In the years prior to the Revolutionary War, ancestors of both my Sell and Peddycord families made their way to North Carolina.  The Sells, who originated in Germany first landed in the Philadelphia area, became associated with the Quakers before moving to North Carolina. While nearly at the same time, the Peddycords, who originated in England, first landed in the Baltimore area, became associated with the Moravians before moving on to North Carolina.  The church for most early non-city dwelling settlers was really very important.  It not only gave them spiritual contact with God, but it also was their community, their trading partners, their protection from outside threats, which set their  standards and governed their lives.  In the northern piedmont area of North Carolina, during the mid to late 1700s, the German speaking Moravians around Salem and the English speaking Quakers of  New Garden (Greensboro), Deep Creek & Muddy Creek (High Point & Kernersville) dominated the area.  It was inevitable that these two groups would eventually blend their families.  The Sell-Peddycord family blended trees is exactly what is represented here.

Jonathan & Sarah Sell brought their family to the Hillsborough area of the state were they built a  farm, while becoming members of the Cane Creek Monthly Meeting of Quakers in the late 1750s. Being pacifist, many Quakers struggled with their neighbors as the country moved toward war. To that end, several Quaker families, including Jonathan Sell's, acquired a tract of land from Governor Wright  in Georgia (just West of present day Augusta) to found the new Quaker settlement of Wrightsboro.   As the Revolutionary War ended, they lost their English governor protection from Indian attacks.   At the same time, lands begin to open that attracted many of these early pioneers to areas we now call the Mid-west. And with those changes, this very meager settlement of Wightsboro began to dissolve.  Jonathan Sell and most of his younger family members made their way back to the Wallburg area of current day Forsyth County, were they became members of the Quaker Muddy Creek Monthly  Meeting.

William Peddycord arrived in Baltimore from England in the later 1600s. Many of William's family  members moved out into the more expansive country to practice farming.  One of William's grandsons, Nathan Peddycord, married and moved his family to Carrollton Manor near Frederick, Maryland.  In 1759, Nathan died, leaving his wife, Sarah Lucas Peddycord, and her grown sons to continue farming the land as they become deeply involved with the Moravian Church there. In 1774, Nathan's wife and most of his kids made the trek southward to small portion of the Wachovia tract of land owned by the Moravians in North Carolina. In the southern part of what's now Forsyth County, they helped help found the little settlement named Hope. All the other Moravians at that time in the area still spoke their native language of German.  However, Hope became Wachovia's first English speaking Moravian settlement.

The Sell and Peddycord families from the northwest piedmont area of North Carolina were blended as  recently as my parents, along with many other places and times are found in this tree. It contains the extended members of those two families, along with the families of my wife's parents, the Hatfield and the Lemieux families from the Quincy & Weymouth areas of Massachusetts.  The Hatfields originally came to New Jersey from England, but after the Revolutionary War when they remained loyal to the King of England, the family took refuge near an English settlement in the Nova Scotia province of Canada.  The Lemieux family originated in France, and became early settlers of the new City of Quebec in the early 1700s.  Both Hatfield and the Lemieux ancestors immigrated to the Quincy/Weymouth area of Massachusetts in the late 1800s.

There are many other surnames that are included in this tree.  And while my parents were born with the Sell and Peddycord names, and my wife's parents were born with the Hatfield and Lemieux names, the other surnames listed are equally our ancestors.  Our parents, grandparents, great grandparents on to our 10th great grandparents and beyond represent a "Long Line of Love" from where we came.  Their dreams, fears and desires, just like their blood runs through our bodies and souls, and makes us who we are.  And it will become who all of our children and grandchildren are and will forever be!  Theirs and our stories will live on until the end of time through our future generations!