Thomas Moore Petty

Thomas M. Petty was a son of William Eli Petty & Lucretia ("Lucy") (Wright) Petty. Tom's paternal grandparents were William Petty & Elizabeth (Ransdall) Petty, and his maternal grandparents were John Wright III and Ann (Williams) Wright. Tom's father was a Revolutionary War veteran.

On August 4, 1825, Thomas M. Petty married Louisa Whyte Roberts in Madison County, Alabama. She was a daughter of Robert Whyte Roberts & Nancy Anne (Gibbons) Roberts. Louisa's father was a lawyer, judge, representative, speaker and congressman. The Pettys and Roberts were wealthy plantation & slave owners.

Shortly after they married, Thomas & Louisa Petty moved from Madison County, Alabama to Bradford County, Tennessee. By 1830 they were living in Lincoln County, Tennessee, and by 1833 they had settled in Scott County, Mississippi, just outside the town of Hillsboro. Altogether Tom and Louisa raised ten children.

The Pettys were plantation farmers and owned slaves. According to their great-great-granddaughter, Mrs. Lillie Bell (Stanbery) Heddins, when their children married, they would give them a wedding gift of 7 (or 9) slaves.

According to Marielou Roach Fair (in "Roach, Roberts, Ridgeway and Allied Families"), Thomas M. Petty was a medical doctor. His son-in-law, Samuel Curtis, was also an M.D.

Thomas M. Petty died at the age of 83 or 84 in 1887. It is uncertain exactly where he was buried, but it's possible he was buried in the Roberts Family Cemetery on their "Long Avenue" plantation, just outside of Hillsboro where his wife's father was buried.

Apparently just after Tom's death, Louisa moved to Ruston, Louisiana, presumably to live with one of her grown children. She died within a short time that same year.

NOTE: Many researchers have misread Thomas M. Petty's middle name as "Merce" or "Mercer" as it seems to appear on his father's will. However, upon close inspection and comparison of the will writer's penmanship, the second letter ("o") is open at the top, leading some to view it as "er" but other words in the document that obviously contain an "o" also appear to be an "open o" or "er." Thomas' daughter Nancy Hamlett's death certificate confirms that his full name was indeed "Thomas Moore Petty."

For more information on the Petty, Roberts, Curtis & Fitzgerald families visit: www.heddins.com.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/139283246/thomas-moore-petty

• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Mar 18 2024, 11:31:18 UTC