MeriRep: Jared Farish
Book Project: Not assigned.
Metrics: One spouse, 8,791 descendants and in-laws.
Biographical Sketch:
Francis Meriwether, born about 1726, Louisa County, Virginia, died before 12 September 1793, age about 67, near Greenwood, Abbeville County, South Carolina, son of David Meriwether (1690-1744) and Anne Holmes (1695-1735).
Francis Meriwether married 16 January 1749, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Mary Waller Lewis, born 30 January 1727, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, died July 1807, age about 80, near Greenwood, Abbeville County, South Carolina, daughter of Zachary Lewis (1702-1765) and Mary Waller (1699-1781).
Francis Meriwether and Mary Waller Lewis had seven children:
Capt. John Meriwether, born 12 Mar 1751/2 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, died 31 January 1820 in Abbeville, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina. Married, first, Esther McGehee abt 15 Apr 1771 in Louisa County, Virginia. They had eight children. Esther was born 24 Nov 1753 in Virginia and died 3 March 1807 in Greenwood, Greenwood County, South Carolina; she was the daughter of William McGehee and Elizabeth McCullough. John married, second, Ann Tinsley on 18 Sep 1809 in Louisa County, Virginia. They had four childredn. Ann was born about 1773 and died June 1831 in Abbeville County, South Carolina; she was the daughter of William Tinsley and Jane Geese.
Zachary Meriwether, born 4 May 1754, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, died 14 January 1836, age 81, Greene County, Alabama, married first, Jane Lewis (his first & second cousin), in Virginia. She was the daughter of John "The Honest Lawyer" Lewis and Anne Lewis, daughter of Robert Lewis and Jane Meriwether. While most Meriwether genealogies state there were no known children, they are now known to have had at least two daughters: Ann "Nancy" Meriwether who married Andrew Logan II and had ten children, and Mary Lewis Meriwether, who married her first cousin, John Herndon Meriwether, and had two children. After Jane's death, Zachary married, second, on 11 January 1787, in South Carolina, Rachel Logan (sister of his son-in-law Andrew Logan II), and had nine children. Rachel died in 1827 and the next year Zachary, at the age of 73, married Charlotte Mary Cooke, who would have been about 15 years old according to her 1850 Census information.
Nicholas Meriwether, born about 1756, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, died January 1826, about 70, near Greenwood, Abbeville County, South Carolina, married first, about 1786, Abbeville County, South Carolina, Sarah (Ragland) Michie, and had three children. Nicholas married, second, Mary Bickley, and had eight children.
Ann Meriwether, born about 1758, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, died before 1825, age about 66, married Joseph McGehee, in Virginia, and had two children.
Elizabeth “Betty” Meriwether, born 1760, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, died after 1793, married Dabney McGehee. Nothing else known, including whether they had children.
Joseph Meriwether, born about 1762. He probably died, single, prior to 1793, since neither he nor any heirs are named in his father’s will. Some genealogies show he married a Sarah Forster, but TMSI has no evidence to support this.
Mary Meriwether, born about 1763, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, died (unknown, but before 1793), age about 29, married John Connor in Virginia, and had children.
Biographical sketch provided by Joel T. Meriwether, TMSI DM.
(Corrections added 31 Oct 2008 jmo)