Please add your ancestors to this project if they were born, lived, or died in Rockbridge County. Add the first of the family to settle in Rockbridge County to the family list below and add the other profiles to the project.

I will be adding photographs taken at Highbridge Church Cemetery and along Plank Road in Springfield and in downtown Lexington on 6/21/2013.

History of the Scotch-Irish in Rockbridge County

Rockbridge County was settled mainly by Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Those rugged frontiersmen came here in droves, establishing churches soon after their arrival. In 1720, there was the first mass migration from Ireland into America. A second wave of migration began about 1760 and lasted until the outbreak of the American Revolution. Other Scotch-Irish immigrants trickled into Colonial ports at various times. In the 1730's many Scotch-Irish families migrated down the "Great Road" from eastern Pennsylvania into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

By 1725, most of the ships carrying Ulster immigrants bound for America had steered from Puritan New England to the more tolerant parts of William Penn's Quaker colonies. The Delaware Shores and particularly the harbor of Philadelphia took immigrants by the thousands. Pennsylvania became the center of Scotch-Irish settlements in the New World and the starting point for the massive immigrant flow to the south and west. In 1728, 5,605 of 6,208 new immigrants to Pennsylvania were Scotch-Irish. Most of the ships left the Port of Londonderry, Ireland and docked at Philadelphia.

Many of these immigrants pushed to the frontiers. Many stopped a while in Lancaster and the Cumberland region of Pennsylvania. In 1730, their flow of migration was deflected temporarily by the foothills of the Alleghany Mountains, and their migration took a southwesterly course into western Maryland, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and the back country of the Carolinas. Independent communities of Scotch-Irish were in existence in Virginia and North Carolina by 1730. These were tight knit settlements, and generally remained separate from other denominations.

Rockbridge County, Virginia was formed in 1778 from Augusta and Botetourt Counties. In 1770, Botetourt County had been formed from Augusta County. The first Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia arrived in the 1720's primarily from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Eastern Virginia. Some were German-born or the Pennsylvania-born children of German-speaking Protestant immigrants from the Palatinate and other areas bordering the Rhine River. These were Lutheran, Reformed, or Brethren. The greatest numbers of early Augusta settlers were from the province of Ulster in the north of Ireland, or were the Pennsylvania and Maryland-born children of these Ulster Scots or Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Many early settlers took up land on the 112,000-acre tract that the colonial government granted to William Beverley, later referred to as "Beverley Manor".

In 1739, Benjamin Borden a New Jersey Quaker, received a grant beginning at the southern boundary of Beverley Manor. Borden was promised 1,000 acres for every settler he located, amounting in all to 92,100 acres. John McDowell, a surveyor, helped Borden locate his tract and was rewarded with a large acreage. The "Borden Tract" later became Rockbridge County, VA. In addition to the Scot's Irish, English and African-Americans were also among the early settlers in the area. Many settlers were of of English descent, coming into the area from eastern Virginia. African Americans were also among the early settlers, some free-born, but most enslaved. Although initially small in number, by the Civil War they represented 20% of the population. (Source: Augusta County Historical Society, http://www.augustacountyhs.org/history.html)

Augusta County was created from Orange County in 1738. For seven years, until the population grew large enough, Augusta’s records were kept in Orange. In 1745, Augusta elected a sheriff, a vestry, a county court, a minister, and a clerk of court. A courthouse was built on the same site in Staunton (originally called Beverley’s Mill Place) as the current courthouse. The county’s records have been kept continuously at the courthouse since 1745. In that year, the county included all of present southwestern Virginia, most of present West Virginia and even stretched to the Mississippi River. As people began to settle in those western areas, new counties were formed from parts of Augusta, beginning in 1769 with Botetourt County, then Rockingham and Rockbridge in 1778. Rockbridge County soon became the home of many of these Ulstermen, nearly all of our early churches were Presbyterian. Although the colonies were ruled by England, and the Church of England remained as the state Church, the Presbyterians found the frontiers allowed them to worship more freely. All dissenting ministers were compelled to be licensed and their places of worship registered, but as long as they caused no trouble they were tolerated.

John Lewis and his family were the first settlers in Augusta County, settling near Staunton in 1732. They had come from the Ulster region of Ireland, spent a few years in Pennsylvania, then moved on to the frontiers of Virginia. The McDowell family came from Ulster in the "George and Ann" landing in Philadelphia, 4 September 1729, a 118 day voyage.4 They stopped for a while in Pennsylvania then headed for Lewis' settlement in Virginia. Along the way they met up with Benjamin Borden, who offered 1,000 acres to the man who could help locate his large land grant of nearly 100,000 acres. John McDowell agreed to locate Borden’s Grant, the date of their agreement was September 1737.

Immigration began to flock into the Rockbridge area in the fall of 1737. By 1740, the Scotch-Irish foothold was well established in Rockbridge (then Orange County). The erection and establishment of Presbyterian churches was well underway, and calls were being placed for ministers. The Ulstermen had found a new home on the frontier of Virginia. Although religion was not completely free in Virginia, the Presbyterians found themselves virtually unmolested by the planters of eastern Virginia. Upon arriving on the frontier, the Ulstermen erected crude dwellings with dirt floors as temporary shelters to house their families while they cleared the land and planted the crops. Once the lands were cleared and the crops were in the ground, they undertook the erection of more permanent homes. Roads were soon laid out, mills erected, meadows irrigated, and the settlement began to grow. There was little social intercourse, except within the churchyard. The only newspaper in the colony until 1775 was the "Virginia Gazette" started in 1736 in Williamsburg. The Ulster people founded this county and their influence remains strong today.

The Ulstermen often settled in Rockbridge for a generation or so, then the family traveled westward. Many settlers of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Ohio came from Rockbridge County. Southwest Virginia was settled by many people who had stopped in Rockbridge.

Geography and Land Ownership

Rockbridge County was created by a land grant obtained by Benjamin Borden from Governor William Gooch. The land was surveyed by John McDowell in 1737 in exchange for 1000 acres of it. Stipulations of the grant called for one hundred families to settle the area and erect a 1300 by 900 foot town in the center of the County. The required amount of families promptly came to settle in what would be called Lexington (1778) in honor of Lexington, Massachusetts and Rockbridge County after the Natural Bridge.

The mostly Scot-Irish settlers of the area were self-sufficient farmers and blacksmiths who provided for themselves and their neighbors. Borden and John McDowell were among the first settlers in Rockbridge County and homesteaded in the Timber Ridge vicinity. Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church is one of the first churches established in the area (1746). The original 1756 limestone building still stands is the only colonial-era Presbyterian Church still in use today.

Early Settlements

• Kerr's Creek
• Lexington
• Springfield

Families

A==

B==

• Barger
• Benjamin Borden
• Bradley
• Brooks

C==

• Crain -- Ambrose Crain
• Cloyd

D==

D==

F==

• Fiste (Foiste)

G==

• Gilmore
• Grigsley

H==

• Harshbarger
• Horn - Jacob Horn

I==

J==

K==

• Kenney / Kinney (Botetourt Co.) - John Kenney, born 1750
• Kenney - Matthew Kenney
• Kent

L==

• John Lewis
• Lapsley

M==

• McCalman
• McClung - William McClung, James McClung
• McConkey - John McConkey
• McDowell - Capt. John McDowell
• McKee
• Moore

N==

O==

• Otey - Thomas Otey, born circa 1770

P==

• Parsons
• Petticrew: James Petticrew died Rockbridge County 1799

Q==

R==

S==

T==

• Isaac Taylor, 1710-1781, was one of the Borden land grantees, who owned a 600 acre tract at Kennedy’s Mill Creek, near Timber Ridge, on the Great Indian Trail.

U==

V==

W==

• Ward
• Williams

--------------------------------

Those who acquired land on Borden's Grant directly from Benjamin Borden, Sr., prior to his death in 1743, or granted by his sons or executors. The dates shown represent the dates on which title was secured, not the settlement dates. More details available at List of People Owning Land in the Borden Tract

• William Adams 1757
• Archibald Alexander 1747
• John Allison 1748
• John Allison 1768
• Robert Allison 1747
• Robert Allison 1771
• Robert Allison 1757
• Isaac Anderson 1750
• Jacob Anderson 1757
• James Anderson 1757
• Joseph Anderson 1757
• William Armstrong bef. 1742
• Andrew Baxter 1743
• Thomas Beard 1753
• Francis Beatty 1751
• Charles Berry 1752
• Michael Bowyer 1758
• Charles Boyle 1769
• Mary Boyles 1768
• James Brownlee 1747
• Abraham Brown 1754
• Archibald Buchanan 1762
• Andrew Buchanan 1756
• Andrew Buchanan 1770
• James Buchanan 1757
• John Buchanan 1747
• John Buchanan 1753
• Samuel Buchanan 1770
• Samuel Buchanan 1770
• William Buchanan 1750
• William Buchanan 1755
• John Buntin 1750
• Gilbert Campbell 1742
• James Campbell 1756
• James Campbell 1768
• William Carothers 1753
• William Carothers 1754
• James Cooper 1768
• James Coulter 1753
• Joseph Culton 1742
• Robert Culton 1742
• Richard Cousart 1743
• William Cowden 1742
• Alex Craighead 1753
• Hugh Cunningham 1748
• John Davidson 1751
• James Davis 1762
• Samuel Davis 1761
• William Davis 1761
• William Dean 1747
• Charles Dollany {sic, s/b Donnelly} 1742
• David Dryden 1747
• William Dryden 1770
• John Dunlap 1766
• Robert Dunlap 1742
• Samuel Dunlap 1742
• Samuel Dunlap 1756
• James Eakin (Aiken) 1742
• Matthew Edmiston 1751
• Robert Edmiston 1747
• Robert Erwin 1748
• William Evans 1743
• Andrew Fitzpatrick 1765
• John Fulton 1752
• Robert Gay 1765
• John Gilmore 1748
• James Gilmore 1748
• James Glasgow (Glascow) 1753
• Alex Govour? 1763
• Benjamin Gray 1767
• David Gray 1761
• David Gray 1761
• Isaac Gray 1751
• Jacob Gray 1755
• John Gray 1742
• Samuel Gray 1747
• Samuel Gray 1754
• William Gray 1754
• James Greenlee 1747
• John Greenlee 1779
• John Greenlee 1779
• David Quinn 1768
• William Guinn (Gwinn) 1742
• William Hall 1743
• William Hall 1763
• James Hamilton 1751
• John Handley 1751
• James Harris 1767
• Andrew Hays 1754
• Andrew Hays 1754
• Andrew Hays 1754
• Andrew Hays 1763
• Andrew Hays 1766
• Charles Hays 1742
• Charles Hays 1766
• Charles Hays 1766
• David Hays 1749
• John Hays 1746
• John Hays 1765
• Pat(rick) Hays 1742
• Samuel Hazard 1756
• George Henderson 1742
• George Henderson 1750
• James Henry 1757
• Thomas Hill 1754
• James Houston 1747
• John Houston 1748
• Robert Houston 1742
• Robert Houston 1742
• Elizabeth Hunter 1743
• Joseph Kennedy 1752
• Joseph Kennedy 1752
• David Kerr 1750
• John Kerr 1750
• John Kerr 1743
• Roger Keys 1754
• Andrew Kinnier 1773
• Henry Kirkham 1742
• Robert Kirkpatrick 1750
• James Lackey 1767
• Joseph Lapsley 1742
• Joseph Lapsley 1754
• Joseph Little 1774
• William Laughridge (Lockridge) 1742
• William Laughridge (Lockridge) 1755
• John Logan 1753
• John Logan 1755
• John Lowry (Jr.) 1757
• John Lowry (Sr.) 1742
• John Lowry (Sr.) 1748
• Robert Lowry 1753
• James Lusk 1749
• John Lusk 1768
• Robert Lusk 1768
• William Lusk 1765
• Daniel Lyle 1743
• John Lyle 1748
• Matthew Lyle 1742
• Matthew Lyle 1746
• Samuel Lyle 1751
• James McCallister 1764
• Andrew McCampbell 1765
• William McCampbell 1770
• William McCanless 1742
• Walter McChesney undated
• Alex McCleary 1742
• Henry McClung 1764
• James McClung 1754
• William McClung 1754
• Alexander McClure 1747
• Arthur McClure 1749
• Halbert McClure 1746
• Halbert McClure 1765
• John McClure 1749
• Moses McClure 1748
• Moses McClure 1749
• Moses McClure 1755
• Nathaniel McClure 1747
• Samuel McClure 1752
• James McCowan (prob. McCown) 1754
• John McCoun 1750
• Francis McCown 1746
• James McCown 1749
• Alexander McCorkle 1761
• Alexander McCroskey 1750
• John McCroskey 1747
• John McCroskey 1749
• John McCroskey, Jr. 1748
• Samuel McCutcheon 1742
• Ephraim McDowell 1747
• John McDowell 1755
• Robert McElrath 1768
• Robert McIlhaney 1750
• James McKee 1758
• James McKee 1766
• John McKay (McKee) 1747
• John McKee 1768
• Thomas McMurray 1750
• Samuel McMurtry and John McMurtry 1759
• Alexander McNutt 1753
• James McNutt 1753
• Thomas McSpadden 1744
• Hugh Martin 1748
• James Martin 1742
• John Matthews 1742
• Alex Miller 1749
• John Montgomery 1747
• John Montgomery 1754
• Alexander Moore 1750
• Alexander Moore 1754
• Alexander Moore 1764
• Andrew Moore 1754
• David Moore 1754
• James Moore 1743
• John Moore 1747
• John Moore 1747
• John Moore 1742
• Robert Moore 1774
• Dominick Moran 1763
• Samuel Nesbit 1770
• Samuel Norwood 1750
• Samuel Norwood 1760
• John Patterson 1741
• John Patterson 1741
• John Patterson 1742
• Samuel Patterson 1776
• John Paul 1754
• John Patton 1750
• Thomas Paxton 1748
• Thomas Paxton 1748
• Thomas Paxton 1749
• Thomas Paxton 1769
• Robert Poage1742
• William Porter 1742
• William Porter 1750
• William Porter 1754
• David Quinn 1768
• Archibald Rhea, Jr., 1771
• Robert Rhea 1754
• William Rhea (Reagh) 1750
• James Robinson 1743
• James Robinson 1760
• John Robinson, Sr. 1753
• John Robinson, Jr. 1753
• Matthew Robinson 1753
• William Robinson 1760
• John Scott 1761
• James Shields Bef. 1748
• John Shields 1742
• John Shields, Jr. 1752
• Henry Skeen 1778
• John Smiley 1763
• Widow Smiley 1754
• William Smith 1742
• John Sproul 1758
• Andrew Steele 1750
• Andrew Steele 1755
• George Stevenson 1750
• John Stevenson 1750
• John Stewart 1752
• John Summers 1768
• Isaac Taylor 1748
• William Taylor 1762
• Alexander Telford 1770
• Robert Telford 1768
• John Thompson 1769
• James Trimble 1742
• Moses Trimble 1747
• Thomas Vance 1765
• Alex Walker 1743
• James Walker 1743
• John Walker 1743
• John Walker 1754
• John Walker, Jr. 1753
• David Wallace 1757
• John Wallace 1755
• John Wallace 1755
• James Wardlow 1770
• James Wardlow 1792
• William Wardlow 1752
• William Wardlow 1791
• Dominic Warren 1763
• John Weir 1765
• Joseph Weir 1765
• Robert Weir 1754
• Moses Whitesides 1750
• Moses Whitesides 1754
• John Wiley 1750
• John Wiley 1770
• James Wilson 1760
• John Wilson 1753
• John Wilson 1753
• William Wilson 1760
• Richard Woods 1742
• Samuel Woods & William Woods 1742
• James Young 1742
• James Young 1747
• William Young 1756

Sources

• List of People Owning Land in the Borden Tract
• Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia
• Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlements in Virginia, Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County 1745-1800 by Lyman Chalkley
• Scotch-Irish Presbyterians From Ulster to Rockbridge
• Ulster-Scots in Virginia: From Pennsylvania to Shenandoah. by Richard MacMaster
• A History of Rockbridge County
• A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia By Oren Frederic Morton Google Books McClure Company, 1920 - Rockbridge County (Va.)
• Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement by David Hackett Fischer and James C. Kelly, University of Virginia Press. 2000.
• Ambrose Crain Of Penn, born 1734 in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and died 1793 in Rockbridge County, Virginia
• Rockbridge County, VA Deed Book C (1793-1798)
• High Bridge Cemetery List
• High Bridge Presbyterian Church website, map and database of cemetery