UPDATED September 7, 2007
TOWNFORK SETTLEMENT
This
is “a work in progress” which may take as long as 10 years to research. We are
only about 4 years into the project, so be patient with us and continue to
check this web page.
1749-1799
Judy S.
Cardwell and Phyllis R. Hoots
“This neighborhood [Townfork] is to me the
darkest of all.”
Br. George Soelle, Moravian Minister
WHERE IS TOWNFORK
SETTLEMENT? Townfork Settlement is
located just north of the Wachovia Tract along the Townfork Creek. Townfork
Creek begins in Upper Stokes Co., NC and runs down into Forsyth Co., NC, then
back into Stokes Co., NC and empties into the Dan River in Stokes Co., NC. The
early settlers that were in Townfork Settlement were here prior to the
Moravians coming down the Great Wagon Road in 1753 into the Wachovia Tract. The
Great Wagon Road ran thru the Townfork Settlement. See the map below which is
part of a 1771 drawing of the Wachovia Tract also showing the Townfork
Settlement and the Great Wagon Road.
1771 Moravian Map of Wachovia showing Townfork
Settlement and the Great Wagon Road through Townfork Settlement
In his diary entry of September 1772, Br. Soelle pens the above
impression after paying a visit to Henry Banner’s home near Germanton, NC, and
refers to the spiritual condition of the colonial backcountry settlement of
Townfork, lying along Townfork Creek. This settlement evolved into the towns of
Germanton [1789, county seat of Stokes Co., NC] and Walnut Cove and surrounding
area, which lies in northern Forsyth County and southern Stokes County. (This
area was part of Rowan County, 1753-1771.)
In 1749, the southern backcountry of piedmont North Carolina was a
beautiful, but perilous, wilderness. However, reports of an abundance of land
and a temperate climate soon lured immigrants from northern colonies. Hundreds,
then thousands of people began to pour into the South. Many settled in the
backcountry of North Carolina. They came from Germany, England, Ireland,
Scotland, Wales, and other nations. As strangers, from different countries and
with a variety of religions, they often related to one another with suspicion
and hostility, which sometimes flared into violence. Yet, they somehow learned
to tolerate one another, as their very existence depended upon cooperating with
neighbors, however gingerly, and reaching out to the larger world.
But overcoming negative perceptions of them by more “civilized”
colonists was difficult. Accounts from the colonial period (William Byrd II,
Charles Woodmason, etc.) portray many settlers as
squatters, wild or rough and shiftless. In their records, the German Moravians,
who began to establish an ordered society in 1753 on the Wachovia Tract in
Rowan County (modern Forsyth County), frequently referred to Carolinians as
“rabble” and “the discarded refuse of Ireland and America.” In this context,
Br. Soelle’s comments about Townfork can be
understood. The Moravians sincerely believed that many of their neighbors had
little or no religion or discipline.
However, through preliminary research of Townfork Settlement, a
different perspective of backcountry settlers is emerging. In mid-November
1753, when a group of Moravians arrived along Townfork Creek, settlers were
already living there. Coming down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania to
build their first town at Bethabara, the Brethren stopped at a cabin or two
(William Haltom and Henry Banner) to purchase food.
This indicates that Townfork had taken root, however tenuous. Using
Granville and NC grants, land maps of Townfork Settlement are being created (J.
Cardwell). What becomes apparent is the amount of property amassed by various
Townfork Settlers, although quite a bit of land
speculating occurred in the period being studied. Extensive material extracted
from the Moravian records about Townfork describes interaction between the two
communities. Quite often, the Moravians turned to Townfork for assistance as
Townfork looked to Bethabara for safety from Indian raids and for necessities.
The Moravians mention using a Townfork mill, buying livestock and foodstuff and
even enslaved persons. Using tax records, deeds, wills, and other documents we
find that some Townfork settlers owned a number of enslaved persons. Evidence
of farms, mills, tanneries, and craftsmen skills is materializing. Even a
Quaker school served the area.
We find that far from being
a disorganized, unlawful society, Townfork settlers were bent on forging a
civilization in the NC piedmont backcountry. Tensions mounted during the
Regulator crisis and the Revolutionary War years, and Townfork citizens were in
the thick of conflict. Samuel Waggoner joined other Regulators in boldly
defying the abuses of the NC royalist government. Major Joseph Winston fought
bravely during the Revolutionary War and after the war served in the North
Carolina Senate and U. S. Congress. Colonel Benjamin Forsyth served in the NC
General Assembly and during the War of 1812, in leading a charge, took a bullet
and died a few minutes later. They are only three examples of many brave men
and women in Townfork involved in nation building.
Many of their descendants still live and thrive in the Townfork Creek
area. We ask that you assist us in extricating these sturdy pioneers from the
mists of centuries. Help us to reveal these people as agriculturalists,
businessmen, and artisans. Discover their input into shaping the economic,
political and religious life of NC. Are any of these settlers YOUR ancestors?
The list of names of Townfork Settlement people continues to grow as research
develops. Any information on Townfork you may have will be invaluable. WRITTEN BY PHYLLIS R. HOOTS
Please
contact us if you have ancestors that lived in Townfork Creek Settlement
1749-1799.
Queries
on People Living in Townfork Settlement
List of
the LAND of Townfork Landowners
List of
Enslaved African Americans in Townfork Settlement
Marriages
between Townfork Settlers
The Romance of Sarah Briggs and Charles Vest –
by Judy S. Cardwell
The Landowners of Rural Hall, NC – Updated September 7,
2007!
Some Early Wagon Roads of Northwestern
Forsyth Co., NC – added NEW 9-7-07!
For further information on any of the names on this list
or maps of their land,
please contact Judy Stanley Cardwell.
Copyright, 2004, Judy Stanley Cardwell and Phyllis Roberson Hoots
Please get permission before using this information
Webmaster: Judy Stanley Cardwell
