Brave families crossed the Virginia Frontier to the Farthest Point and settled near Staunton, Virginia, at Tinkling Springs.
Search Virginia County Records for Best Results
Augusta County is the farthest point that our ancestors settled in Virginia during the 18th century. It is estimated that such a journey required at least six weeks to cross the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains.
This means to genealogists that Augusta is the last County in Virginia to search for those families who began the long, tiresome trail from Pennsylvania across a wild frontier of Indians and buffalo.
John Preston, an Irishman from Londonderry, was among the first settlers of Augusta County. His home was known as "Spring Hill." However, in 1743, he settled his family upon a tract of land adjoining Staunton on the north side of that town. He died shortly after that and was buried at Tinkling Spring Meeting House.
Preston has a daunting history. His father and uncles were Englishmen who served under King William and aided in the city's defense when besieged by Roman Catholics commanded by King James in 1689. Preston was a protestant who married a sister of Colonel James Patton of Donegal and was removed from Ireland to Virginia in 1740.
Colonel James Patton had commanded a merchant ship for some years and was a man of property and enterprise. The Colonel obtained an order from the Council from the Governor of Virginia, which he appropriated to himself and associates 120,000 acres of the best lands above the Blue Ridge Mountains. When Colonel Patton was killed by Indians at Smithfield, Virginia, in 1753, some of these lands were passed on to his descendants.
There are many stories of the first settlers of Virginia. The best way to find family stories is to search county records.
The surviving records of the first will book for Augusta County, Virginia, are listed below.
Augusta County Genealogy Records — Wills, Estates, Marriages
Digital Images of Augusta County Wills 1745 to 1753
Testators: Ahres, Simon; Anderson, Isaac ;Baxter, Andrew ;Bell, James ;Bohanan, Jean ;Boyd, Andrew; Brock, Rudal ;Bumgarner, John ;Campbell, Gilbert ;Clendening, Archibald ;Cook, Patrick Cotner, Peter Cowden, William ;Crocket, Robert ;Crockett, Samuel; Cumberland, John ;Davison, Robert ;Denniston, Daniel ;Dobikin, John; Fulton, James ;Galaghar, Charles ;Gibson, Daniel ;Goldman, Jacob ;Griffie, Mathusalem; Hays, John ;Hill, William ;Hodge, Elizabeth ;James, William ;Jamison, William;Johnson, John; King, Robert; Kirkham, Robert ;Lusk, Nathan ;Magill, William ;McKay, Robert Sr. ;McCleary, Alexander ;Moore, Andrew ;Moore, David ;Noble, John;Patterson, John ;Reese, Thomas ;Robison, James ;Rothgab, John Jacob ;Ruddle, John Jr. ;Rutledge, John; Scott, James ;Sayers, Robert ;Scott, Samuel ;Sharp, Mathew ;Thorn, Henry ;Thompson, Mathew ;Wiley, John ;Woodley, John
New! 2 Genealogy Books by Jeannette Holland Austin are now available in PDF format (to send via your email).