THE HISTORY
AND FAMILY TREE
OF THE
RODERICK FAMILY
The main source of information for this history was from the late John Roderick of Rutherford College, North Carolina.
The numbers refer to the attached Appendices, prepared from research by Dixon A. Lackey and Helen L. Lupton.
THE RODERICK FAMILY TREE
Frederick Roderick (from Germany)
William Daniel (married Elizabeth Spainhour)
Charles William Harvey
Nicholas Charity Malinda (Wakefield)
Annie (Kerley) Sarah Lucinda (Dobson)
Mary Salena (Conley)
John Henry
Sidney Monroe
Catharine Elizabeth (Avery)
Eliza Ann (Grayson)
Margaret Lavinia (Hemphill)
Leah Matilda (Turner)
Charles Daniel
Elam Emery
The name Roderick originated from the German name, Rotherick, and when Frederick Roderick came to America, he changed it to Roderick.
The history of the Roderick family begins in America with the American Revolution. Not long after the Battle of Lexington when the farmers "fired the shots that were heard around the world", King George III decided that he was going to put a stop to the trouble in America. He called it a "Rebellion against the English Crown".
At this time Frederick the Great (Fredrick II) was in power in Germany. King George sent some crafty officers over to Germany to make arrangements to hire an army of Germans to help England whip the Americans back into subjection. An army of 17,000 of the very best young manhood was raised from the provinces Hesse, Hanover, and Ansbach. These men were the best physically and best trained in Germany. According to history, the most of these men were Hessians but it is not clear just which province Frederick Roderick came from.
The English Government paid the German Government for these soldiers to fingt for them. These men were in one sense of the word, sold by their government to another country to fingt. These men undoubtedly did not like this idea too well.
This army was landed on Staten Island, near New York, in July or August 1776, but there were quite a number of these men who decided that since their native country had sold them that they would not fight for England. After landing on American soil, they found out that the American cause was a good one. At once their sympathies were for the American people, who should be free and independent. Also they were liberty-loving and decided to desert the English Army at the first opportunity and help win the independence of the American people by joining the American forces.
After catching a chance to desert their army, they made their way to General Washington's Army which was in and around New York. This was a perilous task but most of them succeeded. One of these men was Frederick Roderick.
As Frederick (1) was making his escape, the British and/or Tories tried very hard to catch him and kill him. They ran him into a swamp where he hid under a fallen tree for three days and nights without food or water. The British and/or Tories walked on this fallen tree hunting for him while he was hiding under it. He heard them talking about him and there they gave him up as escaped beyond their reach. After they had gone he remained hidden until he thought it safe to come out.
Slowly he made his way to General Washington's Army and offered to render his services. These were accepted and he fought through to the end of the war to be a free man in a free country.
Now at the end of the war, Frederick had fought for seven long years for the liberty of the American people. He found himself without a home or a country. He was given an Honorable Discharge from the American Army, which was then in Virginia, but he lost it later and never received any payment from the government for his services. This discharge was made during the summer of 1783.
On September 5, 1783, Frederick went to an officer of the state of Virginia, and took the Oath of Allegiance to that State, becoming an American by adoption. A copy of this Oath* which was written in longhand is as follows:
"I do certify that FREDRICK RODERICK hath taken and subscribed the oath or affirmation of allegiance and fidelity as directed by an act of General Assembly entitled an act to oblige the free male inhabitants of this State (Virginia) above a certain age to give assurance of allegiance to the same and for other purposes, witnessing my hand and seal this 5th day of September, 1783 John Henderson** SEAL"
Frederick then settled down to civil life in Albemarle County, near Charlottesville, Virginia. Not long afterward, he married a Virginia lady whose maiden name is not known (2). They lived for several years on a farm which he sold in 1792 and moved to the town of Charlottesville. There he was a merchant for several years. (3) His wife died, leaving him four children, three boys and one girl.. The boys' names were William, Charles (or Charlie), and Nicholas. The girl's name was Annie.
* The original of this Oath was last known to be in the possession of descendants of the late W. S. Spencer, N.C.
** The name "Henderson" is not clear, and could be "Hendrey".
A few years later he married again. This time to an English girl of Virginia. She was a widow whose given name was Elizabeth, but her maiden name is not known. (4) To this marriage was born one son, Daniel, from whom the Rodericks of Burke County are directly descended. He was born January 2, 1804.
In 1808, Frederick sold his mercantile business in Charlottesville and moved his family and as much of their movable effects as they could carry in their six-horse wagon from Charlottesville to North Carolina, to settle in Burke County. (5) Just what part of Burke County they lived in for a few years is not known.
In 1813, Frederick bought a 200-acre tract of land from Waightstill Avery in Linville Township on Kerley's Creed. (Rose's Creek and Irish Creek are mentioned in some versions but all are in the same vicinity.) For this 200 acres, he paid $66.66 2/3. This land was located on what is now the Jamestown Road and where the old family graveyard now is. Many of the Rodericks are buried there. Here on this land, he built a house near a good (6) spring and near the head of the east prong of Kerley's Creedk.
After his children by his first marriage were grown, they left home. William and Nicholas went to Lincoln County to live. William was a farmer, and Nicolas was a bad cripple, having gotten badly hurt while working at a mill, so he never married but made his home with his brother, William. (7) There he lived until he died. Charles left home because he and his father had some trouble over some work which had not been done to suit him. After leaving, he was never heard from again. The only girl, Annie, married a man by the name of Kerley, the son of Thomas Kerley, (8) and a brother of the late Aaron Kerley, of Burke County. She and her husband left Burke County shortly after they were married and moved to another state.
Daniel remained at home with his father and mother. He married Peter Spainhour's daughter, Elizabeth, when he was 19 years old, that being in 1823. He bought a farm adjoining his father's land.
In 1835, Daniel sold a piece of land valued at $300 to Noah Spainhour for a Negro girl, Cindy. This was the first slave he ever owned. Noah made a title to her to Daniel. At the time of the Civil War, he owned twenty slaves.
Frederick Roderick was a stone mason by trade. He learned his trade in his native country, Germany, when he was a young man, as the laws of Germany required. After coming to Burke County he worked at his trade as well as farmed. He built quite a few stone walls for different people. One of these jobs was for a Mr. John Caldwell. It was a stone wall under Caldwell Mill on Upper Creek, in about 1820. Most of this wall is still standing. (8) About the last stone job Frederick did was on the present Burke County Courthouse, built between 1836 and 1838. The contractor hired Frederick for between 18 months and two years. When he had finished, he put a plant down on the top of the building and stood on his head!
In 1835, Frederick Roderick made a will leaving everything he had to his son, Daniel, providing he would take care of his and his mother as long as they lived. Daniel made a bond for the faithful performance of this duty as requested in his father's will. He cared for them until they died, becoming heir to the entire estate. (9)
On March 15, 1842, Frederick Roderick died. He was buried in the family graveyard on his farm which is the Roderick graveyard previously mentioned. His wife survied him seven years. She died on March 14, 1849, and was buried next to her husband. (10)
Daniel was the father of 14 children, seven boys and seven girls. Two of the boys were born dead and of course were not named.
The first child, William Harvey, was born 18 July 1824, and died 10 June 1827, at the age of 2 years and 11 months. He was the first Roderick to die in America.
The second child, Charity Malinda was born 1 November 1824, and died 8 February 1908. She married William Wakefield. (They are buried at Mt. Grove Church.)
The third child, a girl, Sarah Lucinda (Sally) was born 8 January 1827 and died 10 April 1918. She married George Washington Dobson.
The fourth child, a girl, Mary Salena, was born 29 October 1828, and died 5 October 1920. She married Alford Conley. (He never returned from the Civil War.)
The firth child, a boy, John Henry, was born 5 October 1830, and died 10 August 1923, in Dodd City, Texas. He married Laura Ellen Fuller.
The sixth child, a boy, Sidney Monroe,was born 4 January 1832, and died 29 March 1907. He married Sarah Jane Kerley on 23 November 1866.
The seventh child, a girl, Catherine Elizabeth (Kate), was born 10 March 1834, and died 2 February 1911. She married Theodore Avery.
Then two boys were born dead.
The tenth child, a girl, Eliza Ann (Liza), was born 19 October 1837, and died 4 April 1926. She married Rev. Joseph Elbert Grayson.
The eleventh child, a girl, Margaret Lavinia (Mag), was born 25 April 1840, and died 26 June 1932. She married William Hemphill.
The twelfth child, a girl, Leah Matilda (Til), was born 24 June 1842, and died 1 January 1919. She married Warren Gray Turner.
The thirteenth child, a boy, Charles Daniel, was born 21 July 1845, and died 15 June 1903.
The fourteenth child, a boy, Elam Emery, was born 18 March 1848, and died in 1923. He married Mary M. Gibbs.
Daniel Roderick (tombstone reads RODRICH) died 19 August 1860 (56 years, 7 months, 15 days). Elizabeth Spainhour Roderick (tombstone reads RODRICK) died 12 April 1886 (84 years, 3 months, 4 days).
Daniel Roderick died, leaving his wife everything of which he was possessed, for her lifetime, and at her death, the estate to be divided equally between his eleven children. In April 1865, the Yankees stole all the horses and mules except one old mare.
Sidney Roderick was named executor of the will of his father, but had done nothing with the estate during his mother's lifetime. In 1888, the land was auctioned off, there being nothing left of the estate after the Civil War except the land, and a certificate of stock in the Carolina Railroad Company, bought for $500, but not worth ten cents on the dollar, so he refused to sell this. John Roderick of Rutherford College (the writer of this history) had it in his possession during his lifetime.