James Pittillo - Biography

Biography

James Pittillo born between 1690 and 1698 in Scotland. Records in the British Archives of those captured in the 1715 Jacobite rebellion and deported to the colonies list James Pittillo as a laborer from the parish of Logierait in the ancient county of Perthshire (or Perth). James Pittillo was captured at the Battle of Preston, tried, and transported on the ship Elizabeth and Anne to Virginia in June/July 1716.

James settled in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia. His name was first found in colonial Virginia records in February 1723/24 when he witnessed the will of Richard Smith. In April 1724 he had surveyed 200 acres (0.8 km2) on the north side of Moccosoneck (presently called Rowanty) Creek in Prince George County, Virginia. In October 1726 he was granted 242 acres (1.0 km2) on Wagua Creek in Brunswick County (Brunswick County was partly formed from Prince George County in 1720.) In 1734 he received a grant for 844 acres (3.4 km2) on both sides of White Oak Swamp of Rowanty. In 1735 he was granted 252 acres (1.0 km2) on Sturgeon Run, which land he sold in 1742. In 1745-6 he received grants for over 2500 acres (10 km²) on Stony and Moccosoneck Creeks in Prince George County. In all, through land grants and purchases he acquired over 4,000 acres (16 km2) in the area of Prince George, Brunswick, and Dinwiddie Counties in southside Virginia. His largest land holdings were on the north side of Moccosoneck Creek in the area that was in Prince George County but became Dinwiddie County in 1752 (south of present day Petersburg).

In 1728 William Byrd II was commissioned to survey the boundary line between the colonies of Virginia and North Carolina. Byrd assembled an expeditionary force of about twenty men whom he considered expert woodsmen and Indian traders. They first set out on 5 March 1728. After six weeks, survey work was halted until September when the weather was cooler. James Pittillo was listed by Byrd as being present for both the spring and fall expeditions. In 1728 James Pittillo was appointed as a tobacco inspector in Bristol Parish. James Pittillo died about 1754 in Dinwiddie County (formed from Prince George County in 1752), Virginia. His wife, Mary, survived him.