The Waxhaws Colonial Settlement

Originally known as “the Waxhaw Settlement,” the region encompasses an area just south of Charlotte, NC to Lancaster, SC and from the Catawba River in the west to Monroe, NC in the east. The area was named for its first inhabitants, the Waxhaw Indians.

Who were the first European settlers in the Waxhaw area? The earliest white European settlers began coming down the Great Wagon Road around 1740. They were predominantly Scots-Irish and German immigrants, who had come to America in search of land and opportunity. There were also a few English settlers, descendants of earlier New England colonists, who moved southward where land was more plentiful. Stalwart and hardy, these early settlers had a hard life to forge in what was then known as the Backcountry. Early roads were few and hard to travel, making communication and trade in and out of the region both erratic and unpredictable. Travel that did occur was often stymied by wet weather.

There were few encounters in this area between the Native Americans and these first European settlers, as by then most Indians in the region had been wiped out by disease and war. Those that were left often assimilated into other tribes. Consequently, these early European settlers found little competition for land, plenty of timber for homes, and an abundance of game. Many practiced the Presbyterian faith, and the first church in the region was built in 1752. The family of Andrew Jackson attended the Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church, and his father is buried in the cemetery there.

Family names historically associated with the “fine red hills of the old Waxhaws Settlement” and surrounding area include: