The Unknown Burial Site of Colonel John Luttrell

Mark Hayden
August 27, 2019 at 1:47 AM

…I came across this site since I'm researching Col. John Luttrell, of the Transylvania Company who died Sep 13, 1781, in battle at Lindley's Mill in North Carolina. One would think he was buried in the mass grave along with the other fallen. However, I've come across an unusual claim that he was eventually interned 300 miles away at the Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee . . .see find a grave memorial 170648952. Can you shed any light on t(his) burial record? Please email me at: mwhayden1@gmail.com Thanks, Mark Hayden

Replies

1. 

   GlennDL
   December 6, 2019 at 11:38 AM

   Where Col. Luttrell is buried is unknown to me, but I assure you it is unlikely to be in the Old Gray Cemetery, or for that fact the state of Tennessee. At the time of his death, the Transylvania Company was not associated with Tennessee outside of Elizabethton until after Luttrell's death. Luttrell, along with Judge Henderson, was present at the negotiations and signing of the Treaty of Sycamore Shoal in 1775, near Elizabethton, after which they left immediately to join Daniel Boone on the Wilderness Road in Kentucky. The time between then and the Colonel's death is very well accounted for as he was in Boonseborough until he returned to North Carolina to join the Militia in the cause for independence. Most of his family was still in Virginia except for hi brother Thomas at Ft. Boonseborough and his wife in North Carolina. His relationship to the Knoxville Luttrells was distant.
   In researching the work of Nancy Goldsberg and Laura Luttrell there is no reference to his burial site which is probably due to the assumption that the times did not allow for the long-distance transportation of the deceased... the war, the cost, etc.
   His will does not designate a burial site. The most likely sites would be in North Carolina, either on his estate or near the battlefield of his death. It would be a stretch to assume any other site such as Fort Boonseborough, his birthplace in Virginia, Elizabethton Tennessee, or especially 115 miles from Elizabethton in Knoxville. His will was contested by his wife, brothers and half brothers and no mention is made of his burial place... he mentions an unborn child in his will but the child died and is not mentioned in probate.
   It is worth noting that the Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville has 16 known Luttrell's buried there but was not founded until 1850. Nearly 70 years after the Colonel's death.
   The posting in Find A Grave has the earmarks at an attempt to flesh out some responses in the hope of establishing a desired link between the Colonel and the Knoxville Luttrells. There is a link' going back to Northumberland County, Virginia to the common ancestor, but there is no link from Colonel Luttrell forward to any descendants... he died without a child, his wife took up with a doctor of ill repute and is never heard from again after probate.

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see also:

• Thomas Luttrell: Ft. Boonesborough, Ky.

• Family Myths: Col. John Luttrell

Thomas Luttrell: Ft. Boonesborough, Ky.

Pioneer, Indian Fighter, Boonesborough Militia.

Thomas is not a direct ancestor of ours, but he was a first cousin of once removed of Robert Luttrell and therefore the 2nd cousin (thrice removed) of our John Daniel Littrell).
Thomas is the half brother of Col. John Luttrell, we don't know if Thomas, arrived with his brother John and Judge Henderson, or set out with the Boone party. We don't find mention of him in Henderson's diary along with the many times his brother John was mentioned, so we assume that he was with the Boone (Wilderness) Party. We have little information on Thomas other than land claims and probate papers for him¹ and his brother John (and later John's widow and her nefarious second husband). We believe he remained at Ft. Boonesborough after his brother returned to North Carolina.

Thomas does not appear to have established himself as well as the Colonel so his holdings at Ft. Boonesborough maintained his attention to a greater degree than John, who had affairs and estates in North Carolina, as well as a pregnant wife there.
We believe that Thomas Luttrell died in Kentucky and may have left descendants there.

After the Colonel's departure the history of the fort is filled with conflicts and events that we can only speculate that Thomas Luttrell may have been witness to. We do know that he did meet his settlement requirements for a land claim by '...raising a field of corn” during the first year of Fort Boonseborough's existence. He may have been dead by the end of the war. Failing to find any record of Thomas ever leaving Kentucky and the indications that he was alive at or near the end of the revolution we can then summarize that he was probably involved in at least one of three major events at Fort Boonesborough during the revolution:

1. Capture of Daniel Boone: With the food supply at Boonesborough running low, Daniel Boone led a party of thirty men to the salt springs on the Licking River. Boone's party was greatly outnumbered and captured by Chief Blackfish. Boone and his men were taken as prisoners to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. Per Shawnee custom, Boone and some of the prisoners were adopted into the tribe to replace fallen warriors. The remainder were taken to Detroit, where Indians received a bounty for each prisoner (or scalp) taken. Boone eventually escaped. Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the 160 miles (260 km) to Boonesborough in five days. If Thomas was in the original Daniel Boone party that was captured then he probably spent the rest of the war in captivity in Detroit.
2. The Raid on Paint Lick Town: Upon his return, Boone lead a preemptive raid against the Shawnee village of Paint Lick Town on the other side of the Ohio River. This accomplished little.
3. The Siege of Fort Boonseborough: On September 7, 1778, Blackfish's force arrived outside Boonesborough. Boone counted 444 Native Americans and 12 white men. The former were mostly Shawnees, with a number of Cherokees, Wyandots, Miami’s, Delawares, and Mingos. The latter were French-Canadian militiamen from Detroit, now fighting on behalf of the British Crown. Although this was the largest force yet sent against the Kentucky settlements, taking a fortified position like Boonesborough would still be difficult without artillery to reduce the stronghold. After days of negotiations Blackfish demanded to know "by what right had the white people taken possession of this country." Boone replied that they had bought the land from the Cherokees at Sycamore Shoals (The Treaty of Watuaga). A Cherokee chief confirmed that this was true. Blackfish accepted this answer.What happened next is unclear, but a scuffle broke out, and marksmen from both sides opened fire. All but one of the Americans managed to scramble back into the fort-the last one had to take cover next to a tree stump by the main gate. Negotiations were over; the formal siege had begun. Gunfire was exchanged over the next several days. The Shawnees launched their final assault on September 17, again trying to set fire to the fort. They were beaten back, and a heavy rain helped to put out the fires. The Shawnees lost more men killed in this attack than on all previous days. The next day, they gradually broke off the siege.

¹we know his heir was another John Luttrell (probably Thomas's own son) who inherited as much as 1400 acres of land.

see also

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The above information is from: Military Role Call: The Littrell Family of Mississippi County, Missouri, The Littrell Family Journals Volume IV. (click here)
also:  Littrell Family Veterans Video

reposted from 10-18-2015:   35 

When did James Luttrell (Latterell) arrive in America?

James Loterell, Lotterell, Luttrell, Littrell, Captain William Piper, Captain Robinson

Our first proven ancestor to America was James Luttrell, LOTERILL, LITTRELL who was transported to Northumberland County, Virginia  in 1671. Since that time the name has been found in recordings spelled several various ways, i.e.  LITREL(L), LITTREAL, LUTRAL, LUTERAL, LUTREALL, LUTTERAL, LUTTREALL, LITTRELL, LOTERILL.  In fact, the surname in the final estate settlement proceedings of James LOTERILL in Northumber1and County, Virginia is spelled "LITTRELL" and. "LUTTRELL".

James Luttrell died in 1698. Court held 15 July 1698 in Northumberland County, Virginia and  20 July 1698, shows the intestate proceedings of James Luttrell's estate in 1698, adm. by his wife, Susannah. A Parish record indicates that after Susannah's death [c.1707] a guardian is appointed for one of her sons [John, apparently not of age]. The guardian's named is John Tullous.  Northumberland County, Virginia, Order Book 1678-98, page 827: Court held 15 July 1698 and Order Book 1678-98, page 828: Court held 20 July 1698. Which shows the intestate proceedings of James Luttrell's estate in 1698, adm. by his wife, Susannah.

Many have speculated on the connection between the Luttrell’s and John Tullous, but in spite of some conclusions put forth by some there is no evidence defining or establishing that relationship.

For decades the children of James and Susannah have been identified as: Richard, James, John, and Thomas. Thomas is identified as the Warden in St. Ann's Parish in Maryland, but the evidence has not survived the original claim.

Researchers have always identified James as the indentured servant James Loterell, who arrived in Maryland in 1677 on Captain William Piper's ship [1 of 17], as the father of Richard and three brothers. Our line of the family has always been identified as descending from James’s son Richard. After his arrival it isn’t until the probate papers for James in 1698 that we find our James Luttrell, AKA James Loterell, 21 years later. The probate papers of James has him as 'a land owner and Tobacco planter' in Northumberland Co., Virginia [not a great distance from Maryland].

There is, however, a problem with the identification of James Luttrell as the immigrant aboard William Piper’s ship and that is the discovery of another James Luttrell. Six years earlier another James Luttrell, AKA James Latterell, arrived in America as an indentured servant aboard Captain Laurance Robinson’s ship.

So with that in mind lets examine which one is most likely to be the land owner and Tobacco planter' in Northumberland Co., Virginia who died in 1698.

1677 Captain Piper’s James Loterill: the Maryland James [#5198]  Previously believed to be the Tobacco Planter. What has been overlooked is that Captain Piper delivered his 'cargo' to the shores of Maryland, but in order for him to receive his bounty land he was supposed to deliver them to Virginia. He subsequently sold his rights to the cargo to a Captain Walker. This transpired in 1677, but what did Captain Walker do with his new Bond Servants?. In order for the James on Captain Piper's ship to be the Northumberland James he would have had only 21 years to complete his term as an indentured servant (usually seven years barring any penalties), raise capital and purchase land, and rise to the level of 'a land owner and Tobacco planter'. Such a rise would have had to occur in 14 years following his servitude, not an impossible task, but likely?

1671 Captain Robinson's James Latterell: the Virginia James [#5222] James arrived as 1 of 27 indentured servants aboard the ship of Captain Laurance Robinson’s ship in 1671. Captain Robinson delivered his cargo to Northumberland, Virginia and received payment [1350 acres] for his cargo on March 23, 1671. This earlier arrival date gives him an additional 7 years to obtain his freedom and establish his position. In the absence of contrary evidence it appears that the James Latterell who arrived in 1671 is most probably our James Luttrell (m. Susannah), who died in Virginia in 1698.

With a James Luttrell in Maryland and our James Luttrell in Virginia what do we make of the previous identification of the 4 brothers: James, John, Thomas, and Richard? We know that our James had at least two sons, John and Richard. We have no evidence that there were not also two other sons James and Thomas, but we assume that the Thomas in Maryland is the son of the Maryland James Luttrell.

Thomas's position would seem indicate that his father James remained in Maryland. This indication could be wrong, Thomas could have returned to Maryland as a young adult and eventually obtained his position, but the more probable conclusion is that he was born and raised in Maryland.

Did the Maryland James Luttrell have other sons besides Thomas? We don’t know because we don’t know to what degree the two immigrants were mingled into one person. We do find other Luttrell’s in Maryland but have not identified their connections as we know our ancestor, Richard Luttrell, is a Virginian. What became of the Maryland James is speculative at this point.

A more probable scenario would be that the James Latterell [#5222] arriving as 1 of 27 indentured servants aboard the ship of Capt. Laurance Robinson in 1671 is the Northumberland County, Virginia James Luttrell. Capt. Robinson received payment [1350 acres] for his cargo on 3-23-1671. The delivery point of this 'cargo' and earlier arrival date makes it more likely that this is the Northumberland James Luttrell [& Susannah]:

more on James Luttrell and Captain Robinson.

Robinson, Laurance. Publication 23 March 1671/1672. Location:
Northumberland County.
Description: 1350 acres on a fresh water branch of Muddy Creek, adjoining the land of Griffin Savage &c. Source: Land Office Patents No. 6, 1666-1679 (pt.1 & 2 p.1-692), p. 390 (Reel 6).

Indentured Servitude and Colonial Migration: James Luttrell

It was imperative that the colonial population continually increase. The landed gentry and English investors needed both labor and exploration to increase the value of their colonial investments. The early reputation of the colonies as a brutal and unforgiving environment did not encourage a working class migration.

In an attempt to increase the population of the colonies a system of “headrights” was established. Any adventurer willing to pay his own passage to the colonies was to receive 50 acres of Virginia land. Any person who paid the passage for someone else would receive the grant for that persons 50 acres. (Thus when James Luttrell was transported by Captain Robinson along with 27 others, Captain Robinson received 1350 acres (27X50=1350)).

“Indentured servants were men and women who signed a contract (also known as an indenture or a covenant) by which they agreed to work for a certain number of years in exchange for transportation to Virginia and, once they arrived, food, clothing, and shelter. Adults usually served for four to seven years and children sometimes for much longer, with most working in the colony's tobacco fields. With a long history in England, indentured servitude became, during most of the seventeenth century, the primary means by which Virginia planters filled their nearly inexhaustible need for labor. At first, the Virginia Company of London paid to transport servants across the Atlantic, but with the institution of the headright system in 1618, the company enticed planters and merchants to incur the cost with the promise of land. As a result, servants flooded into the colony, where they were greeted by deadly diseases and often-harsh conditions that killed a majority of newcomers and left the rest to the mercy of sometimes-cruel masters. The General Assembly passed laws regulating contract terms, as well as the behavior and treatment of servants. Besides benefiting masters with long indentures, these laws limited servant rights while still allowing servants to present any complaints in court. By the end of the seventeenth century, the number of new servants in Virginia had dwindled, and the colony's labor needs were largely met by enslaved Africans. …”  Indentured Servants in Colonial Virginia / by Brendan Wolfe and Martha McCartney

While this system encouraged migration to the colonies it along with a high mortality rate among servants failed to produce the numbers needed to sustain growth in the colonies.

The 27 persons that arrived in Northumberland County, Virginia in 1617 were “transported” there by Captain Laurance Robinson. We do not know where their voyage originated nor do we know the name of the vessel they traveled on. It is save to assume that they migrated from either England or Ireland. What we do know about their voyage is explained by examining the language used to describe their arrival, in particular the word “transported”.

The term “transported” had a specific connotation in 17th century Great Britain. It meant someone was banished, exiled, or deported.

The practice of the English government sending condemned men to serve their sentence in the penal colonies of Australia is well known, but the use of the practice to populate the American Colonies is virtually ignored in American History, even though upwards of 50,000 men were so condemned from 1614 to 1775. The use of the American Colonies to empty the prisons of England ended with Colonial independence. It never reached the numbers and notoriety of the use of criminals to populate Australian penal colonies established to replace the American Colonies.

The fact that an ancestor was a transported indentured person should not be taken as a shameful situation, even if their servitude was a result of a ‘criminal’ offense. These  ‘transported’ individuals may have been considered criminals in their time , but it is important to remember that those crimes could have been political, religious, or by today’s standards, trivial.

“From nearly the first landing on the American shores up until 1776 and the Revolution, the British first through a black market type system, then by a government sanctioned (Transportation Act of 1718) policy systematically emptied the gaols of felons not convicted of what we would now call “high crimes.” Petty theft, prostitution, robbery, arson, and bigamy were offenses that could land you in America the hard way. They filled boats arriving from America with tobacco (imagine the smell) with these convicts destined to serve their sentence in the plantations of Maryland and Virginia. Additionally, and not incidentally, the British also “transported” (that was the official sentence) political prisoners, POWs, and others not committing crimes.”      Convicts Transported to Colonial America | Bibliography

For example:

• poverty was a crime, as was being in debt
• one of many ‘myths’ surrounding George Washington was that he was taught to read by a transported convict who had been a schoolmaster
• one gentleman of high birth was transported for stealing books out of a library (no nickel fines there).
• bigamy

So, from what we understand of the terminology and history of the time we may conclude that our ancestor, James Luttrell, came from an impoverished background, may have been expelled to the colonies for some transgression, was probably very young* when he arrived, and in spite of these disadvantages raised himself up to be a land owner and tobacco farmer after obtaining his freedom from servitude.

additional source: Indentured Servants In The U.S

*orphans and some boys were put into servitude by their impoverished parents.

Convict Labor During the Colonial Period

Contributed by Emily Jones Salmon

In 1615, English courts began to send convicts to the colonies as a way of alleviating England's large criminal population. This practice was unpopular in the colonies and by 1697 colonial ports refused to accept convict ships. In response, Parliament passed the Transportation Act of 1718 to create a more systematic way to export convicts. Instead of relying on merchants to make arrangements on their own to ship felons to the colonies, the British government subsidized the shipment of convicts through a network of merchants, giving a contract for the service to one individual at a time. Between 1700 and 1775, approximately 52,200 convicts sailed for the colonies, more than 20,000 of them to Virginia. Most of these convicts landed and were settled along the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. Although many were unskilled and thus put to work in agriculture, particularly tobacco production, others with skills were sold to tradesmen, shipbuilders, and iron manufacturers, and for other similar occupations. Convict laborers could be purchased for a lower price than indentured white or enslaved African laborers, and because they already existed outside society's rules, they could be more easily exploited. Nevertheless, Virginia tried repeatedly to pass laws to prevent England from sending convicts, though those laws were overturned by the Crown. At the beginning of the American Revolution (1775–1783), colonial ports virtually ceased accepting convict ships. By 1776, when the last boatload of convicts arrived on the James River, many of the convicts had served their seven-to-fourteen-year terms and returned to Great Britain, while others had become honest citizens and blended into Virginia's colonial economy. MORE...

Family Myths: Col. John Luttrell

Col. John Luttrell is probably one of the most famous Luttrells in American History.  He was instrumental in the founding and settling of Ft. Boonesborough, was one of the partners in the Transylvania Company that employed Daniel Boone to blaze a trail into Kentucky and was a war hero during the Revolutionary War.  He died gallantly in combat at the Battle of Lindley Mills in North Carolina.

On a recent trip to North Carolina I spent hours trying to locate the Lindley Mills Battlefield.  I found the actual Lindley Mills on Cane Creek [est.1755].  It is a functioning [and modernized] business, but I couldn't find the actual battlefield or marker.  This Marker depicts the event that led to the battle and death of Colonel Luttrell.

There are two myths that have existed concerning the Colonel, the lesser myth is that:

"...some believed that the stature of the Col. was a result of being connected to the Earls of Dunster and/or the Earls of Carhampton in England and Ireland [respectively]. But while he may have been descended from these families the evidence is that his stature may have been more self-obtained than due to any connections." 1999, gdl

The more unfortunate myth that surrounds Col. John Luttrell concerns his descendants.  The Fact over the Myth is that he had no descendants! 

I know of at least one family branch that has held a family reunion for over 50 years now and sincerely believes that they are descendants of Col. John Luttrell.

Where the confusion comes in is that they are confusing their John Luttrell [m.Winnefred Lawrence] of Fauquier County, VA. with Col. John Luttrell [m.Susannah Hart] of Orange County, NC.  The situation is even further complicated by the presence of a third John Luttrell [also m.Ann] in Fauquier County, VA. 

Both of the Johns in Fauquier County were cousins and both died within a year [1789/90] of each other and were survived by their widows at a much later date than the Colonel who died in 1781.

Colonel Luttrell died and left a widow as he mentions in his will dated c.1775 [probably in connection with his partnership in the Transylvania Company]: 

...be aplied towards defraying and paying all my just debts and lawfull debts and that one third of the residue of the said lands to be given unto my three brothers Thomas LUTRELL, Hugh LUTREL and William LUTRELL to them and their heirs and assigns forever. Secondly; my will and desire is that my beloved wife, Susannah Lutrell have the residue of my estate both real and personal until the time that my child or children that she is now great with shall arive to the age of twenty one years or get married whichever of them circumstances first happens. My will is that my estate be equally divided between them to them and their heirs or assigns forever, but if it should so happen that my wife should no be with child or that her child she is now great with should die before it arives to twenty one years of or gets married as before mentioned in that case it is my desire that after the sequence paid my brothers and my just debts satisfied my estate be at her disposal to do with as she pleases. In testimony where of I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 20th day of March 1775.

As it turns out the child that Susannah 'is now great with' must of died because in the much contested and documented estate settlement never mentions a child of the Colonel.  Susannah remarries a man of questionable character after the death of the Colonel and the estate becomes contested by the brothers.  No where is the child mentioned in papers filed in the settlement of the estate or papers dealing with the disposal of some of the property.  Susannah and her second husband [Dr. John Umstead] purchase some of the Kentucky land [willed by the Colonel to his three half brothers] from William and Hugh.  Thomas is not mentioned and some believe he was dead by this time.

The Colonel fails to mention another half brother Richard in his will [there is constant confusion over who is and isn't still alive] and in probate papers filled by Richard he appears unsuccessful in obtaining any of  the Colonel's estate.

Papers were still being filed as late as 1821 by Susannah and the doctor and still no mention of a child, who would have been in his forties and would have more than likely been relevant to any claims or disposal of the properties.

So as you can see there is no proof of offspring and the overwhelming documentation points to there being no offspring of the Colonel.  There is on the other hand established evidence of the other John Luttrells both outliving the Colonel and there descendants are well established.

Sources:

LITTRELL and LUTTRELL HEROES In the WAR for American Independence [All Spellings]: By KARL DEWITT LITTRELL [decsd] with NANCY LITTRELL GOLDSBERRY

Kentucky Records, Vol II, "From Original Court entries", Compiled by Mrs. William Breckinridge Ardery, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland.

Henderson County, Kentucky Deed Book A, Abstracted by Bettie Cummins Cook.

The Southern Genealogist's Exchange, Fall 1979, Vol. XX, #91.

The Transylvania Company and the founding of Henderson, Kentucky, By Archibald Henderson.

Kentucky Court of Appeals Deed Books, A-G, Volume I, by Michael L. Cook, C.G. & Bettie A. Cook, C.G., Cook Publications, Evansville, Indiana, 1985