Whitley Family of Nash, Wilson and nearby counties in NC

First Generation

Probable children of David W. Whitley and Nancy Finch
William Whitley (ca. 1830-?)
Benjamin Whitley (ca. 1832-?)
Gatsey? W. Whitley (ca. 1834-?)
Martha M. Whitley (ca. 1836-?)
Elizabeth Whitley (ca. 1838-?)
Nanney? Whitley (ca. 1840-?)
Lucinda Whitley (ca. 1842-?)
Amanda N. Whitley (ca. 1845-?)
Mary Whitley (ca. 1849-?)
David W. Whitley (ca. 1850-?)
Wiley Whitley (ca. 1853-1930) m. 1) Indiana Avery, Acree or Ascue (?),
   2) Martha Ann Cobb (d. 1927)
Gilford? or Telford? Whitley (ca. 1857-?)

This list is constructed from census records, which are not entirely consistent across 1850-1870. I am suspicious that some of the younger children, including Wiley, are actually grandchildren rather than children. Wiley's death certificate does not name his parents. It lists his birthdate as 1845, but he doesn't appear in the 1850 census. In 1860 he is listed as 7 years old, and in 1880 he is 27.

Second Generation

Spencer and "Cornealia" appear with Wiley and Indiana in the 1880 census, Wilson Co. NC. A Strickland family web site gives Fannie's birth as 6 Jan 1879, but she doesn't appear in the 1880 census. I found an on-line file stating that Cornelia married Levi Drake, but have not been able to find them as a couple in any census record, nor can I find death certificates in NC. Did they move out of state?

I can't find Wiley in 1900 or 1910. By 1920, he was married to Martha Cobb, and appears with her in the Pitt Co. NC census. I can't find a record of this marriage on Ancestry.com, but it must have taken place between 1910 and 1920, since I found Martha in the 1900 and 1910 census records living with her brother Thomas Cobb and his wife.

Some on-line files give Indiana's maiden name as Sasser; this appears to be a confusion with another girl named Indiana, about the same age, who was the daughter of Lewis and Mary Sasser of Wayne Co. NC, and married John Yelverton. Her maiden name is given as Avery on the death certificate of her daughter Mary Jane Whitley Corbett, and as Acree on Spencer Whitley's. Another possibility is that she is the daughter of Wiley and Minerva Ascue, who appear in the Franklin Co. NC 1850 census with a daughter Indiana age 6.

Sources