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From: Richard Ellington <>
Subject: [NCDOGS] program on the Moravians and Wagon Roads
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:31:49 -0400


This sounds like a very interesting program. It is being held next Tuesday evening. Thanks to D-OGS member Ann Hamby for sending me this info.


The Patrick County (Virginia) Genealogy Society will present a program on the Moravians and Wagon Roads on Tuesday, September 19th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Stuart Baptist Church Fellowship Hall on Blue Ridge Street (across from the historic Patrick County Courthouse). Richard Starbuck of the Moravian Archives will be the guest speaker. This is the program that was rescheduled from February 21st, 2006.

The Great Wagon Road was the main North-South artery, and was the main route of transportation from North to South into the Blue Ridge area of the Piedmont. This Road is thought to have touched far southeast Patrick County where Patrick and Henry Counties come together along the North Mayo River (near Fort Mayo). The Great Wagon Road came out of the Shenandoah Valley and crossed into Franklin County near Raven Gap where it came out of the Roanoke
Valley, then passed through Callaway, Ferrum, the Philpott area, forded the Smith River in the Bassett area, then came through Rangeley, Preston, and Spencer and crossed the North Mayo River into North Carolina. From there it went into Stokes County, North Carolina, forded the Dan River at Upper Sauratown at Walnut Cove and then continued to Wachovia (in what is now Forsyth County), which later became Bethabara.

The Great Wagon Road is shown on The Fry-Jefferson Map of the colonies of Virginia and the Carolinas which was produced in 1751 showing most of the streams and locations of the settlements. Peter Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's father, and Joshua Fry, a neighbor who had taught mathematics at the College of William and Mary, made the first good map of the state since John Smith's of more than 100 years earlier. This map included The Irvine River (now the Smith River), Buffalo Creek, Peters Creek, and the Dan River all located in Patrick County. During the 19th Century, The Great Wagon Road was used for Stagecoach travel from Salem, NC to Salem, VA and was known as
the Stage Road. One of the stage stops was at the Colonel Archelaus Hughes' home, which was an ordinary at that
time. The Moravians have a mileage list of this Stage Road.

The settlement of Bethabara was founded on November 17, 1753 when twelve settlers came from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania down the Great Wagon Road up the Shenandoah Valley until they got to Big Lick (Roanoke), crossed over the Blue Ridge, then they meandered. Several days into the meandering one of them climbed a hill (which is recorded in a travel guide) and said he saw the Pilot. Several days later they came into NC. The Moravian brethren arrived after walking from Pennsylvania along the Great Wagon Road and had with them their Conestoga wagons. The Conestoga wagon was a sturdy, colorful wagon used by American pioneers. It was named for the Pennsylvania town where it was first built in the middle 1700's. Conestogas carried most of the freight and people
until about 1850. The Conestoga Wagon was pulled by six horses or oxen and later used to haul tobacco and other heavy loads. It could carry five tons of cargo.

The Moravians were very important to the economy of the area as they had merchants and potters who could make stoneware of which food was served from their stone crocks, and they traded with their English speaking neighbors. They also had doctors which were needed.

Moravians had dealings with people here in Patrick and Carroll Counties during the French Indian War 1755-1756 through 1772. Van Neman Zeverly, a Moravian missionary began travels into Carroll & Patrick Co. in the 1820's & 1830's to bring the gospel to the settlers. From that missionary work, there are now four Moravian Churches which are located in the counties of Patrick and Carroll in VA, and Surry County in NC including Mount Bethel, Willow Hill, Crooked Oak, and Grace Moravian. Willow Hill is the only one in Patrick County.

This meeting is FREE and open to everyone. We encourage you to bring pictures that you may have in your family showing your ancestors traveling in the covered wagons and of Patrick County wagon makers. For more information, please call 276-692-5920.



-- Richard

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Richard K. Ellington
ITS Facilities Manager
Information Technology Services
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
440 W. Franklin St., CB 1150
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-1150
Control Center - http://control-center.unc.edu

919-698-8591 (voice)
919-843-9153 (fax)



"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken
or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job".

-Winston Churchill

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