I am interested to know the families that migrated to Orange County from (or thru)
Spotsylvania Co., VA prior to the 1760s and from where and any close relationships with
the families listed below.
There have been many speculations as to prior history of my immigrant ancestor. However,
there has been no proof about his ancestors or where they lived. I began this family
genealogy over 45 years ago.
Much of the following is also speculations on my part, being interwoven with known
history, since I no longer do this research, this is the legacy that I pass on to younger
reseachers to break down this brick wall.
Based on documented genealogies and their migration patterns, the settlers that came to
Spotsylvania County, VA and Orange County, NC, where Andrew CADDEL (my ancestor) was
living in the early 1750s, many came from Pennsylvania, Virginia or Maryland. Where Andrew
was during the 1740s when he was completing his indentured service may never be know. But
in 1751, he was in St. George's Parish, Spotsylvania County, Virginia (VA) where he
witnessed a deed. It appears that he came to the VA/Maryland area of the Chesapeake Bay,
known as the Tidewater Basin of VA, to serve his indentured service.
The Tidewater Counties were the early home of the Henderson, Anderson, Green and Lea
families who migrated to Orange County, NC.
During the 1740s, travel in the Colonies was very restricted. It is said that many
settlers of that time period rarely traveled more than 20 miles during their lifetime.
However, this was not necessarily true for the Scottish immigrants, who moved often to
keep away from the encroaching settlements in search of new land. So, they moved to the
back country where the hills and mountains reminded them of home. Restricted migration was
especially true in the area which became NC. In NC there was almost no travel except
through the coastal towns. And, settlers in NC west of those coastal towns were nearly non
existent. Generally, settlement did not start until the 1750s.
Inland travel by settlers in VA began during the 1740s and was only by the "Great
Pennsylvania (GP) Wagon Road" and migration overland of hardy souls from the shores
and river basins of the Chesapeake Bay by the "Upper Road" or the "Fall
Line Road". The "Upper Road" branched in Spotsylvania County and went
through Orange County, NC. It generally followed the old Occaneechee Indian Path which
started at the Bermuda Hundred on the James River in Virginia. It then went through NC to
SC in the area that became Pendleton District, where Andrew Caddel later settled after
1800.
During the 1740s, the proprietary governor of the Granville District began to issue grants
to Quakers and others from the tidewater counties of VA, attracting them into the northern
half of NC. By 1750, the "Upper Road" became an important wagon route for
southbound migrations into that portion of NC. It passed through the current Virginia
counties of Spotsylvania, Louisa, Goochland, Powhatan, Amelia, Nottoway, Lunenburg, and
Mecklenburg.
Travel along these roads was extremely slow because of the many rivers, mountainous areas,
and dense forests across VA and NC. During the 1740s, only the "G P Wagon Road"
could handle any volume of travelers. A treaty with the Indians in 1744 gave the white men
control of the "Roads" for the first time. At the time they were only foot paths
a few feet wide where settlers walked and lead pack animals. They were previously Indian
trails used to trade or make war along the frontier, and generally followed the
Appalachian Mountains. Travel by wagon was almost impossible. During 1765 - 1775, more and
more settlers came, clearing the paths wide enough to accommodate wagons. However, by that
time, Andrew had already been in NC for over 10 years. Even the best of wagons could
travel no more than five miles a day. Later the "GP Wagon Road" traversed the
Colonies from Pennsylvania (PA) to Georgia, a distance of 800 miles.
Because of the continuous flow of immigrants, by 1750, PA was flooded with settlers. Then
it began to overflow into VA. Soon it too became over populated, forcing the settlers to
continue their migration into the Piedmont area of northern NC . Historians agree that
nearly all the families that arrived in northern NC were part of the tides of settlers
flowing down from the Valley of Virginia. Land was in big demand. At the time a 50 acre
farm in PA would cost £7 - 10 shillings. But, in Granville County (which covered the upper
half of NC) a 100 acre farm would cost only five shillings.
This surge of immigrants and the price of land was a major influence on settler migration
into NC. These new settlers were nearly all Presbyterian.
In 1751, Andrew was in Spotsylvania County, VA where he witnessed a deed. Since the law
prohibited "servants" from executing or witnessing documents, it is assumed that
he had completed his service. Spotsylvania was situated in the area of the PA-Chesapeake
Bay migration path.
During the early 1750s Granville, Orange, Rowan and Anson Counties, NC were part of the
frontier. Orange was formed from Granville County, NC in early 1752.
As was the custom, most settlers staked their claim or purchased land. All they had to do
to own unclaimed land was to live on it for a certain length of time, build a cabin and
clear the fields and begin hacking out a living. The term "settlement rights" or
"tomahawk rights" was marks by tomahawk slashes on trees surrounding their
claim, usually 100 acres. On this claim, the settler would build a crude log cabin, with
dirt floor and tree bark or stone slabs for a roof. For subsistence, he used his skill as
a hunter. And, there was plenty of game available...deer, turkey and other wildlife.
On 30 Jan 1754, Andrew was found surveying land in Orange County, NC. Surveys show he
worked at least from 1754 - 1762 with others including Lawrence Bankston, Joseph
Doolittle, Zachary Lea, Major Lea, Philip Praton, William Churton, and George Lea. In the
1754 survey, Andrew was part of the team that surveyed land for a John Lea in Orange
County. He and Major Lea were listed as SCC (Sworn Chain Carriers) and worked for
surveyor, William Churton. A "chain carrier" was a surveyor's assistants
that handled the measuring chain. Often the chain carrier was a relative of the claimant.
The law required that the chain carrier take an oath to the honesty of his work and,
therefore, was referred to as a "sworn chain carrier". According to early
records - the SCC was usually over the age of 21. Boys under the age of 21 were simply
referred to as "chain carriers" without being "sworn". So, this and
his witness of the deed in 1751, as a "freeman", gives us a time line in which
to further judge Andrew's age and birth date. Based on this timeline, Andrew was
probably born c 1730.
Considering the times, they earned a good wage, but hard earned. They trekked a wilderness
to accomplish the job. There were Indians to pacify or avoid and settlers already claiming
title (and willing to shoot the surveyors). On occasion, these early day surveyors had to
stop and pull cattle or horses from bogs and quicksand and rescue equipment, supplies and
pack animals from flooded rivers and streams. They were even plagued with hoards of flies
and other insects, so thick, they would even clog the nostrils of the pack animals.
It is not known when Andrew began surveying land. However, another young man, a
contemporary of Andrew, who started surveying in the late 1740s, was from Westmoreland
County, also in the Tidewater area of VA. Even though he was about the same age as Andrew,
he was not an indentured servant. He was already surveying in the Tidewater counties,
including Culpepper and others adjacent to Spotsylvania county, where Andrew was living.
Their paths may have crossed during his survey duties. The young man was George
Washington.
When his father died in 1743, George was only 11 years old, leaving him without the
support of his main mentor. Already having social status of a "gentleman," the
most likely career opportunity was in the military. By nature George was like most boys of
his age and time, impulsive, venturesome and curious. George had developed interest in
surveying and the wilderness area outside the Colonies. He finally settled on a career in
surveying, which promised adventure in the wilderness. Immense tracts of land remained
comparatively unknown to the west. Surveying was a lucrative profession. It also carried
adequate weight socially, and it required substantial knowledge of the people and area.
Much written history has been published about the early years of George Washington.
The French and Indian War (1753 - 1763)
During the 1750s, France had possession of most of America west of the British Colonies.
However, the English wanted to expand its territory. The encroachment of settlers into
territories along the frontier, claimed by France, was part of the reason the French and
its Indian allies went to war against England and the colonists.
In 1752 the governor-general of New France was given specific instructions to take
possession of the Ohio Valley, removing all British presence from the area. However,
England had already granted 500,000 acres of land in the Ohio Valley for settlement. In
1753 French troops secured the area. There were military and Indian skirmishes between the
British and French but war was not officially declared until 1756. The war was waged
mostly west and north of Pennsylvania and Virginia to the Great Lakes area in Canada. The
British and French finally reached an agreement on 10 Feb 1763, the Treaty of Paris, which
gave the British all the land east of the Mississippi River.
Incited by the French, a large party of Shawano Indians fell upon a settlement in western
VA and massacred all its inhabitants. Another example was a group of captured Cherokee
warriors that were discovered with the scalps of 22 settlers of Rowan County, NC (the
county adjacent to Orange County where Andrew lived).
The settlers along the frontier bore the brunt of the war, enduring cabin burnings, wife
and children kidnaping, ambushes, massacres and all-out bloody warfare. To the colonist on
the violent frontier, the War meant a greatly escalated struggle with the Indians. The
occasional raids became a constant and unceasing fight. The settlers fought off daily
raids at their cabins and forts. Every settlement had its slaughtered, but were mostly
women, children and the elderly. One account described "war of the Indians,
'strikes terror through what had been a peaceful countryside.' Indian fighting was
never open and manly. The Indians hid in ravines, behind rocks and trees. They creep out
in the night and sets fire to houses and barns. They shot down the ploughman at his
furrow. They scalped women at the spring, and children by the roadside, with their little
hands full of berries."
In October 1759 dispatches were sent requesting militia troop protection of the frontier.
The British regulars were inept in their attempt to alleviate the suffering of the
homesteader. So the settlers took matters into their own hands. They retaliated with raids
and counter-measures that went on for years. Guerrilla fighting became endless. The
settlers adopted the Indian's way of fighting - butchering, scalping and burning. It
may have been unconventional, but was effective.
For 11 years fear and mayhem ruled the frontier. Many settlers moved further south along
the GP Wagon Road to escape the war.
To be continued from part 1 of 2, The Family Line - Brick Wall: