I recently came across an interesting article by Mitchell Farish, an employee of the library at the University of Virginia. The first part of his article is of great interest in helping us understand the early settlement of this area of the northern Shenandoah Valley. We should take parts of his information into consideration when we try to pin down Edward Corder's date of arrival here.
Farish writes of the partnership between Jost Hite (a German speculator) and Robert McKay (a Scots Quaker) as they attempted to secure a massive land grant in northern Virginia through the headright settlement system. Their ambitious plan to claim 100,000 acres of land (by "seed[ing] the land with one hundred Pennsylvania families they said were ready to make homes on Virginia's frontier") was harder to realize than they guessed. The headright settlement system allowed a thousand acres of land per family, but by 1735 the pair had only managed to convince 54 heads of household to relocate to the valley, so things weren't going as well as they'd hoped.
Of very great interest to us is Farish's statement that "Before 1732 the Shenandoah Valley had been virtually empty of humans except for wandering Indian hunters and a few Germans on the South Fork." We know that Edward was here by 1738 (when he petitioned for a road to Jost Hite's mill). We know also that he has been called "one of the seven original adventurers" in this area. In the past we have speculated and wondered whether he was part of Hite's settlement, but since Corder was not German, and is called one of seven "original" adventurers, could he have actually have arrived here prior to Hite and McKay's headright settlers? On the other hand, might Edward have been married - possibly to a German woman - and been somehow related to those "few Germans on the South Fork?"
I estimate that Edward's indenture probably expired around 1728. I am guessing that he served his time in Maryland, or possibly Virginia. Pennsylvania seems less likely, but is not out of the question. We have absolutely no idea where he was or what he was doing between 1728 and 1732, but it's possible that he was indeed one of seven very early settlers to arrive on or around that latter date (I would really love to know who the other six were!). I doubt Edward knew (or cared) that the land he was settling on was part of Lord Fairfax's proprietorship, and so it may have come as a surprise when Fairfax arrived from England demanding rents from those who were "squatting" on his land. (Lest I give the wrong impression, Fairfax was by all accounts a very well-liked landlord, and the settlers probably didn't much care whether they paid their quit rents to Williamsburg or Fairfax.)
To be safe, we can estimate Edward's arrival here during a 10-year span (between 1728-1738), or possibly narrow it per the Farish article to a 6-year span (1732-1738). I would imagine (again, relying on the "original seven adventurers" reference, and assuming he pre-dated the arrival of Hite's settlers) to be on the earlier side, more like 1728-1735.
Follow up comment:
As a follow-up to my entry above, upon further consideration, it seems unlikely to me that Edward was associated with the Hite settlement. Jost Hite became embroiled in a lifelong conflict with Lord Fairfax over property boundaries. Edward was clearly a Fairfax man (reference the generous terms of his lease from Fairfax and the fact that Fairfax sent Edward [or possibly his son and namesake] as part of Geo. Washington's surveying crew), so it seems unlikely that had any allegiance to Hite.
