Hi Norma!
I was really intrigued when you said you also had some ancestors in
Christian Co., KY. I think my gg grandfather, James Peckham (J.P.) CALDWELL
and his sister (a widow) Jane CALDER along with her son Robert James CALDER
moved there about 1819. They lived in or near Hopkinsville. J.P. was on the
1820 census, at the end, as possibly a census taker. He signed it saying he
believed the above was correct or something to that effect. I don't have it
in front of me at the moment. I've looked into land grants and never found
him there, but I have seen something saying he was a planter and had some
slaves. Maybe it was the census. So there must be some kind of land
records. He must have owned some land, unless the three of them (and maybe
more?) were living with other family members. They moved on to Texas about
1831-2, so they were in KY approximately 12 years. Later after they moved
to TX and was married, he sent his children and his wife's children from
her first marriage to KY to go to school. I don't think it was in
Hopkinsville, maybe Louisville or Frankfort. Those seem to come to mind.
I need to get my information organized. I have a lot of copies of things,
but no real organization yet. Just 13 years of xerox copies strewn out in
different boxes. It's gotten so out of control that I just put it off
because it is so monumentous. I really like to be organized, but it just
got out of hand. I started inputting it into Reunion for Macintosh, but
never did finish it because I suspected I was linking them wrong and never
took the time to go back and redo it.
J. P. CALDWELL was a Mason in Texas, so possibly he was involved in that in
KY also. Another place I need to look is Methodist records in and around
Hopkinsville. He was a very strict Methodist when he was in Texas. I never
heard anything from the family pertaining to any family in Iowa, but that
doesn't mean there wasn't. Did you ever hear anything about your CALDWELL
family having Texas connections? They settled for good there in Brazoria
Co. and then Hays Co. TX. Jane's son, R.J. CALDER became quite well known
around his home in Fort Bend Co. Texas. J.P. and Jane had another sister,
Anna Maria CALDWELL who married a man named Samuel WALTMAN and then she
married Charles SHEARN. I never have known whether it was just J.P. and his
two sisters or if there were any other siblings. I found out from R. J.
CALDER's obituary or a bio about him that his mother (Jane's) father was
supposedly Dr. James CALDWELL, a physician & planter on the eastern shore
of Maryland. That's all I know about him. I have always wondered if the
middle name "Peckham" could be J. P.'s mother's maiden name.
I wish I had more time to work on this. It's so fascinating. Keep me
informed on your progress and I'll do the same.
Marianne