The Waitley family in the United States
John S. Waitley is the earliest known ancestor of the Waitley name in the United States. According to this sketch, John S. Waitley was a native of Scotland. His parents came to America and settled in Massachusetts. Later his mother was lost at sea when on a return visit to Scotland. John S. Waitley married Lydia Bartlett, a daughter of Josiah Bartlett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He became a minister of the Free-will Baptist Church. He moved to Ashtabula County, Ohio, lived there several years and later moved to Canton, Ohio. He died in Knox County, Ohio, in 1868 at the age of 96. His wife died in 1858 in Knox County, Ohio. They had lived in Mt. Vernon most of the time.