were known as the
"Scotch-Irish." The former, who had resided in Pennsylvania long
enough to be good judges of land, shrewdly made their settlements
along the rivers and creeks. The latter, new arrivals and less
experienced, settled on thinner land toward the heads of creeks
and water courses.

Shortly prior to 1735, Morgan Bryan, his wife Martha, and eight
children, together with other families of Quakers from
Pennsylvania, settled upon a large tract of land on the northwest
side of the Opeckon River near Winchester. A few years later they
removed up the Virginia Valley to the Big Lick in the present
Roanoke County, intent upon pushing westward to the very
outskirts of civilization. In the autumn of 1748, leaving behind
his brother William, who had followed him to Roanoke County,
Morgan Bryan removed with his family to the Forks of the Yadkin
River. The Morgans, with the exception of Richard, who emigrated
to Virginia, remained in Pennsylvania, spreading over
Philadelphia and Bucks counties; while the Hanks and Lincoln
families found homes in Virginia--Mordecai Lincoln's son, John,
the great-grandfather of President Lincoln, removing from Berks
to the Shenandoah Valley in 1765. On May 1, 1750, Squire Boone,
his wife Sarah (Morgan), and their eleven children--a veritable
caravan, traveling like the patriarchs of old--started south; and
tarried for a space, according to reliable tradition, on Linville
Creek in the Virginia Valley. In 1752 they removed to the Forks
of the Yadkin, and the following year received from Lord
Granville three tracts of land, all situated in Rowan County.
About the hamlet of Salisbury, which in 1755 consisted of seven
or eight log houses and the court house, there now rapidly
gathered a settlement of people marked by strong individuality,
sturdy independence, and virile self-reliance. The Boones and the
Bryans quickly accommodated themselves to frontier conditions and
immediately began to take an active part in the local affairs of
the county. Upon the organization of the county court Squire
Boone was chosen justice of the peace; and Morgan Bryan was soon
appearing as foreman of juries and director in road improvements.

The Great Trading Path, leading from Virginia to the towns of the
Catawbas and other Southern Indians, crossed the Yadkin at the
Trading Ford and passed a mile southeast of Salisbury. Above
Sapona Town near the Trading Ford was Swearing Creek, which,
according to constant