THE CAPSHAW FAMILY HISTORY

I was told that Hulon and Coran Capshaw, (both deceased), sons of Robert Byrd Capshaw, had compiled a manuscript which is supposed to be based, in part, on Dr. Preston Capshaw's writings. To this date, I have located only one of the relatives of Hulon and/or Coran and he has no knowledge of the manuscript.

Benjamin Preston, has added to the original version, along with someone else, and the result is somewhat long, repetitive and rambling. Hopefully, at a later date, I will be able to compile the three articles into one piece of material that is comprehensible and readable.

While reading the enclosed material, you will note obvious errors and contradictions. There are also some dates noted that are impossible to have been Dr. Preston Capshaw's writing, as he died prior to these dates. I have attempted to reproduce this document exactly as I received it. On the final page, I have added some notations which, hopefully, will clarify a point or points.

I would appreciate anyone who reads this or any other material which I have compiled or edited or in any way added "my two cents worth" to let me know of any errors or suspected errors. If you have documentation to prove your point, all the better, and I will be more than happy to make any needed changes. The point of this research is accuracy.

Anyone forwarding any information to me, please include your name address and phone number ON the document, so I will be able to give the proper credit for that information.

My great grandfather was Essick(1) Capshaw, who came from Wales about 1740 and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. He was soon after employed by a widow named Johnson as superintendent of her plantation in that vicinity. Soon after this, they were married. The issue of the marriage was two sons, Essick and William. After the death of their parents, the boys settled in North Carolina as farmers on the Roanoke River where the principal crop was grain and tobacco. They were prosperous and highly respected. William, (my grandfather) married a young lady in Virginia by the name of Watkins of a good family who became the mother of eight children, all of whom lived to mature age and reared families.

Our Uncle Essick married a Miss Hicks, who died soon after the birth of her son who was named Essick. The brothers William and Essick were very unlike. William was quiet and peaceable, slow to anger and much loved by his neighbors. Essick was passionate, often in trouble on account of his hasty temper, finally taking the life of the high sheriff of the county which resulted in his financial ruin. He had accumulated considerable property but was much given to sporting, especially horse racing. Soon after his trouble, he and his son went to Louisiana, then a French Province. Here, Essick Jr., married a Creole lady of wealth, but died soon after. The fate of the father is unknown.(2)

My father David and Uncle William came to Alabama in 1808 when it was a vast wilderness, but settlers came in fast and much cotton was planted. The cotton was hauled in the seed to Nashville, Tennessee, in wagons as there were no cotton gins nearer. In 1810, my father and Uncle William built the first cotton gin in the Tennessee Valley, sold it at a large profit, and built another which my father owned for many years at a good profit. This enabled him to secure a large tract of land on which he settled and brought up a family of eleven children, all of whom lived to be over thirty years of age. My father, David, was born in 1779, November 8, (died March 11, 1839), being nearly sixty years old when he died. He was a full six feet high, broad shoulders and very erect. He had large black eyes, black curly hair, and when provoked was quite passionate, but was warm and cordial in his attachments to friends, as well as a kind good neighbor. To an enemy he was avowedly open and vindictive and hard to reconcile. He was Justice of the Peace for many years and was noted for his impartiality toward litigants. He was a familiar reader of the Bible, though not a professed adherent to Christianity, on the contrary he was an avowed Unitarian and so remained to the end. He made his home at the foot of what is yet known as CAPSHAW MOUNTAIN (4),about eight miles from Huntsville, Alabama. He was a natural mechanic and could make any tool or instrument he needed. He was not a neat farmer, though a successful one, always having a surplus of grain and bacon besides cotton for sale. From a large peach orchard he added to his income from the sale of brandy. Unfortunately, he fell into the habit of tippling which held him through his life and, doubtless, shortened his days and likewise his estate. He never owned but a few slaves and only for a short time. He hated Negroes and never allowed them on his place, except on business, and they had a wholesome dread of him. He often told me when I was a mere boy that the Negro at no distant day would be the occasion of a terrible war which would result in their freedom, and advised me never to invest money in slaves, but in land which could not run away or die. He also despised the Yankee Reformers and Abolitionists for wishing to turn such a cursed race loose among the whites. Time has proven the correctness of his opinions, though I could not see it at the time. In regard to education he believed the "three R's" enough for a boy to start life with. It was all he started with and he had accomplished all he had undertaken, and his boys could do likewise. He allowed his boys much liberty, permitting them to attend musters, horse races, cock fights and all public gatherings, except camp meetings at night, which he held to be demoralizing to boys. He was always respected by all who knew him for his truthfulness and firmness. He would not utter or countenance a falsehood under any circumstances. His motto was "Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil". Though as a rule liberal and indulgent toward his children, yet in many things he was harsh and unyielding and often impressed them more powerfully with fear than respect. So much so that he failed in securing that unlimited confidence and esteem so desirable in leading them forward in the way they should go. He was, however, extremely proud and reasonably fond of his children.

My mother's maiden name was Mary McCracken. She was a perfect model of industry and economy. She seldom went far from home, and devoted her whole time to domestic employment and the care of her children. She was a small sprightly woman with clear blue eyes and brown curly hair, as I first remember her. I never knew her to have a serious type of sickness until after she was sixty years old. She was born September 14, 1788, and died June 15, 1857, being about 69 years old. She died at the home of Mrs. Simpson, her daughter. A stone marks her resting place in the family graveyard at Rogersville, Alabama. (Two miles from the village). I will now name the children in the order of their birth: (from the family Bible, now in my possession. B.P.C.) Cassia, October 27, 1809; Preston, May 27, 1811; James McCracken, June 16, 1813; Robert Smith, August 26, 1815; David Granville, October 1, 1817; Aroma, August 7, 1819; John William, November 11, 1821; Mary Jane, September 22, 1823; Calvin Rush, March 9, 1825; Caswell Carver, December 19, 1826; Benjamin Franklin, December 1, 1828.

Cassia married John Simpson, October 23, 1832. He was an unsuccessful merchant and died on a small farm near Rogersville, Alabama, which was held by his wife until her death. She had five sons and three daughters. Two of the sons perished during the war a Corinth, Mississippi. All the rest have families, but George, who went to Waco, Texas, in 1905. His Uncle Ben gave him a good position with the RR office, but he became homesick in less than a month and went home.

I, Preston, will say nothing of myself.

(Preston received a pretty fair education. Studied medicine, became an M. D. and was doing well in the drug business, but having to be away much of the time at his practice, his business was almost entirely with his partner, who finally had the business and Dr. Capshaw the experience. This was in Athens, Alabama. He went to Picolata, Florida,(5) and planted an orange grove, living there until his death, September 18, 1884. He had two daughters, Julia and Mary. Julia married James Sowell, a lawyer of Athens, Alabama, and had one child Lelia. Mary married Ben Sowell and lived with her father, as her husband(12) was not very ambitious. She had two daughters, Minnie and Olive. They were living in Moultrie, Florida,(6) in 1888, and were doing well. Minnie was married to Mr. Brown. BPC).

James was married twice, each time to a widow. He and his last wife died of Yellow Fever in Houston, Texas, in 1858,(7) leaving a son whom I undertook to educate at the military school at Nashville, Tennessee. About the end of his second session, he returned home and enlisted in the Confederate cause, was wounded at Fort Donaldson(8) and taken prisoner, remaining so for a year. Was exchanged, joined his command and died in a hospital in Grenada, Mississippi, in 1863.

Robert perished in the U. S. Army during our war with Mexico at the battle of Vera Cruz. He was never married.

David was married at the age of eighteen and a few years after moved to Arkansas, where he raised a family of four sons and three daughters. The last heard of them, they, with their mother, lived in St. Francis County, Arkansas, and are all doing well. David died in 1852.(9)

John died in Centerville, Texas, where he had been a merchant for many years. He left considerable property, but it was all gobbled up by his administrators. Died July 11, 1858.

Calvin was practicing law in Guntersville, Alabama, when he died February 10, 1850.(10) He married the daughter of Judge Adams, and his daughter Annie was born soon after his death. He was the most talented one of the family.

Caswell married a daughter of Dr. Bothwell, Ashville, Alabama. She was only 14 when they eloped into Georgia and were there married. He has spent a wandering life, though capable. He died in Birmingham, Alabama, February 3, 1884. His children were "A" Capshaw, Springville, Alabama, Preston Capshaw, Hugh Capshaw and Mrs. Elwell Eastman.

Aroma married Sterling Smith, a farmer, and soon after moved to Mississippi, a few miles West of Fulton, and from there to Waco, Texas, where his family still reside. Aroma died soon after the Civil War. Her children are married, doing well. (Sam Smith of Waco; Mrs. Capt. Nolly, Waco; Mrs. Parker, Weatherford, Texas. Saw Mrs. Parker and daughter in 1877. BPC)

Mary was married to a man named Bouldin. She had two children, David and Tabitha, they were beautiful children. Bouldin was a mean, brutal man and probably killed by his unkind-ness and neglect. Do not know what became of the children. Mary died in Texas, December 24, 1859.

Benjamin Franklin was the youngest of the boys and was the last to leave home. When Mary married Bouldin, they rented the homestead and mother boarded with them. I took Caswell and Ben went to Brother James in Colbert, Mississippi. Though a mere boy, he took charge of the warehouse for Brother Jim and afterwards for Hale-Murdock and Company of Columbus, Mississippi, was very successful in business. He married Charlotte Burton in West Point, Mississippi, July 25, 1858. Four of their children lived to maturity; Benjamin Preston, who married Alice Streeter of Cummington, Massachusetts, - Result, Willard Bruce, born September 1, 1896; Harold Burton, born June 29, 1897; Ruth Florence, born November 7, 1905, and Esther Lillian, born March 22, 1913. Viola married Thomas Bell of Conley, Georgia. She died in 1904. Her children, Annie, (who is now Mrs. Calloway), Benjamin Thomas, Rufus, Ruth, Victoria, Jessee, -- Charlotte Burton is unmarried and a teacher. Lucille married Rhode Farman and lives in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Result -- Dorthy (Farman) and Chandler Capshaw (Farman). Benjamin died April 8, 1883 and he and his wife are buried in the cemetery at West Point, Mississippi.(11)

In regards to my mother's side. Her father was a Scotchman by the name of James McCracken, who came to this country in the charge of his step-father, whose name was Patterson. My grand-mother's name was Mary Smith. He parents came from Ireland when she was two years old. She had one brother, John. Grandmother reared eleven children. (I saw one of them, Anson McCracken, near Ft. Worth in 1876. BPC). David Capshaw's people were all large people. All had black or brown eyes, black hair and all had large heads. my father and all of his brothers and sisters were very slow spoken. All the briskness of speech came from my Mother's side.