William Salt
1663 Immigrant to the Virginia Colony
The Salts family history is based on family information gathered over a number of years; from visits to the Virginia State Library at Richmond, the North Carolina State Library at Raleigh, the Tennessee State Library at Nashville, the Washington County court house at Jonesboro, Tennessee; and from correspondence with and the assistance of other Salts family researchers. The family history is considered incomplete in that some questions remains concerning the progenitor of the Salts family in America.
As expected, a number of different forms and spellings of the name have been encountered, some of which includes: Salt, Salts, Saltz, Saults, and Saultz. For the purpose of this family history, the Salts spelling will be used throughout except where source material is quoted. Early on in the Salts family research, it was realized that more than one Salts family exists, who are not related in America. The evidence points to at least one family that originated in New York or Pennsylvania and migrated westward into Ohio. To date, very little research has been expended on the NY/PA/OHIO Salts families. A second Salts family originated in Northampton County, Virginia and migrated down into North Carolina, on to Tennessee, Missouri and other southern states. It is the Virginia Salts family that this family history attempts to cover.
Early investigations were directed towards Washington County, Tennessee since this was the birthplace of William Franklin Salts, the grandfather of the author.1 The records found at the Washington County court house revealed little proof that this Salts family originated in Virginia but did provides some interesting clues. Henry Salts (Sr.) who is believed to be the Salts ancestor that leads us back to Virginia, was found listed in the 18302 and 18403 Federal Censuses for Washington County and in other records in that county. Henry never appeared in the Tennessee Tax rolls, which would imply that he never owned land or other property in Tennessee.4 However, a large number of Salts' were found to be living in Washington County. The search at the Washington County court house in Jonesboro yielded a book of tax rolls for the county. A Salts could not be found in the Washington County Tax Lists for 1778 or 1787, nor could a will be found in the "Booklet of Excerpts of Wills, Washington County, 1777-1872.5 The following table was constructed from the existing tax rolls which covered the period 1818 through 1849. The numbers in the table represents the District in which the taxpayer resided and was taxed. An "x" indicates that the person was listed but no district was given. A "-" indicates that the person was not listed in the tax rolls for that year. It will be noted that eight of the eleven sons of Henry Salts, Sr. were listed in the tax rolls.
Tennessee Tax Rolls - Year and District in which Taxed
Name Born 1818 1819 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849
Andrew Salts 1796 x x 5 5 5 5 - -
Matthew Salts 1798 - - - - - - - -
Daniel Salts 1799 - x 15 15 15 15 15 15
John Salts 1802 x x 5 5 5 - 5 5
Jesse Salts 1803 - - 6 6 6 6 6 6
Allen Salts 1816 - - - - - 17 17 17
Leland Salts 1818 - - - - - - - -
Isaac Salts 1822 - - 15 15 15 15 15 15
Samuel Salts 1826 - - - - 6 6 - -
Lewis Salts 1827 - - - - - - - -
Henry Salts, Jr. 1828 - - - - 15 15 15 15
All of the tax districts are in and around Jonesboro, the county seat for Washington County. In fact Jonesboro is in the center of District 15.
From Tennessee, research on the Salts family turned to North Carolina, since Henry Salts, Sr. and Mary Brown, daughter of Jacob Brown were married in Rowan County, North Carolina on 17 May 1792. This leads us to Anthony Salts who was associated with Jacob Brown in Rowan County, in fact, Jacob was security for the letters of administration on Anthony's estate in 1778. Although there is no specific proof, Henry Salts, Sr. was most likely born in North Carolina, the son of Anthony Salts.
From North Carolina, research on the Salts family turned to Virginia, and more specifically Northampton County, Virginia, the birthplace of Anthony Salts. Here we found William Salt a 1663 immigrant to Virginia from Germany. Records at the Virginia State Library in Richmond were searched for members of the Salts family and, from the records, the conclusion was reached that William Salts, the immigrant, had at least three sons: William, Balmforth and Thomas.6 William, son of the immigrant, was born in Northampton County, Virginia, where he married and we believe had at least three sons: Anthony, William, and Peter. This finally brought us to the conclusion that our Salts family originated in Northampton County, Virginia, moved to Rowan County, North Carolina, and then moved on to Washington County, Tennessee.
A search was also made of the indexes of immigration and naturalization. This search found a number of Salts immigrants that came to the American Colonies between 1663 and 1700:7
Salt, William, no age, Virginia 1663; Reference No: 6220, p. 482.
Salt, Mark, no age, Maryland 1668; Reference No: 8510, p. 403.
Salt, Mary, no age, Maryland 1678; Reference No: 8510, p. 403.
Salt, Samuel, no age, America 1679; Reference No: 3283, p. 404.
Salt, Richard, no age, America 1700; Reference No: 1217.9, p. 79.
It will be noted that the surname found was Salt, no references were found to the surname Salts. Four of the male immigrants are of the right age to have been the progenitor of our Salts family, however, the most likely is William Salt who arrived in the Virginia Colony in 1663.
Two final notes. Two possible descendants of William Salt, the immigrant, were found in the 1790 Federal Census for Virginia: Thomas Salt and Thomas Salts. No further information is available on these two men. In addition, a Jane Salts was found in the records of Northampton County when she married Meshack Waterfield; no marriage date given.8 Jane could have been a daughter of Anthony Salts.

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REFERENCES
  1. Earl J. Hitt, son of Jessie Arisona Salts and Earl Lee Hitt, 15718 Callender Court, Chesterfield, MO 63017-7306.
  2. Henry Salts and his son Daniel are listed together in the 1830 Federal Census for Washington County, Tennessee. Other families listed in the 1830 Census include three other sons of Henry: Andrew, Jesse, and John Salts.
  3. Henry Salts was listed in the 1840 Federal Census for Washington County, Tennessee with: 1 male 5-10 years old, one male 60-70 years old, and one female 60-70 years old.
  4. Using the 1840 Census, Henry's birth date is calculated to be between 1770 and 1778; the latter date being the date administration papers were filed on the estate of his father, Anthony.
  5. Letter from Mary Sue Going, Watauga Association of Genealogists, Upper East Tennessee, P.O. Box 117, Johnson City, Tennessee 37605-0117.
  6. In the 1790 Federal Census for Virginia, two other men were found; one named Thomas Salt and the second named Thomas Salts. However, nothing has been found that allows us to place these men in the William Salts family.
  7. The references noted in the Index of Immigrations and Naturalization have not been researched. These references could possibly lead to better information as to the ancestry of the Salts family.
  8. Marriages of Some Virginia Residents 1607-1800; by Dorothy Ford Wulfeck; Vol. II, Surnames I-Z; Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1986.
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Last Updated on December 18, 1997