James Ditto


 Early Settler in Madison County

Nickname:John
Born:ca. 1743, Baltimore County, MD
Died:October 30, 1828, Madison County, AL

Notes:

•  "James (John) Ditto came around the 'Great Bend' of the Tennessee River and the point of Chickasaw Island (now Hobbs Island). He landed among friendly Chickasaw Indians in the area known as the Chickasaw Old Fields... today's Ditto Landing. Ditto established a trading post in 1805 and a ferry in 1807... the same ferry that transported Andrew Jackson and Davy Crockett across the Tennessee River on their way to the Creek Indian War." - Dittolanding.com

•  James was probably "the first white (non-Indian) settler in Madison County, AL" (James Ditto came to Alabama in 1802, John Hunt came to the Big Spring in Huntsville in 1804 and returned with his family in 1805.) - Genealogy.com

•  " He set up an Indian trading post near Chickasaw Island (which was later renamed Hobbs Island) on the Tennessee River." - Nilsson

•  Ditto landing is named after him. - Nilsson

•  "Ditto looked to the river for profit, as well as the pleasures of river-folk camaraderie and the challenge of river boating." - Heritage

•  James began the ferry service with landings on both sides of the Tennessee River. - Dittolanding.com

•  "Ditto, in 1807, built a ferry from a flatboat, a gunwale type propelled by sweep oars, and carried settlers across the Tennessee River. At the time the landing was established the tract upon which it stood was owned by the federal government. In 1812, Leroy Pope acquired the land, and in 1817 assigned it to John Brahan. Although Ditto never held title to Ditto's landing, he did live on 160 acres of land with his family in the southeast quarter of section 28, township 5 south, range 1 east of the Huntsville Meridian Line." - Heritage

•  "As the settlement of what would eventually become Huntsville grew, Ditto's Landing became the central point of the area's transportation network." - Heritage

•  "According to the records, Ditto's final years, before his death in 1828, centered around mercantile pursuits. Nevertheless, he was undoubtedly an unassuming man, as evidenced by the few earthly possessions he owned when he died. Yet he was rich in other respects, for he was instrumental in helping to establish an area which became vitally important to the westward expansion of the nation." - Heritage

•  Son of William Ditto (1713-1744) and Jane Quine (1713-1747) - Ancestry.com

•  Married Jane in 1775 in Chatham, North Carolina. - Ancestry.com

•  Father of:
William Ditto 1776 -
Zebulon Ditto 1778 -
Josiah Ditto 1780 - 1823
Mary Ditto 1782 -
Isaac Ditto 1786 - 1820
Susannah Ditto 1789 -
Nancy Jane Ditto 1792 - 1830
Michael Ditto 1796 - 1860


Related Links:

•  Ancestry.com - Page owned by PhilipCamp1978 and requires Ancestry.com membership to view. (Originally found at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/22953678/person/1332029930.)

•  Dittolanding.com - Official Website for Ditto Landing. (Originally found at http://www.dittolanding.com/DIT.about_ditto.htm.)

•  Genealogy.com - Posted by R. Garrison, September 1999.

•  Heritage - The Heritage of Madison County, AL, by Madison County Heritage Book Committee, submitted by Ralph B. Garrison, printed in 1998, p. 164-5.

•  Nilsson - Why Is It Named That? By Dex Nilsson, Twinbrook Communications, © 2003, p. 14

•  Roots Web - Genealogy by Annette Foster Ditto, Sept 2001. (Originally found at http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genea/Dzdittojosiah.html.)


The Following Pages Link to this Page:
•  Nilsson