HYATT
By William G. Scroggins
The Hiatts of Lincoln and Garrard
counties, Kentucky, do not appear to have any connection with the Quaker
Hiatts of Frederick and Orange counties, Virginia, although both families have a
Pennsylvania background. The founder of the Quaker branch of the family, John Hiett, was
in Pennsylvania as early as 1699. [Hiatt-Hiett Genealogy and Family History 1699-1949,
William Perry Johnson, The Jesse Hiatt Family Association, publication data missing.] He
may have been the John Hyott of Shepton-Mallet, England, who was imprisoned in
Somersetshire during the persecution of the Quakers by the English establishment. [A
Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers, Joseph Besse, Luke Hinde,
London, MDCCLII.] The immigrant John Hiett probably was born about 1674 in England. He
married Mary Smith, daughter of William and Grace Smith, probably about 1695 in England.
John Hiett died before 1726, perhaps in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where numerous deeds
place him as a resident. John and Mary Smith Hiett had three sons, John, Jr., George
and William Hiett. John, Jr. and William Hiett moved from Bucks County to Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, and then to Frederick County, Virginia, which was formed from Orange
County. George Hiett moved from Bucks County to Maryland, Virginia and, finally, North
Carolina. George married Martha Wakefield. William was married twice. By his first
wife, whose name is not known, he had George, Simeon, William, Jr., Catherine and Rebecca,
all of whom reputedly remained in Virginia. By his second wife Alice Lowden, William Hiett
had John Hiett (Hiatt) who was born in Frederick County, Virginia, about 1749, moved to
Rowan County, North Carolina, about 1772, married Susannah ------ about 1773 and went to
Kentucky about 1784; Isaac; James; and Mary Hiett, all of whom moved to North and South
Carolina. [Hiatt-Hiett Genealogy and Family History 1699-1949, William Perry Johnson, The
Jesse Hiatt Family Association, publication data missing.]
Charles Hyet, Mary Hyat and others assisted with the burial of a drowned stranger found in
the Potomac River in August 1738. Later, the dead man was identified by John Mendenhall of
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, as a horse thief named Henry Burges who had stolen a mare
belonging to Evan David of Lancaster County. [Orange County, Virginia, Deed Book I,
1735-1743.] Charles Hyet and Mary Hyat may have been Charles Hyatt of the family which
lived at Tewksbury in Maryland who married Mary Preston. [Data of Louene Hyatt Falleaf,
Lebanon, TN, 1975.]
The Hyatt family of Tewksbury plantation was estalished by Charles Hyatt who was born in
England and died in Maryland about 1726. Charles Hyatt was married to Sarah Tewksbury,
daughter of William Tewksbury (Tewkesbury). Charles Hyatt settled first in Anne
Arundel County, Maryland, and then moved to Prince George’s County, Maryland, where
he acquired 300 acres of land which he called Tewksbury. He died before 1726 when his wife
filed an inventory of his estate. Charles Hyatt
and Sarah Tewksbury had Seth Hyatt, who was baptized on 20 September 1694 in Anne Arundel
County, married Alice ------ in 1717 and died about 1749; Susannah Hyatt, who was baptized
on 19 October 1698 and died young; Ann Hyatt, who was baptized on 30 November 1698 and
died young; Ann Hyatt, who was baptized on 11 March 1706 in Prince George’s
County and died young; Peter Hyatt, who was baptized on 30 January 1707/8; Ann Hyatt, who
was baptized on 10 March 1711/2 and married Thomas Brashears on 11 February 1728/9;
Elizabeth Hyatt, who was baptized on 22 March 1714/5;
Penelope Hyatt, who was baptized on 20 April 1716; and William Hyatt, who was born in
1717/8. [The Hyatt Lineage, Irma E. Gentry, Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, date
and volume unknown.] William Hyatt was born on 18 February 1717/8 and died on 25 September
1784. His wife Elizabeth Walker was born about 1728. Their son William, Jr. (1748-1790)
married Martha Duvall. The 1776 census of Prince George’s County, Maryland, tabulated
William Hyatt, aged 57, and wife
Elizabeth, aged 48, with sons aged 19, 17, 14, 12, 6, and daughters aged 13 and 9.
Christopher Hyatt, aged 25, was living with one slave only. William Hyatt (Jr.), aged 28,
and wife Martha, aged 28, had a son aged 3 and daughters aged 6, 4 and 1. [Maryland
Records, Volume I, Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, Baltimore, 1915, reprinted Genealogical
Publishing Company,
Baltimore, 1975.] Christopher Hyatt married Lucy Peach on 10 September 1777. [Maryland
Marriages, 1634-1777,
Robert Barnes, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1975.]
William Hyatt, Sr., William Hyatt, Jr. and Christopher Hyatt signed the Oath of Allegiance
in Prince George’s County during the Revolutionary War. At a Court held at Upper
Marlborough Town in Prince George’s County on 27 March 1781, Christopher Hyatt was
named as Overseer of the Highways in Upper Patuxent for the ensuing year. This appointment
was renewed on 27 November 1781. [Maryland Records, Volume I, Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh,
Baltimore, 1915, reprinted Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1975.] The upper
Patuxent River forms the boundary between Montgomery and Howard counties, Maryland. It
originates near the present Frederick County line.
Peter Hyatt married Alice Howerton in 1728 in Queen Anne Parish. Ann Hyatt married
Thomas Brushier (Brashears) on 01 February 1728/9 in Queen Anne Parish. [Maryland Records,
Volume I, Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, Baltimore,
1915, reprinted Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1975.] Seth Hyatt inherited
Tewksbury from his father Charles in 1726 and sold half of it to his brother William Hyatt
and half to Benjamin Duvall. Seth bought a tract named Maiden’s Fancy about 1713
which must have been in the area that is now the northeastern suburbs of the District of
Columbia. Prince George’s
County was established in 1695. In 1748 Frederick County, Maryland, was formed from the
less settled portion of Prince George’s County, “that all the land lying to the
westward of a line beginning at the lower side of the mouth of Rock Creek and thence by a
straight line joining to the east side of Seth Hyatts plantation, to the Patuxent River
shall be taken from Prince
George’s County and made into a new jurisdiction to be called Frederick County.”
[Maryland Records, Volume I, Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, Baltimore, 1915, reprinted
Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1975.]
Seth Hyatt died before 25 February 1750/1 when his son Shadrach filed an
administrator’s account of his father’s estate. Seth and Alice Hyatt had Seth,
Jr.; Shadrach, who was baptized on 25 February 1720/1 and died about 1766; Meshack;
Avarilla, who married John Prather; Abednego; and a daughter who married Neale Clarke.
Shadrach Hyatt was one of the trustees of the will of Mary Welsh of Prince George’s
County on 02 January 1752. [Maryland Wills 40, folio 451.] Shadrach was the father of
Edward, who was born about 1750 in Prince George’s County, married Hannah Parker,
moved to Haywood County, North Carolina, and died in 1817 in Jackson County, North
Carolina; Else; Mary; and Martha Hyatt.
Shadrack Hiatt of Montgomery County, Kentucky, who was born on 15 August 1749 in St.
Mary’s County, Maryland, must have been a nephew of Shadrach Hyatt of Prince
George’s County. St. Mary’s County is in southern Maryland, not far from Prince
George’s County. Shadrack Hiatt of Kentucky was a veteran and pensioner of the
Revolutionary War. His military file contains an interesting first hand account of the
Battle of Long Island, New York, in which the British and Hessian soldiers defeated the
American troops. Shadrack Hiatt was a resident of the Turkeyfoot settlement in the
Allegheny Mountains of western Maryland when he volunteered for service in the war under
Captain Michael Cresap at Oldtown, Maryland, on 01
June 1776. They marched immediately to the New York sound, joined the regiment led by
Colonel Smallwood and went to Long Island. There, under the command of generals Sullivan
and Sterling, they encamped at Brooklyn. Sometime in August 1776, the Americans were
attacked in the early morning by the Hessians, who came down the Flatbush Road, and the
British under Clinton, who came around the rear. After a severe conflict, the Americans
were forced to retreat through a mill pond and a marsh. Shadrack Hiatt was wounded in the
leg by a musket ball but he managed to escape through the water. A large
portion of his company was killed or taken prisoner. He saw many of his compatriots get
stuck in the mud and killed. Shadrack returned to camp. General Washington arrived with
reinforcements and that night the American Army retreated across the East River to New
York City. Shadrack Hiatt was discharged by General Washington (he thought) in November
1776 and returned
to Turkeyfoot. [National Archives file S13361.]
The Battle of Long Island occurred on 27 August 1776 with 5,000 Americans led by Sullivan
and Putnam being routed by 20,000 British troops commanded by Howe. In the struggle for
control of New York City, the armies subsequently met again at Harlem Heights on 15
September 1776 and at White Plains on 28 October 1776. The British defeated the Americans
in all three engagements and occupied New York City.
Turkeyfoot settlement must have been near Oldtown, Maryland, which is on the Potomac River
in Allegany County, east of the city of Cumberland on Highway 51. The western headquarters
of George Washington was at Fort Cumberland.
On 01 May 1777 Shadrack Hiatt enlisted at Turkeyfoot under Captain David Noble for three
years in the Maryland troops. He was assigned as a blacksmith in a packhorse company which
carried provisions for the Army from the eastern side of the mountains to the New Store at
the fork of the “Naughogany and Monongahaly rivers” and to
“Petersburg.” He undoubtedly was referring to the fork of Youghiogheny and
Monongahela rivers where McKeesport is now located, not far from Pittsburgh.
Shadrack Hiatt shod horses for four brigades of packhorses which were commanded by
captains Carnahan, Carmack, Whitesides and Mark Hardin. He performed this duty for about
18 months before reassignment as a regular soldier when the Army turned the packhorse
operation over to private contractors. In early 1779 he was affected by a “gathering
in the head”
caused by “extreme exposure and fatigue” and suffered an almost complete loss of
hearing. He was discharged at this time by his commanding officer Captain Noble in
Berkeley County, Virginia.
Shadrack moved to Kentucky before 1800. Shederick Hiat and Elisha Hiat appear on the 1800
tax list for Mason County.14 [“Second Census” of Kentucky 1800, G. Glenn Clift,
Frankfort, 1954, reprinted Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1970.] He moved to
Indiana for a time but returned to Kentucky where he died in Montgomery County on 09 March
1835. His widow Phebe Hiatt applied for a pension payment after his death.
Meshiah (Meshack?) Hyatt took the Oath of Fidelity and Support in Frederick County,
Maryland. in 1778. Elisha Hiatt of Sharpsburg and Lower Antietam Hundred took the Oath in
1778 in Washington County.15 [Maryland Records, Volume I, Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh,
Baltimore, 1915, reprinted Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1975.] Sharpsburg
is on Antietam Creek not far from where it enters the Potomac River.
Bill has a large amount of Hyatt
data. You may contact him . I
want to thank him for this information.