(William) Sherman Satterwhite

GEDCOM Note

According to Francis Satterwhite, Sherman was previously married and had 7 children prior to this union. he never used William - and sometimes used Sherman Thorp interchangeably with Sherman Satterwhite but I saw one record showing him as Willie S. He was believed to a tobacco farmer and he was a tenant farmer on his white fathers land. He resided in rural Granville County. There is a great deal of historical information on the Thorp/Thope/Tharp family starting from England, through to their early landing in VA in the 1600's through the intermarriage with the Person family in NC. I do not have much historical data on the "colored" Satterwhites but they are well known in Granville county. There are several references to the Satterwhite families. Sherman's father was William Thorp, the white landowner and former slave owner upon who's land he lived. Harriet was purported to be Native American but most likely was a mulatto with African blood. He was a very small man in stature and had deep red skin that was probably acquired by many years of farm labor in the hot North Carolina sun. Pictures of him show him with very straight black hair that was worn in the "bowl" cut that was typical of the time.Sherman lived on his fathers property but was shown as a renter. He was acknowledged in his fathers will but listed as stranger" in regard to relationship. My mother and my aunt both stated that the white family acknowledged them at least privately. He was part Cherokee perhaps 3% or so .</line><line /><line>This is my maternal grandfather, triracial from Granville County. He is a Satterwhite/Thorp. I had this photo retouched and he really comes alive. Sherman Satterwhite was born in 1891 and died in 1956 so I never met him. Only heard stories that he was a stern and difficult man. My grandmother was his second wife whom he married when she was 12 years old. He was 38 when they married. He worked tobacco on his fathers land and my grandmother said he used to whoop her like one of the kids!!! His father was a white local Justice of the Peace Magistrate named William Thorp; whose family held slaves at one time. I was told that William was the black sheep of his wealthy family cause he liked “colored” women and openly accepted his son and grandchildren. Sherman’s mother was also triracial and of course we were always told they were Cherokee. My cousin Nicky Hedgepeth’s great grandmother was Sherman’s sister Callie Satterwhite. Sherman is about 45 years old in this photo.</line><line />