In a message dated 12/31/97 2:50:17 AM, mike(a)caswellplating.com wrote:
<<I have forwarded your mail to the Caswell listserver.
I'd love to know how the connection was established between the Taunton Ma.
line and this Thomas Caswell of Curry, Somerset.
Does anyone know WHY everyone thinks this is the right Thos. for the
Taunton Thos?
What proof is there?>>
Mike,
All I know about the supposed connection comes from the "Mayflower
Descendant", Vol. 35, No. 2, July 1985, which does not offer PROOF, but only a
suggestion. The first page says:
"While some writers have suggested that Thoams Caswell as a native of Wales
(or that the name Caswell, at least, is Welsh), and some would like to claim
that he had a distinguished background in London, still others allude to a
family tradition that he came from Somersetshire in England. The last appears
to be the most plausible origin; the name Caswell is uncommon in Wales and
neighboring Monmouthshire but is common in Somersetshire. A large number of
families from Somersetshire did settle in Taunton, and, in fact, it may be
pointed out that the principal community in Somersetshire is called Taunton,
for which our colonial town was obviously named. The tantalizing baptism of
one Thomas Caswell, son of Thomas Caswell, in the parish of North Curry, co.
Somerset, on 20 October 1618, would nicely match the supposed age of our Old
Colony settler (Genealogical Society of Utah, "International Genealogical
Index", June 1981). Marriages occur on record in the parish of North Curry in
1579 and 1581 for a Thomas Caswell, showing that men of that name were not
strangers to that parish (W.P.W. Phillimore and Douglas LL. Hayward, eds.,
"Somerset Parish Registers. Marriages.," Vol. II, [London, 1899]). Numerous
other Caswell events appear in the nearby parish of St. Mary Magdalene in the
City of Taunton. Further research needs to be carried out in Somersetshire
for the origin of our Thomas Caswell."
So unless there is something later than this article offering POSITIVE proof,
it is only SUGGESTED that the Thomas Caswell of North Curry could be the
Taunton settler. It is NOT a fact.
Sam Behling