Britton, b. 1868.
She was married to George Templeton Atkinson (son of James H. Atkinson & Margaret Templeton) on November 26, 1868 in Washington County, Ohio. Marriage record obtained from Washington County, Ohio Clerk Of Court. George Templeton Atkinson was born on October 20, 1846 in Washington Co. OH. He served in the in Ohio Volunteers, 36th reg. Co. F during the Civil War. Sarah Agnes died on May 3, 1892. George died on February 20, 1924 in Combs, Ritchie County, WV. Both are buried at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Ritchie County, WV.
Sarah Agnes Britton and George Templeton Atkinson had the following children:
i. Fanny Elsby Atkinson, b. 18 Jan 1873; m. George? Bell.
+ii. NETTIE FLORENCE ATKINSON, b. 27 Aug 1875; m. WM. GRANT CUNNINGHAM;
d. 2 Nov 1944.
iii. Margaret A. Atkinson, b. 1 Nov 1875
iv. Clyde Atkinson, b. 18 Apr 1879; m. Hattie Brown, Effie Locke
v. James L. Atkinson, b. 18 Apr 1882
vi. Ada M. Atkinson, b. 18 Aug 1885; m. Douglass Ingram; d. 16 Apr 1928
