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- THOMAS CASWELL OF TAUNTON AND HIS DESCENDANTS by George Freeman Sanborn, Jr.
Many people with New England ancestry descend from Thomas Caswell, an early settler of Taunton, Massachusetts. Relatively little research has ever been done on the Caswell family, and certainly nothing of an exhaustive, comprehensive nature has been done in an attempt to compile an accurate record of all Thomas Caswell´s descendants. He left a very large posterity, many of whom intermarried with descendants of Mayflower passengers. This article will trace his known descendants in the male line for five generations and will list the children of the sixth generation. In some cases the writer has additional information about later generations of some lines of descendants, in particular, his own. The materials gathered in preparing this article will, after completion, be deposited at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.
While some writers have suggested that Thomas Caswell was a native of Wales (or that the name Caswell, at least, is Welsh), and some would like to claim that he had a distinguished background in London, still others allude to a family tradition that he came from Somersetshire in England. The last appears to be the most plausible origin; the name Caswell is uncommon in Wales and neighboring Monmouthshire but is common in Somersetshire. A large number of families from Somersetshire did settle in Taunton, and, in fact, it may be pointed out that the principal community in Somersetshire is called Taunton, for which our colonial town was obviously named. The tantalizing baptism of one Thomas Caswell, son of Thomas Caswell, in the parish of North Curry, co. Somerset, on 20 October 1618, would nicely match the supposed age of our Old Colony settler. Marriages occur on record in the parish of North Curry in 1579 and 1581 for a Thomas Caswell, showing that men of that name were not strangers to the parish (W. P. W. Phillimore and Douglas LL. Hayward, eds., Somerset Parish Registers. Marriages., Vol. II, [London, 1899]). Numerous other Caswell events appear in the nearby parish of St. Mary Magdalene in the City of Taunton. Further research needs to be carried out in Somersetshire for the origin of our Thomas Caswell.
Thomas Caswell first appears in New England in Taunton in the Colony of New Plymouth where the name of ``Thom Cassell´´ is found on a list of those males aged 16 to 60 able to bear arms in August 1643, just four years after the incorporation of the town. He apparently came to the New World as an unmarried man and married, probably in Taunton, ca. 1648, MARY _____.
The identity of his wife is unknown, and requires some discussion. His son, Peter, in a testamentary deed dated and acknowledged 4 August 1727 and recorded 10 August 1727, states, inter alia, that he gives to his daughter, Sarah Caswell, ``all those movables I have now in my hands that was Given me by my aunt Bryant..." . This seemingly straightforward reference to a relationship has led many to the conclusion that the wife of Thomas1 Caswell was probably a Bryant, though proof was lacking. Also, ``Elizabeth Briant´´ witnessed the codicil to the will of Thomas Caswell, 15 March 1696/7, shortly before his death. She may have been the ``aunt Bryant´´ referred to in Peter´s deed. The supporters of this theory of the identity of Thomas Caswell´s wife point out that there was a Stephen Bryant early in Plymouth and that the oldest son of Thomas Caswell was named Stephen. However, there is not the slightest shred of evidence that Stephen Bryant of Plymouth ever had anything to do with either Thomas Caswell of Taunton or the Bryant family resident there
It seems much more likely to this writer that the ``aunt Bryant´´ referred to in Peter Caswell´s deed was a sister to Peter´s mother (or possibly to his father) than a sister-in-law. He would have been more inclined to speak of her in this way if she were his own kin than if she were an aunt by marriage. Since Thomas Caswell is not known to have had any siblings here and since he was married here to an unidentified woman, it is tempting to think that she and ``aunt Bryant´´ were sisters.
There is, however, a more solid clue to the identity of Thomas1 Caswell´s wife. On 30 August 1667 Thomas Caswell and Mary his wife of Taunton sold to William Brenton of Newport in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, for L40, nine acres of land with a dwelling house and ham thereon in Taunton hounded hy the lands of Shadrach Wildbore, Samuel Paul, the Common on the north , and the river on the south, the said Thomas Caswell and Mary his wife ``or one of them´´ at the time of delivery t hereof being the true and lawful owner ``and that they or one of them in his or her owne Right´´ had authority to convey the premises. This was acknowledged by both grantors on 11 October 1667. It seems clear from this deed that the conveyed premises had been purchased, or more likely inherited, by Mary Caswell , her husband thereby acquiring his interest in the property. If it could be determined who t he previous owner of that property was, we would perhaps be able to identify both Mary Caswell and Elizabeth Bryant.
A number of records survive to tell us something of the life and activities of Thomas Caswell, and these give us an indication of his standing in the community and his probable contribution to society. Thomas Caswell joined with eleven other of his townsmen in 1651 on a panel of inquest into the drowning death of ten-year-old William England, servant to Joseph Wildbore of Taunton, who accidentally fell out of a canoe on the Great River (now Taunton River) on 6 September of that year, and he signed his name, ``Tho: Caswell,´´ to the verdict.
In 1657 ``Tho: Casswell´´ took the Oath of Fidelity in Taunton; in 1662 he served on the ``Grand Enquest´´ for the Colony of New Plymouth; and in 1667 he once again was called upon to serve with eleven of his townsmen on a panel of inquest into the accidental drowning of Timothy Poole, 15 November 1667, to which he signed his name ``Thomas Caswell´´. In 1675 he and his son, Thomas, were listed as heads of families in Taunton when King Philip´s War began.
Thomas Caswell´ s name appears on a rate list dated 16 October 1683 to defray the expenses of plastering the meeting house, his comparatively large assessment being one shilling eleven pence. He was also assessed eighteen shillings as his proportion of the sum to be paid to purchase Mr. Danforth´s land, according to an undated Taunton town list.
Thomas Caswell appears to have led a rather uncontroversial life in Taunton, raising his large family and owning a considerable amount of land. Though not an Original Proprietor, he did become a proprietor of the Town of Taunton and as such took part in both the South and the North Purchases, the South Purchase being now within the bounds of Berkley. He did not join with some of his sons-in-law, and other acquaintances, in 1682 in the petition for a distinct charter from Their Majesties to be a separate colony from New Plymouth, from which it may be inferred that he was satisfied with the political arrangement of things as they then stood. In the 1691 Inspection Return, taken at the time of King William´s War ``Thomas Caswell, sen´´ is shown as having been supplied with a gun, a cartouch box, powder, and bullets, while the following year in July 1692 his gun was pressed for Nathan Presbiter, and valued at £1. And further, in 1693, Thomas served on a jury ordered by the town to lay out a road to William Hack´s, the report of which he signed on 27 May 1693.
An examination of Thomas Caswell´s land holdings and transactions reveals a pattern not uncommon to a seventeenth century husbandman starting with little or nothing. He gradually added significantly to his real wealth.
On 27 November 1649, at a town meeting, he was granted his second division, on the other side of Two Mile River opposite Thomas Coggins´s land extending to the head of the great lots there. The wording of this grant seems to imply an earlier grant, possibly in the first division, but no record of this has been found. On 28 December 1659, he was granted forty- two acres for ``9 Heads,´´ on which he paid a tax of eleven shillings and three pence; and, on 3 January 1660, it was said that Thomas Caswell´s home lot shall extend in length as far as Shadrach Wildbore´s land. The Proprietors´ records list the lands in the possession of ``Thomas Caswell Senior´´ on 8 January 1665 as follows
- his home lot, 6 acres, lying between Samuel Wilbore to the east and the widow Paul on the southwest.
- the addition to his home lot, being on the other side of the Great River, between Samuel Wilbore on the southwest and Mrris Farwell on the east.
- 4 acres meadow on the other side of the Gr eat River lying between two brooks , Walter Dean´s meadow lying to the west of this tract on the other side of one of the brooks
- one pond, called the ``Stage pond,´´ be ing 3 acres lying between the Iron Works and the Four Mill Pond (called Titicut Pond).
- his ``division,´´ being 11 acres at the east end of the above meadow, bounded by James Bell´s land on the east end and the Great River on the northwest, and extending to the Common on the south.
- his ``second division´´ of land, being 42 acres lying on the southeast side of his meadow, with ``Plymouth path´´ on the west and the lands of the ``Widow Dean´´ on the southeast, and extending to a little plain being a ``common.´´
In a more adventurous and speculative mood by 6 June 1668, Thomas Caswell, a proprietor of the old town of Taunton, became a proprietor of the North Purchase, later set off as Norton and parts of Mansfield and Easton, and then he was granted three acres of swamp on the Three Mile River ``at a place where the beavers did dam up the water´´ on 22 March 1669
It was thirteen years before he received another proprietary grant. On 24 October 1682, Thomas Caswell Senior was granted thirty acres on John Kingsley´s right, which is probably the same land he owned on 14 May 1678 and on 23 December 1684 he was granted two acres at a place called Pool´s Brook, the western bound of which was the path that came from the Iron Works. The said two acres were a part of his thirty-acre division and were the same he later gave to his son John on 23 March 1692.
Keeping in mind these various proprietary grants, we should carefully consider the undated list of land of the ``original right´´ of Thomas Caswell in Taunton North Purchase - first division 100 acres - meadow division 8 acres - second division upland 100 acres - third division upland 50 acres - fourth division upland 60 acres Total 318 acres.
It is difficult to determine how Thomas Caswell acquired some of the real estate mentioned in his will and inventory. A comparison of proprietary grants to Thomas Caswell and of deeds in which he was grantor with the list of his lands in the Proprietors´ records and in his will and inventory, indicates subdivisions of the original grants had evidently been made, but their identity has been lost . Readers interested in the Taunton Proprietary Records will want to see ``The Taunton Quitclaim Deed´´ in the Register 97. On 23 March 1682/3 Thomas Caswell and Mary, his wife, sold four acres of land east of the meeting house on the east side of the Great River to Shadrach Wildbore, and for ``three hundreds weight of Barr Iron,´´ he and Mary sold two acres of meadow on 1 March 1685, while on ``1695´´ they sold a tract of land in the North Purchase to their son-in-law William Hoskins.
A literate man himself, some of Thomas Caswell´s sons (all but Stephen and Samuel) appear to have been literate as well, while Thomas Caswell´s wife and daughters were typically unable to write even their names. A good provider for his children, as revealed in his deeds of land to his sons and sons-in-law, Thomas Caswell carefully provided for his wife and children in his will and codicil. On 28 September 1691 he made his will, to which he attached a codicil on 15 March 1696/7, by which time he could only print his initials. He died, undoubtedly in Taunton, that same year, for on 14 September 1697 one of the witnesses swore that he was present when Thomas Caswell signed his original will. The full text of the will, codicil and inventory of his estate follow. The original papers have not been preserved, and only the probate copy book versions survive, while the original executor´s bond is on file, as well as the copy thereof.
Thomas Caswell´s will and inventory reveal that he was a farmer of substance with a respectable estate consisting of considerable land holdings sufficient to set up his sons on farms of their own, a valuable farm that was his homestead, and many useful articles. But the inventory also shows that the family was able to enjoy certain luxuries, such as books, bedding with linen, and considerable wearing apparel.
His burial place, and that of his wife, Mary, who was living at the time he made his will (and probably living on the date he made his codicil), but whose date of death has not been preserved, are unknown.
- The Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 35, No. 2, July 1985
Will of Thomas Casewell Senr. of Tauanton dated Sept. 28, 1691. To my eldest son Stephen Casswell the land whereon his house now standeth and my land at Skunk Hill. To my second son Thomas Casswell six acrfes of land in the great plain, other lands of mine now in his possession and one half quaarter part of my share in the North purchase. To my third son Peter Casswell sixteen acres on the south side of the highway opposite where his house now standeth. To my fourth son John Caswell "a pond Called the stage pound" also one half quarter part of my share in the North purchase. To my fifth William Caswell the land whereon his house now standeth and the land called the Neck, also ten acres of land at "Thinn Swamp" and three acres of swamp at the old Bever Dam. To my sixth son Samuel Caswell my house wherein I now dwell with my orchard, meadow and other land, all my land on the north side of the highway as far as James Bell's land, except a little where my son Peter Caswell's house stands which I formerly gave to my saiad son Peter. Also I give to said Samuel forty-six acres of my fifth acre division lying at Cotly between the land of Isacce Dean and Shadrach Wilbor's land.
To my loving wife Mary one quarter of my share in the North purchase, the use of all my moveables within my house, and the westerly lower room in my house during her widowhood. My son Samuel Caswell to be sole executor, he to take care of and provide for his mother and maintain her during her widowhood. To my daughters Mary, Sarah, Hannah, Eliizabeth, Abigail and Hester the one half of my share in the North purchase to be equally divided among them. To my daughter Hannah, wife of Daniel Ramsdell one heifer of a year old. Witnessed by Shadrach Wilbore, Samuel Wilbore and Joseph Wilbor.
Poscript dated March 15, 1696-7: Whereas my share in the North purchase has since been sold for the sum of 12 pounds which money my son Samuel made use of, my will is that he pay [p.197] the sum of 12 pounds to those of my children to whom said share was given, in proportion as expressed in the will. Codicil witnessed by Elizabeth x [her mark] Briant, Isaak x [his mark] Leonard, and Samuel Danforth. Joseph Wilbore and one of the witnesses made oath to said will at Bristol, Sept. 14, 1697 and Shadrach Wilbore another witness " Did [two illegible words] make oath to the Ton [?]; and Effect of Joseph Wilbore his oath; and that Samuel Wilbore was present and did signe as a witness at the same time: Since deceased, at Taunton Oct 9, 1697. The same day Mr. Samuel Danforth and Elizabeth Briant testified to the truth of the above before John Saffin, judge of Probate. John Cary Registr. Entered Oct 30, 1697 by John Cary Registr.
Inventory of the above estate taken March 30, 1696-7 [p. 198] by Israel Thresher, Joseph Richmond and Henry Andrews, and presented at court at Taunton Oct9, 1697 by Samuel Caswell executor before Jmo. Satsin, John Cary Registr; Entered Oct 30, 1697 by John Cary Registr; amount of inventory, 306 pounds, 09 shillings, 06 pence. - Mayflower Source Records - Abstracts from the First Book of Bristol County Probate Records pp. 196-198
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1618 - 1697 (78 years)
