We've been at a deadend finding the parents of Alexander Casteel (b. abt
1800; d. 04 May 1862), who lived and died about 3 miles southwest of Athens,
in McMinn Co TN. We now know without question that his wife was Susannah
Sherrill (b. abt 1802;
d. Mar, 1862) , daughter of Alexander Sherrill, based on a contemporary
letter from Alexander Sherrill.
Alexander Casteel was co-owner (with John Camp) of a large farm in McMinn Co
for at least 30 years, although his portion of the property was never deeded
to him in his lifetime. After the death of both men, the heirs acknowledged
that the men had bought the farm together, and that Casteel's heirs had
inheritance rights to the Alexander Casteel portion of the farm. We are
beginning to wonder if Alexander Casteel might not have been a Native
American from the region who might never have had a European name in the
early part of his life? If so, he could not have held title to farm land in
the early 1830's since it could have been taken from him during the Removal,
so his portion of land might have been held for him by a trusted friend (John
Camp). He might have been a neighbor of the early Casteels in the area, or
might have been raised by them, or worked for them, and taken their surname.
As a European given name, he may have taken the name of Alexander from his
wife's father.
The descendants in this Casteel line have acknowledged the family story of
Indian blood in the family, and we can not discern that the Sherrills were
mixed blood, so it may have come from Alexander's side. Lots of "What ifs"
and "Maybes" and "Could bes", but that's what makes detective work
interesting.
Any comments?
Jim Patrick
Tampa, Florida