This work begins with my fourth great-grandfather, Littleberry Willcox. More than one researcher has traced his ancestors1 but very little has been written about him and his descendants. In fact, several of the early written genealogies of these Willcoxes include just a brief statement about Littleberry that goes something like this: “We have been able to find nothing about him”2 or “Littleberry Willcox moved to Halifax, N.C. about 1800.”3 This is not very much to go on. I had hit a wall in my research until I discovered genealogies of his allied families. This was a huge breakthrough. It was in those sources4 that I found enough information about Littleberry and his descendants to kick start my research. While not completely accurate, the information in these sources was invaluable and pointed the way like a giant neon sign.
Before diving into Littleberry’s life and those of his descendants, here is a condensed version of who and where he came from:
It is believed that this line of Willcoxes immigrated from Rotherhill, England to Charles City County, Virginia in the 1600s. The first to set foot on American shores was Captain John Willcox, a mariner who transported goods between England and the Virginia colony. His son, John Jr., also became a mariner and eventually settled in Charles City County where he married and had several children including Littleberry’s father, Major.5
The next post will cover a few housekeeping matters before really delving into Littleberry’s life. Stay tuned!
(See posts in chronological order)
- Merrill, Eleanor Brown, A Virginia Heritage (Privately printed: 1968), 29. ↩︎
- Dunn, R. M., Notes on the Willcox Family of Charles City County, Virginia (Charles City County Center for Local History, Charles City, Virginia), 2. ↩︎
- Dunn-Poythress-Willcox family genealogical notes (Archives Research Room, Library of Virginia. Richmond.), 29. ↩︎
- Davis, Harry Alexander, Wallis & Willcox, descendants of Martha (4) Davies; supplement to The Davis family (Davies & David) (Washington, D.C.: Typewritten copy, 1928), 6; digitized at FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/43233-wallis-walcox-descendants-of-martha-4-davis-a-supplement-to-the-davis-family-davies-david : accessed 13 Jun 2024); Groves, Joseph A., M.D., The Alstons and Allstons of North and South Carolina compiled from English, colonial and family records, with personal reminiscences also notes of some allied families (Atlanta, Ga.: The Franklin Printing and Publishing Company, 1901), 117; digitized at Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/Alstonsandallst00grovgoog : accessed 23 Jun 2026). ↩︎
- Merrill, A Virginia Heritage, 30. ↩︎
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