Richard Netherland

• General Notes
  • "In 1782, when Richard Netherland, 7th of nine children of John and Mary Mosby Netherland, was around 18 years old, Governor Benjamin Harrison, a friend of Captain John Netherland, sent him on a dangerous mission to Kentucky. Richard's older brother, Captain (later to be Major) Benjamin Netherland was then located in Kentucky fighting under the command of General George Rogers Clark."
    
    "Richard went along the most traveled route to Kentucky, which came directly through the Long Island of the Holston River, Sullivan County, Tennessee (then known as the Territory south of the Ohio River) before turning northward toward Cumberland Gap, Kentucky along a trail known as the Devil's Staircase. Samuel Woods, friend, neighbor and possibly relative of Captain John Netherland, had purchased the Long Island of the Holston in 1776 and may have asked Richard to inspect it for him on his journey."
    
    "The land that Samuel Woods purchased, the long Island of the Holston, was acquired from a Colonel William Cocke (future U.S. Senator from Tennessee and future Governor of Louisiana). Cocke had acquired the famous island under strange circumstances, buying various 'squatters rights' and questionable titles from Indian traders. Woods did not have to pay Cocke the bulk of the purchase price until he had secure title. Despite protests from the Cherokees and their agent, Cocke apparently proved ownership. Before Samuel Woods death in 1792, he did obtain a claim of ownership, and on his death, he willed the land to his five daughters, including Margaret whom Richard had married earlier in 1792. Richard's older sister, Sarah, had married James Woods, son of Samuel, in 1790. There is one notation that suggests that the Woods and Netherlands were cousins. (From Woods family notes as quoted by Spoden.)"
    
    "However, the Cherokees did not fully relinquish their claim on the island until the Dearborn Treaty of 1806, and other claims were not cleared until 1818. The island encompassed land about 4 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, about 840 acres. It was the site of momentous events during the early settlement of 'the west' and the Revolutionary war. The Cherokee Indians regarded it as a sacred meeting ground handed down to them by their ancestors. It would become the 19th Century home of the Richard Netherland family.

Click here for details of Richard's family with Margaret (Peggy) Woods

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This page is within a frameset. View the entire genealogy report of Netherland families, or surname index of Netherland pedigrees or report summary of Netherland heritage from "Pearson Family Genealogy".
Family History.

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