The Cheeks of Surry/Yadkin
& Wilkes Counties, NC

The purpose of this page is to summarize my research concerning the Cheek families of Surry, Yadkin, and Wilkes Counties, North Carolina.  In the 19th century, there were three different Cheek families in this part of North Carolina:

Recent DNA testing conducted through the Cheek/Chick DNA Project has shown no relationship between these three Cheek families.

Surry, Yadkin, and Wilkes Counties, NC

Created from an 1837 map

Map of the Surry, Yadkin, and Wilkes County region

 

Surry County formed 1770, Wilkes County formed 1778, Yadkin County formed 1850

 

The Yadkin Valley

The Yadkin River Valley

Surry and Yadkin County

The Cheek and "Cheeks" families of Yadkin County are descended from two brothers, John CHEEK (c.1781) and William CHEEK (c.1790's), who first appear in the records of Surry County in the early 1800's.  They lived on the forks of Deep Creek, which is a part of Surry County that became Yadkin County in 1850.  They were sons of the English immigrant William CHEEK (1728) "of London" who came to Surry County from Bedford County, VA, by 1799.  However, William was not the first Cheek to settle in Surry County.

Earliest Records - John, Richard, Willis, William

The first record of the Cheek surname in the Surry/Yadkin region is a John CHEEK who appears on the 1768 tax list of Rowan County, NC, in Capt. Gideon Wright's District (present-day Surry County).  Tax was assessed for 2 "polls," meaning there were 2 white males in his household over the age of 16 and under age 60.  This John Cheek is believed to be a son of John CHEEK of Anson Co., NC.  John returned to the Anson (Montgomery) County area by 1774 and left no known descendants in Surry County.

We next find a Richard CHEEK in the court records of Surry County, NC.  On Aug. 14, 1774, Richard Cheek was being sued for trespass by John REED.  (W.O. Absher, Surry County, North Carolina, Court Minute Abstracts Vol. 1 (1768-1785) (summons issued "to Richard CHEEK to answer John REED plea of trespass").  According to Surry County land records, John Reed had purchased land on the southwest side of the Yadkin River at the mouth of "Dill's Creek" in 1771 (Surry Co., NC, Deed Book A, p.10).  In 1773, John Reed also purchased land on the west side of the "Tarrarat" (Ararat) River and Stewart's Creek (Surry Co., NC, Deed Book A:205-206).  Richard Cheek may have been living on one of these parcels and John Reed wanted to evict him.  Conflicting land claims were not uncommon in frontier areas.  The outcome of Reed's lawsuit is not reflected in the surviving court records (only fragments exist prior to 1779).

Richard Cheek apparently died prior to Feb. 18, 1775, when the Sheriff of Surry County, William SHEPPERD, sold a Negro man named Peter to Samuel COOPER from the estate of Richard CHEEK, to satisfy a claim by Burrell WILLIAMS vs. COBB and Richd. CHEEK in Chatham Co., NC. Recorded Feb. court 1775.  (Surry Co., NC, WB 1, p.40.)

On Aug. 3, 1778, John WARD entered 500 acres in Surry County at the fork of Archie's Creek on the waters of the Dan River, adjoining the Virginia line and "including the improvement I purchased of Richard CHEEK."  (Surry Land Entry No. 376.)

On May 24, 1779, Richard Cheek (presumably now a younger Richard Cheek) entered 100 acres of land in Surry County on Tom's Creek including the improvement he purchased of Thomas BURK, and another 100 acres on the waters of Pilot Creek and the Little Yadkin.  (Surry Land Entries No. 1618, 1619.)

The final reference to Richard Cheek appears in the Surry County court minutes of Aug. 9, 1785, where "Richard CHEEK, Sr." was "allowed off" from paying taxes as an insolvent (Absher, supra).  The fact that he was called "Sr." implies there was a younger Richard Cheek living in Surry County at that time; however, there is no record of him.  There are no Cheeks listed on the 1786 tax list or the 1790 federal census of Surry County.

In 1792, a man named William CHEEK was dismissed by the Quakers of the Westfield Monthly Meeting in Surry County for marrying out of unity (i.e., marrying a non-Quaker) (Hinshaw, Encylopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol. 1).  The Westfield Monthly Meeting, originally called the Tom's Creek Meeting, was established in 1786 by Quakers who lived around Tom's Creek and Big Creek.  This is the same area where Richard Cheek was living a few years earlier (see above).

According to Surry County, NC, Wills 1771-1827 by Jo White Linn (Clearfield Co., 2007), pp.114-115, "Court Minutes place William Cheek on Archer's Creek in 1794; a Dauson Sheek was serving on a Surry Co. jury at that time."  There seems to be no other record of Dauson "Sheek" or Cheek in Surry County.  It is possible he went to Campbell County, TN, where there is a Dawson CHEEK on the 1818 tax list.

Willis Cheek appears in a Surry County deed dated Dec. 19, 1795, from Rodham MOORE of Patrick County, VA, to Joseph JESSOP, describing boundaries along "Archer's Creek" and the Virginia line, "including the plantation Willis CHEEK now liveth on" (Surry Co., NC, Deed Book F:284).  "Archers Creek" probably refers to "Archie's Creek" which is in the extreme northeast corner of Surry County.    Joseph JESSUP was a Quaker who owned land in the Tom's Creek area, according to other records (see Surry Co., NC, Deed Book F:238; F:341).

It's possible that Richard, William, Willis and perhaps Dauson Cheek of Surry County were related to Richard CHEEK who died in Beaufort County, NC, in 1745.  Richard "of Beaufort" Cheek's line included some Quakers.  Richard's son Richard CHEEK, Jr., of Chatham County, NC, had sons named Richard and William who disappear from Chatham County after the 1770's.  However, this is just one of many possibilities.  The mysterious Cheek family of Tom's Creek and Archie's Creek apparently left Surry County by 1800, as there is no further record of them.

William "of London" Cheek

On June 7, 1799, William CHEEK received a land grant of 140 acres on the waters of Elkin Creek at the "dividing ridge" (Wilkes Co., NC, Deed Book D:803).  This is probably not the William Cheek mentioned in the Quaker records in 1792.  Rather, this is the English immigrant William Cheek (1728) "of London."  William's 1802 will mentions these 140 acres that he owned in Wilkes County.  (Surry County, NC, Wills Vol. 3, pp.54-55.)  Two of William's sons, John CHEEK and William CHEEK, remained in Surry (Yadkin) County; other sons moved to Kentucky and Indiana.

Samuel Cheek

A man named Samuel CHEEK married Nancy ELRODE (ELROD) on Mar. 22, 1802, in Surry County, NC, with bondsman Jacob ELRODE.  Samuel's relationship to the other Cheek families in Surry County is unknown.  Samuel Cheek served as bondsman for the marriage of William ALLEN and Fanny CHEEK in Wilkes County, NC, sometime around 1810 (there is no date on the marriage bond).

Samuel Cheek is mentioned in the will of Adam ELROD of Salem, Stokes County, NC, dated June 14, 1806.  (Note, the city of Salem is now in Forsyth County, NC.)  Adam Elrod was obviously not a fan of his son-in-law.  He left him only one dollar, and directed that Samuel's minor son William CHEEK be raised by Abraham ELROD.  Samuel's wife Nancy Elrod must have died (she is not named in the will) and her son William Cheek was living with her parents.  The Elrods were members of the German Protestant sect known as the Moravians, who came to North Carolina from Pennsylvania in the 1750's and founded the Wachovia settlement.  There are no further records of Samuel Cheek or his son William Cheek in Stokes County.

Wilkes County, NC

By the end of the 19th century, there were several Cheek families living in Wilkes County, NC.  Some were the descendants of William "of London" Cheek (1728) of Surry/Yadkin County.  Others were descendants of Henderson Cheek (c.1805).  Henderson Cheek is a bit of a mystery.  His parents have never been identified, and he has no documented relationship to any of the Cheeks in neighboring counties.  The first name "Henderson" suggests he might be connected to the Cheeks of Alleghany County, but DNA testing through the Cheek/Chick DNA Project disproved that theory.  The name of Henderson's son, Aaron Wesley, suggests a possible connection to the Cheeks of Surry and Yadkin Counties, because John Cheek (c.1781) of Surry/Yadkin also had a son named Aaron Wesley Cheek.  However, DNA testing disproved that theory as well.  So, it seems that Henderson was either from an unrelated Cheek family or perhaps he was a son born out of wedlock.

Henderson Cheek and Juda Anne BAGLEY (or BAGBY) posted a marriage bond in Wilkes County, NC, on Sept. 29, 1827, with Jonathan OSBURN [OSBORNE] as bondsman.  They are listed in the 1830 census of Wilkes County, in a household consisting of one white male 20-29, one white female 20-29, and one white female under 5.  Based on their neighbors, they were living in the Swan Creek area of Wilkes County, which is south of the Yadkin River (nowhere near the land on the "dividing ridge" that William "of London" Cheek purchased in 1799).  Henderson's name appears in the 1830 census immediately after Joseph YOUNGER who is known to have owned a mill on Swan Creek, later called Bagley's Mill.  (See Wilkes County Heritage (Wilkes Gen. Society, 1982), Vol. 1, p.476.)  By 1860, however, Henderson and his family had moved to Traphill, which is in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Wilkes County.  Henderson is identified as a Baptist minister in the census records from 1860 through 1880.

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