I.             Col. Thomas Pettus (c.1598-1669) was born in Norwich, Norfolk County, England, and baptized there on Feb. 19, 1598/99 at the St. Simon and St. Jude parish church. He was born into a wealthy, but large family that ultimately grew to include seventeen children, all the progeny of Thomas Pettus, the elder (c.1552-1620) and his wife Cecily King (d. c.1641). The elder Thomas was a draper, who held at various times a number of public offices, including sheriff and mayor of Norwich. He was also the younger brother of Sir John Pettus (c.1550-1614), a Member of Parliament, a wealthy woolen merchant, and an investor in the Virginia Company, with business interests in the American colonies.

Although he was only the seventh son, the younger Thomas still received a considerable inheritance from his father of properties in Norwich. However, he killed a man on March 24, 1628 in a street brawl at a New Year's Eve festival, and following his acquittal in 1629 of the murder, he felt it wise to sell his holdings and relocate elsewhere. This led him in late 1630 or early 1631 to sail to Virginia and begin a new life, possibly at the behest of his family. Thomas apparently was preceded in Virginia by at least one sibling, his younger brother Theodore Pettus (b. c.1600), who arrived in 1623 in James City (Jamestown), but of whom nothing further is recorded.

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Thomas Pettus acquired land soon after his arrival and built a large plantation house, which he named Littletown, at a location on the James River about four miles down river from the Jamestown settlement. He also, in time, acquired the adjacent Utopia Plantation, a nearby tract called the Burnt Ordinary, and some unsettled lands in New Kent County, which was the next county up river from Jamestown. His Littletown plantation house has since been excavated, and the site can be visited at the modern Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia.

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Although some accounts attribute to Thomas a wife named Elizabeth Mouring, and possibly four children with her, there is no documentation for this in either the Norwich or Jamestown town and church records. However, his son Thomas did marry a woman with the similar name of Mourning Burgh, which might be the source for some of this confusion. Some accounts also claim that Thomas fought in the Thirty Years War, and was sent to Jamestown with 40 men to protect the colonists from Indian aggressions, which earned him the title Colonel. Again, there is little evidence for this either. However, his name does appear in one 1642/43 document as "Capt. Thos. Pettus", when he was serving on the King's Council for the colony and all of the councilors received appointments as captains in the colonial militia. He also appears in a 1652 document as "Coll. Thomas Pettus", when British warships sent by Oliver Cromwell appeared in Jamestown Harbor and fears were raised of a possible confrontation.

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Thomas Pettus, due to his wealth and family connections, received in 1641/42 an appointment to a life term on the King's Council of State for Virginia, and served until at least sometime after July of 1661, which establishes him as the longest serving member of the council. He is known to have had at least one wife, Elizabeth Freeman (b. c.1608), the widow of Richard Durrent, whom he married about 1638 in Jamestown when he was 39 years old. There is also evidence for an earlier Indian wife named Ka-Okee (a daughter of Pocahontas), with whom he may have fathered four or five children, but this is somewhat speculative. Col. Pettus is known to have had at least two sons - the Stephen Pettus, who follows, and a younger son named Thomas, who inherited his father's Littletown and Utopia plantations. He died sometime between 1663 and 1668.

(Pettus, 2011 - v. I, p. 107-120, no. 31; Pettus, 2013 - v. II, p. 1349-1360)

II.            Stephen Pettus (c.1642-c.1677), the son of Thomas Pettus and possibly his Indian wife Ka-Okee, was born about 1642 in James City County, Virginia, most likely at his father's Littletown Plantation. Little is known about Stephen, but presumably he married, and he is believed to have had at least two children, a son and a daughter. Although he did not inherit the Littletown or Utopia plantations from his father, both of which went to his younger brother Thomas, Stephen presumably received other properties, as he is known to have been a large land holder in New Kent County. He probably died about 1677 in the Blisland Parish where he was living, possibly in the aftermath of an armed rebellion in the Colony led in late 1676 by Nathaniel Bacon of the nearby Curles Neck Plantation. The likely son of Stephen Pettus is the John Pettus who follows.

(Pettus, 2011 - v. I, p. 206-210, no. 63)

III.           John Pettus (c.1662-after 1704), who is probably the son of Stephen Pettus, was born about 1662 in Blisland Parish in New Kent County, Virginia. Even less is known about him than his father, but he is known to have been a member of the vestry (a governing body) for the Blisland Parish in 1703 or 1704 when he signed a letter from the vestry to Governor Nicholson of the Virginia Colony. He probably married and had a son named John who follows.

(Pettus, 2011 - v. I, p. 270-271, no. 104)

IV.          John Pettus (c.1680-c.1750), who was probably the son of the John Pettus above, was born about 1680, most likely in the Blisland Parish of New Kent County, Virginia. Although he is unquestionably either a grandson or great-grandson of Col. Thomas Pettus, the immigrant ancestor, his line of descent from Thomas Pettus is not known for certain. The most likely lineage, given the present state of knowledge, is shown here. He married Anne Overton on or prior to about 1702, probably in New Kent County, but some accounts say Yorktown. Some accounts also give her name as Elizabeth, and others as Mary. He and Anne at some point migrated upstream (northwest) along the Pamunkey River with other members of the Pettus clan to a frontier region near the area of modern Richmond, Virginia that came to be known as the St. Peter's and St. Paul's parishes, the latter parish later becoming part of Hanover County. He probably died about 1750 in St. Martin's Parish in Hanover County, Virginia.

John's name in some accounts appears as John Dabney Pettus, but this is incorect and derives from a series of Pettus family assumptions published in 1921 by Patrick Baskervill. John Pettus did in fact have a contemporary cousin named Stephen Pettus (c.1679-c.1759), who was married about 1700 to Elizabeth Dabney. Like John, Stephen Pettus participated in the move up the Pamunkey River, and he similarly died in St. Martin's Parish in Hanover County, Virginia. He also inherited much of the original Littleton, Utopia and Burnt Ordinary estates, and he did indeed have a number of descendants named John Dabney Pettus. However, these descendants do not tie back to the John Pettus of the present narrative. John and Anne had several children,

V.            Col. Thomas Pettus (1712-1780), second of the name in this line and the son of John Pettus and Anne Overton, was born on Dec. 25, 1714 in St. Paul's Parish in New Kent County, Virginia, but grew up in "New Forest", an estate built by his grandfather William Overton. He married Amey Ann Walker (1717/18-1778) on Nov. 10, 1735 , probably in Hanover County, and brought her and their family about 1751 to Lunenburg County along the southern border of Virginia. He served in various public offices and was a member from 1769-1775 of the Lunenburg County House of Burgesses during the American Revolution. Because he signed a protest against British taxation, and the British embargo against import, he is considered a patriot, and his name is honored on a monument in Williamsburg, Virginia. Despite his epithet of colonel, he never physically served in a militia, as far as we know, and the title of colonel is an honorary one that is largely the product of later generations. He died on March 18, 1780 in Lunenberg, and left a will (Will Book 3, p. 33-35 in Lunenburg County, Virginia) that was probated on April 13, 1789 in the county court. This will names his children, who follow.

(Pettus, 2011 - v. I, p. 362-374, no. 139)

VI.          David Walker Pettus I (1755-1805), the son of Col. Thomas Pettus and Amey Ann Walker was born on July 3, 1755 in either Amelia or Lunenburg County, Virginia. He was probably named after his maternal grandfather David Walker. He served with the Lunenburg County Militia during the American Revolution as an ensign, and then in 1802 as a second lieutenant in Capt. Ellison Ellis' company. He married his first wife Anne Whitworth(1750-1802) on Nov. 28, 1776, and shortly after her death married his second wife Elenor or Ellinor Wilson, the widow of Robert Wilson, on Sept. 25, 1802 in Lunenburg County. He died on Nov. 8, 1805, probably in Lunenburg County. Although he is unlikely to have ever ventured out of Virginia, through his pioneer sons who did, he is the patriarch of the Pettus family in the Huntsville-Monrovia area of Alabama. David and Ann had twelve children,

VII.         Thomas Pettus (1779-1854), the son of David Walker Pettus I and Anne Whitworth was born on Feb. 27, 1779, probably in Lunenburg County, Virginia . He married Elizabeth Jouett Rowlett (b. c.1780) on Nov. 24, 1803 in Halifax County, Virginia. He brought his family to Madison County, Alabama on Oct. 25, 1832, and a year after his arrival established himself there as a lawyer. He died on _____________, 1854 in Madison County, and although it is not known where he and Elizabeth are buried, they may be in unmarked graves in the Douglass-Pettus Cemetery on Douglass Road. It is possible, but seems less likely, that they are buried in ummarked graves in the nearby Joyner Cemetery. Thomas and Elizabeth had several children.

VIII.        William Rowlett Pettus (1808-1864), the son of Thomas Pettus and Elizabeth Rowlett was born on Dec. 12, 1808, probably in Halifax County, Virginia . He married his first wife Rebecca Love in _______________ on _________________. He and his brother Thomas W. Pettus left Virginia for Alabama with their parents in October of 1832 and settled on adjacent farms in Monrovia, near Hunstville. Rebecca died there on Aug. 29, 1849 and is buried in the Joyner Cemetery near the intersection of Wall Triana Highway and Nick Davis Road. Her obituary appeared on Sept. 7, 1849 in a Hunstville newspaper called "The Southern Advocate." William married his second wife Charlotte Harris Day (1829-1903) on Aug. 12, 1851 in Madison County, Alabama, Charlotte being the daughter of Richard and Lucinda Day of Spotsylvania County, Virginia. William died on May 25, 1864 in Huntsville, and both he and Charlotte are buried in the Douglass-Pettus Cemetery.

IX.        William David Pettus (1843-1905), the son of William Rowlett Pettus and Rebecca Love was born on April 12, 1843, probably in Madison County, Alabama. He served as a private in the 9th Alabama Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and later followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a doctor. He married Ann Dew(1843-1916) on Dec. 23, 1869 in __________; and died on Aug. 13, 1905 in __________________, and both William and Ann are buried in the Douglass-Pettus Cemetery.