Spotlight Family Member

James Meredith Padgett 

Born: 8 February 1858 in Rutherford Co., N. C. He died 4 August 1947 in Cool Springs, Rutherford Co., N. C.,. (He was 89 years old,) He was son of James Clingman Padgett (1831-1890) and Susan L. or "Sudy" Jolley (1828- 1914) He married Emily Alice Kennedy (1856-1905) on  the 21 January 1883. (She was 49 years old when she died.) Their children: Nuna Cathrine or Nuni (1872-1924), Oswald Roscoe (1884-1973), Carrie Loretta (1886-1978), John Clingman (1888-1964), and Birdie (Grace) (1891- 1929). (Bird is James Kenneth (the 1st) or Grey's, mother.)

Following Excerpt From Book:

  The Heritage of Rutherford County North Carolina, Volume I, 1984. Published by: The Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County: James Clingman Padgett was born April 14, 1831, died April 14, 1890. He married Susan Jolley born April 17, 1828, died February 3, 1914. They were the parents of seven children and lived near the Rock Springs Campground, which is located about about 1/2 mile east of Floyd's Creek Baptist Church. This church was formed about 1870. James Clingman Padgett was also a Confederate Veteran. The children in this family were James Meredith, born February 8, 1858 died 1947, Dixon, Young, Salina, Cora, Jane and Tina.

Rutherford County --- A Short History

Indians, Explorers, and Early Settlers

For thousands of years Rutherford County (North Carolina) was the home and hunting ground of the red man. Spanish expeditions under Hernando De Soto (1540) and Juan Pardo (1566-67) may have spent time in the area before English traders first passed through on their way to the Cherokees in 1673. By that time there were no neutral hunting ground between the Catawbas to the east and the Cherokees to the west. The Broad River, called Eswaw Huppeday (Line River) by the Catawba's, was the dividing line between the two tribes, who were often at war.

   Except for occasional Indian hunting or war parties and a few adventurous white traders and hunters who traversed the area, the present Rutherford County was uninhabited from the late 1600s into the mid-1700s. The area between the Catawba River and the Cherokee Nation was part of Bladen County beginning in 1734, becoming part of Anson in 1750 and Mecklenburg in 1763. Although some writers have claimed that white settlers appeared in Rutherford County as early as 1730, the first land grants in the county were made in 1754 and probably were not settled for several years. In 1754 the French and Indian War began; no further land grants were issued in the area until the end of the war in 1763, and it appears that many of the settlers west of the Catawba left for safer regions.

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