Excerpts from "Sketches of Virginia, Historical and Biographical" by the Hi All, This came to me via the Pennsylvania list & makes mention of Whites migrating to VA. & I thought it might help somebody here :) Rev. William Henry Foote, D.D. Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Romney, Virginia, published in Philadelphia by William S. Martien in 1850: [page 100] . . . . In 1701, large bodies of land, from ten to thirty thousand acres with exemption from taxes for twenty years, to compa- [page 101] nies settling on the frontiers, -- on conditions, that there should be, in two years, on the land, one able bodied well armed man ready for defence, for every five hundred acres; and that these should live in a village of two hundred acres area, in the form of a square or parallelogram, laid off in lots near the centre of the town. In 1705 it was enacted that every person, male or female, coming into the colony, for the purpose of making settlement, be entitled to fifty acres of land: families to have fifty acres for each member; no persons possessing less than five tithable servants or slaves, were permitted to take more than five hundred acres; and no persons whatever were to take up more than four thousand acres in one patent. These laws did not produce the effect designed. Villages did not spring up along the frontier as had been expected. The settlements in the Valley of Virginia were not made in consequence of these laws, whose provisions were offensive. They were effected principally by the labours of three individuals to whom Governor Gooch made grants of extensive tracts of land, on condition that within a given time a certain number of permanent settlers should be located on the grants; Burden in Rockbridge County, Beverly in Augusta, and the Vanmeters on Opeckon in Frederick. Great efforts were made by these gentlemen to persuade emigrants from Europe and also Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to take their residence in the Valley of the Shenandoah. Advertisements, describing in glowing terms the beauty and fertility of the valley, and offering a home to the poor emigrant on easy terms, were sent abroad in every direction, and attracted the attention of the hard working tenants in England, Ireland, and Germany, to whom the offer of a farm in fee simple was the offer of wealth. Joist Hite having obtained the grant of the Vanmeters came in the year 1732, with sixteen families from Pennsylvania, and fixed his residence on the Opeckon, a few miles south of the present town of Winchester, on the Great Valley route, at a place now [1850] in possession of the Barton family. His three sons in law, Bowman, Chrisman, and Froman went a few miles further south. Peter Stephens took his residence where Stephensburg, Newtown, now is. The other families were scattered on Cedar Creek and Crooked Run. This was the first regular settlement west of the Blue Ridge in Virginia. From this time the emigration to the Valley of the Shenandoah, and to the region at the eastern base of the Blue Ridge, was rapid. Michael Woods, from Ireland came in the year 1734 and settled at Henderson's quarter near Wood's Gap, in Albemarle. Three sons and three sons in law came with him and settled near. One of the sons in law, William Wallace, took his resi- [page 102] dence on Mechums river, in Albemarle, and his descendants occupy in part the possessions of their ancestor. These were the founders of Mountain Plain Congregation. In the same year Richard Morgan led a company to the neighbourhood of Stephendown on the Cohongoroton or Potomac, in Jefferson County. Among the families that came with him we find the names of Harper, Stroop, Forrester, Friend, Swearingen, Forman, Lucas, Lemon, Mercer, Stockton, Buckles, Taylor and Wright. About the year 1735 William Hoge removed from Pennsylvania and settled on the Opeckon, about three miles south of Winchester. Opeckon meeting house stands upon his track of land. The families of Glass, Vance, Allen, Colvin, White, and others soon joined him and formed the Opeckon Congregation, the oldest Congregation West of the Blue Ridge. About this time a settlement was made on Cub Creek in Charlotte County, and one on Buffalo Creek in Prince Edward, by the influence of Mr. Caldwell; the former was then in Lunenburg and the latter in Amelia. This was followed in quick succession by settlements at Concord and Hat Creek in Campbell County; and Rookfish, in Nelson County, then a part of Albemarle. About the year 1738, the Congregations of Tinkling Spring; Stone Church and Mossy Creek, in Augusta County; all forming the Congregation of the Triple Forks of Shenandoah took their beginning. Soon after, the Congregation of Timber Ridge, Forks of James in Rockbridge, and the Congregation of Back Creek in Berkeley County, were commenced. http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/textindices/V/VA-SOUTHSIDE+19 98+49556776256+F _