Achilles Whitlock of Halifax County, VA????

1808 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Ashley Johnson & wife 

Elizabeth to Achilles Whitlock

While I was gathering my material concerning the Whitlock family I happened upon a lone deed that I find very interesting and quite possibly a link to the family of James Whitlock of Rowan County, NC.

Dated August 1, 1808 and written in Surry County, NC, it involves a local Hunting Creek resident named Ashley Johnson and his wife Elizabeth selling an 18 acre lot in Halifax County, VA to a man living in Halifax County named Achilles Whitlock. The land had been left to Elizabeth Johnson through the estate of Thomas Beach and makes mention that Elizabeth was formerly Elizabeth Brown.

First let me start with some of the ideas being tossed around out there concerning this Achilles Whitlock. It's thought that Achilles was born in 1750 or 1759 in either Goochland or Lunenburg County, VA. Considering I believe James Whitlock came to Rowan County from Lunenburg County, VA, this certainly strikes my interest. Especially since Halifax County was formed from Lunenburg in 1752. I've seen where some out there believe Achilles to be the son of John Whitlock and Ann Logan. With my great-great-great grandfather being named John Logan Jones, that certainly piques my interest. Unfortunately the compiled notes left by the Rev. William Douglas of Goochland County, VA, collectively known as The Douglas Register, dashes any notion of that due to it containing records of the couple's first six children's births and baptisms from 1757-1772. 

The connections start to get even more interesting when you take a closer look at Ashley Johnson and his wife Elizabeth (Brown) Johnson. The earliest connection between Ashley Johnson and the Whitlocks in Surry County is found in a deed dated May 31, 1800 when Ashley Johnson Sr. sells 100 acres of land to Thomas Bowen the father-in-law of James Whitlock Jr. James also acts as a witness for the transaction. As I mentioned in my first Whitlock post, you find a number of Bowens in Lunenburg County, VA surrounding a James Whitlock on the 1764 tax list. I also find it interesting that Ashley's wife Elizabeth was originally a Brown considering that in 1803 the Thomas Whitlock I believe to be a son of James and Sylvia (Jones) Whitlock sold his 130 acre tract on the North Fork of Dutchman's Creek to a Joshua Brown.

Surry County tax lists as late as 1819 indicate that Ashley Johnson was living next to James Whitlock Jr. Upon Ashley's death in 1818/1819 his son Ashley would continue to live in the area and is most likely the individual who acted as bondsman for the January 4, 1823 marriage between William Whitlock and Nancy Myres. Later census records for 1830 and 1840 also show their close proximity.

Could it just be mere coincidence that this Ashley Johnson had dealings with Whitlocks in two entirely different states? Hmmmm......