Bladen Precinct was established in 1734 and later called Bladen County in 1739. She was named for Martin Bladen (1680 - 1746), Lord Commissioner of Trade and Plantation. Bladen appears to have mostly been settled by Highland Scots. Gabriel Johnston, who became Royal Governor in 1734, persuaded Highlanders from his native Scotland to come and settle in North Carolina. Several Highlanders came in the early 1730s. Alexander Clark brought several immigrants in 1736 from the Isle of Jura, Argyll County, Scotland. These men had suffered religious persecution and they were seeking freedom. Dougald McNeill and Colonel McAllister brought another 350 Scotsmen in 1739. These Scottish immigrants were not the first settlers of Bladen County. There were a few families already living on the Cape Fear before 1734. Several Quakers also settled Bladen in the 1740s. They were from Pennsylvania and Virginia.