Hello All!
Yesterday Lisa listed the following information:
> ~ Lisa ~
> Descendant of Catherine CASTO (b. Dec. 19, 1758, d. Aug. 13, 1837)
daughter
> of David CASTO, Sr. (b. 1710, d. 1770) and Phebe GANDY (b. 1726,
d. abt.
> 1770). Also descendant of Rebecca CASTO (b. 1786, d. after 1870)
daughter
> of Azariah CASTO (b. May 1, 1750 and d. Oct. 14, 1812) and
Hannah
GOULDEN
> (b. 1755, d. 1856). Also descendant of Martha CASTO (b. Jan. 3,
1735/36
and
> d. Nov. 26, 1815) daughter of William CASTO (b. abt. 1680, d.
bef. 1750)
and
> Elizabeth ABBOTT (b. abt. 1689).
I think now would be a very good time to start a discussion on
A) who were the children of William and Elizabeth (Abbott) Casto;
B) who were the children of David and Phebe (Gandy) Casto;
C) who were the children of William Casto and (1) Perthenia (Purple) & (2)
Sarah Unknown
Of course, listing sources for any of this information would be helpful.
These are the earliest of the Castos known to be in the U.S. and I think we
all want to be as accurate and positive as we can be when listing them.
I'll start with William Casto (1717-1778) because he is the easiest to list
due to the existance of his will and bible pages. I wrote up an article and
published copies of those documents in the October 1997 issue of my
newsletter, Casto Connections. I have his children by Perthenia (also seen
it spelled Purthenia) as:
1. Elizabeth Casto (who married John Kelley)
2. Abel Casto (who married Susannah ?)
3. Azariah Casto (who married Hannah Golden)
Children of William Casto and Sarah:
1. John Casto (who married Lovice Skull)
2. Andrew Casto (who married Rachel Biggs and Sarah Sleater)
3. David Casto (who married Amy Biggs and Joanna ?)
4. Jonathan Casto (who married Margaret ?)
5. Jeremiah Casto (who married Hannah Smith)
6. William Casto (who married Martha Grant)
7. Jacob Casto (who married Neony Brown)
8. Thomas Casto (who married Nancy Heritage)
9. Abijah Casto (who married 1. unknown and 2. Nancy Powers)
I'm not an expert on William's line at all and most of my info comes from
the Casto Family by Stanley Dale Casto, The Casto Story and Collections by
Ina Tuft and James Casto, Casto Cousins by Eileen Vickers, and the now
defunct Casto Chronicles newsletter.
I addressed the family of William Casto and Elizabeth Abbott in the first
issue of my newsletter, July 1997
(
http://www.castoconnections.com/newsletter/). There have not been any
wills or documents found that I know of to positively tie David and
William-1717 to William and Elizabeth. However, since research has shown
William Casto (Caustlo and other various spellings) to have been the only
known person by that name in that part of NJ at that time period (earliest
reference I've found is when William quitclaimed Elizabeth's inherited land
at Alloways Creek in 1714), there is a high probability that he is the
father of David and William-1717. Dates found for David Casto's birth are
speculative only - I've seen his birthdate listed as anywhere from 1706 to
as late as 1730. If he was born in 1706, he could easily be the father of
Martha (born 1735/36). The later he assume he is born, the less likely it
is that he is the father of Martha.
My sources for this information on William and Elizabeth Abbott comes from
Genealogies of NJ Families, Patents and Deeda and Other Early Records of NJ,
1664-1703, now defunct Casto Chronicles newsletter, and research of David
Leroy Casto.
Let me switch gears here to the children of David Casto and what I was
saying about his birth year. There is speculation that David had possbily
three wives, one before Phoebe Gandy and one after. If David was born
1706-ish, then yes, he would have had to have had a wife prior to the
recorded marriage to Phebe in 1752 if he were Martha's father. Martha was
born around 1735. If she is the daughter of William and Elizabeth Abbott,
then there is a big gap between the last known child, William 1717, and
Martha 1735. If she is the child of David, he would have had to have been
born earlier than later. The same goes for Rhoda Casto, born 1730-1740, who
married Daniel Biggs. The April 2001 issue of Casto Connections touched on
this. I used the following as David's children:
Martha (who married Jonathan Harris, Sr.)
Rhoda (who married Daniel Biggs)
David (who married Margaret Province)
Phoebe (who married James McKown)
John (who married 1. Sarah 2. unknown)
Catherine (who married Jonathan Harris, Jr.)
William (who married 1. Hannah Bonnett 2. Margaret Parsons)
Elizabeth (who married Joseph Yard Province)
Sarah (who married Benjamin Wright)
I used 20 different sources for that article but that doesn't mean I've got
it right yet. I'm always open to new information and theories on the
origins and earliest Castos because there's just not a lot of hard
documentation to be found. Lisa's note intrigued me because I'd not found
anyone else related to 3 seperate early lines of Castos like she had listed
and I'm eager to see if she's found out something to help us. Anyone else
willing to jump in on this discussion????
Danita Smith, editor
Casto Connections newsletter
www.castoconnections.com