In the early Western Virginia settlement period of the mid-1700s, most of the area from the Blue Ridge to the Mississippi was Augusta County, Virginia. There were at least three early James Ewing settlers in Augusta County plus a Joshua Ewing settler, all with large families using similar names and living in close proximity within this area:

I have developed a discussion of these four Ewing families whose overlapping records of the 1700s and early 1800s in the Augusta County area cause so much confusion. Only overviews of the Pocahontas James and Joshua Ewing families are included since these families are well-known and have been well-documented previously. The Monroe-county James Ewing family and the Staunton-area Capt. James Ewing family genealogies both are newly developed.