James Hiteshew (c.1858-1862)

James Hiteshew was born, most likly, sometime in 1837 or 1838 in Cumberland, Allegany, MD. his parents were James M. Hiteshew and Virginia Louise Grey.

A number of family trees on Ancestry.com show James Hiteshew as born 11.Dec.1858. This information may come from family oral history or from private records such as a family Bible. However, this date conflicts with information in the only known public record of James, which is the 1860 census record for Cumberland, Allegany, MD showing that James and Virginia Hiteshew had one child, James age 2, in their household. Census takers were instructed to record the age of each person as of June 1, 1860, so if the census record is correct, young James would have been after May 1857 but before June 2, 1858. It's possible that the census record is incorrect – or it may be that family members remembered the birth day more clearly than the birth year. Perhaps James was born on December 11, but in 1857 rather than 1858, i.e. about 9 months after his parents' marriage.

Some family trees on Ancestry.com also show James as having the middle name “Mills.” Again, this information may have been passed down in family conversations or in private records. It's hard to think of any other reason for it appearing in family trees.

While no specific date is given, various family trees on Ancestry.com have his year of death as 1862. This is consistent with later census data in which James does not appear in 1870 or thereafter. It's also consistent with the 1900 census report that Virginia gave birth to nine children, and that four of these are still living.