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Pruett (Puitt) Book
975-61-G2


         HISTORY OF GASTON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
                      Printed - 1939
                   Pertaining to the Leepers

Robert Leeper was one of the first known settlers near the river
junction of the Catawba river and South Fork area, known as the
point. His earliest grant of land was for 350 acres on March 31, 1750
It is known that he was here before that time. During the succeeding
five years, he obtained other grants in the same locality which gave
him a large acreage. He also had other tracts of land in other parts
of the county.
Robert Leeper and James Kuykendall came to this area about the same
time. Except for the Indians, they had the point mostly to themselves
At times the peaceful nature of the Catawba Indians was not under-
stood by the white settlers. They had not been there long enough to
know that they sometimes would rob but rarely ever killed a white
person.
The Cherokee Indian tribes were hostile and often raided and plund-
ered the territory, occassionally committing murder. As a protection
Robert Leeper, James Kuykendall and two others built a fort and a
stockade at the junction of the South Fork and Catawba Rivers. It
was on the left bank of the South Fork near a neck of land called the
point where the rivers met.The rivers formed two sides of the tri-
angular fort. The site of the fort attracted other settlers to the
location because of the protection it offered. . (As of now all this
lot of this area is covered by water from the Duke Power Development)-
1980)
Killian and Leeper Creek formed Dutchman Creek, then called Dutch
Buffalo Creek on the Lincoln Gaston County line.

John Armstrong was also a pioneer in this section called Gaston. He
obtained a grant for 350 acres of land, August 30, 1753, on the
Belmont side of Armstrong's Ford now called Armstrong Bridge.
James Armstrong, on the same date obtained a grant of 229 acres of
land at Beaver Creek Dam. Two years later he obtained a grant near
John on the South Fork.
Martin Armstrong was also another one of the earlier settlers at the
fork.

James Leeper a nephew of Robert Leeper was one of the Catawba River
pioneers. Settlement date is unknown but a grant from King George III
was enrolled in the office in Wilmington, on April 8, 1765 for a
tract of land on the west side of the river, now Gaston County of
our Province of North Carolina, joining his own planation on begin-
ning. Survey of the plot was by McKnitt Alexander a (Signer  of The
Declaration of Independence ) The above proves that James Leeper
owned and did live on the Catawba before the grant was made.