At the age of 24, James Lankford (Langford) and his family left their home in Stokes County, North Carolina, probably traveling through the Cumberland Gap across Daniel Boone's wilderness road, the most direct route from North Carolina to Indiana Territory. Tradition says that when they came to the Ohio River, they made their way downriver by boat until they reached present-day Rockport, Indiana. Beginning in 1808, the Lankford family lived in a small cave under the bluff overlooking the river. The front of the cave was protected by boughs and bark with animal skins stretched over the structure, and Lankford made an opening in the top for smoke to exit. He purchased land in Grass Township, Spencer County, and lived there until his death in 1849. He was a Methodist minister and helped establish the Tippecanoe Methodist Church of Grass Township, now known as Bloomfield Wesley Chapel. History books refer to him as a well-respected member of the community.