Horton and Bryan Family History

Mark Whitaker (1760-1812) was a leading Methodist circuit-riding minister at a time when this denomination was booming, especially in frontier areas.  He was born in Frederick County, Maryland and moved with his parents to Surry County, North Carolina. Mark’s career as a minister began in about 1780 in Castlewood in Russell County, Virginia, where he later lived from 1802 until his death in 1812. Mark’s calling to spread God’s word took him to many localities in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee. In Jonesborough, in what today is east Tennessee, he met and married Martha “Patsy” Harvey (1772-1840). After several years there, in about 1802 he and his family migrated to Castlewood, where he bought land and preached the next 10 years. After Mark’s death in 1812, Martha remained in Castlewood for several years and then moved to Kentucky.