George Forbush and Samuel Adams

Who? you might ask.

In 1748, George Forbush was still living in Augusta Co Va, as were the Pattersons, Stewarts, Linvilles, Boones, Bryan(t)s, Harrisons, and many other families who would later migrate to the Yadkin River valley of NC.

Forbush settled in modern day Yadkin Co NC, and was the namesake for the river, community, and high school with the same name. I have some close friends whose sons both went (or are going) to Forbush High School, some 15 minutes west of my residence.

A distant cousin of mine, Harald Reksten, sent me some images via email last night regarding the estate of Samuel Adams, Augusta Co Va, from August of 1748. Adams was the younger half-brother of Robert Patterson, my gggggg-grandfather. Robert Patterson's mother, Margaret Patterson, remarried to John Adams, after her first husband died in the 1710's. She was thereafter known as Margaret Adams, but was the mother of Robert Patterson.

In 1748, she was the administratrix of her son's estate (Samuel Adams), and one of the appraisers of his estate was none other than George Forbush. When I saw this last night I just about fell out of my chair. What a small world.

Many of these families began their migrations south about that time - 1748. Other members of the same families following over the next few years, settling the Yadkin River valley in the modern day counties of Wilkes, Surry, Yadkin, Stokes, Forsyth, Davie, and Davidson. At the time it was Anson and soon thereafter, Rowan.