The accepted patriarch of the Caudill family appears to be Stephen Caudill who appears in
Virginia records around 1731. The name is recorded as Caudle. Many people believe that
Stephen Caudle was born between 1680 and 1690. LDS records list a Stephen Caudle as being
christened in 1688 at Withington, Gloucester, Eng. This may not be the same Stephen but
the dates work. Stephen Caudle m. Mary Fields and they have a son James,b.ca 1725,Surry
Co.,VA. James m. Mary? in 1748 in Lunenburg Co.,VA. They have a big family of which two
sons fight in the Revolutionary War. The family moved to NC about 1787 and at that time
the name was recorded as Caudel, Caudill, Cordell and a few others. Stephen would later go
to KY with his second wife,Sarah Adams, and some of their children. Those children from
Jane DeHart stayed in NC and later went into TN and MO.