Samuel Caldwell – Among the First Tennessean Settlers

Samuel Caldwell was born January 30, 1772, in Guilford County, North Carolina to Alexander and Margaret Caldwell, and is a grandson of David and Rachel Caldwell. He and his brother Thomas were graduates of David Caldwell Log College, Greensboro, North Carolina.

He married Mary Rogers (daughter of James Rogers and Mary McFeran) about 1798. He died in 1841. (Myrtle Caldwell Ligon, "Samuel Caldwell (1772-1841), Caldwell Family Newsletter, Spring 1998, pp. 299-301; Research Update, Caldwell Family Newsletter, Fall 1998, pp 310-312.)

Along with his brothers and sisters (Thomas, Martha, Rachel, Margaret, and Mead) and his mother, Margaret, Samuel Caldwell moved to Greene County, Tennessee, about 1795. Alexander’s widow, and two sons, Samuel Caldwell and Thomas Caldwell, bought from James English 100 acres in the Cumberland Valley, lying beside a limestone fork of Lick Creek. (Myrtle Caldwell Ligon, supra, p. 299.) At the time of his death, he owned 346 acres. (Tax Rolls, 1841; Myrtle Caldwell Ligon, supra, p. 300.)

There are more than 100 entries in the Greene County Minute Books referring to Samuel Caldwell. He served as Justice of the Peace beginning in 1806, as administrator of numerous estates, tax collector, election judge, etc. (Myrtle Caldwell Ligon, supra, p. 300.)

Samuel and Thomas Caldwell were devoted to bringing their religious heritage with them. Samuel Caldwell deeded two plus acres of land to be used for a church, school, and cemetery. (Myrtle Caldwell Ligon, supra, p. 300.)

In Paul Conkin, "Caldwell's Boys," Tennessee Historical Quarterly, 50 (Summer 1991): 71-79, the Vanderbilt Professor writes:

"I grew up in a Cumberland Presbyterian congregation in East Tennessee. I was born on a farm formerly owned by Thomas Caldwell, a nephew of David. David's brother, Alexander, died as a result of illness contracted as a soldier during the Revolution. In 1795 his widow, and two sons, bought land in the valley where I grew up. The two sons had attended David Caldwell's academy as youngsters, and had been classmates of some of the ministers who came west. In 1796 I am reasonably sure that McGready, McGee, and Barton Stone, on their way to the Cumberland settlements, spent some time with Samuel Caldwell in his new cabin, remnants of which remained when I was a boy, not more than a quarter of a mile from our home, where my mother still lives. I am equally sure that John Rankin stopped there in the fall of 1800 as he carried the exciting news of the Gasper River revival and the new camping back to North Carolina. Samuel Caldwell eventually built a school and a camp meeting site on his land, or what was long known as Caldwell's camp. The green-roofed preaching tent gave an enduring name to our little village--Green Shed. In 1834 a new Cumberland Presbyterian congregation built their first log church on this land, land later donated to the congregation by Samuel's son. The brother of Samuel, Thomas, was one of the first two ruling elders in the congregation. Margaret Caldwell, the sister-in-law of David Caldwell, lived on in Samuel's home until sometime after the census of 1830, preserving until at least then bitter memories of the frantic days when Cornwallis's armies ravaged the Alamance area of North Carolina and even burned David Caldwell's library. Samuel, who died in 1841, has the oldest readable tombstone in our church cemetery. Twice, in the last twelve years, the descendants of Samuel and Thomas Caldwell have held reunions at this church, with my mother filling baskets of food for the dinner on the ground. Finally, as a boy, in my family church, I heard over and over again highly embellished stories about the heroes of our denomination, the now venerable trinity of Ewing, King, and McAdow."

Prof. Vanderbilt indicates that these Presbyterian ministers, all graduates of Rev. David Caldwell's Log College in Greensboro, North Carolina, "exerted a major and distinctive impact upon American culture as a whole -- the great revivals that began in the Cumberland basin in approximately 1797 and after 1800 spread to central Kentucky and to East Tennessee. These revivals peaked in 1801-2, but in some form continued throughout the nineteenth century."

This church – called Bethesda Cumberland Presbyterian Church -- lies today about 18 miles from Greenville, north on Highway 93 toward Kingport.

Samuel Caldwell and his wife are buried there. His is the oldest legible grave marker in the cemetery. (Myrtle Caldwell Ligon, supra, p. 300.)

In 1834 a new Cumberland Presbyterian congregation erected their first log church on this land. The brother of Samuel, Thomas, was one of the first two ruling elders in the congregation. Samuel’s mother, Margaret Caldwell, the sister-in-law of David Caldwell, lived on in Samuel's home until sometime after the census of 1830.

A sketch showing the location of the original house of Alexander Caldwell’s family in Greenville, Tennessee, is provided in the Caldwell Family Newsletter, supra, Fall, 1990, p. 160.

Samuel Caldwell is listed as among the first Tennessee settlers by the East Tennessee Historical Society. http: // east-tennessee .org.

The children of Samuel Caldwell are listed in the Caldwell Family Newsletter. (Myrtle Caldwell Ligon, supra, p. 301.)