Page 54 - History of Rockingham Co
P. 54
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
It is evident, from the foregoing particulars, that a con-
siderable number of settlers had located within the present
boundaries of Rockingham within the decade following the
first known settlement in 1727. The earliest settlements
were in the eastern side of the county, though it is quite
likely that the tide of immigration that was creeping up the
north fork of the Shenandoah had also reached and passed
the Fairfax line, west of the Massanutten, by 1734 or 1735.
As early as April 30, 1732, William Beverly wrote that the
"northern men" were fond of buying land on the upper Shen-
andoah, because they could get it there six or seven pounds
cheaper a hundred acres than in Pennsylvania, and because
they did not care to go as far as Williamsburg. 2- It should be
remembered also that John Lewis located at or near Staun-
ton in 1732, and that a number of his fellow-countrymen came
into the upper Valley with him, or soon after he came. These
facts are recalled here in addition to what is definitely known
concerning the first settlers and settlements, to show that a
large number of persons, Germans, Scotch-Irish, and others,
had located in and about the present limits of Rockingham
by the year 1738. The majority of these settlers had come
up the Valley from Maryland and Pennsylvania, but a few
had come across the Blue Ridge from East Virginia.
The first grants of land were sought and secured along
the main watercourses, though it is said that in many cases
the settlers in a little while sought dwelling places on the
higher lands toward the hills and mountains, because of the
malaria that infested the bottom-lands. It is not likely, how-
ever, that such conditions caused any one to relinquish per-
manently his fertile holdings along the rivers; and with the
development of civilization— the clearing of lowland thickets,
the draining of swamps and marshes, the erection of better
dwellings— the malaria gradually disappeared.
22. Waddell's Annals of Augusta, 1902 edition, page 21.
It is evident, from the foregoing particulars, that a con-
siderable number of settlers had located within the present
boundaries of Rockingham within the decade following the
first known settlement in 1727. The earliest settlements
were in the eastern side of the county, though it is quite
likely that the tide of immigration that was creeping up the
north fork of the Shenandoah had also reached and passed
the Fairfax line, west of the Massanutten, by 1734 or 1735.
As early as April 30, 1732, William Beverly wrote that the
"northern men" were fond of buying land on the upper Shen-
andoah, because they could get it there six or seven pounds
cheaper a hundred acres than in Pennsylvania, and because
they did not care to go as far as Williamsburg. 2- It should be
remembered also that John Lewis located at or near Staun-
ton in 1732, and that a number of his fellow-countrymen came
into the upper Valley with him, or soon after he came. These
facts are recalled here in addition to what is definitely known
concerning the first settlers and settlements, to show that a
large number of persons, Germans, Scotch-Irish, and others,
had located in and about the present limits of Rockingham
by the year 1738. The majority of these settlers had come
up the Valley from Maryland and Pennsylvania, but a few
had come across the Blue Ridge from East Virginia.
The first grants of land were sought and secured along
the main watercourses, though it is said that in many cases
the settlers in a little while sought dwelling places on the
higher lands toward the hills and mountains, because of the
malaria that infested the bottom-lands. It is not likely, how-
ever, that such conditions caused any one to relinquish per-
manently his fertile holdings along the rivers; and with the
development of civilization— the clearing of lowland thickets,
the draining of swamps and marshes, the erection of better
dwellings— the malaria gradually disappeared.
22. Waddell's Annals of Augusta, 1902 edition, page 21.
