Castellaw Family Reunion

The Castellaw Family Reunion was held this past weekend at Holly Grove Baptist Church in Haywood County, TN. It was a great time with descendants of Tom and Nancy Marianna Johnson Castellaw and their son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Zula Zera Watridge Castellaw gathering to reconnect or, in some cases, meet for the first time.

The location of the reunion was especially meaningful considering Nancy Marianna Johnson donated the land for the school that was built on the property and many generations of Castellaws have attended the church.

In this photo taken back in the 1940s, a group of Castellaw children are gathered on the lawn of the church. For some reason, I believe they are smelling flowers. The boy on the front row, second from the left is my late Uncle Jess Williams whose children, my first cousins, Pat, David and Donna were all at the reunion. Interestingly, I think the girl on the back row on the far right looks like my daughter, Olivia. I need to find who she is.

Thanks to the Jackson Sun picking up the story we were able to connect with some family members we had not yet met. Lt. General John "Glad" Castellaw and his wife, along with his second cousin, Martha are descendants of John Edward Castellaw. They saw the story in the paper and joined us at the reunion. John Edward Castellaw was Tom Castellaw's brother and is thought to have married Nancy Marianna Johnson after Tom's death. In the book "Nicholas Cobb Descendants" by Joe H. Cobb, he states that Cousin Lura Cobb wrote that "Nancy had two of them Castellaw men." Also, marriage records in Haywood County show that J.E. Castellaw and N.M. Castellaw married in 1888.

Tom and Marianna Nancy Johnson Castellaw and Bob and Zula Watridge Castellaw

One cousin, Margaret, had the great idea of bringing flowers for us to put on the graves of all the Castellaws in the Holly Grove Baptist Church cemetery. Then later a few of us drove down to place some flowers on TJ and Nancy's grave. While we were in the cemetery mood, we took a quick spin by the Cobb and Brantley family cemeteries as well.

Days like that really help make the names and places I see in my genealogy come to life.

 For more about the Castellaw family, visit HaywoodCountyLine.com.

Illustration of Colonel John Dawson

Today I received this scan of my 6th great grandfather, Colonel John Dawson, from the archives at The College of William and Mary. I recently wrote about discovering that my 7th great grandfather, the Reverend William Dawson, was the second president of that college and the author of the book "Poems on Several Occasions." I had an archivist check for any images of him or interesting details that may exist in their archives. Unfortunately, nothing exciting on him was found but they did have this great illustration which is supposedly of his son, the Colonel.

According to their records, as of 1962, the original was in possession of Mrs. Joseph Cheshire Webb of Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Colonel John Dawson married Penelope Johnstone who was the daughter of the Royal Governor of North Carolina from 1734 - 1752, Gabriel Johnstone and a much-married, colonial socialite, Penelope Golland Maule Lovick Phenney Johnston.

Colonel John and Penelope Johnston Dawson had a daughter named Margaret who married John Castellaw. Their son, John Dawson Castellaw led many wagon trains from Bertie, NC to Haywood Co., TN in the early 1830s.

For more about the Castellaw family, check out Haywood County Line.

Looking for George Williams

I've been trying to find out what I could about George Williams who is my fourth great-grandfather. Recently, I received an email from Lynn who knows a lot about the churches of Bertie Co., NC and she had some more pieces for the puzzle.

What I did know was that, according to "A History of Zion Church" by Bernie W. Cobb, in mid-November, 1833 a new church called Zion Baptist Church convened in Haywood Co., TN and elected a pastor. "Brother Leggit moved that an offer be extended to George Williams and Brother Rooks seconded the motion. Brother Outlaw was instructed to write him letting him know he had been chosen as the first pastor and requesting that he join them for the next meeting."

Lynn was able to provide a little more information for me about where George came from.

She let me know that George Williams was first mentioned in the minutes of the Holly Grove Baptist Church in Bertie Co., NC on December 13, 1828 as “Brother” George Williams.

Holly Grove Baptist Church was originally organized as Outlaw's Chapel in 1804 with 99 members. It was apparently in 1825 that Outlaw's Chapel officially became Holly Grove Baptist Church.

In the January 1829 minutes, George Williams was referred to as an Elder. He was unanimously chosen to pastor the church for one year on March 9, 1833. On March 28, 1833, he accepted the call of the church to serve them as pastor for one year provided that the church would change their meeting times from the second to the first Sunday in each month.

In the April 12, 1834 Minutes, $24 for his services during the previous year was mentioned. On May 3 of the same year, he agreed to serve "as long as convenient." In May 1835, he and Henry White agreed to serve the church together. In March 1836, the church wanted Mr. Williams and Mr. White to serve again. Henry White served. Nothing further was mentioned in the minutes of Holly Grove Baptist Church about George Williams.

Hopefully, this will help me find more out about George and who his parents were.

I do know that Williams was the pastor at Zion for a few years but the 1850 Census shows George living in Madison County, TN Dist 11 which is Jackson, TN. He was 53 and his wife Nancy was 40. They had a daughter, Harriet A. who was 17 and born in 1833 in Tennessee. George’s occupation was listed as a Baptist Minister.

You can read more about the Williams Family here.

Star-spangled Beanes

While Dr. William Beanes is not a direct descendant of mine, he was very close to the Marbury family and, now that I know his story, is someone I'll think about every time I hear "The Star-Spangled Banner."   

Leonard Marbury, my 6th great-grandfather, had a brother named Luke Marbury Sr. Luke Sr.'s son (and my 5th great cousin) was also named Luke and was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War.

Dr. William Beanes was Colonel Luke Marbury's first cousin on his mother's side and his close friend. When Colonel Marbury married Dr. Beanes' sister, Elizabeth, they also became brothers-in-law.

Dr. Beanes was a surgeon in the Revolutionary War and married Sarah Hawkins Hanson. She was the niece of John Hanson who became the president of the First Continental Congress and therefore technically, the first President of the United States.

Colonel Marbury's granddaughter, the late Jane Contee Marbury Penn, many years later, wrote that Dr. Beanes and Colonel Marbury were devoted friends. They both engaged with the Maryland troops at The Battle of Long Island and were among the few Maryland men who escaped after the battle. They escaped by “swimming across Long Island.” Source: The Patriotic Marylander, pg. 15

Dr. Beanes played a pivotal role in the inspiring Frances Scott Key to write “The Star Spangled Banner.”

“In 1814, when British encamped at Marlborough, on their way to Washington, the officers made their headquarters at Dr. Beanes’ house. On their return, after burning the Capitol, they learned that Dr. Beanes had headed a party which made prisoners of some of their soldiers and in revenge, they carried him away to their fleet and treated him with harshness it is said. Efforts were at once made by the friends of Dr. Beanes to effect his release and Frances Scott Key was sent to Admiral Cockburn with a flag of truce to demand release of the prisoner, who should have been treated as a non-combatant. The enemy was about to bombard Fort McHenry when Key reached the flagship. He was compelled to remain on board all night and witness the bombardment. The rest of the story is well known – how in the dawn’s early light, Key, discovering the American flag still floating over the fort was inspired to write what has become our immortal National Anthem, ‘The Star Spangled Banner.’”

 Bowie, Effie, Across the Years in Prince George's County, 1947 

After his release, Dr. Beanes spent the remainder of his life on Academy Hill in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. He died there in 1828.

Dr William Beanes Grave
Dr. William Beanes on Wikipedia

From Alex and Olivia to Alfred the Great

The Marbury family is loaded with some interesting characters and, if you allow jumping back and forth from the wife's genealogical line to the husband's, you can get from my daughters, Alex and Olivia, to Alfred the Great and run into some pretty interesting figures along the way. The link in the chain around a couple of the Revolutionary War ancestors named Leonard and Frances is "likely" rather than "proven" but everything before and after those generations is certain. Just a few of the cast of characters include:

Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland who was the daughter of John of Gaunt, the first Duke of Lancaster and his mistress Katherine Swynford who has a whole club dedicated to her called The Katherine Swynford Society. Joan was the grandmother of Edward the IV and Richard the III of England.

Saint Margaret of Scotland of who was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in recognition of her personal holiness, fidelity to the Church, work for religious reform, and charity. Her husband, Malcolm III, and their eldest son, Edward, were killed in a fight against the English at Alnwick Castle on November 13, 1093. Her son Edmund was left with the task of telling his mother of their deaths. Margaret was ill, and she died on November 16, 1093, three days after the deaths of her husband and eldest son. Her remains are kept at Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, Scotland.

Edmund I who was called the Elder, the Deed-doer, the Just, or the Magnificent and was King of England from 939 until his death in 946. During his reign the revival of monasteries in England began and he established peaceful relationships with Scotland. He was murdered by Leofa, an exiled thief, while celebrating St Augustine's Mass Day in Pucklechurch in South Gloucestershire.

Alfred the Great who was King of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred was an educated man who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal system and military structure. He is regarded as a saint by some, but has never been officially canonized. The Anglican Communion venerates him as a hero of the Christian Church, and he may often be found depicted in stain glass windows in churches throughout England.

Here is how you get from Alex and Olivia to Alfred the Great:

Alex and Olivia Williams have me as their father.
My mother is Shirley Lovelace Williams
whose mother was Virginia Brantley Lovelace
whose mother was Allie Ern Marbury Brantley
whose father was Hardy Joyner Marbury
whose father was Ben F. Marbury
whose father was Robert Green Marbury
whose father was John Marbury
whose father was Leonard Marbury
whose father was Francis Marbury
whose father was Leonard Marbury
whose father was Frances Marbury
whose father was also Francis Marbury
whose father was Euscbius Marbury (b. 1605, England)
whose mother was Elizabeth Cave
whose father was Henry Cave
whose mother was Margaret Throckmorton
whose mother was Lady Vaux
whose mother was Elizabeth Fitzhugh
whose mother was Alice Neville
whose father was Richard Neville
whose mother was Joan de Beaufort
whose father was John “of Gaunt” Beaufort, Duke of Lancaster
whose father was Edward III King of England
whose father was Edward II King of England
whose father was Edward I “Longshanks”
whose father was Henry III
whose father was John Lackland, King of England
whose father was Henry II Curtmantle King of England
whose mother was Matilda
whose mother was Matilda of Scotland
whose mother was Saint Margaret of Scotland
whose father was Edward Athling
whose father was Ethelred II the Unready, King of Kent
whose father was Edgar the Peaceful
whose father was Edmund I
whose father was Edward
whose father was Alfred the Great

Primary Source

You can read more details about the Marbury family at HaywoodCountyLine.com.

The Ark and The Dove

The Marbury family has kept me busy the last few weeks. There are a lot of men named Francis and Leonard and they all served in the Revolutionary War so it’s tough keeping them all straight. Because they were so desperate to protect their new country from the Indians and the Tories, everyone from age 10 to 100 grabbed a musket and fought.

Some families, like the Marburys, had three generations of soldiers, men and women, sometimes fighting in the same battles. I’ll soon be uploading what I’ve been able to find so far but, in the meantime, one set of ancestors seems interesting enough to spend a little more time with.

Watercolor of The Ark and The Dove by John Moll

My 10th great grandparents were Thomas Greene and Ann Gerard who arrived in Maryland on The Ark and The Dove Expedition of 1633 and helped settle the new colony of Maryland. They boarded the ship as a single man and possibly a widow and, a short time after they arrived in the new colony, had the first Christian marriage in Maryland. Their wedding took place on the banks of the St. George River.

Thomas was a son of Sir Thomas Greene and Lady Margaret Webb. Sir Thomas had been made a “knight bachelor” by James I in 1622 at Windsor Castle. Ann is thought to have been the sister of another passenger, Sir Richard K.B. Gerard, and was one of the few "gentlewomen" on the initial voyage. She was likely a widow of someone with the last name of Cox.

Like Thomas Greene, many of those setting out for the new land on this expedition were Catholics who saw this as a way to experience religious tolerance. Consisting of two small vessels, the "Ark" and the "Dove," with about 200 people, left England in mid-October 1633. Shortly after heading down the Thames, it was discovered everyone on board had "not taken the oath of allegiance to the Crown." It seems the king was afraid they would get to the new world and revolt. After a detour that allowed everyone on board to take the oath they then had to wait for favorable weather conditions and final approval to leave. On November 22, 1633 they finally began their voyage.

During the journey, they encountered a storm, the two ships were separated and The Dove was thought to be lost at sea. However, shortly after The Ark docked in Barbados, The Dove pulled into port and the two ships were reunited. Together, they reached Point Comfort, Virginia on February 24, 1634, and then on March 25 landed on an island in the Potomac, which they named St. Clement's.

A Mass was led by the two Jesuit priests that accompanied the expedition. Two days later they founded a city they called St. Mary's in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Here is an account of the landing of the Ark and the Dove:
"It was March 25, 1634, the initial day of Spring and the first day of the Julian Calendar, as well as the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, all of which were propitious for joyous and solemn celebration and a memorial day for each adventurer, who had survived the voyage of 123 days or slightly over four months from the sailing from Cowes to their destination. They selected the larger of three islands lying near the shore of the Potomac not too far distant from the mainland to disembark. To the island they gave the name of St. Clement after the fourth Bishop of Rome. Father White directed several of his retainers to construct a huge cross from one of the native trees. It was hastily hewn together and, on that virgin day of Spring in 1634, led by Father White who was assisted by Father Altham, all the Roman Catholics, and not a few of the Anglicans, gathered for the first sacrifice of the Roman Mass ever to have been celebrated in one of the Original Thirteen English Colonies."

“Flowering of the Maryland Palatinate” by Harry Wright Newman, pg. 38

Also on board the ship was Leonard Calvert who would become the colony’s first governor and was Thomas’ godfather and lifelong friend. In 1647, Thomas was appointed governor of the colony by Leonard, as an emergency measure only hours before Leonard's death due to a sudden illness.

Leonard served several years in various leadership positions in the colony but his Catholic faith and loyalty to England proved problematic. In 1650 he was “discharged from all offices for usurping authority.”

Ann died in 1643 and Leonard married a widow, Winifred Seybourne. Leonard died on January 20, 1651.

Memorials for The Ark and The Dove and Leonard Calvert in Maryland.

Ann and Leonard, being super-Catholics, named their daughter Mary. Mary Greene married Francis Marbury sometime before 1698 and they had a son named Leonard Marbury who named his son Francis Marbury who then named his son Leonard Marbury. Leonard is the Marbury who first moved to Haywood Co., TN around 1829. Leonard had a son named John who named his son Robert Green Marbury. At this time, could John have known about his “Greene” connection? Robert Green Marbury must have been very patriotic because he named his son Benjamin Franklin Marbury. Ben married Maggie Yelverton and both of them are buried at Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Haywood Co., TN. Ben and Maggie’s son Hardy Joyner Marbury married Evelena “Lena” Booth and they had a daughter, my great grandmother, Allie Marbury.

Sources
The Society of The Ark and The Dove
The Ark and the Dove Adventurers
Wikipedia: Thomas Greene
Wikipedia: The Ark and The Dove
Maryland Online Encyclopedia
Historic St. Mary's City

Adam and Eve of Virginia

Much has been written about my 10th great-grandparents, Colonel William Randolph and Mary Royall Isham Randolph.

I recently wrote about Reverend William Dawson who was the second president of The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. He was married to Mary Randolph Stith, who was the daughter of Captain William Stith Jr. and Mary Randolph.

Mary’s parents have been referred to as "the Adam and Eve of Virginia" because of both the number of children they had but also the significant historical personalities from their line.

Herman Melville, who wrote Moby Dick, called the Randolphs the quintessential "old established family in the land," and used them as a contrast to those families whose sons were forced into the dangerous job of whaling.

Colonel William Randolph arrived in Virginia in 1673 without much money but with a solid connection through his uncle, Henry Randolph, who had settled in the Colony a decade before. William Randolph was thought to have been a carpentry apprentice in England and, once in America, he began a business building barns. He soon began using hired help for the actual labor and functioned as a contractor.

Randolph also began purchasing land on what was called Turkey Island in pieces; ultimately building a large brick mansion with a dome on the property.

He also persuaded the Governor of Virginia to grant him a large plantation that adjoined his on Turkey Island that belonged to Nathaniel Bacon but had been confiscated after Bacon had
staged a revolt against the colonial government.

Randolph was around 30 years old when married Mary Isham, daughter of Henry Isham, another large plantation owner in the area, which secured Randolph’s place in colonial society and his position as one of the wealthiest men in the area. She was around 22 years old at the time of their marriage.

One of Randolph’s best friends was Colonel William Byrd, a London goldsmith, who moved to Virginia in the late 1660s. The Byrds and The Randolphs are said to have spent much time together and, when Byrd died in 1704, the families continued their friendship and Randolph remained close to William Byrd II who is considered the founder of Richmond, VA. Byrd II also wrote a book called “The Secret Diaries of William Byrd of Westover” which include many references to The Randolph Family.

As Randolph’s wealth increased, he built a line of ships that carried both cargo and immigrants between England and the Colonies.

As he acquired more property, he converted it from wilderness into farms and plantations and was very passionate about the possibilities the development new land offered everyone. He also took a leading role in trying to civilize Indians and hired them to work on his plantations. In everything one can read about Randolph, it is clear he was well-respected throughout Virginia and the surrounding area and offered legal advise and assistance to thousands of the colonists.

William and Mary Randolph had nine children.

I found an additional connection to The Randolphs which I think is interesting. While researching, I came across this manuscript which was written in 1949 by Wassell Randolph, the president of Cossitt Library here in Memphis and a prominent Memphis attorney at the time.

Wassell Randolph researched his ancestor William Randolph extensively and wrote:

"William Randolph, like so many prominent contemporary colonists, was an indiscreet eater and drinker. Consequently, he suffered severely from gout. The first spell mentioned in “The Secret Diary” occurred in December 1709 and recurrent attacks followed in January and May succeeding. How long had he suffered from this malady is not known, but he was so afflicted in 1700. It reoccurred persistently and may have been a contributing cause to his death."

William Randolph died April 21, 1711 at 5 p.m. in his home on Turkey Island and his wife, Mary, died Dec 29, 1735. She was buried on Turkey Island in the Randolph Family Cemetery, next to her husband.

Their headstone contains the following inscription:

Col. Wm Randolph of Warwickshire, but late of
Virginia, Gent. Died 11th 1711.
Mrs. Mary Randolph his only wife, she was the daughter
Of Mr. Henry Isham by Catherine his wife. He was of
Northamptomshire, but late of Virginia, Gent.

The Randophs had several children who played a role in American History, including:

Elizabeth Randolph Bland – mother of Richard Bland who was the first to put in writing the legal reason the colonies should become independent from England. Through her daughter, Mary Bland Lee, she was also the ancestor of Light Horse Harry and his son Robert E. Lee.

Thomas Randolph – great grandfather of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the US and great-great-grandfather of Thomas Mann who married Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Martha.

Richard Randolph - married a granddaughter of Pocahontas, Jane Bolling, and was grandfather of congressman John Randolph.

Isham Randolph – grandfather of Thomas Jefferson.

Sir John Randolph - the only native of Colonial America to receive a knighthood and father of Peyton Randolph, president of the First Continental Congress.

Mary Randolph - had a daughter, Mary Stith who would marry William Dawson, who would become the second president of William and Mary College. The Dawsons had a son named John Dawson who became a lawyer and who married Penelope Johnston, heiress and daughter of the Governor of Virginia.
Their daughter married John Castellaw and they named their son John Dawson Castellaw and he led many wagon trains from Bertie Co., North Carolina into Haywood Co., TN. John’s son was Thomas Jefferson Castellaw whose son was Thomas Jefferson Castellaw Jr. His son was Bob Castellaw and his daughter was Elizabeth Castellaw Williams who was the mother of my father, Bob Williams. Visit HaywoodCountyLine.com for more about The Castellaw Family.


Today, Turkey Island is still privately owned, but there are several owners. Randolph’s mansion burned in 1806 but parts of the foundation are still visible. The Randolph Family Cemetery is still there and is completely walled in and located between the former front of the mansion and the James River.

The oldest grave is that of William Randolph.

Other sources:
Genealogy of the Page Family
Descendants of William Randolph
Virginia's Colonial Dynasties
Col. John Wise of England and Virginia
Virginia Colonial Decisions