The Gauldin Migration to Saline, Missouri

Josiah W. Gauldin, the son of Josiah Gauldin and Serviah “Sophia” Seay.  He was born 27 February 1802 in Cumberland, Virginia and he died on 29 September 1884 in Malta Bend, Saline, Missouri.  When land opened up in Missouri, Josiah W. Gauldin and some of his family took advantage of the opportunity.  This General Land Office Record, dated 1835 pertains to  him.  It reads:

"The United States of America, To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:

Whereas, Josiah Gauldin of Saline County, Missouri has deposited in the General Land Office of the United States, a certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Fayette whereby it appears that full payment has been made by the said Josiah Gauldin according to the provision of the act of Congress of the 24th of April 1820, entitled "An act making further provision for the sale of the Public Lands," for the West half of the South West Quarter of Section Twenty four in the Township Fifty two of Range Twenty West in the District of Lands subject to sale at Fayette Missouri containing eighty acres according to the official plat of the survey of the said Lands, returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General, which said tract has been purchased by the said Josiah Gauldin. 

Now Know Ye, That the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in consideration of the premises and in conformity with the several acts of Congress in such case made and provided, have given and granted, and by these presents, do give and grant unto the said Josiah Gaulden ... and his heirs the said tract above described: To Have and to Hold the same, together with all the rights, privileges, immunities and appurtenances of whatsoever nature thereunto belonging, unto the said Joshia Gauldin and to his heirs and assigns forever.

In testimony whereof I, Andrew Jackson, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, have cause these Letters to be made Patent, and the Seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed.

Given under my hand at the City of Washington, the thirteenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five and of the Independence of the United States the Sixtieth.  By the President Andrew Jackson

By A.J. Donelson, Sec'y

Ethan A. Brown, Commissioner of the General Land Office"

U.S., General Land Office Records, 1776-2015, Saline, Missouri for Josiah Gauldin (1)

Of the nine children of Josiah Gauldin and Sophia Seay, all of them went to Saline, Missouri and three are undecided (Mary, Frances and Ann).  All of the children are named in their father’s Cumberland County will and they are all recorded in the Josiah Gauldin Family Bible. 

1.        Mary Gauldin 1790– She married (1) Unknown Barnett and (2) Henry P. Scruggs.  The place of her death is not known. She is identified as Mary Barnett in the will of her father.

2.       Frances Gauldin 1792– She may have died in Buckingham County (2), but it is uncertain.  She married (1) Matthew Hendrick 1792–1834 and (2) Alexander King Davis 1791–1856.  She is identified as Frances Hendrick in her father’s will.

3.       Willis Wilson Gauldin 1795–1848 - He went to Lafayette County, Missouri and left a 1848 will there.  He married Martha Ann Hendrick.

4.       William Gauldin 1800–1850 - He is last listed in the 1850 Census of Saline, Missouri. 

5.       Josiah W. Gauldin 1802–1884 - He died 29 SEP 1884 in Malta Bend, Saline, Missouri, USA.  He married (1) Sarah Ann Brown and (2) Lucy Ann Allen.

6.       John Seldin Gauldin 1804–1854 - He died in 1854 in Saline County, Missouri.  He married Mary Ann Johnson.  They must have gone to Missouri around 1850 because their son Willis Wilson "Willie" Gauldin was born in Missouri.

7.       Ann Gauldin 1806– She stayed in Cumberland County, Virginia and may have been disabled in some way because her father makes special provision for her in his will. 

8.      Benjamin Morris Gauldin 1808–1862 - He died in 1862 in Jefferson, Saline, Missouri.  He married Frances Snoddy. 

9.       James S Gauldin 1811–1854 – He died in 1854 in Saline, Missouri.  He married Mary Johnston and they had a son named James. 

Why did the sons of Josiah Gauldin and Sophia Seay move to Missouri?

Between 1835 and 1850, families from Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee migrated to Saline County, Missouri (3) because the region offered a combination of fertile land, economic opportunity, and reliable transportation that was increasingly unavailable in the older Upper South. The Missouri River bottoms contained some of the richest agricultural soil in the state, well suited to crops familiar to migrants from the East—especially hemp, which became a major cash crop in Missouri during the 1830s–1850s. The expanding hemp economy, tied to the production of rope and bagging for the cotton industry, attracted experienced planters who already understood its cultivation.

Historian R. Douglas Hurt (4) describes the appeal of Missouri’s “Little Dixie” counties—including Saline County—during the mid‑19th century:

“The rich Missouri River bottoms offered some of the most productive farmland in the state, attracting migrants from Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee who sought new land for hemp, tobacco, and livestock.” 

This single sentence captures the economic, agricultural, and migration‑chain reasons families moved into Saline County during the 1835–1850 period.  Federal land policy also played a central role. Under the Land Act of 1820 (3), settlers could purchase land for $1.25 per acre, (4) making Missouri far more affordable than the increasingly exhausted and subdivided lands of Virginia. The region’s location along the Missouri River provided direct access to steamboat transportation, enabling farmers to ship hemp, tobacco, livestock, and grain to St. Louis and beyond. This transportation network made Saline County economically viable in a way that interior counties were not.

Migration was further reinforced by chain settlement. Once a few families from the Upper South established themselves in Saline County, relatives and neighbors followed, creating kinship clusters that reproduced the social and agricultural patterns of Virginia. By the 1830s and 1840s, Saline County had become one of the most heavily Virginian‑settled counties in Missouri, offering both economic promise and cultural familiarity. These combined forces explain why families such as the Gauldins carried their family Bible westward and established new roots in Saline County during this period.

Works Cited

1. U.S., General Land Office Records, 1776-2015. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1246/images/RHUSA2007B_MO0520-00067?pId=1136715.

2. Virginia, U.S., Death Registers, 1853-1911 for Frances Davis. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/62152/images/62152_i870344-00346?pId=45164289.

3. History of Saline County, Missouri. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Company, 1881.

4. Hurt, R. Douglas. Agriculture and Slavery in Missouri’s Little Dixie. Columbia, MO : University of Missouri Press, 1992. p. 4.

5. U.S. Statutes at Large, 3 Stat. 566 (Land Act of 1820). establishing the $1.25 per‑acre price for public land.

6. Gates, Paul W. History of Public Land Law Development. Washington, DC : Government Printing Office, 1968.