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I put the following together with help from Dorothy Brown Thompson now deceased
ANCESTORS OF ROBERT (17??-1755) AND OTHER CONTEMPORARY CAVE'S
From the following records it can be presumed that John Cave ,
carpenter of King and Queen County, owned land in Stafford County and died there in 1720
or 1721. Further, that he had sons John Jr. and David: That John Jr. died without heirs
before 1748. That the mother of these sons was a daughter of George Andrews which George
owned lots in Marlborough Town, Stafford County. There is also some basis for believing
that William Cave (d.1742) of Stafford Co. was also a son of John Cave since David
released the land that had reverted to him after John Jr. died to Keene Withers who was
married to William Cave's daughter. Her father William had died before the land
transfer in 1748.
1707/08/05 John Cave Stafford
John Cave of King and Queen Co., a carpenter of King and Queen County, buys from Sampson
Darrell, of Glocester Co., 300 acres of land in Stafford Co. lying and being on the south
side of Potomack Creek and bounded as follows: Northerly in Potomack Creek, Easterly with
the lands of John Gorvey, Thomas Gregg, Wm. Waught, Southerly and westerly with the lands
of Giles Travers; the said 300 acres of land being the one half of 600 acres sold by Capt.
Wm Heaberd to Capt. John Norgrove by deed dated the 6th day of March 1667.
Stafford Co. Deed Book Z, p384 Darrell release to Cave recorded 8 Oct 1707.
1721 John Cave Stafford
"John Cave's will was dated August 6, 1714 and proved in 1721 at Stafford County
Court; it was recorded in now lost Will Book "K", page 2. He devised 200 acres
of land on Axton's Run and adjoining the property of John Gowry and Giles Travers to
his son John Cave but he "died so that the above mentioned land fell and reverted
to" David Cave of Orange County who was joined by his wife Sarah in conveying the
said property to Keene Withers of Hamilton Parish, Prince William County, on September 12,
1748."
Quote above from The Register of Overwharton Parish by George H. S. King
Note: Keene Withers was the husband of Elizabeth Cave, only surviving child of William
Cave dec'd. William may have been next in line after John Jr dec'd to inherit John
's(d.1721) land so David passed it on.
The following from the papers of Mrs. Dorothy Brown Thompson:
Deed of Lease and Release dated 12 & 13 Sept. 1748 from David Cave & Sarah, His
wife of St. Thos. Parish, Orange , to Cain Withers of Hamilton Parish, Prince William
Co.-"Whereas John Cave of Stafford Co. dec'd. did by his last will and testament
dated 6 Aug. 1714 give and bequeath to his son John Cave 200 acres of land lying and being
in Stafford County in Overwharton Parish bounding upon Axton's Run and upon the lands
of John Gore and upon the lands of Giles Travers and the sd John Cave, son of the testator
John, died so that the above mentioned land fell and reverted to the said David Cave party
to these presents"
Wit:John Hamilton, Charles Waller, Anthony Murray
Recorded Stafford Court 13 Sept. 1748...
1737/07/27 John Cave Stafford
John Cave sells 3 lots in Marlborough town, Stafford Co to John Mercer. This transaction
is recorded in John Mercer's Land Book as follows: "This indenture made the
twenty seventh day of July in the year of our Lord God one thousand seven hundred and
twenty seven between John Cave of the county of Orange of the one part and John Mercer of
the county of Stafford of the other part witnesseth that the said John Cave for and in
consideration of the sum of five shillings sterling to him in hand paid by the said John
Mercer the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, hath granted bargained and sold and by
these present doth grant bargain and sell unto the said John Mercer all that and those
three lots or half acres of land suitable lying and being in Marlboroughtown in the said
county of Stafford known and distinguished in the platt and survey of the said town made
by Theodorick Bland surveyor of the said county and recorded among the records of the said
county by the numbers (8),!
(9) and (11) which were made over and conveyed by Matthew Thompson and John Withers
gent. Feoffees of the said town to George Andrews grandfather of the said John Cave whose
heir the said John Cave is.
...
In witness whereof the said John Cave hath hereunto set his hand and seal the day month
and year first above written.
s/ John Cave
Sealed and delivered in presence of us.
The above mentioned five shillings sterling being first paid.
Thomas Staine
Rawleigh Chinn
William Cave
James Mercer
At Above held for Stafford County te 13th 7ber 1737 the within lease from John Cave to
John Mercer was proved by the oathes of William Cave and Rawleigh Chinn two of the
subscribing witnesses thereto and admitted to record.
Test. H. Taylor"
In addition to John Jr., William and David mentioned above as possible sons of John Cave
and ____Andrews, there were other contemporaries in Stafford, Spotsylvania and later
Orange and Culpeper Counties who may also have been sons. There were Benjamin, Robert,
Thomas and Joseph. David, Benjamin and Robert in particular were closely associated with
one another in the public records between 1720 and 1750 and gave sons these names. For
example David named sons David, Benjamin and Robert : Benjamin named sons Benjamin, John,
William, and David: Robert named sons Robert, John and William.
In considering Benjamin who was to become Burgess from Orange County, as a son of John
Cave, one must reject the widely held premise that Benjamin was the immigrant ancestor.
For many years a chart assembled by an English genealogist named Tyrrell was accepted as
truth. This chart showed Benjamin as the immigrant son of Rev. William Cave of Windsor,
chaplain to Charles II, and his wife Anna Stonehouse Cave. Rev. William Cave's will
was cited in support . Mrs. Dorothy Brown Thompson, long time Cave family researcher ,
says in her papers: "In 1957, through the London Society of Genealogists, I succeeded
[Dorothy Brown Thompson] in getting a photocopy of this will from the Perogative Court of
Canterbury. The will mentions daughters, a grandson, a deceased son Ralph, but not any
mention of Benjamin or any living son. The will is long, detailed, meticulous. It seems
most unlikely that he would have omitted to mention a living son even if provided for,
even if estranged. At any r!
ate, he did not; so Tyrrell's reference was false. Benjamin' deposition, 1758
shows he was born 1703, which further disproves this parentage: Anna (Stonehouse) Cave
died 1691."
According to George H.S. King in a report to Mrs D. B. Thompson 18 April 1967, the
deposition which establishes the birthyear of Benjamin the Burgess is filed in the suit
papers
Crosthwait vs Crosthwait, Orange Co. VA Judgement File #17, Papers of June Court 1759.
According to the report the deposition reads in part as follows: "Benjamin Cave Gent.
Sworn & Examined in the suit Depending in the County Court of Orange between Abraham
Crosthwait Plaintiff and William Crosthwait Defendant, in the presense and by Consent of
the partis _ Deposeth and Saith, That he is about 55 years or thereabouts... That about
the time of Timothy Crosthwait purchasing the land in question from Hezekiah Rhodes...
&c:
Benja, Cave
John Cave (16__-1720) may or may not have been the immigrant. Records such as Cavaliers
and Pioneers and the St. Stephens Parish Register indicate that there were earlier
Cave's who could have been a prior generation.