Ambrose Sutton
George Sutton
William Sutton
Richard Sutton
Jonas Sutton
Jonathan Sutton
Alexander Sutton
Alexander C. Sutton
James H. Sutton
Alexander C. Sutton, Sr.
Alexander C. Sutton, Jr.
Thomas D. Sutton
Kimberly S. Sutton
Dellaney A.  Erb
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Vincent Rongnion and Ann Boutcher
Joan Boutcher of Kent

Justice Jonathan Sutton

Generation 6

 

There is lots to tell about Jonathan Sutton as he was the first Sutton of our line to make the trek to the South and settle in our home state of South Carolina.

Jonathan Sutton (born 1753, died May 20, 1818), the son of Jonas Sutton and his first wife, was born in New Jersey(A) in the year 1753. He died in York County, South Carolina on May 20, 1818 (buried in Beersheba Presbyterian Cemetery in York). See the tombstones of this family.

It is established that Jonathan Sutton came to Camden, S.C., as a soldier in the revolutionary war. Following the battle of Camden, which took place on August 16, 1780, he visited his Uncle Jasper Sutton, who lived near Camden on Grannies Quarter Creek. Here he met Mary (Polly) Irvin, Jasper Sutton’s stepdaughter. Jonathan and Mary were married in the home of Capt. John Chestnut, who was Mary Irvin’s uncle. “Mary was the daughter of James Irvin and his wife Margaret Chestnut Irvin. Margaret was named for her mother. Her father James Chestnut had been killed while serving under Colonel George Washington near Ft. Duquesne in a battle later called Braddock’s Defeat. Following that battle, the widow moved with the flow of Pennsylvanians and Virginians into frontier North Carolina and South Carolina. In North Carolina she married Jasper Sutton, who was formerly of New Jersey.

Jasper Sutton brought the family to the Camden area in 1756. His brother in law, Captain John Chestnut, became the founder of that illustrious family in South Carolina. John Chestnut was the largest planter in the up country at the time of the 1790 census. Mary Irvin moved to John Chestnut’s home at Knight’s Hill after the death of her mother, Margaret Chestnut Sutton, the widow of James Chestnut (York Co. Equity 9-28). George Washington visited Camden on his Southern tour. He was entertained with a dinner and ball at the home of Captain Chestnut. The next day he stopped for a meal at the home of Jasper Sutton which was at Grannies Quarter Creek. Mary was remembered well in her step-father Jasper Sutton’s will, as she was in her Uncle James Chestnut’s will. Though she died before him, he had given her a slave woman “to keep her out of the pots” and other goods at the time of her marriage”(B). The South Carolinian Library in its document section has a letter on file that was sent to Jonathan Sutton York Co., S.C. from Capt. John Chestnut, dated December 2, 1782. This letter establishes the fact that Jonathan Sutton and Mary Irvin were married in the year 1781, as Capt. Chestnut refers to purchasing a slave for Mary “ ever since I heard of your marriage”(C).

 

Jonathan Sutton made his home at Suttons Spring near York, S.C.. He served as Justice of the Peace of York Co. and managed a sizable plantation. He was also a surveyor.

It seems that after his death, there was a legal battle over the estate and the slaves left behind between James Irvin Sutton and the widow Mary Campbell. Documents found in the York County Courthouse concerning this legal battle include a listing of Mary Sutton's assets and maybe even an auction of those assets. (read more about this legal battle on Sutton Springs page)

Click here to see those documents.

Jonathan Sutton in Fugitive Slave Petition Book

 

Jonathan Sutton, his 1st wife Mary Irvin (born 1761, died May 30, 1807) and his 2nd wife Mary Campbell (born 1784, died post 1869) are buried in a plot in Beersheba Presbyterian Cemetery, York, S.C.. (Read Mary Campbell Sutton's will). Also there are Jonathan’s brother-in -law Powell Hoff and his daughter Elizabeth Hoff (born 1789, d. November 9, 1809).

 

The children of Jonathan Sutton and Mary Irvin were as follows (D):

 

1. James Irvin Sutton (tombstone) born 1782 in Camden district, SC (in that part that became York County, in 1785), and died in York SC, on June 26, 1830. Married c. 1802 to Mary Erwin Maclaine. She was the daughter of Lieut. Andrew Maclaine, a noted Revolutionary soldier, and his wife, Anne Waggoner. She was born in 1784 and died June 27, 1864. Issue:

a. Evaline Sutton born 1805, died Aug.3, 1831 giving birth to her first and only child. Buried in Beersheba cemetery. She married James "Jempsey" Stewart.

(1) Evaline Stewart b. Aug 31, 1822, died Jan 23, 1897 married Elijah Givens Feemster

b. George Sutton born c. 1806, died unmarried after 1860

c. James Madison Sutton born c. 1808, married Margaret "Peggy" Seehorn

d. Mary Erwin Sutton born Oct 16, 1810, died Oct 25, 1861 (Beersheba Churchyard) married ca. 1830, William Neil, born Apr. 19, 1802 to James and Margaret (Givens) Neil, died Apr. 7, 1844

e. Rachel Wagner (or Waggoner) Sutton born 1815, died May 2, 1894 married Hugh Sherer

f. Jonathan Sutton II born c. 1816, died Oct 24, 1847 in the American Hospital at Matamoras, Mexico. He was a member of Company F, 3rd Regiment of Dragoons, commanded by Col. John S. Sitgreaves, Jr. Jonathan Sutton enlisted at Yorkville on Apr 10, 1847. Mexican War Campaign of 1846-48

g. Margaret C. Sutton born 1817, died Dec 22, 1825 age 8 (Beersheba Churchyard)

h. William R. Sutton born 1820, died Oct 12, 1842 (Beersheba Churchyard)

i. Alexander Sutton born 1822, died Feb 20, 1838 (Beersheba Churchyard)

j. Catherine Amanda Sutton born 1824, died after 1868; married after 1850, Robert F. McClure, who died before 1868.

2. Alexander Sutton

(b. 1786, d. December 30, 1853)

m. Mary Candleish, daughter of Alexander Candleish (of whom more).

 

Jonathan Sutton and his second wife Mary Campbell had the following children:

 

3. Jonathan LeRoy Sutton
(born 1810, died 1879) married (c. 1835) Jane Adaline C. Ross (Sep. 15, 1813- Apr. 30, 1879)
During the Civil War, this Sutton, who lived on Turkey Creek, regularly advertised his distillery under the headline, "Grapes, Grapes". Read this article by Louise Pettus. Click here.
Issue of Jonathan Leroy and Jane:


a. James F. (or T.) Sutton, born ca. 1837
b. William E. Sutton, born 1839; married Minerva
c. Mary Jane Sutton, born ca. 1840; married Jan. 19, 1859, John R. Alexander
d. Margaret A. Sutton, born ca. 1842; married, Jan. 1862, E. H. Davis
e. Eli C. Ross Sutton, born ca. 1846, died June 23, 1871
f. Lavinia C. Sutton, born ca. 1848
g. Laura Octavia Ross Sutton, born 1850, living unmarried in 1886
h. Adeline A. Ross Sutton, born Jan. 8. 1854, died unmarried Apr. 28, 1886
i. Elizabeth Ross Sutton, born ca. 1857
 

4. Jane Caroline Sutton
(born Mar. 17, 1813, died Jan. 26, 1903 buried in A.R.P. Churchyard, Sharon, SC) married, in 1832, Franklin Alexander Miller, who was born in 1800 to Francis and Catherine McCalla (Ross) Miller, and died Aug. 31, 1876 (buried with his wife).
Francis and Jane had the following issue:

a. Catherine Deborah Miller, born Mar. 1838; married Sep. 1863, Elam Teeter.
b. Sarah Elizabeth Miller, born Jan. 7, 1840, died Feb. 23, 1917
c. Harriet Maciner Miller, born ca. 1843; married Oct. 1960, Dinson Caldwell.
d. William Columbus Miller, born Jan. 24, 1844, died Oct. 3, 1859 (buried in A.R.P. Churchyard, Sharon, SC)
e. Jane Frances Miller, born Feb. 21, 1846, died July 6, 1917 (buried Olivet Churchyard, McConnells, SC); married, after 1880, Robert F. Lee.
f. Franklin Napoleon Bonaparte Miller, born ca. 1848; removed to Texas, and married Nora Baugham.
g. Mary Adeline Miller, born 1852, died July 19, 1862 (buried in A.R.P. Churchyard, Sharon, SC)
h. Salena Cornelia Miller, born July 31, 1856, died Apr. 3, 1928 (buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, York, SC); married, Feb. 8, 1877, Charles Hightower Sandifer, born Nov. 9, 1852 to Philip R. and Caroline (Lowry) Sandifer, died June 8, 1922 (buried with his wife).

5. Adeline Allison Sutton
(b. Aug. 12, 1818, d. Dec. 22, 1881) She married first, Francis Adams, who died before 1837. She married second, 1835-37, Robert Miller, who was born Dec. 24, 1802, to Francis and Catharine McCalla (Ross) Miller, and died Sep. 8, 1872 (buried in Bethesda Churchyard, York, SC):
Robert M. and Adeline Allison Sutton Adams Miller had the following issue:

a. Catherine Vienna Miller, born 1837, died unmarried Jan. 1, 1911, buried in Cemetery, Lowell, N.C.
b. Mary Jane Miller, born 1838, died Nov. 19, 1910 (Bethel Churchyard, York County); married May 24, 1859, David Marshall Campbell, born Feb. 21, 1832; died Dec. 28, 1899.
c. James Ross Miller, born Feb. 9, 1840, died May 2, 1914; married Dec. 23, 1869, Mary Anna Harris, born Nov. 5, 1846, died Sep. 7, 1936
d. John Sutton Miller, born July 12, 1846, died Nov. 16, 1924; married Edith L. Schofield, born May 10, 1873, died June 9, 1956, both buried in Cemetery, Pineville, N.C.
e. Rev. Robert Alexander Miller, born Mar. 18, 1848, died June 1, 1916 (buried in Laurelwood Cemetery, Rock Hill); married 1st Dec. 17, 1879, Ella Brown, died Aug. 6, 1882; married 2nd, Isla Parks, born Oct. 20, 1864, died Aug. 26, 1944.
f. Henrietta Elizabeth Lindsay Miller, born May 1, 1853, died Feb. 24, 1877 (buried in Bethesda Churchyard, York, SC); married Dr. J. Edward Traywick.

 

6. Hugh Campbell Sutton
(born 1815, died 1816)

7. John Eumenas Sutton
(born 1816, died 1819)

 

 

 

more on Jonathan Sutton...

He enlisted October 1775 as second sergeant in Captain John Polhemns’ Fourth Company, Colonial William Alexander’s (Lord Stirling) First Establishment, New Jersey Continental Line. He remained on rolls until January 13, 1776, with remark “Mustered at New Brunswick Barracks”.

 

Also, from the State of New Jersey Department of Defense, we find that Jonathan Sutton received certificates #1370 date 14 Sept. 1780, for $448.00 for carting to 2 July 1780; #1845, dated 31 Oct. 1780, for $1157.30/90ths for carting to 24 May 1780. This service apparently was as Captain of Supply trains, as the pension records in S.C. and the National Archives repeatedly refer to “Captain” Jonathan Sutton.

 

Testimony recorded in the Revolutionary Pension Record of Jonathan Sutton in the South Carolina State Archives state that “he was officer in the regular army under General Washington, and has often heard him say that he acted in the capacity of Clerk, Lieutenant, and Commissary of Military Stores, and that he was in the battle of Trenton and several battles North and was transferred to the Southern army and came South under Gates or Green”. His widow Mary Campbell Sutton states in her pension application also found in the S.C. Archives (Acct. and. #7548 1/2) “hear him often say in his lifetime that he was in the battles of Greentown, Brandy Wine & Germantown and Camden and Eutaw Springs in S.C.”.

 

The following statement of Philip Williams of York County, found in the South Carolina Archives Revolutionary Pension Record of Jonathan Sutton confirm the important facts:

 

“I, Philip Williams of York District, S.C., certify that I was personally acquainted with Jonathan Sutton above named from the time I was about ten years old until the time of his death and have known his widow ever since - and I have often heard him say at the house of my father where he often called that he was a Captain in the regular army from the State of New Jersey and served under General Washington.

On one occasion when General Washington was reviewing the line, he complimented Sutton’s fine appearance to his staff and the good order of his Company of which he was then the Orderly Sergeant and Clerk and often boasted that the compliment did him more good than anything that ever happened to him in life. Sutton was a fine looking man, a good scholar and an excellent clerk, which he said he learned n the Army, which he said was the best school a young man was ever at - And was in several battles at the North and came out South with the Northern Army under General Gates or Green and finished his services in South Carolina and then went to his relations (Uncle Jasper Sutton) near Camden here he married his first wife and finally settled in York District near Yorkville where his widow now lives.

Sutton was a leading patriot of his day and a prominent Mason and was buried with Masonic Honors. His patriotism as a gallant soldier of the Revolution has never been called in question.”

 

Footnotes:

(A) Jonathan from New Jersey found in Revolutionary Pension National Archives No. R15300. The N.J. origin is also mentioned repeatedly in the Revolutionary Pension records of the S.C. State Archives.

(B) “Names in South Carolina” Winter 1976, Dept. of English, U.S.C.

(C) All data of above paragraph fount in Equity Files 9 and 28, filed York Co., S.C. 1821 and 1824.

(D) Children of both marriages taken from Will of Mary Campbell Sutton File 92-4581 York Co., S.C. and Equity file #9 & 28 dated 1821-1824 York Co., S.C.. Family traditions has one daughter married to an Adams and another to an Allison - not documented.

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Sutton Dudley Castle
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Joan Boutcher of Kent