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NORTH CAROLINA: EARLY SETTLERS

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         Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.

 

    ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt ~

North Carolina is a great plethora of ethnicities and cultures.  The Native Americans were the first group to occupy the region.  The English arrived during the 17th century followed by the Scots-Irish, Germans, and Highland Scots.  African slaves were brought to the area to work on plantations.

Native Americans

The Native Americans or American Indians were the first people to settle in the region currently known as North Carolina.  Over 30 tribes lived in this area and spoke one of the following dialects:  Siouan, Iroquoian, or Algonquian.  In 1550, it is estimated that over 100,000 Native Americans occupied this territory.  The 1980 Federal Census documentated that 64,536 individuals of American Indian descent were living in North Carolina.

 

English

The English were the first immigrants to establish permanent settlements in North Carolina.  They began arriving in the early 17th century.  They took up residence in the Tidewater area in the eastern part of the state and the upcountry of western North Carolina.  By 1790, English immigrants accounted for 56% of the state's total population.

 

German

It is estimated that several thousand Germans migrated from Pennsylvania to North Carolina between 1745 and 1775.  They settled in the present-day counties of Rowan, Cabarrus, Davidson, Davie, Alamance, Guildord, and Orange.  The majority were farmers and practiced the Lutheran religion of their ancestors.

 

Highland-Scots

This group migrated to North Carolina about 1729 and settled in the upper Cape Fear valley.  The majority came from an agricultural background and found the fertile North Carolina soil ideal for farming.  By the end of the 18th century, the largest group of Highland-Scots in North America was located in North Carolina.

 

Scots-Irish

The term Scots-Irish refers to individuals from the lowlands of Scotland who moved to Ireland.  Initially, they lived in Pennsylvania and Maryland but around 1735 farm land became scarce.  Many Scots-Irish immigrants traveled along the Great Wagon Road to settle in the Piedmont area of North Carolina. Their primary occupation was farming and most were of the Presbyterian faith.

 

African

Slavery was a bleak but important chapter in North Carolina history.  The 1790 census indicates that one-fourth of the state's residents were enslaved Africans.  North Carolina's early economy depended on slave labor with most working in households or on plantations.  Despite being in bondage, slaves remained faithful to their African traditions and heritage.  Today, African Americans make up one-fifth of the state's population.

I am the great-great-great granddaughter of Nathaniel Sims.  This website contains information about his life and details of his descendants.   Nathaniel Sims was born about 1794 in Wake County, North Carolina.  He was a farmer and also Justice of the Peace.  Nathaniel had five children with his first wife, Prudence Killough: James Anderson Sims, Rebecca Sue Sims, Samuel Killough Sims, Prudence N. Sims and Harriate Sims. He had three children by his second wife, Mary A. Morrison: Ann Mozelle Sims, Nathaniel McCamie Sims, and William M. Sims.  Nathaniel Sims passed away on 1 September 1968 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina.  Some of his descendants continue living in North Carolina today.
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