The Scotch-Irish Mirgration

The following is abstracted from The Scotch-Irish, A Social History by James G. Leyburn, published by The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, copyright 1962, ISBN 0-8078-4259-1, LOC Cat.#62-16063. This publication covers the whole migration of lowland Scots from Scotland to Ireland beginning in 1610, then to America in the 1700's, and finally, across the mountains to the Pennsylvania frontiers and down the valleys into Virginia and the Carolinas. This abstract sketches the waves of migration from Ulster to America. There were five great waves of emigration, with a lesser flow in the intervening years. An analysis of the tides of 1717-18, 1725-29, 1740-41, 1754-55, and 1771-75 provides, in effect, a chart of the economic health of northern Ireland.

Landlord- "I must have my rent; you may
go to the soup-kitchen or starve."

1717-18

This first movement, so significant as a path-opener, had as its immediate cause the years of drought; but it was the opinion of Archbishop King and Dean Swift that not even the dire effects of bad crops and high prices would have been enough to make the people move if they had not had the added goad of rack-renting*, still such a novel practice that it caused intense resentment. In a letter of 1718 to the Archbishop of Canterbury, King summed up the causes and tried to persuade his colleague to use his influence to arouse the English conscience to a realization of the effects of what was happening. He charged: "I find likewise that your Parliament is destroying the little Trade that is left us. These & other Discouragements are driving away the few Protestants that are amongst us. ...No Papists stir except young men that go abroad to be trained to arms, with intention to return with the Pretender. The Papists being already five or six to one, & a breeding People, you may imagine in what conditions we are like to be." . . .

In a sense, the emigrants of 1717 would be explorers whose report on their experiences could guide those who came after. The Ulstermen who went to Boston found unexpected difficulties and a welcome that lacked warmth. Those who followed them in the next two years were made to understand that they were not at all welcome. The people who entered America by the Delaware River, on the other hand, found a land of the heart's desire. Their enthusiastic praise of Pennsylvania persuaded others to follow them, and then still others, until by 1720 "to go to America" meant, for most emigrants from Ulster, to take ship for the Delaware River ports and then head west. For the entire fifty-eight years of the Great Migration, the large majority of Scotch-Irish made their entry to America through Philadelphia or Chester or New Castle.

*Rack-rent was simply raising the rent on the land after the period of the lease had expired, and renting to the highest bidder. Lease terms in Ulster were usually 31 years, much longer than they had been in Scotland, and were reasonable in the 17th century. As more and more immigrants came in and land became scarce landlords could get more for use of their land. However, the dispossessed, who had been there for a generation or two, were outraged.

1725-29 

The second wave was so large that not merely the friends of Ireland but even the English Parliament became concerned. Parliament appointed a commission to investigate the causes of the departures, for they had reached proportions that portended a loss of the entire Protestant element in Ulster.

Letters from immigrants themselves spoke of rack-rents as a determining cause of this second wave; but the Pennsylvania Gazette mentioned these as only one of the "unhappy Circumstances of the Common People of Ireland" that had resulted in so great an exodus. An article in that journal (November 20, 1729) reported "that Poverty, Wretchedness, Misery and Want are become almost universal among them; that . . . there is not Corn enough rais'd for their Subsistence one Year with another; and at the same Time the Trade and Manufactures of the Nation being cramp'd and discourag'd, the labouring People have little to do, and consequently are not able to purchase Bread at its present Rate; That the Taxes are nevertheless exceeding heavy, and Money very scarce; and add to all this, that their griping, avaricious Landlords exercise over them the most merciless Racking Tyranny and Oppression. Hence it is that such Swarms of them are driven over into America."

1740-41 

Famine struck Ireland in 1740* and was certainly the principal occasion for the third large wave, which included numbers of substantial Ulstermen. An estimated 400,000 persons died in Ireland during 1740-41; for the next decade there was a tremendous exodus to America. This third wave marked, on the American side, the first movement of Scotch-Irish in any numbers beyond the confines of generous Pennsylvania to the southwest. Following the path through the Great Valley, many Ulstermen now went into the rich Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, whose southern extremity opens out toward North and South Carolina. Arthur Young, writing in 1779, estimated that between 1728 and 1750 Ulster lost a quarter of her trading cash and probably a quarter of her population that had been engaged in manufacture. His comment, if accurate, suggests the caliber of men now leaving the country.

*Not to be confused with the potato crop failure that was the cause of the great Catholic Irish migration in 1845-47.

1754-55

The fourth exodus had two major causes; effective propaganda from America and calamitous drought in Ulster. A succession of governors of North Carolina had made a special effort to attract to that province colonists from Ulster and from Scotland. That two of these officials were themselves Ulstermen lent persuasiveness to their invitation and appeal. As drought ravaged the countryside, testimony of Scotch-Irish success in American struck a particularly responsive chord in hearts back home.

At this moment, however, the Scotch-Irish pioneers had their first taste of real trouble with the Indians. The French and Indian wars broke out in the colonies and were to last for more than seven years. For the time being, these violent disturbances effectively dried up the source of new immigration. More than this, Ulster was just now undergoing a true economic recovery. Her prosperity was so pronounced that the vacuum left by emigrants began to be filled by arrivals of people from the south of Ireland and from Scotland. Her population began to increase apace; indeed, it was the pressure of numbers, combined with a new economic depression, that caused the final large wave of migration.

1771-75 

Young, writing in 1779, when the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War had eliminated the possibility of further emigration, said that the people of Ulster had by 1770 become very poor, living chiefly "on potatoes and milk and oat bread," and that their little farms had been divided and subdivided until "the portions were so small they cannot live on them." More than this, the shipowners at the ports of Belfast and Derry were in distress because their "passage trade, as it was called," which had long been a regular branch of commerce, was now cut off.

There was, however, a special reason for the departure of this final wave. In 1771, when the leases on the large estate of the Marquis of Donegal in county Antrim expired, the rents were so greatly advanced that scores of tenants could not comply with the demands and so were evicted from farms their families had long occupied. This aroused a spirit of resentment so intense that an immediate and extensive emigration was the consequence. During the next three years nearly a hundred vessels sailed from the ports in the North of Ireland, "carrying as many as 25,000 passengers, all Presbyterian." Froude gives an even larger figure: "In the two years which followed the Antrim evictions, thirty thousand Protestants left Ulster. ...

Religious Liberty

Throughout the fifty-eight years of the Great Migration, religious liberty had been a motive only at the beginning. It is nevertheless significant, both for Ireland and America, that those who left Ulster were almost all Presbyterians. Members of the Established Church rarely went, nor did Roman Catholic Irishmen. ...

All of the thirteen original American colonies received Scotch-Irish settlers. By comparison with the main stream that flowed through Pennsylvania, the Valley of Virginia, and the Carolina Piedmont, however, Scotch-Irish settlement in other colonies was insignificant in numbers. The strength of Presbyterianism in many of the colonies (New Jersey, for example) was not, as might be supposed, evidence of Scotch-Irish settlement, on the contrary, most of these churches had been founded by English and Welsh Presbyterians and many by immigrants directly from Scotland.

Distinction between the Scots and Ulsters

A clear distinction should be made at this point between colonists from Scotland and those from Ulster, for the two have often, to the complete distortion of events, been thought identical. It has already been noted that by 1717 Scots and Ulstermen were two different nationalities. Extensive emigration from Scotland to America occurred during the eighteenth century, possibly a fourth or a fifth as large as that from Ulster; but the reasons for Scottish emigration were distinct. Before the union of the two Crowns in 1707, many Scots were exiled as criminals and many more came as indentured servants or as merchants to America. After the Union, since Scots had equal rights with Englishmen, including the right of moving to the colonies, thousands came over to escape the grinding poverty at home. Defeat of the Highlanders in 1746, after the collapse of the Stuart cause, with the determination of the government to "civilize" these people, caused a large exodus; and the enclosure of lands, the dispossession of tenants, and the consequent dissolution of ties of personal loyalty binding man to chief, sent thousands of others to America. The pull from the colonies was, as usual, the opportunity for a better life. At times during the nineteenth century there came to be a positive "rage for emigration" throughout both Lowlands and Highlands.

Scots in America from the first showed traits clearly different from those of the Scotch-Irish. Scots were seldom explorers, Indian fighters, or frontier traders; they played only a minor role as pioneers, preferring to settle in the east and to carry on business enterprises. Their greatest difference from their Ulster cousins, however, was seen at the time of the American Revolution: whereas the Scotch-Irish were usually ardent patriots and notable fighters in the cause of the colonies, the Scots were, with notable exceptions, Loyalists faithful to the Crown. Only in their Presbyterianism and a few of their traits of personality did they resemble the Scotch-Irish. In North Carolina the Highland Scots for a long while retained their Gaelic language and even their Highland dress.

Children and grandchildren of the original Scotch-Irish settlers in America were always among the leaders in the move to the new West; but they were no longer Scotch-Irish in their social characteristics and outlook. Just as they were likely to become Methodists and Baptists instead of remaining Presbyterians, so they were likely to marry persons whose background may have been English or German. The memory of Ulster and its respectabilities and distinctions meant little or nothing to these constant pioneers. They were Americans.

[The Scotch-Irish] moved immediately upon arrival to a region where there was neither a settlement nor an established culture. He held land, knew independence, had manifold responsibilities from the very outset. He spoke the language of his neighbors to the East through whose communities he had passed on his way to the frontier. Their institutions and standards differed at only minor points from his own. The Scotch-Irish were not, in short, a "minority group" and needed no Immigrant Aid society to tide them over a period of maladjustment so that they might become assimilated in the American melting pot. Like all people, whether immigrants or stay-at-homes, they must have known individual discouragement and disappointment; some may even have had a heightened feeling of inner loneliness, a quality of mind Weber attributes to most Calvinists who reflect upon the implications of the doctrine of predestination. But to the extent that their neighbors shared similar experiences and attitudes, without pressure from other Americans to be different, the Scotch-Irish were not ... marginal men. They were, on the contrary, full Americans almost from the moment they took up their farms in the back-country.

*Although Scotch-Irish immigrants arrived all along America’s Atlantic coast, the major flow of newcomers landed in Pennsylvania. That sea route was driven by the important trade that linked the port of Philadelphia with Ulster ports. After unloading their American cargoes in Ulster, ship captains filled their vessels with emigrants for the return trip. As more and more Ulster people traveled to America, encouraging tales of its widespread opportunities flowed back to Ulster. This migration grew steadily until the outbreak of the American Revolution; after a decade of interruption  by war, it picked up again at a slower pace until the 1820s. 

Most Scotch-Irish emigrants to America traveled in family groups. Upon arrival in Philadelphia, some were forced to accept indentured servitude to pay off their travel costs. But once their indenture ended, typically after seven years, they were free to pursue their own fortunes. Land in America was abundant and cheap. For decades most immigrants could take up enough land to support a family through farming, often paying only minimal fees known as quitrents. The earliest arrivals filled the fertile soils of southeastern Pennsylvania. But as the flow continued, latecomers had to seek land claims further inland. The mountainous geography of Pennsylvania’s western interior, combined with its hostile Indian inhabitants, encouraged many of them to turn southwestward instead, into Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. That region of mild climate and fertile soils drew a steady influx of settlers from the 1720s on.  But eventually the backcountry of Pennsylvania and Virginia could not accommodate all of the immigrants who kept arriving. By the time of the Revolution, and in its immediate aftermath, the flow of settlers moved onward. By the 1780s it had pushed into the western Appalachian Mountain region of the Carolinas, [Kentucky] and Tennessee. These settlers found a less favorable farming environment than their predecessors who had obtained land in the Shenandoah Valley.

Resource: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mcclell2/homepage/migrate.htm
Resource: http://digitalheritage.org/2011/12/the-migration-of-the-scotch-irish-from-ulster-to-western-north-carolina/

William Buster/ Bustard

According to the Reverend Edgar Woods "History of Albemarle County in Virginia," William settled in Goochland (later Albemarle) County, Virginia, and lived in North Garden on the N. Fork of the Hardware River, near the old White Mill. A bridge by his name spanned the stream and was a landmark for many years. He was one of the signers of the call to Rev. Samuel Black. While the "History of Albemarle County" states that William was an emigrant from Scotland, we are reasonably sure that the Buster family are of English descent and we have some reason to think that they may have come to America from Ireland instead of Scotland. RJB 

Jack Buster (Nov. 15, 1936- Aug. 16, 2011,) widely recognized Buster family historian, of Central Point, Oregon, around 2001 published the following on his internet WEB reprint page:  

William Bustard / Buster William is widely accepted as the progenitor of the main Buster line in America, but despite the reams written about him, little of his origin is known for sure. He is reported to have simultaneously emigrated from Donegal, Ulster, North Ireland, and from Scotland, and from England to both Pennsylvania and Virginia, sometimes arriving on the vessel "George and Ann" with brothers John and Claudius. His wife's surname is reported as Wallace, or Wallice, or some other variant spelling. His first born son William is said to have been born in Ireland, and Albemarle County, Virginia and Wythe County, Virginia. None of these claims can be said to be true, but none can be said to be false either. It is clear, however, that since they conflict, as least some are incorrect.  

Passenger lists tracked down for the "George and Ann" are devoid of any Buster or Bustard name. No Claudius or John Bustards appear in any so far located genealogical records of the time. Peter Wallace and his daughter Elizabeth never came to America, but lived and died in Ireland. Nor is there any evidence that William was ever in Pennsylvania despite what Edgar Woods reports in his "History of Albemarle Co., Virginia." The Presbytery of Donegal still exists in Pennsylvania, but has no records of a William Bustard or Buster. The Presbytery was formed at a meeting held at 4:00 p.m. 

Presbytery of Donegal in Lancaster, PA

September 21, 1732 in Philadelphia, according to Presbytery historical records, and William's name is reported to appear first in Virginia on a deed in 1734. Since deeds are signed by sellers and not buyers, it follows that William must have had a presence in Virginia some time prior to 1734. Unless our William was a real estate wheeler-dealer, and there is no evidence of that, it would appear the distance between September 1732 in Pennsylvania and a Virginia deed in 1734 is just too great in miles and too short in time.  We do know that William, along with 56 others, signed the "call" to a Reverend Black dated 29 March 1747 to come to the Presbytery in Virginia. The call was supposedly written by Michael Woods who, it appears, was at the Presbytery of Donegal in Lancaster, PA before migrating to Virginia. This may be where the Irish connection for William was made. The appearance of William's name on the call to Reverend Black from Virginia is evidently insufficient to connect William with either Pennsylvania, the "George and Ann," Ireland, Scotland, or any other claimed association. He could have signed the call simply because others wanted the Rev. Black to migrate to Virginia and not because he had any prior association with him. (Rev. Black turned down the call, but moved in 1751 to Virginia where he purchased 400 acres on Meachum's River and lived until 1770.)  

Others have speculated that William Bustard, Michael Woods, and Reverend Samuel Black were all from Donegal, Ireland. However, the Presbyterian historical Society of Ireland in Belfast, referring to their "History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, 1610-1982," and the "Fasti of the Irish Presbyterian Church, 1613-1840," cannot locate any Rev. Samuel Black. So, while Rev. Black may have come originally from Ireland, he was probably not a minister there. Nor does there appear to be any substance to rumors that a prior association between any of the three existed in Ireland.  What we do know is that William signed a document, reported as a deed, in Goochland, later (1744) Albermarle, Virginia in 1734. His signature also appears on the call to Rev. Black dated 29 March 1747 and that of his wife as a widow in July 1748. While his birth date is open to question, being reported most often as 1694 and less frequently as 1708, his date of death almost certainly falls between April 1747 and July 1748.  There is a record of a William Buster arriving on a vessel in Virginia in 1701. He was transported along with 28 other persons by a Susannah Page for which she received a grant of land. (The Pages, it appears, were actively engaged in this business as there are recorded several other deeds to them in exchange for transport of settlers.) The grant deed clearly lists a William Buster as one of the persons transported. This William was likely an adult or nearly so as there are no other Busters on the transport list. This would place his time of birth probably a decade or so prior to the reported 1694. Whether the transported William and the genealogically significant William are one and the same is yet to be discovered, but at present the deed seems to be a better lead than any documentary evidence discovered previously.

From the Woods family — Kith & Kin. A descendant of the Rev. Samuel Black published the following in the Charlottesville, Virginia, Chronicle, March 21, 1879, from an old document in his possession. Ivy Creek, March 29, 1747:

"Whereas it is agreed or proposed that ye inhabitants of Ivy Creek and ye Mountain Plain congregation joyn togather with ye congrr’gation of Rockflsh to call and invite ye Reverand Samuel Black now restdin in ye bounds of ye Reverend Mr. John Craig’s Congregation, to be our Minister and Pastor to administer ye ordinances of ye Gospel among us: All we, whose names are hereunto affixed, do promise and oblige ourselves to pay- yearly and every- year ye several sums annexed to our names, for ye outward support and incouragement of ye said Mr. Samuel Black during his abode and continuance among us, for ye one half of his Labor in ye Administration of Gospel Ordinances to us in an orderly way-, according to ye Rules and Practice of our Orthodox Reformed Presbyterian Church: The above was written by Michael Woods, who signs first with #i.slO, and his son, William follows with the same, Archibald 1.5, William Wallace the same, Andrew Wallace and John Woods, Sr. will l5s. Five other Woods sign: Michael,Jr, Nathan, Patrick, John,Jr., and Archibald. Eleven of this family out of fifty seven names. Four others gave as much as one pound — the rest an average of eight shillings each."

William and his wife, Elizabeth (maiden name up for debate,) had 7 children, 3 of whom fought in the Revolutionary War:

+	1. William Buster, Patriot          b. 1729, , Albemarle, Virginia, United States          d. 13 May 1795, , Wythe, Virginia, United States  (Age 66 years)
+	2. Major Claudius Buster, Patriot          b. 1733, Goochland, Goochland, Virginia, United States          d. Bef 16 Dec 1807, , Albemarle, Virginia, United States  (Age 74 years)
+	3. John Buster, Patriot          b. 1737, Goochland, Goochland, Virginia, United States          d. 1820, , Albemarle, Virginia, United States  (Age 83 years)
+	4. David Buster, Sr.          b. 1738, Goochland, Goochland, Virginia, United States          d. Bef 24 Sep 1797, , Augusta, Virginia, United States  (Age 59 years)
	6. Claudine Ann Buster          b. 1737, Goochland, Virginia, United States          d. 1797, Charlotte, Virginia, United States  (Age 60 years) + 5. Paul Buster          b. 1740, Goochland, Goochland, Virginia, United States          d. 1797, (Age 57 years) 5. Christian Buster          b. 1745, Goochland, Goochland, Virginia, United States          d. 1835, Greene, Tennessee, United States (Age 90)

Resource:+Familysearch.org and Ancestry.com

William John Buster Jr.- War of the Regulators: Was William Buster a part of the 18th century movement in NC?

William John Buster Jr.(1735-1795), son of William Bustard, who lived in Albemarle and Wythe counties in VA ,and in Caswell and Orange counties in NC. He lived in Caswell Co., NC be ween 1757 and 1770 then returned to Virginia. He also put the place o f death as Wythe Co., VA because his will was filed there in Will Book 1 a t page 32. William served with Capt. Daniel Smith and Lt. Wm Edmundson in Rev. War. His brother David was also in Edmundson's Co. See [D.W.] Records p. 242, page 257.

Caswell Co, NC

We believe that William was born in Albemarle County, Virginia about 1735, a son of William and Elizabeth. In this county he married Jane Woods, a daughter of Michael Woods and Ann Lambert. William was living in Caswell County, North Carolina 8-6—1757, as a son Michael, in his application for a pension, states that he was born there on that date. In Caswell County (formerly a part of Orange County) we found a deed on record for land William bought May 1764. This purchase was for 609 acres and on 3-15-l770 there was another purchase of 265 acres. He sold 328 acres on 7—12—1770, which left him owning some 546 acres. We find no record of his disposing of this land before he moved back to Virginia. North Carolina State Dept., of Archives & History.

Orange Co, NC

Orange County Registration of Deeds, 1752 — 1793. Part II May- Court 1764. Deed from Earl of Granville to William Buster for 609 acres. Proved by Wm. Churton. Orange County Deeds. Book 3, p. 288 = 15 Mar. 1770. John Ward of Bedford County, Virginia to William Buster of Orange County--— of Va. 6o lbs. cur, money. Tract of land in Orange on both sides of Wolf Island Creek, beginning at a white oak on the east side of the creek, a corner of sd Wards land — by his line to a sugar tree — to a red oak in sd Wards line — containing 265 acres, which sd land the said John Ward purchased from Jeremiah Ward. Test: Wy-at Stubbiefleld, Samuel Ward, John Burton. Proved July Court by John Burton. Orange County Deeds. Book 3, p. 328 12 July 1770. William Buster of Orange County to James Wilson of same. 35 lbs. good and lawful money. Tract of land in Orange on both sides of D———— Branch, being the waters of County Line creek — beginning at an oak — to a red oak — to pointers — containing 328 acres and 20 poles. Ack’d, July Court, 1770. Signed, William Buster.

War of the Regulators

In the late 1760s, tensions between (in a nutshell) Piedmont farmers and county officers welled up in the Regulator movement or, as it was known, the War of the Regulation, which had its epicenter in Hillsborough. Several thousand people from North Carolina, mainly from Orange County, Anson County, and Granville County in the western region, were extremely dissatisfied with the wealthy North Carolina officials whom they considered cruel, arbitrary, tyrannical and corrupt. With specie scarce, many inland farmers found themselves unable to pay their taxes and resented the consequent seizure of their property. Local sheriffs sometimes kept taxes for their own gain and sometimes charged twice for the same tax. At times, sheriffs would intentionally remove records of their tax collection in order to further tax citizens. The most heavily affected areas were said to be that of Rowan, Anson, Orange, Granville, and Cumberland counties. It was a struggle of mostly lower class citizens, who made up the majority of the population of North Carolina, and the wealthy ruling class, who composed about 5% of the population, yet maintained almost total control of the government. It is estimated that out of the 8,000 people living in Orange County at the time, some six or seven thousand of them were in support of the Regulators. Governor William Tryon's conspicuous consumption in the construction of a new governor's mansion at New Bern fueled the movement's resentment. As the western districts were under-represented in the colonial legislature, it was difficult for the farmers to obtain redress by legislative means. Ultimately, the frustrated farmers took to arms and closed the court in Hillsborough, dragging those they saw as corrupt officials through the streets and cracking the church bell. Tryon sent troops from his militia to the region and defeated the Regulators at the Battle of Alamance in May 1771. Several trials were held after the war, resulting in the hanging of six Regulators at Hillsborough on June 19, 1771.

It is recorded that William served on the Grand Jury for the Hillsboro District, Caswell County, North Carolina, 9—22—1768. lIe is listed next to the foreman. It is suggested that he may have had to escape from North Carolina, as many others did, because of TMRegulator Activities”. That fail the Regulators were giving much trouble in Hillsboro. It hardly seems possible that if he were a “Regulator” he would be serving on the Grand Jury, however, he could have joined between that time and the battle of Alamance in the spring of 1771. The leaders df the Regulators were working hard to entice the citizens to join their ranks. They succeeded so well that after they were defeated at the battle of Alamance thousands of families fled the state leaving all of their property behind. This could have happened to William, There is no doubt that ho moved back to Virginia, where lie later died and from where his son Michael enlisted in the Army in Virginia, May 1774. In 1785 he received a land grant in Wytho County, Virginia. Children: Charles, Elizabeth, Mary Jane, David,Sarah, Michael, William Bracken, John and Claudius.

Description of a visit to William’s Wythe County, VA, land by a genealogy friend in 1999:

Wythe Co, VA, near NC boarder

"In October, 1999, while researching the Buster genealogy, I took a trip to Virginia, specifically to Wythe County where William Buster (the son of the original William Buster who came to this country from England, lived. The Buster family lived in several counties in Virginia during the 1700/1800s, among those: Montgomery (Wythe County was formed from Montgomery County in 1790), Botetourt (pronounced botta-tot), Washington, ALBEMARLE (which was originally a part of Goochland County), Augusta, Campbell, Scott, and possibly others. Albemarle is where it all starts. I spent two days at the Wythe County Courthouse in the records room, and found NUMEROUS bits of information on the Busters of Wythe County (also spelled “Busterd” in some records).

"William Buster was one of the original settlers of the county when it was formed in 1790 (he and his family moved to Wythe County from Caswell County, NC, in 1785, when he acquired his property through land grants given to the early settlers.) I also discovered that, while living in Caswell County, NC, once a part of Orange County, he owned almost 1,000 acres there! While in the courthouse I noticed a map on the wall, and found that it was a Settlement Map of the county in 1745 to 1858, showing the early settlers’ names where their property was located. I found William Buster’s name listed on the map! I bought a copy of the map from the clerk, and spent the next several hours locating William Buster’s property and where he had lived. The plantation was bequeathed to William’s son, Charles, after the deaths of William and his wife Jane. Charles sold this plantation and the 200 acres it sits on, in 1802, to Mr. George Keesling, which explains why Mr. Keesling’s name is below William Buster’s on the map. To this date (1999), the property is still known as the “Old Keesling Place”.

"The house and 200 acres is across the road from the other property owned by William Buster, which, according to county records and the map, is approximately 426 acres and is bordered on two sides by Cedar Springs Road (also called Rt. 749), one side by Porter Road, and one side by Sharons Road, which is called the “road to the lead mines” on the Settlement Map. At least some of the 200 acres and plantation is intact, but the other property has houses along the roads, mainly Cedar Springs Road to Speedwell, but, all in all, is still beautiful, rolling pasture land and hills. According to a chapter in a book which I read later, at one time the “Keesling Plantation” was beautiful, with a spring house, stone fences and Cripple Creek actually beginning from a spring on the plantation and flowing through the property (both Buster properties are, according to William Buster’s deeds, 'at the headwaters of Cripple Creek.'"

William Buster Last Will

I, William Bustard of the County of Wythe and State of Virginia, being in perfect health and of sound mind and memory and knowing it Is appointed for a man once to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament. First I recommend my soul to God and restorest my body to the Earth with all humble hopes of a blessed Immortality to the one and glorious Resurrection to the other through the all sufficient merit of my Redeemer and that when He resigns his Ministerial Kingdom to his Father I shall after the reunion of my body and spirit be an humble attendant on that most glorious of all Triumphs.

• I give to my loving wife, Jane Bustard, my negroe woman Jude forever. I also give to my loving wife Jane my negroe man slave Adam, my negroe woman Phebe, my negroe boy James, my negroe girls Hannah and Hettie, with all my house furniture of all kinds, all my plantation tools of every kind, my stock of all kinds, with my plantation where I how live during her lifetime and at her decease to be divided as follows to wit:
• I give to my son Charles all my plantation whereon I now live with all my plantation tools, my negroe slave Adam, my negroe woman Phebe, and my negroe boy James, after the decease of my wife forever.
• I give to my daughter Elizabeth Byrd my negroe girl Dinah forever.
• I give to my daughter Jane my negroe girls Hetty and Amy forever, also one horse and saddle, two cows and calves with one half of my house furniture forever.
• I give to my daughter Sarah my negroe girls Ann and Betty, one horse and sadle, two cows and calfes, also the other half of my house furniture, forever.
• I give to my son David my negroe boy Bob forever,
• I give to my son Michael my negroe girl Hannah, after my wife's decease, forever,
• I give to my son William my negroe boy Caesar forever,
• I give to my son Claudius my negroe boy Adam forever.
• All other of my lands to be equally divided among my six sons forever, the residue of my estate to be equally divided among all my children after paying my just debts and funeral expenses.
• I do also constitute my wife Jane Bustard executrix with my son Michael executor to this my last will and testament, as witness my hand and seal this day and year above written.  

William Buster (seal) Signed in presence of us: James Newell Sarah Newell Philip Gains Stephen Sanders Probated in Wythe County on May 13, 1795.

	1. Jane Anne Buster          b. 1780, , Washington, Virginia, United States          d. Sep 1857, , Andrew, Missouri, United States  (Age 77 years)
	2. Jonathan Woods Buster          b. 13 Dec 1782, , Washington, Virginia, United States          d. 26 Mar 1831, , Pulaski, Kentucky, United States  (Age 48 years)
	3. Elizabeth Buster          b. 1784, , Washington, Virginia, United States          d. 1874, , Pulaski, Kentucky, United States  (Age 90 years)
	4. Claudius Buster          b. 6 Oct 1788, , Russell, Virginia, United States          d. 1848, , Pulaski, Kentucky, United States  (Age 59 years)
	5. Sarah Buster          b. 1789, , Russell, Virginia, United States          d. 1838, , Pulaski, Kentucky, United States  (Age 49 years)
	6. William Woods Buster, IV          b. 10 Dec 1792, , Russell, Virginia, United States          d. 16 Jul 1871, , Washington, Texas, United States  (Age 78 years)
	7. Mary Buster          b. 1795, , Russell, Virginia, United States          d. Yes, date unknown
	8. Susannah Buster          b. 1797, , Russell, Virginia, United States          d. Yes, date unknown
	9. Michael Buster          b. 6 May 1798, , Russell, Virginia, United States          d. 1873, , Macon, North Carolina, United States  (Age 74 years)
	10. Peggy Buster          b. 1801, , Russell, Virginia, United States          d. Yes, date unknown
	11. Charles Buster          b. 27 Mar 1805, Somerset, Pulaski, Kentucky, United States          d. 26 Sep 1869, , Macon, Missouri, United States  (Age 64 years)

Resource: Familysearch.org