Samuel Tester

Samuel Teaster and his wife Mary Elizabeth Daniels traveled from South Carolina into the mountains of North Carolina about 1790. It is not clear where Samuel was before he moved to South Carolina. The book "A History of Watauga County" states that Samuel came to the Watauga vicinity from Scotland before 1840. However, no evidence has been found that this is true.

Samuel and Mary had been among the first settlers to enter into the mountains in that part of North Carolina. They had settled in the vicinity of the Watauga River and one of its tributaries, Cove Creek. His family members eventually lived in or near the communities of Valle Crucis and Sugar Grove. The family name Teaster was sometimes spelled Tester. There are records with the parents name spelled Teaster and the children Tester. There is a Tester Mountain located just north of Valle Crucis and is shown on government topographic maps. Watauga County was formed from the division of Ashe County in 1849 and some Teaster (Tester) records are listed as Ashe County.

At this time, nothing is known about Mary Elizabeth Daniels and her parents or other family members.

Samuel is thought to have been born around 1755. The book "These My People" gives an interesting story about how Samuel died. It says that in 1821, he was coming home from a shooting match after dark. In the darkness he accidently walked off a cliff beside the Watauga River and was seriously injuried. After suffering for three days, he died. He must have been about 65 when he died.

Samuel(1) is often confused in books and family stories with his son Samuel (2) who married Mary Foster. As a consequence, some books and stories attribute children to the wrong Samuel.

The known family trail becomes very faint before Samuel (1). The following facts have been found through research but await further study to see how they relate to our family for certain.

Samuel ‘s father is identified as Nathaniel Teaster in the book "Appalachian Medley" but this has not been confirmed in other sources.

A Nathaniel Teaster was in the Edgecombe County, North Carolina Militia in the 1750’s. There was a Nathaniel Tester in the 1790 Census of Robeson County , North Carolina. There was also a Samuel Tester listed in the same census. Also Nathan Tester, William Tester and Samuel Tester were given 100 acre land grants in Robeson County, NC in 1790. All of these possibilities must be sorted out to see how or if they are connected to Samuel (1).