The first settlers to in the Catawba and Cherokee region were in the region by the mid 1700s and were of German, Dutch, English, and Scotch-Irish origin. A fort was constructed along the Catawba and South Fork Rivers, however, most of the Cherokees had left by 1770 and the Catawba Indians removed to Fort Mill, South Carolina. Gaston County was founded in 1846 and named for William Gastson, a Congressman and North Carolina Supreme Court justice. The original commissioners of the county were ordered to establish a county seat within two miles of the Long Creek Baptist Meeting House, and they named the seat Dallas, in honor of Vice President George Dallas. Yet, a popular 1911 vote made Gastonia the county seat. Bessemer City, Cherryville, High Shoals, Lowell, McAdenville, Ranlo, Stanley, Spencer, and Mount Holly are other communities within the boundaries of Gaston County. The county seat is Gastonia (pictured). Apparently the War Between the States, very few of the last wills and testaments filed of record during 1861 and 1865 were affected with the skirmishes in the area as the ink is faded to almost blank pages. The first three will books are reflected here. Thus, the early surviving wills were probated beginning in 1847.