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By
July 20, 2001
I have taken over our family’s genealogical research from my father, James Francis Caldwell, due to his failing eyesight. After being inspired by him, in early July of this year I set out on a small pilgrimage to explore some of my ancestral roots. I traveled from our vacation cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to the southern areas of Virginia where my ancestors had settled after immigrating from Ireland. I was intent on finding the Caldwell Settlement of John Caldwell and his wife Margaret Phillips Caldwell who had immigrated to this country in 1727 along with five of their children and three brothers-in-law, on the ship Eagle’s Wing, landing at New Castle, Delaware. They initially settled in the area of Chestnut Level, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania, and later moved to the then-wilderness area of the colony of Virginia. My parents and aunt and uncle had previously visited this area over 20 years ago, so I had some second hand accounts of what I would find there.
After traveling through Winston Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina, I headed north to Danville, Virginia, which is just across the border from North Carolina. Just north of Danville, I struck out on rural roads through Chestnut Level (perhaps named after the earlier area where our family had settled in Pennsylvania) and Java to highway 40, which traverses east and west through this southern region of Virginia. Not knowing exactly where I would find any indication of the Caldwell Settlement, I was most attentive to the scenery along the way and enjoyed it very much, as it is a very pretty part of the country. I stopped along the way to visit the boyhood home and memorial to Patrick Henry, which turned out to be only a few miles away from our ancestors’ settlement. About 3 miles west of the town of Charlotte Court House, the county seat of Charlotte County, I encountered a sign regarding the Cub Creek Church, which was established by John Caldwell, along with the Caldwell Settlement around 1838. The settlement totaled around 200 people made up of a number of Caldwells and other Scotch-Irish families.
CUB CREEK CHURCH SIGN ON HIGHWAY 40
After driving south from this sign for 5-6 miles, I found the foundation of the Cub Creek church and its cemetery, which was fenced in and well maintained. I found out later that this foundation and cemetery were of a later time (around 1820) and that this church had survived until around 1937, when it burned down. The original church/meeting house was farther into the woods past the monument that the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA) had dedicated to the Church/Settlement in 1938. I went back later and found old grave stones in the woods beyond the monument that I presume were the original cemetery, which likely were near the original log meeting house/church.
CUB CREEK CHURCH FOUNDATION
CUB CREEK CEMETERY
CUB CREEK
MONUMENT TO THE
CALDWELL SETTLEMENT AND CUB CREEK CHURCH
The inscription on the monument at the Cub Creek/Caldwell Settlement reads:
THE CALDWELL SETTLEMENT
JOHN CALDWELL, BORN IN IRELAND, CAME TO
PENNSYLVANIA IN 1727, DIED AT CUB CREEK IN1750,
AND WAS BURIED HERE, FATHER OF REV. JAMES
CALDWELL, HERO OF THE REVOLUTION; GRAND-
FATHER OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN, SOUTH
CAROLINA STATESMAN.
IN MAY 1738, JOHN CALDWELL, IN BEHALF OF
MANY FAMILIES OF OUR PERSUASION WHO ARE
ABOUT TO SETTLE IN THE BACK PARTS OF VIRGINIA
ASKED THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA TO APPOINT
A COMMITTEE TO WAIT ON THE GOVERNOR OF
VIRGINIAWITH SUITABLE INSTRUCTIONS IN
ORDER TO PROCURE THE FAVOR OF THE GOVERN-
MENT OF THAT PROVINCE TO THE LAYING A FOUND-
ATION OF OUR INTEREST IN THAT PLACE AND TO
ASK FOR THE COLONY LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE
AND THE PRIVILEGE OF WORSHIPPING GOD IN A
WAY AGREEABLE TO THE PRINCIPLES OF OUR
EDUCATION.
THE GOVERNOR GRANTED THIS REQUEST AND IN
1738 A COLONY OF SCOTCH-IRISH PRESBYTERIANS,
UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF JOHN CALDWELL,
PURCHASED MORE THAN 30,000 ACRES ALONG CUB
CREEK IN THIS VICINITY AND ESTABLISHED HERE
A SETTLEMENT OF PRESBYTERIAN DISSENTERS.
ESTABLISHED BY CHARLOTTE COUNTY BRANCH APVA 1938
On the reverse side the inscription reads:
CUB CREEK CHURCH
HERE IN 1738 THE CALDWELL SETTLEMENT ESTAB-
LISHED ITS PLACE OF WORSHIP. THE FIRST BUILDING
WAS A LOG MEETING HOUSE, WHICH WAS USED UNTIL
1820, WHEN THE PRESENT CHURCH WAS ERECTED.
AT CUB CREEK MEETING HOUSE OCTOBER 13, 1774,
HANOVER PRESBYTERY DECIDED TO ESTABLISH TWO
SCHOOLS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, ONE IN THE COUNTY
OF AUGUSTA, ONE IN PRINCE EDWARD OF CUMBER-
LAND. REV. CALEB WALLACE, THEN PASTOR OF THE CUB
CREEK CONGREGATION ( A NATIVE OF CHARLOTTE COUN-
TY, AUTHOR OF THE PETITION OF 1776 TO THE VIRGINIA
ASSEMBLY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM, LATER JUSTICE OF THE COURT OF APPEALS OF
KENTUCKY) WAS A MEMBER OF THE TWO COMMITTEES
APPOINTED BY PRESBYTERY TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THESE
SCHOOLS. FROM THIS ACTION CAME WASHINGTON
COLLEGE (NOW WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY) AND
HAMPTON SYDNEY COLLEGE.
There followed a list of the ministers of the Cub Creek Church for the first 100 years, with dates of service. I copied only the first and the last: first: James Anderson; last: Clement Read, who served from 1814 to 1841.
After visiting the Cub Creek Settlement, I went looking for a place to stay the night. Strangely enough, even though I was used to the sparsely populated areas of rural North Carolina, I was met with an even less metropolitan area in this region. The only motel for many miles around was in Keysville at the eastern edge of Charlotte County. Fortunately, this motel also had a good restaurant, for they also were few and far between. Even the county seats in this area are very small towns by most standards.
The next morning I ventured 15 miles west to Lunenburg, the county seat of Lunenburg County, which was established in 1846, not long after the Cub Creek Settlement was established. John Caldwell and his eldest son, William were early officials of Lunenburg County.
LUNENBURG COURT HOUSE
After visiting the Lunenburg County courthouse (this is about all there is to the town), I drove back about 25 miles west to Charlotte Court House, the town that is the county seat of Charlotte County (also not a lot here). The Caldwell Settlement was originally in Brunswick County, then, when Lunenburg County was formed in 1746, in that county. Then in 1765 Charlotte County was formed and the Cub Creek area came to reside in that county. I found that the library across the street from the courthouse is a good source of genealogical research. They have a table full of genealogical books and maps, as well as several bookshelves that had some interesting material. Unfortunately, I did not have a lot of time to do more than cursory research at this time.
CHARLOTTE COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Heading back to North Carolina, I was determined to locate the Logan home, which my father had described to me from his travels 20 odd years ago. While it was not quite where he had described it, after many enquiries I found it 7-8 miles out of the small community of Java. This home was of interest since Robert, one of the sons of our immigrant John Caldwell, married Mary Logan, and it is likely that the family at this home was related to Mary. The home is fairly well maintained to this day and there is nearby the old family cemetery, with family members dating back to the mid 1700’s, or possibly earlier (some of the tombstones were not readable).
LOGAN HOUSE
LOGAN CEMETERY
My short pilgrimage was very exciting to me, as a new participant to the world of genealogical research/exploration. I hope that others will be encouraged by my trip to further explore their ancestry and share with the rest of us. I plan to continue, and will share any future adventures/findings.