From: Wbm91837(a)aol.com
Elizabeth Cecil who married Thomas Witten was originally thought to be the
daughter of John Cecil and Elizabeth Sollers Cecil of Prince Georges(later
Frederick) County Maryland. More recent research seems to cinfirm that she
was John's neice, a daughter of John's brother Phillip Cecil and his wife
Elizabeth Giddings. Phillip died fairly early in his life leaving Elizabeth
with a struggle and it appears that Elizabeth Cecil went to live with her
cousins and was raised preetty much as their daughter. She and her husband
Thomas Witten, along with her first cousin Samuel Cecil and his wife Rebecca
White Cecil with their families migrated from Frederick County, MD down the
VA Valley circa 1760 with Samuel and Rebecca settleing in what is now Dublin
in Pulaski Co(formerly apart of Montgomery Co. VA. Thomas and Elizabeth
Witten continued on to the area of Tazewell VA where they settled. There were
no less than five 2nd cousin marriages between the children of Samuel &
Rebecca Cecil and Thomas and Elizabeth Cecil Witten so the families remained
closely linked for generations untill after the Revolutionary War when a
number of them migrated through the Cumberland Gap into KY, TN, nad beyond.
John and Phillip Cecil wer the two sons of William Sesell of Prince Georges
Co., MD. Old William was an intersting character, sometimes involved with
some unsavory characters in the area, never apparently owning land, was a day
laborer, paid tithes to Queen Annes Parish, St Barnabas Church, but could
sign his name suggesting some degree of literacy not common among the
unlanded or unskilled.
William's wife's name has not yet been determined but she died at an
apparently young age leavint John, Phillip, and a sister Susan at very young
ages. She was very concerned apparently that William wouldn't (or couldn't)
care for the children so thaey were given formally at her request into foster
care with the family of Mareen Duvall the Elder a landed gentleman of the
colony. Today there are 10s of thousands of descendants of John and Phillip
Cecil but of Susan nothing is known. She was only about 3 yrs when her mother
died and she may have fallen to a childhood desease or just perhaps she may
have been adopted and raised as Mareen Duvall's daughter. There are some
Susannah Duvalls in the family of Mareen Duvall but no clear cut candidates
to fit this hypothesis.
Elizabeth's husbands family appear to have come through Barbados on their way
to the Maryland Colony and there were Cecils married into the Witten line
there also.
In the past and some still do maintain that John Cecil son of William Sesell
was a son of Sir Thomas Cecil of the family of Lord Burghley Cecil Prime
Minister to Queen Elizabeth I. This has never been proven in any way. Lord
Burghley's pedigrees emphasize the landed (eldest son) branches and do not
lead off into the younger sons of younger sons who were alway disinherited in
the English system of land holding. The kinship may well be there but until
we can identify William's parents it may remain a mystery. William Sesell's
circumstances and attitude/associations suggest to me at least a disgruntled
younger son bitter at being shipped off to the Colonies at a very young age
to make his own way when he could see family wealth around him. He stated he
had spent most (but not all) of his life in the "province."
Lots of folks on this net have a bunch of data on Thomas and Elizabeth.
William Cecil Pendleton's Book on Tazewell and its famillies can still be
obtained from the Museum in Tazewell. My Colleague at work, no less than,
Thomas Witten of Tazewell says he has seen the books on their shelves. Also
there is a lot of data on this and related families on the LDS Family Search
data base on the internet. That can be reachedat
http://www.familysearch.org
Hope this helps,
Walt Morrow