I recently saw in a book about gunsmiths a diagram of regional immmigration pathways . It showed that many of the immigrants to the Piedmont east of Salem, NC came from Tidewater VA through Halifax, NC by an eastern route. I have also read recent accounts of Continental soldiers en route from Washington's northern army 1779-1780 and Cornwallis' route from Wilmington to Yorktown in 1781. Both groups followed east-west routes that passed through Halifax and crossed the Roanoke river at the same fords & bridges. This might explain those British immigrants who do not seem to fit the Great Wagon Road pattern of immigration from PA to Salem. It must be remembered that an estimated 250,000 emigrated from Northern Ireland to America from 1717-1775.