UPDATED 8-18-05

UPDATED May, 2009

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 Townfork Settlers

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 by Judy S. Cardwell

Some Early Wagon Roads of Northwestern Forsyth Co., NC by Judy S. Cardwell

The Difference Between Senior and Junior in the Vest family by Judy S. Cardwell – added 5-09

For further information on any of the names on this list or maps of their land,

please contact Judy Stanley Cardwell.

Please get permission before using this information

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