Thomas Hightower, Sr.

Biography

Thomas Hightower, Sr., was born in March 1712, in North Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia. His parents were Joshua Hightower Jr. and his wife, Eleanor (Charnold) Hightower. According to a family genealogy, Thomas Hightower's was the first Hightower birth recorded in the North Farnham Parish Register, which listed his parents as "Joshua and Eleanor Hightower".<ref> Leaf 'N Leaves, by Smith, Hazel Betty(nee Hightower), Volume II Number 12, December 15, 1985. Cited in note #3 on Hightower Family Genealogical Database Thomas Hightower (dead link)

Thomas Hightower married two times. His first marriage was in 1732/1733 to Frances Glascock, the widow of Benjamin Milner, whom she'd married on July 13, 1730, in Richmond County, Virginia. She had a baby named Benjamin Milner Jr. Alas, Frances Glascock (Milner) Hightower did not live very long after her second marriage. She died on March 7, 1733, as noted in the N. Farnham Parish record. She and Thomas Hightower had no surviving children.<ref> See preceding note - Post-em displayand Note #3.

Shortly after his first wife's death, Thomas Hightower remarried to Kindness Prentess (last name presumed from other documents but not proven; no marriage date found). Their son was born on February 5, 1736, as noted in the North Farnham Parish records.

They had two children:

1. Thomas Hightower, Jr., b: February 5, 1736 in N. Farnham Parish VA Thomas Hightower, m. 1st-Susannah Herrington in ca 1767; m. 2nd-Jane ? in ca 1786; d. 1808). Died ca 1761-2.
2. John Hightower, born ca. 1745 after they had moved to Northumberland County, Virginia <ref> See 2 preceding notes.

A few years later, the Hightower family migrated from Virginia to Anson County, North Carolina where Thomas Hightower, Sr. was granted a 400-acre plot of land on April 24, 1760.

It is believed Thomas' 2nd wife's maiden name was Prentess. She survived her husband and the exact date of his death is unknown. He left no Will. A deed dated Novembe r21, 1763, was signed by Kindness Hightower, his widow and his oldest son, Thomas Jr. It shows that Thomas Hightower, Sr., had died in Anson County, NC, shortly prior to that date. His death therefore most-likely took place in 1763.

Sources

• The Registers Of North Farnham Parish, 1663-1814, and Lunenburg Parish, 1783-1800, Richmond County, Virginia; compiled by George Harrison Sanford King, Fellow, American Society of Genealogists, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1966: Page 93.
• Hightower Family Genealogical Database - Thomas Hightower
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/t/a/Tracy-L-Stamps/WEB...
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/t/a/Tracy-L-Stamps/WEB...
• http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cmddlton/hgtwr2.html#anchor...
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hightower-53
• https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cmddlton/hgtwr2.html
• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jan 26 2025, 1:16:24 UTC
• The Hightower News-A Compilation Edited by Paul Hightower https://studylib.net/doc/6725862/hightower-history-news