Places Where My Ancestors Lived: Guilford County, North Carolina

   While doing my research, I have discovered that many of my Cook people lived in Guilford County, North Carolina...in particular, Jamestown. Guilford County is known for its history. At the time it was settled, a tribe of Native Americans inhabited the area and they were known as the Saura. They lived in the Piedmont of North Carolina, mostly along the Yadkin River.


    In 1740, a group of Quakers from Pennsylvania settled in the area. They are known to be a passive people and did not believe in war. Also living among the Quakers were the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and the German Lutherans. Guilford was formed from parts of Rowan and Orange counties and was founded in 1771. It was named after Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford. (To read more about Guilford County history, click here.)


    Jamestown was mainly a Quaker settlement, though its first inhabitants were the Keyauwee Indians. When the settlers moved in, it is believed that the Keyauwee moved south and eventually absorbed into the Catawba tribes. One of the original settlers, James Mendenhall, established a farm there around 1762. Even though James eventually moved to Georgia, his son George remained at the farm and continued to run the town's grist and lumber mills. He also owned much of the land and named the town after his father, James.


    During the Revolutionary War, General Cornwallis and his men camped out and sent for provisions from local farms and mills until their battle with Nathaniel Greene at New Garden. (To read more of the battle, click here.)


    Jamestown seemed to be a perfect place to settle down and raise a family. There were friendly neighbors and farmland to be tended to. There were gunsmiths, tanners, miners (some significant amount of gold was discovered there), and farmers. There were plenty of jobs to do in Jamestown. The residents of Jamestown were against the Civil War, and would often refuse to fight, stating it was against their religion. Jamestown was a stop in the Underground Railroad, which helped fugitive slaves escape to their freedom in the North.


    Many families, including my own Cooks, Wards, Grays, and Armfields lived together in Jamestown. It is quite possible the children all grew up together and knew each other into adulthood. They all lived and loved together as loved ones as friends in a little settlement called Jamestown.

(Photo courtesy of Jamestown, North Carolina site)