 Western settlement began in the 1720s and 1730s with Quakers, Scots-Irish, Germans and others moving south from Pennsylvania and Maryland, and also by English and African slaves moving upriver from Tidewater.By the time of the American Revolution, it was Virginia's most populous county.It was also rich in agriculture, and the county's contributions of grain to George Washington's Continental Army earned it the nickname "Breadbasket of the Revolution."