I have suspected for a long while that two marriages records for Thomas Cave in
Prince George's County, MD, pertained to Thomas Cave Jr, son of Thomas Cave Sr and
his wife Jane. The first was to Mary Brightwell (April 15, 1782); the second, to
Elizabeth Peirce [sic] (November 18, 1786). Thanks to a chance remark by another
researcher who was tracing another line that connected to my Cave line, I was able
to substantiate my idea. He mentioned a deed in Prince George's County by a
Richard Brightwell dated 1785 that contained a bequest to a Rhoda Cave. The name
meant nothing to him, but I knew that Thomas Cave Jr had a daughter named Rhoda,
born about 1784 in MD. Sure enough, when I finally obtained a copy of the deed,
Rhoda Cave was identified as Richard Brightwell's granddaughter. Thomas Cave's
son
named John Cave was also likely by Mary Brightwell. She may have died during
childbirth or shortly thereafter because he was married to his second wife by the
end of November in 1786, the year that John Cave was born. I do not have
"proof"
that the marriage of Thomas Cave to Elizabeth Peirce is my Thomas Cave Jr, but the
rest of the evidence strongly suggests it. Perhaps another chance discovery will
confirm it. A transcription of the deed is posted at my website:
http://lonestar.texas.net/~robison/deeds4.html
Roger Robison