I (Kathy Rigby Hafen) used to think it was fun to tell everyone that I was a granddaughter or great granddaughter of Napolean Bonaparte. Of course, that was really Napolean Bonaparte Pritchett. My Grandmother, Sarah Pritchett Rigby was a daughter of John Pritchett.
There are many in the Sanpete area who come from this line. The Pritchett family
originated in Chattham Smyth County Virginia. They were early converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The family name of Pritchett originated in Wales and according to all known records, is a name of great antiquity,
having an unbroken male decent from the princes of Wales, between Wye and Severn, a dynasty that lasted from
the time of Caradoc Vraich, who reigned in 520 AD to the death of Bleddyn, the last prince in 1190 AD.
During this time the family became very numerous and began to spread out into other parts of the British Isles.
Many went into Ireland and the middle parts of England. From the period of the close of the reign of Bleddyn until
about the middle of the 15th century, little is known about the family as few or no records were kept.
It has to date been impossible to bridge the gap between 1190 and the first Pritchett who came to America. The
records of the Virginia Historical Society record that Miles Pritchett came to America on a sailing ship, the Star, in
the year 1612. This was eight years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Apparently he settled in
Jamestown, Virginia, and from there the family spread out into the area known at that time as the Virginia land
grant. This area comprised what is now known as Virginia, Kentucky, Delaware, Tennessee and parts of Georgia.
The Pritchetts were also in Delaware and Maryland as early as 1669. It is in this area that most of the Pritchett
family are found today and from which the branch of our family originally came.
It has been difficult to trace a direct line of Pritchetts beyond the middle of the 17th century. Most of this difficulty
is the direct result of the Civil War. During the various campaigns which the northern troops made into the South,
many of the churches where the records of our people were kept were burned and it is therefore impossible to
verify many of the stories and much of the information that has come down from generation to generation and
from family to family.
James Mitchell Pritchett, the father of Leonidas Pritchett, was born in Smyth County, Virginia on June 1, 1817 and
later married Mary Ann Fulcher. To them were born nine children: William, Leonidas, John, Nancy, Thomas, Levi,
James, Rebecca and Douglas.
Douglas died at the age of three years but all the other children lived to marry and raise a family. William, the
eldest, married Peggy Heneger. Leonidas married Elizabeth Ann Heninger. John married Mary V. Hambrick. Nancy
married John Floyd Young. Thomas married Lovina Chadwick Heninger, and later, after her death he married Ida
Huntsman. Levi married Ellen Thompson. James married Kate James. Rebecca married Lindsey Brady.
The descendants of these eight children have spread into nearly all the western states. Many of them have at one
time or another become interested in their genealogy and have made an attempt to find the records of their
families. As a result, there has been a tremendous duplication of effort and in many cases, each one has
interpreted the existing records in their own way, which has resulted in many conflicting claims and dates of
births, marriages and deaths.
Written by La Von Fuller Shreeve; date unknown. Found in papers belonging to Hazel Smith Carver, a great
granddaughter.
