Samuel Caldwell was 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 married Mary Rogers (daughter of James Rogers and Mary McFeran)
about 1798. He died in 1841.

Along with his brothers and sisters and his mother, Samuel Caldwell moved to
a place of promise, Greene County, Tennessee, about 1795. Alexander's widow,
and two sons, Samuel Caldwell and Thomas Caldwell, bought land in the
Cumberland Valley. Both sons had attended David Caldwell's Log College, and
were instrumental in persuading theological students who had also attended
that Log College to migrate to Tennessee and revitalize the congregations.

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.

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. This church was called Bethesda Cumberland
Presbyterian Church -- lies today about 18 miles from Greenville, north on
Highway 93 toward Kingport. He and his wife are buried there. His is the
oldest legible grave marker in the cemetery. 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 Tennessean settlers by the East
Tennessee Historical Society, http://east-tennessee-history.org.