William Whitaker was born about 1783. It must have been in Wilkes Co. North Carolina as his father is listed on the tax records in that country in 1782. However, it was about that time this his parents moved to Fayette Co. Kentucky. There he grew up and in March of 1805 he married Elizabeth Hammond. She was the daughter of Charles and Judith Hammond, born about 1787. William’s brother John married Elizabeth’s sister Sarah. Shortly after they were married William and Elizabeth moved Lincoln Co. Tennessee, obviously with his father and other family members to that area which was named Mulberry and was a member of the Ball Fork Baptist Church. William purchased two hundred acres from his father. He also owned two lots in Fayetteville, the county seat. In 1810, he was appointed constable in Lincoln Co., however, that must not have been to his liking as he resigned in November of the same year. He was then appointed Justice of the Peace in 1812.

William was evidently “struck” with wanderlust as he moved his family to Limestone Co. Alabama in 1818. There is very little information on William and his family during this time. Then about 1824 or 1825 he moved his family to Hardeman County in West Tennessee where William purchased three land grants totaling 391 acres. They remained there for about 6-7 years and in 1833 he sold his property there and moved his family to Nacogdoches, Texas. At that time Texas was in the possession of Mexico. According to the “Early North Church Families” he took an Oath of Allegiance to the Mexican Government of Texas in 1830 and received a Mexican Land Grant in May of 1831. However, most records show these dates are incorrect and that he did not arrive in Nacogdoches in 1833. Several of William’s children, now grown, chose to stay in Tennessee. His eldest son Benjamin Franklin and the younger children moved with him.

He was appointed as one of the members from Nacogdoches, Texas to Consultation of the provisional government held in San Felipe on November 18, 1835. He was to join Daniel Parker, William Clark and Sam Houston to the “Consultation at San Felipe de Austin” which met in November. They were elected over protests by the local “ayuntamiento”. However, it appears that he never attended this forum because when his daughter Emily was married to Stephen F. Sparks on October 6, 1836, Elizabeth is referred to as a “widow” in Adolphus Sterne’s diary. He was the Justice of the Peace at that time and he performed the wedding ceremony in her home.

In the Sparks Papers Archives in Nacogdoches it reads that in “Headright Certificate”, No.26125 one league and one acre of land was issued to William Whitaker in 1836 by the Board of Land Commissioners for Nacogdoches Co.

Exactly when and how William died is unknown. It does not appear that he was not part of the revolution, at least he is not mentioned in any of the battles. However, he did die quite suddenly. At the time of his death, according to tax records, he owned approximately 4,000 acres. His half brother, Madison Guess Whitaker, who had helped to conduct the delegate election and who accompanied the Nacogdoches military force in December of 1835 and helped expel the Mexican military presence from Bexar (San Antonio) and who participated in the Battle of San Jacinto, became executer of Williams estate. There was no will as far as we know. It appears that he divided the land into eight parcels going to each of William’s children with one parcel going to his wife Elizabeth. William is buried in the cemetery of the Old North Church.

When William moved his family to Texas it was primarily Catholic: Protestant activities were forbidden by law. However, some of the devout women would meet just north of the town of Nacogdoches for Bible study and prayers, in the forest near a spring. In the “Nacogdoches Co. Families” it reads that “prayer meetings were born partially out of desperation, for Indian and Mexican raids were common, and the men were often away from home. The women would be compelled to desert their homes and hide in the thickets until the raids were over. It was during these days and nights of hiding that the thickets became chapels of prayers.”

After the Battle of San Jacinto, the people built a log schoolhouse and named it “Liberty School”. This building housed the first congregation of what is now known as Old North Church. It was later replaced by a frame building, in 1852. There was a cemetery adjacent to the church, in fact the front of the church faced the cemetery. In 1948 the church was turned about 90 degrees and now faces north with the cemetery on the west side of the church. Elizabeth and, indeed, most of the Whitakers, were members of that church. The church is still standing. The cemetery shows many head stones carved with Whitaker names. Exactly where William is buried is unknown but it is said that his grave is near to his half brother’s vault that was made of brick, and also near his son Benjamin Franklin who has a marker.

Elizabeth remained in Nacogdoches and some say she died in 1852 and is buried next to her husband, however, I have found no records to support this.