Thanks - I had no idea the 3 brothers story was widespread - must be
something that has died-out with the last generation (Carson is now 82).
Thanks again for an invaluable source.
-----Original Message-----
From: Workman, Marjean <Marjean.Workman(a)compaq.com>
To: CASCADDEN-L(a)rootsweb.com <CASCADDEN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Date: Monday, May 24, 1999 12:40
Subject: RE: [CASCADDEN-L] Lurker with a Question
Carl,
The story you told is in part a variation of the "three brothers" story
that
probably everyone finds in one of their lines of research.
Apparently
people tried to explain finding the same names in different parts of the
county, and they came up with "three brothers" story. Typically one
brother
went to New England, one to Pennsylvania, and one to "pick your
favorite
location." Anyway, the "three brothers" story comes in many variations
for
the locations, the number of brothers, etc. There are a number of articles
written on this phenomena, but I don't want to get into this here.
As far as the origins of Goldy Cascadden, I am sure you already know he is
a
descendant of William Henry Cascadden Sr. I think Jeannine already
sent
you
some information about this family. Kathleen (Cascadden) Rowe and
H.N.
Cascadden did quite a bit of research on these Cascaddens in the 1960's,
and
both published manuscript about 1971. Both of their works talk about
three
Cascaden brothers coming to Baltimore in 1790 aboard a sailing vessel from
Ireland. The brothers were supposedly William Henry Sr., James and Hugh.
James supposedly drank salt water, went crazy and jumped overboard, thus
dying. William and Hugh arrived in Baltimore and settled in Pennsylvania.
The date of 1790 can not be proven, but we do know that William was in
Pennsylvania by 1800, when he married Betsey Bayles. We do not know if the
story of James is true, and probably will not be able to prove any death
aboard a ship at such an early date. The name of the brother Hugh is
probably incorrect. No record of this Hugh Cascadden has been found, and
the Hugh whom Kathleen (Cascadden) Rowe believed was this brother, was
instead the son of Alexander Cascadden, and thus a nephew, not a brother to
William. This of course leads us to the actual brother Alexander, whom is
not mentioned at all in any of these family stories. His relationship to
William is proven in the probate records of Elgin County, Ontario, but for
some reason these tales never make a mention of him.
I am afraid more research must be done to prove when William Henry Sr. and
his brother Alexander came to the United States. At this point all we have
proven is William was here by 1800, he settled in Pennsylvania and that
both
William and Alexander appear in Upper Canada in 1807. Hopefully
sometime
in
the future we can determine the exact date of arrival of the
Cascadden, and
if the brothers came together or separately, and if any other family
members
also immigrated.
Hope this helps,
Marjean (list owner)