The West Family Line

James West

The Story Continues

From the last post we saw that James probably was the James convicted and transported to Baltimore on the Tryal. So, what happened to him between the time he landed and appears in the records of Granville County, North Carolina. Unfortunately I have not discovered information that is directly linked to James. I have, however, discovered the general story of many that were transported. This story is conjecture... what I think might have happened. 

This week I posted on FaceBook asking for information about James West. Many people do not realize what a wonderful resource for genealogy FaceBook is. From this post I have discovered new cousins!!! I am so excited to be able to share and talk with them. One of the stories about James that was passed down went something like this; He was slopping the hogs, put down the bucket, walked to London and hopped on a boat to America. There is usually some truth in these stories... 

James life as a laborer in the new world could not have been a pleasant one. They were treated worse than slaves and many ran away. Below are some actual advertisements looking for these runaways. If James ran away, which I believe he did, it would explain how he was able to marry and start a family before his seven years were up. We may never find "his" advertisement because many of these convicts did not give their "owners" their real names. 

So, going back to the family story, maybe James did put the slop bucket down and walk/run away.

Looking for a Runaway

Looking for a Runaway

Looking for a Runaway 

Looking for a Runaway

 James was probably in Maryland or not too far away when he walked/ran away. How did he get to Granville County, North Carolina?

Let's look at the roads during that time and the best way to explain it would be to look at this map.

James would have started his travels on the King's Highway traveling down to Fredericksburg, Virginia. From Fredericksburg he would have taken the Upper Road which went right through Granville County. The Upper Road was especially popular among the Scots-Irish colonists. By 1748 the original trails had been improved enough to be considered wagon roads.

The Upper Road was actually a part of the Occaneechi Path that joined Petersburg Virginia to the Carolinas. The path was named for the Occaneechi, a small but important tribe who acted as trading middlemen between the Europeans and the Cherokee. The Occaneechi lived primarily on a four-mile long island on the Dan and Roanoke River near present day Clarksville, Virginia. Those of us that know the area are probably thinking "so close to where the West family lived". 

Here is a map of the Occaneechi Path.

The Occaneechi Path

Today parts of the Interstates 85, 77, and 20 follow the Occaneechi Path. 

The next puzzle is when and where did James meet and marry Sarah??

From the database, U.S.and International Marriage Records 1560-1900 we are given the following information about James and Sarah.

However, we need to aware that this database was built using information from family group sheets, pedigree charts, family history articles, Bible records etc. This database is not built on primary resources. Information about this particular record can be obtained by contacting Yates Publishing. 

Since James' first child was born around 1769 we can assume that they were married at least by 1768.

On my next post I hope to share the records that I have actually found that have James in them. 

Until then, happy digging!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pattie