FRETWELL.
The first Fretwell appearing on the records was William,
who in 1776 bought part of the Sumter land near Piney
Mountain. It is conjectured his wife was a Crenshaw, as his
eldest son bore that name. He died in 1822. His children
were Crenshaw, John, Thomas, William, Susan, believed to
have been the first wife of Elijah Garth, and the wife of
Fendall Sebree. At the time of his death Thomas, William
and Susan had already departed this life.
Crenshaw lived on the waters of Ivy Creek, not far from
Garth's Mill. This place he and his wife Sarah sold to Dr.
Charles Brown in 1822. A protracted litigation in which he
was concerned, in connection with the old Draffen tract of
land in the same neighborhood, was finally settled by the
Court of Appeals in 1831. As no subsequent mention of
him is found, it is supposed he removed from the county.
John married Mildred, daughter of Thomas Garth Sr. His
home was on the western side of the Garth plantation, on
the Whitehall Road. He died in 1837. His children were
Emily, the wife of Mortimer Gaines, Lucy, the wife of Samuel
Kennerly, Susan, William G., Frances, Selina and John
T. William G. married Emeline, daughter of Thomas H.
Brown, and his children were John T., Susan and Lucy
Elizabeth. John T., son of John, married Nannie A.—,
and his children were William G., Susan B., and Frances.
Thomas lived between Free Union and the old Garrison
Meeting House. He kept a store, which was known as Fretwell's
Store, and which at the beginning of the century was
the place for holding elections for Overseers of the Poor for
the northwest district of the county. His wife was Agnes
Burrus, and at the time of his father's death, she and her
family were living in Kentucky.
William married Jemima Brown. He resided on the
Staunton Road, above Mechum's Depot. He was deemed
by his neighbors fit to be a landmark, because of his uncommon
stature; in a deed of Nelson Hardin to his brother
Isaac, the property is described as adjoining that of the tall
William Fretwell. He died in 1807. His children were
William C., who married first Mildred, daughter of Henry
Burnley, of Louisa, and secondly Vienna, daughter of G. W.
Kinsolving, Susan, the wife of William Brown, Judith, the
wife of Benjamin H. Brown, Nancy, the wife of Augustine
Stephenson, and Hudson. Hudson married Elizabeth,
daughter of John Burnley, of Louisa, and sister of Nathaniel
Burnley. His home was the large brick house on the
Staunton Road, above Mechum's Depot, where for many
years he kept a public house. He died in 1834. His children
were Mary, the wife of Paul Tilman, Burlington,
William, Franklin, Susan, the wife of Overton Tilman,
Jurena, the wife of James H. Jarman, Brightbury, and
Bernard.
Alexander Fretwell was for the first quarter of the century
one of the business men of Warren. He was probably the
same Alexander, who sold to Isaac Hardin in 1792 five
hundred acres on the Staunton Road, adjoining the William
just mentioned; from this too it may be inferred, that he
also was a son of the first William. He died in 1825. He
seems to have been twice married, first to Ann, daughter of
William Barksdale, and secondly to Jane Hughes. His
children were James B., who died in 1868 in Sumner County,
Tennessee, aged eighty-three, Richard, Nancy, and three other
daughters, the wives of Robert Anderson, Matthew Martin
and William Moorman. Richard married Sarah, daughter
of Samuel Barksdale, and had ten children. He lived on
the east side of Dudley's Mountain, at the place recently
occupied by Major Berkeley. About 1840 he removed to
Lewis County, West Virginia.
