James A. Prewitt

James A. Prewitt, founder, first member and first Deacon of the Providence Baptist Church in Burleson County, Texas, a man of prayer, faith, and works, was born in July 1781, in Talladega County, Alabama. He married Nancy Wilder on March 4, 1802. The Prewitt family moved to Coahuila y Texas in 1834, first settling at Yellow Prairie (now Chriesman in Burleson County, then in Milam County), but the Indians being troublesome, they moved east of present Caldwell where they remained until James’ death in 1853. The Republic of Texas granted James one league (4,428 acres) and one labor (187 acres) of land in Milam County on May 1, 1835. He was an original County Commissioner of Burleson County when it was organized in 1846 from Milam and Washington counties. The organizational meeting of Providence Baptist Church was held in his home in September 1841 and he became the first Deacon of the church. James died January 30, 1853, and is buried in the cemetery behind Providence Baptist Church in Burleson County, Texas.

James and Nancy Prewitt had ten children:

Martha Prewitt married Mr. E.B. Reed.

Catherine Prewitt was born on July 24, 1816. She married Samuel H. Harvey on May 18, 1839, in Washington County, Republic of Texas. Catherine Harvey died January 30, 1859, and is buried in the Providence Cemetery in Burleson County, Texas.

John W. Prewitt has not been found on the 1850 U.S. Census.

Mary Prewitt was born about 1825. She married Henry Chadwick. She died July 29, 1846, and is buried in the Providence Cemetery.

Elizabeth Prewitt married Berry B. Smith on June 27, 1850, in Burleson County, Texas.

William Prewitt was 18 years old, living with his parents on the September 25, 1850, Census of Burleson County, Texas.

Margaret Prewitt was born about 1835. She married Samuel McFall on July 31, 1850, in Burleson County. Samuel was born about 1807 in Kentucky. He was a farmer, Ranger, and survivor of the Mier Expedition in 1844. Samuel McFall died in 1867 and was buried in Scotts Chapel Cemetery in Hill County, Texas.

Samuel Houston Prewitt was born October 24, 1836, in the Republic of Texas. He married Mary Ann Willis and they had five children. Samuel served in Company K, 15^th Texas Infantry, CSA. He died March 30, 1893, and Mrs. Mary Prewitt died October 12, 1900. They are buried in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in Hill County, Texas.

Benjamin Franklin Prewitt was born about 1839 in the Republic of Texas. He was living with his mother in Hill County, Texas, on the July 12, 1860, U.S. Census.

Henry Thomas Prewitt was born in 1840 in the Republic of Texas. He died October 7, 1851, and is buried in the Providence Cemetery, Burleson County, Texas.

Bibliography

Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Patriot Ancestor Album, Turner Publishing, Paducah, KY, 1995.

Providence Cemetery Association, Tombstones of Providence Cemetery, Fifth Edition, 2010.

Samuel McFall, Find A Grave, Internet, accessed 2011.

1850 and 1860 U.S. Census of Texas, Internet, accessed 2011