William Whitfield III (June 1, 1743 in

Rockford, North Carolina Rockford is an unincorporated community and former town in southern Surry County, North Carolina, United States. Geography Rockford is situated along the Yadkin River in the Rockford Township of southern Surry County. Rockford sits along the for ...

– March 1817) was a soldier and slave owner. The son of

William Whitfield II William Whitfield II (May 20, 1715 in Chowan County, North Carolina – March 31, 1795 in Bertie County, North Carolina) was a Captain of the 6th Virginia Regiment during the American Revolutionary War and a planter. He purchased Seven Springs, N ...

, he fought in the

Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge was a minor conflict of the American Revolutionary War fought near Wilmington (present-day Pender County), North Carolina, on February 27, 1776. The victory of the North Carolina Provincial Congress' militia ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. In 1778, Whitfield was appointed

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Dobbs County. Along with his son, he was a director and trustee for designing and building the town of Wanesboro. He married four times and had 29 children. Forty of his descendants served in the

Confederate army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. He died in March, 1817.Whitfield Cemetery, Wayne Co., NC
Surveyed by Glenn Fields July 2009, Resurveyed by Renee Olson March 2013

References

1743 births 1817 deaths People from Rockford, North Carolina American justices of the peace Whitfield family People from Dobbs County, North Carolina People from Goldsboro, North Carolina American slave owners {{US-bio-stub