O KASEY sent the following message to me on Oct. 5, signed Sally Kasey E. <y
reply bounced-addressee unknown. No further I.D. in message. Her message was:
Just wondering if you've found anything on your Caseys. I, too, am looking
for them and I think there's an escellent chance ours are connected. Casey
Co. KY was named for William Casey. My Casey/Kaset is James of Bedford Va in
1770s and am trying to connect him to SOMEONE!!!!!! Some think he belongs to
the Abner bounch, while others think William or Peter, As he didn't name
anyone Peter or Ben, but did William and Elizabeth I tend to lean in that
direction. Hope to hear from you.
my response was: Hi Sally. Thanks for Casey/Kasey e-mail. The Casey several
of us are looking for is Elizabeth. Folklore in the Shenandoah Valley and
Kentucky says she was the wife of Jacob Rife and the mother of Gen.
Christopher Riffe of Kentucky fame. Gen. Christopher married in Rockingham
Co. Va. to Mary Spears in 1783, and soon thereafter the couple went to
Kentucky with brother Abraham Riffe, possibly in a group which included
William Casey (who had gone to Kentucky before around 1779) and possibly
Peter Casey, who went on toward the Ohio River boundary between Kentucky and
Ohio and was a judge there. I have scanty data on him and his wife.
I've not found any firm proof that Elizabeth m. Jacob Rife, but if so,
and they had a son Christopher/Christian, he was born most likely in Maryland
in 1765. If that is so, they were probably of the John Rife family who moved
from Leitersburg District around 1775 and came to Rockingham Co. Another
possibility is that Elizabeth m. the above Abraham Riffe, since he had a wife
named Elizabeth. Finally, Abner did have a daughter/granddaughter named
Elizabeth, but she was married to soembody else, not a Rife/Riffe.
If you can shed any light on this, I'd be delighted. I can snailmail the
article on Judge Peter is you would like-includes a reference to Ben Casey, a
casualty in the Revol. War. Somebody told me that Ben's will left a legacy to
Christopher Riffe. No reference to James in my sparse info. I'd appreciate
your comments. Regards, Harry Reiff