Emily Witherspoon (maiden name: Gant) was born around 1838 in North Carolina to Willis Gant and Nancy Lee. Her father was a farmer who owned $200 of real estate in 1850. Emily grew up in Lincoln County, North Carolina, which became Catawba County in the early 1840s. She married David C. Witherspoon there on July 12, 1857, and they had at least three children: John, born around 1858; Levi, born around 1860; and Nancy, born around 1862. They lived in Catawba County, and her husband worked as a farmer. By 1860, they owned $300 of real estate and $350 of personal property. David enlisted in the Confederate army in July 1862 and died of “typhoid pneumonia” on October 19, 1862. She remained in Catawba County, and she apparently had three additional children: Adolphus, born around 1865; Avery, born around 1868; and Henry, born around 1870. By 1870, she owned $75 of real estate and $215 of personal property. She died sometime after 1870.

SOURCES