Q. Barbara expresses surprise at a 10 year difference between David's birth in 1725 - and that of his younger brother Andrew in 1735. Say it isn't so.
A.In Rev. Caruther's 1842 biography on Rev. David Caldwell (1725-1824), he mentions that Andrew and Martha's second son was born in Scotland in 1735. I searched the LDS records for any Caldwell born in Scotland in 1735, and came across an Andrew Calwall born in Glasgow.
In quick succession, Rev. Caruthers writes that Martha then gave birth to Alexander (1735)and John (1736), and had no more children.
More about these Caldwells can be obtained from the Caldwell Family Newsletter. The gravemarkers of sons Andrew and John confirm their year of birth by subtracting their age from the listed date of death. The gravemarker of Alexander has not been located.
I surmise that Martha practiced either abstinence or birth control, or some injury precluded further pregnancies.
Q. Barbara writes:
ANDREW WAS A MERE 12/14 WHEN HE MARRIED, AND WITH NO
BIRTH CONTROL, WOULDN'T IT BE LIKELY THERE WERE OTHER
CHILDREN MORE QUICKLY THAN 10 YEARS? also, using same
logic, wouldn't that family have more than 4 children???
A. Barbara has made a valid point. All I can do is offer some conjecture.
Fathering an unplanned child and marrying at such a young age provides a reason why Andrew might wait a decade until he was an adult to have a second child, especially if he was on the frontier.
Fathering three more children within a few years time, beginning in 1735, and then no more, implies an intelligent design.
Between 1730 and 1750's, the frontier was a very dangerous place in Pennsylvania because of Indian resistance to white occupation of their lands west of the Susquehanna. One of the reasons prompting migration along the Wagon Trail from Pennsylvania to North Carolina was a desire to seek a safer home.
Q. How did you surmise that ANDREW MARRIED MARTHA AT AGE 12?
A. The Caldwell Family Newsletter quoted the words on the headstone marking the grave of Andrew Caldwell. It states he died in 1757 at age 45. From that I calculated he was born in 1712, using a system where the New Year begins March 25. His first son, David, was born March 22, 1725. I am a little bit uncertain what is meant by the year. There were two calendars used in Colonial America. Up until the 1750's, the new year began on March 25. Thereafter, American colonies began using a system in which the new year began January 1. I have no record or reference that David married Martha before David was born, but that was a common practice, both in Scotland and Colonial Pennsylvania--couples with child on the way usually married before the child was born, provided they had access to a minister. One of the problems on the fronteir was that further a pioneer was from a church, the less likelihood he had of being formally married in a ceremony attended by a minister. In Renfrewshire, many local chapels and churches did not have a full time minister. There were riding ministers who rode the circuit. Glasgow of course had full time ministers.
Q. Barbara quotes what I wrote: "In 1725,DAVID had not yet
acquired title to the farm land...." MY QUESTION:
Is this a typo error?"
A. Yes.
Q. "He has often been confused with another Andrew Caldwell who married Ann Stewart and was born in 1692 or 93...."
A. In my article, I gave a reference to a book available through interlibrary loan that provides conclusive evidence of the true identity of Rev. Caldwell's father and mother. All Barbara has to do is get a copy of Ethel Stephens Arnett's biography on Rev. David Caldwell. It contains the last will of each Andrew Caldwell, and shows which refers to Ann Stewart and which refers to Martha. I forgot to mention that the Caldwell Family Newsletter has reproduced Andrew Caldwell's will referring to his son, David and wife Martha.
Q.Barbara writes: "MY COMMENT: I have indeed seen lineages which say ANDREW MARRIED MARTHA ____unk_____ AND ANDREW MARRIED MARTHA STEWART AND THEN ANDREW MARRIED ANN STEWART. Has MARTHA (a completely separate person) been grafted onto the name ANN STEWART adding even more confusion to the situation?
A. Yes. Many genealogists copied one another, repeating the same mistake. Clients paying by the hour may have resisted any in-depth research of original documents. The lineage of Andrew Caldwell (1693-1752) who married Ann Stewart has been traced back to the 1500's, perhaps 1400's. An assumption was made that this Andrew was the father of Rev. David Caldwell. It took an investigation by Ethel Stephens Arnett to uncover the mistake. She considered only the last wills of each Andrew Caldwell. There is another method she overlooked, to which I referred, that begins with recognition that my "Andrew" originally spelled his surname Calwell. Learning that Calwell and Calwall were early Scottish spellings of Caldwell, I searched the LDS records for any Calwells or Calwalls born in Scotland in 1735, and found Andrew Calwall born in 1735 in Glasgow, and no other. That is how I concluded he probably is the 2d son of Andrew and Martha. All that needs to be done is have scots.origin or like service provide the names of the father and mother listed on the birth/baptism record for this Andrew Calwall.
Q.NOW BACK TO THE MSG # 437...you state that JOHN was born
: in 1736 to ANDREW AND MARTHA..there he is listed as a
: 4th child yet if DAVID IS THE FIRST IN 1725 AND HIS
: NEXT SIBLING IS BORN 10 YEARS LATER (APPROXIMATELY
: 1735/36 THEN WOULDN'T THAT BE A SECOND SON NOT A
: FOURTH CHILD?
A.David, 1725, Andrew, 1735, Alexander, 1735, John, 1736
The Caldwell Family Newsletter can provide you a history of each child. The Caldwell Family Association is focused on the descendants of Andrew and Martha, not Andrew and Stewart, but does have limited data on the Cub Creek Caldwells and the Andrew Caldwell-Ann Stewart couple. You might also go backwards, seeking the ancestors of John Caldwell Calhoun, on his mother's Caldwell ancestry. You will eventually get back to Andrew and Stewart, and prior to then, Ulster Irish and Ayrshire relations.
Q.Thanks for your patience with me concerning these matters!
A. I appreciate not only your compliment, but welcome the fact that you are have shown a desire to dig into this with a recognition that potential errors lurk everywhere. You have pointed out an error that I made, to my benefit. Let me give you some idea what I think you can do to get as much information about your lineage. First, I recommend that you visit the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City and Lancaster County Historical Society, Lancaster, PA, as well as any convenient university library in your state. Contact church historians. I wrote to a number of church ministers, who referred me to the church historians. I received newspaper clippings, journal articles, and references to books. I went online and searched library cataloges, in the US, Scotland, and England, and then ordered books through interlibrary loan. I found some of the most interesting books on Scot-Irish migration were written more than a century ago and are usually stored in the archives. I browsed the dust-laden archives at San Jose State University located in a warehouse in the industrial section of town. One of the earlier histories on North Carolina was by a man called Foote, who included numerous favorable passages relating to Rev. David Caldwell. Recently I discovered that Foote had married a 3rd or 4th generation Caldwell descendant of Andrew and Martha Caldwell.
In reviewing what I wrote previously, I see I made another mistake. The Caldwell Family Newsletter has published the deeds and survey of the farmland owned by Andrew and Martha in Drumore Township. Warrants were issued not in 1742, as I reported, but in 1744 and 1749, in the name of Andrew Calwell. You can write to Editor Marilyn A. Janda at mjanda@mindspring.com and order backcopies.
At another entry, Barbara has mentioned a book by Levy that refers to a runaway slave about to be whipped by the Rev. Caldwell. I would be most appreciative if she would quote or scan the relevant passage and send it to me or post it on this website.