The American frontier has always been envisioned as a westward movement, as the American pioneer slowly, but inexorably moved toward the Pacific Ocean. But before the westward movement began in earnest, there was an all important southern migration. It created a southern frontier that existed for over seventy years as Scotch-Irish, and Germans from Pennsylvania, and settlements around Cecil County Maryland, followed the Great Wagon Road through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the settlements of Western North Carolina in and around the Catawba and Yadkin Rivers, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Separated from the Anglican English towns and settlements of Virginia, by the Blue Ridge Mountains, the moving southern exodus deposited settlers in pockets along the road that lead south to North Carolina, and later to the settlements in Tennessee and Kentucky.

This flow of humanity into this southern frontier brings us to the branch of the Thorlton family which provided our first American, and it becomes necessary to regress in the continuity of our story. The Alexander name, is of Greek origin and is the oldest of the names of the genealogical lines of the descendants of Thorltons, and one of the oldest of all names used as a Christian or surname by man. The Scotch Alexander can trace their ancestry back over 1500 years to Cerdic, the Saxon prince.

We who are descended from the Alexanders have in our veins, the blood of the crusaders, and that of the Norman nobility, as well as the Celtic nobility, and that of old Picts nobility, the Guelphs, and the Danish nobility, the Dukes of Normandy, of Saxony, of Bavaria, and the Earls of Mar, the oldest title in Great Britain. Also that of the Earls of Flanders, of the Kings of Man and the Isles, of the Dukes of France, the ancestors of Hugh Capet who founded the Capetian Dynasty of French monarchs. As well as the Emperors of Germany, of the Saxon Kings of England, of the Kings of the early Scots, and the Ancient Irish Kings, and the Kings of Scotland, of Kings of the Franks, of the great Danish Earls of Northumberland, Siward and Waltheof, and the first king of the Stuart Royal family. We are descendants of Cerdic, the Saxon prince, conqueror and founder of English kings, of Alfred the Great, the greatest of England's kings of Rollo, the founder of Normandy, of William the Conqueror, of Charles le Martel, of Duncan King of Scotland, immortalized in Shakespeare's Macbeth, of Robert Bruce one of the Greatest of all heroes, of Charlemagne, of Somerled prince of the Lord of Isles. The Alexander can claim among their ancestors at least three saints of the Catholic Calendar, Henry II, Emperor of Germany, Cunigunde his wife, and Saint Margaret of Scotland.

Alexander the Great, upon setting out on his career of conquest, sent word to the Jews that they should erect a monument in his honor. On his return, Alexander was angered to find that the monument had not been raised. The high priest was summoned, and on his arrival he was followed by a great number of male children. The king asked the priest sternly if his order had been forgotten. "0 king"" replied the high priest, "our religion forbid's us from raising an image or statue. But behold!" The priest then turned to the first boy in the column and asked "What is your name?; Alexander" replied the boy. The priest then asked each boy in turn, the same question, all answered "Alexander." The priest then said to the king, "You see 0'king we have fulfilled your command by naming every son of our race, Alexander, who has been born since your command was given. That your name will go down from generation to generation and such living monuments will be far more enduring than a monument of stone."

All this is a bit overwhelming so to bring it a little closer to home I will move on to the Seven Brothers from Ireland. The Alexanders of Scotland are descended from Somerled (Samuel), son of Gillebrede MacGille Adomnan of Pictish origin, and descended from the Irish king Con, son of Feidhlim. His son Somerled was an independent sovereign of the twelfth century, and was instrumental in freeing his countrymen from the rule of the Danes and Norwegians, and attained great power. Somerled married Effrica Ragnhilds, daughter of Olaus, or Olave the Swarthy, or Red, King of Man and the Isles, who was son of Godred Crovean, son of Harold the Black of Iceland. From Somerled was descended all the large families of Macdonalds. Somerled was the grandfather of Donald Lord of the Isles. Alexander Macdonald, second son of Donald, was the sire of two sons. These sons took their surname, the Christian name of their father Alexander, or as the name is often referred to by the Scotch, Alaster. It was in this way that the numerous Alexander of Scotland were descended from the ancient clan of Macdonald. These Alexanders originally lived in the vicinity of Edinburgh, Stirling and Glosgow. Their chief men were the Earls of Stirling, of Selkirk, and of Ross. From them are descended the Irish Earls of Caledon. From Scotland the Alexander migrated to Ireland during the Plantation of 1609. Tradition says there were seven Alexander brothers who lived in Sligo, Raphoe and Donegal. One source relates that the brothers were the sons of Reverend James Alexander of Raphoe, the Presbytery of Laggan, and that they had two sisters, one Elizabeth, who was the wife of Matthew Wallace, and the other was Jane who was the wife of John McKnitt, the ancestor of John McKnitt Alexander one of the signers, and the keeper of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. According to the record of the Synod of Ulster, the Reverend James Alexander died in 1704.

Lord Baltimore began offering land grants in 1643 to all settlers offering "complete freedom of religion" In 1648 Governor of the Province William Stone procured five hundred people of British and Scotch-Irish decent to come to the province of Maryland. The following year Lord Baltimore offered a grant 3,000 acres for every 30 persons brought to the land. This began the colonization of the Scotch-Irish in the Maryland area.

Landing in the port of Lewes, Delaware the seven brothers and their descendants settled in the area around the Upper Chesapeake Bay, in the States of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The seven brothers were: William born in 1646, Andrew born in 1648, James born in 1652, Francis born in 1654, Samuel born in 1657, Joseph born in 1660, and John born in 1662.

This area, known as the Piedmont, differed from its neighboring coastal plains of the Delaware River, and Chester County, Pennsylvania, in its gentle, undulating fertile land and was described by William Penn as land of; "....divers sorts of earth, as sand, yellow and black, poor and rich: and in some places a fast fat earth, like to our best vales in England, especially by inland brooks and rivers . . . "

And, it was this land that attracted the Seven Brothers from Ireland. The exact route of migration of the Alexander brothers is unclear. Alexanders were found in Somerset County as well as Cecil County. My ancestor finally settled in Cecil County, Maryland around the present town of Elkton. The land around the head of the great Chesapeake Bay was in the year 1680, sparsely populated. George Talbot, a cousin of Lord Baltimore was granted a large tract of land between the Delaware and the Susquehanna Rivers. The Grant required that he bring to the settlement within 12 years 640 settlers of English or Scotch-Irish decent. This land would first be known as Susquehanna Manor, then New Connaught, and finally Cecil County, Maryland.

In 1683 George Talbot issued a certificate that stated; "Surveyed for Edwin O'Dwire and fifteen other Scotch-Irishmen by virtue of a warrant from his Lordship August 7, 1683. A certain tract of land called Munster lying and being in the county of Cecil, on the main fresh of Elk River, on both sides of the fresh beginning at a marked poplar on a high bank over the west side of the fresh, and about a pistol shot to the mouth of the rivelette, called the Shure, and running west ?????? Containing and now laid out for six thousand acres, more or less, to be held of the Manor of Cecil, which is hereby humbly certified to your Lordship, this 29th day of August 1683, by George Talbot, Surveyor General."

From Edwin O'Dwire the land passed to Daniel Toas, from him to his son John Toas. John Toas then sold it to Robert Roberts, who in turn sold it to a Thomas Stephenson of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Stephenson and his wife Sarah sold 110 acres, called New Munster, to Matthew Wallace and his wife Elizabeth (Alexander), James Alexander, a farmer, Arthur Alexander, David Alexander, weaver, Joseph Alexander and son James both tanners, and my ancestor James Alexander, a weaver and his son Moses. (Deed Book 2 J.D. #2 page 280-83 Cecil County Maryland) The deed speaks of Matthew Wallace as the leader of the group settled on the land, and that he led the group from Somerset County to Cecil County. James the farmer located south, toward Elk, Arthur settled on land east of the James River, and David, James the Weaver, and his son Moses settled north of David.

In 1707 Matthew Wallace gave a power of attorney to his "truly and well beloved kinsman William Alexander Jr. of Somerset County" to sell his land there. From this we can assume that Wallace and the Alexanders were on the land in Cecil County sometime before 1707.

In the Stephenson's deed it was stated that if the grantee's desired a better deed it would be drafted within the next seven years. On August 15, 1718 eight deeds were recorded at Cecil County in Deed Book 3 in which 903 additional acres were granted in the New Munster tract to Joseph Alexander and his son James, James Alexander and his son Moses, Davis Alexander, Arthur Alexander, Elias or Elijah Alexander, and Mary Alexander, widow of James Alexander, the farmer who had died in 1717.

My seventh great-grandfather, James Alexander settled on what was known as Milford Hundred, in the New Munster tract. There he plied his trade as a weaver, with his two sons, the first, Moses and the other, James Jr. A deed dated April 1, 1735 transferred the land from a Thomas Stevenson to the Alexanders mentioned, and to James Alexander and his son Moses, so Moses was of age at that time. From Deed Book 5 Page 235 it is stated; "James Alexander, gentleman, of Milford Hundred, New Munster, releases to his son, Moses the remainder of the tract jointly purchased by them from Thomas Stevenson."

James was born around 1652, and would have been about 83 in 1735. If he had his children between the ages of 20 and 40 this would make Moses about 48, and born sometime around 1687.

Moses, my fifth great-grandfather, lived on the land in the New Munster tract, in Cecil County, Maryland all his life. He married Mary Wallace daughter of a Jane Wallace, probably his cousin. Jane Wallace's will dated 1736 mentioned her daughter Mary. Mary died in 1758 and was buried in Head of Christiana Church Cemetery. Her headstone reads "Mary Alexander, wife of ye Moses Alexander, dyed 25th of October, 1758, aged 58 years." Moses died in Cecil County Maryland in 1762. In his will dated February 2, 1762 he names his children. Probated December 1762, Book 31 Page 820, he lists Nathaniel, Abraham, Zebulon, Moses, Mark, Daniel, and my fourth great-grandfather, James. Listed also are his daughters, Priscilla White, Mary White, and Ruth Dizard, as well as Granddaughter Hannah White, the daughter of Priscilla.

James and his brothers, my fourth great-uncles, Nathaniel, Zebulon, Daniel, Moses, and Abraham who were members of the Mecklenburg Conventions, and reported to be signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, migrated to Mecklenburg North Carolina. One son Mark remained in Cecil County, and later moved to Baltimore where he became a wealthy merchant.

Ruth married a James Dyzart, Priscilla married John White, Mary White married her second husband, Captain James Cox who was killed at the Battle of Brandywine during the Revolution. Following is the will of Moses Alexander; "In the name of God amen. The second day of February Anno Domini seventeen hundred and sixty-two. I Moses Alexander of Cecil County in the Province of Maryland being sick and weak in body but of sound mind and memory thanks be given to God therefore calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this last will and testament. Principally and first of all I give my soul into the hands of God who gave it and my body to the earth to be buried in a Christian like and decent manner at the discretion of my executor and touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life I give and devise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form. Imprimis (first) I give and bequeath unto my well beloved son Nathaniel Alexander the sum of five shillings. Item. I give and bequeath unto my well beloved son Abraham Alexander the sum of five shillings. Item. I give and bequeath unto my well beloved daughter Priscilla White my large Bible. Item I give and bequeath unto well beloved son James Alexander the sum of five shillings. Item I give and bequeath, unto my well beloved son Zebulon Alexander the sum of five shillings. Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved son Moses Alexander the sum of five shillings. Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved son Mark Alexander the sum of five shillings. Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved daughter Mary White the sum of thirty pounds. Item give and bequeath unto my beloved daughter Ruth Dizard the sum of five shillings. Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved granddaughter Hannah Dizard the sum of twenty pounds and in case she dies in her minority then it to be paid to her mother the above Priscilla White. Item in order to discharge all my just and legal debts funeral expenses and all the above legacies I give and bequeath unto my youngest son Dan Alexander all my estate real and personal and to heirs and assigns forever only on the condition he pays debts and legacies as above mentioned. Further and in case he neglects or refuse to discharge the same within twelve months after my decease I do hereby order authorize and empower my executors to sell and convey my land tenements and out of the money arising from such sale together with my moveable estate to pay and discharge all my just debts including a bond of sixty pounds with interest wherein I stand bound for my son Dan Alexander to Theophilus Alexander and Thomas Sharp which it is my will they should pay all my funeral charges and legacies and the remainder to be equally divided between my daughter Priscilla White my daughter Mary White, my son Dan Alexander and daughter Ruth Dizard and I do hereby constitute and appoint my trusty friend Theophilus Alexander and Amos Alexander my only and sole executors of my I will and testament and utterly revoking all former wills and testaments gifts and legacies whatsoever ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year first above written.

These Scotch-Irish who settled the western back country of North Carolina, brought with them their long held resistance to quit rents, and taxes. They were not destitute poor encroaches. On the contrary they were, for the most part, prosperous land owners, or the sons of land owners, from Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The sons of Moses Alexander were very active in the affairs of Mecklenburg County and the actions that occurred there. Nathaniel settled in Anson County in 1750, on the Rocky River area. He was a petitioner to the governor for the formation of Mecklenburg county, and was the appointed to the first county court. Abraham Alexander was said to have been the signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. Zebulon Alexander lived in Mecklenburg and fathered nine children. Moses Alexander Jr. settled near his brother on Rocky River. James Alexander the paternal ancestor of all the Thorlton's today, and the son of Moses, had a son James Jr., born in 1760, in Cecil County Maryland. James Jr. married and was raising a family when he migrated, first with his father to Mecklenburg County, then in 1800, to Logan County Kentucky, then to Roane County Tennessee. Here where the Clinch river flows south on its journey to the Tennessee river, a little creek called Caney branches off and flows until it's joined by Mill Creek. James built his home just a short distance down the Hines Valley from the Thorlton farm. Here he and his wife raised their children, two of which were a son named Joseph and a daughter named . . .