The Prewitts were firmly ensconced in the southwest Piedmont
region of Virginia by 1720, and had landholdings along the Staunton River.
Michael Prewitt, Robert’s father, and the grandfather of James and Nelson,
appears on Lunenburg County, Virginia, tax lists from 1746-1752. In 1754,
Lunenburg County was divided, and the community the Prewitt resided in fell
into the boundaries of the newly created Bedford County. In the late 1760s,
Prewitt petitioned the county to build a gristmill near the mouth of the
Falling River, which is today located near the town of Brookneal in Campbell
County.
Before the Revolutionary War, Michael Prewitt was listed by
James Murdoch and Company, an English trading company, as a “wealthy
landowner.” Between 1773 and 1780,
Prewitt patented 1,770 acres on the Falling River. The First Census of
Virginia, in 1782, records six white persons in Prewitt’s household, and three
slaves. Also in that year, Bedford County was subsequently divided, and
Prewitt's residence became part of the new Campbell County.
During this time, Robert Prewitt, who had enlisted at age 18
in the Fifth Virginia Battalion, was scouting out Kentucky, spending December
1777 through October 1778 in the garrison at the Fort in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
Two brothers, Elisha and Joshua, joined him in 1779 as part of Bomar’s
Expedition, and marched against the Shawnee in July of 1780 under the command
of Colonel George Rogers Clark. By 1782, Robert was back in Virginia as he
married Martha “Patsy” Chandler of Halifax County, Virginia, on May 23, 1782.
Once Robert returned to the Piedmont, his family began
making preparations to move to Kentucky. Between 1784 and 1789, Michael Prewitt
sold and conveyed numerous tracts of land, culminating on April 1, 1789, with
the sale of
568 acres on the north
side of the Staunton River and Southside of the Falling River, whereon is water
gristmill formerly erected by said Michael Prewitt, being part of several
tracts of land, granted by patents to said Michael Prewitt...including all
houses, orchards, and profits together with grist mill.
This tract of land
was sold for 700 pounds to Phil Majors, and in October of 1789, Michael Prewitt
joined scores of other Virginians and moved to Kentucky. Robert
stayed in Virginia to serve as his father’s power of attorney to deal with the
numerous parcels of land in Campbell County that Michael still owned. The elder
Prewitt is recorded on the 1790 Fayette County, Kentucky, Tax list and was
taxed for 1,161 acres of land in Campbell County, Virginia. Land in Fayette
County is not noted on the tax list until 1793, when Michael was taxed for 223
acres, 10 slaves, 12 horses and 33 cattle.
Although Robert and his wife, Martha Chandler, moved to
Kentucky in the fall of 1794, he does not appear on the tax rolls until 1796,
and it can be surmised that he was residing with either his father or one of
his brothers who had made the journey a few years previous. In 1796 he was taxed for 120 acres of
first-rate land on the Elkhorn Creek in Fayette County.
Robert and Martha Chandler Prewitt had the following
children:
1. Elizabeth "Betsy" Simpkins Prewitt, born
January 21, 1784 in Virginia
2. Vaul Allen Prewitt, born October 14, 1785, in Virginia
3. William Chandler Prewitt, born March 9, 1788, in Virginia
4. Henry Hamblen Prewitt, born January 29, 1790, in Virginia
5. Mary Hamblen Prewitt, born December 1, 1792, in Virginia
6. Robert Chandler Prewitt, born May 21, 1795, in Fayette
County, Kentucky
7. Willis Prewitt, born July 8, 1797, in Fayette County,
Kentucky
8. Levi Prewitt, born September 17, 1799, in Fayette County,
Kentucky
9. James Prewitt, born September 26, 1802 in Fayette County,
Kentucky
10. Nelson Gilduroy Prewitt, born August 15, 1806 in Fayette
County, Kentucky
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