Freeman Van Dyke

Freeman was born either in Lunenburg County, Virginia, or Granville County, North Carolina. His father appears in the Granville County public records frequently until about 1765, and appears regularly in the Lunenburg County, Virginia public records through the 1780's. Although Henry apparently had a close connection to Granville County, where his wife's family was from, it appears that it may have just been as a landholder. A 1758 deed of gift refers to Henry as "of Lunenburg County in Virginia" so it is likely Freeman was born there. Freeman first appears in the Lunenburg County tithables list as a resident of his father's home on March 15, 1783. The definition of tithable in Lunenburg County at that time included free white males over 21. Inclusion on this list would put Freeman's birth date prior to March 15, 1762. A petition dated August 12, 1781 by many of the inhabitants of Lunenburg County regarding Rev. James Craig was signed by Henry Vandyke and David Vandyke, but not Freeman. This might indicate that Freeman wasn't yet 21, and if so would put his birth date after August 12, 1761. Betty Reneau of Dandridge believes Freeman was born about 1761 and died about 1830.

According to several sources, Freeman was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Jesse Hagan Franklin, in her book on the Van Dyke’s, claimed that Freeman or Henry was listed in the 6th Continental Line of Virginia and served under Capt. James Johnson. Jesse went on to say that Freeman served under Captain Hay, of Lunenburg County Virginia, and Colonel Meade, and was in the battles of Camden and Guilford. His listing “Vandyke: Freeman, R-20-202 in the National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Freeman was married twice. The name of his first wife has not been determined, nor have the names of any children that he may have had with his first wife. Mary "Polly" Whittle was his second wife. Best estimate is that this was before 1791.

Freeman’s first son, John Hardin Van Dyke, appears to have been born in Virginia around 1791 and his first daughter Sarah (Sally) appears to have been born around in Virginia about 1793. It is not known whether either of these children was from his first wife or from his second wife, Mary Whittle. Freemans's daughter Elizabeth Vandyke Gass is listed in the 1850 census of Jefferson County as age 53 and born in North Carolina, so apparently the family lived in North Carolina, at least briefly. His son Henry Charles appears in 1850 and later census records as born in 1800 in Tennessee. Freeman was in Tennessee by 1798 when he appears in a store account book in Sevier County, Tennessee. The account book's fly leaf says “William Doherty - October 15, 1798. In the list of account is the following notation: Freeman Vandick - October 1798 - part of bill paid by making and mending shoes.”

In addition to the above, it is unlikely that Freeman would have been in Tennessee much earlier. The Allegany Mountains served somewhat as a barrier to further westward expansion because of the difficulty of crossing. In many places there were only trails that could accommodate people on foot or on horseback. Families in that era traveled either by boat on the rivers or by horse and wagon. Early settlers from Virginia used the Holston River to get into eastern Tennessee and North Carolina settlers used the French Broad River. It was not until a passage through the mountains was found that could be widened to accommodate wagons that further westward migration could really begin to take off. One of these passages was the Cumberland Gap discovered in 1750 by Dr. Thomas Walker, a Virginia physician and explorer. This trail had long been used by Native Americans but was not widened to accommodate wagons until the early 1790’s. According to the same source it was a team of loggers led by Daniel Boone who opened the trail. From the end of the Revolutionary War until the Civil War, thousands of people from the Carolinas, Maryland, and Virginia moving west to Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Texas and other places west traveled through eastern Tennessee using the Holston and French Broad Rivers and the Cumberland Gap Trail. So how Freeman got to Jefferson County Tennessee is unknown. Depending on where he was living and when he actually came he could have used any one of the three.