Submitted by Jere Cox

Early 1700's we had ancestors landing Gloucester Co. Va. making their way up
Chesapeake Bay to Richmond Co. Va. By mid 1700's they made their way down to Prince
Edward/Halifax Co. Va. Here they divided. Some were going south about 1780 to
Union/Spartenburg Cos. S.C. and others later came directly to West Tennessee.

The ones that went to Union/Spartenburg Cos. left for Lauderdale Co. Al. by 1804 but
returned to S.C. By 1824 some 200 wagons left for Lauderdale Co. Al. They crossed
the river at Muscle Shoals, Alabama because it was wide, flat and ankle deep. This
put them inside the loop of the Tennessee River. Many drifted north into Lawrence Co.
Tn, Wayne, Giles and Maury Cos. Others crossed the river into lower West
Tennessee. By 1826, many left Lauderdale Co. Al. and Lawrence Co. Tn. came to north
to Reynoldsburg, Humphreys Co. Tn. where a Frenchman had made a deal before the
Indians sold this land to the government to operate a ferry across the Tennessee
River. 

As these settlers came into West Tennessee, they looked for good timber, ample water
and clearings left by the Chickasaw Indians.
Jere