Greetings, All,
I thought it might be interesting for many of us to work on building a
timeline for William Hunter Cavendish. Most of the information I am
including here in this first draft comes from THE CAVENDISH FAMILY HISTORY,
Printed at Cincinnati, Ohio in 1961. I have yet to discover the author of
this short work. I'm considering every bit of information to be
questionable until proof of some sort emerges. I may have more info on the
computer I can't access until my son goes back to college, but this seems
enough for a start. If you know of any proofs or other information (even
conflicting info!) to add to the timeline, join in!
TIMELINE FOR WILLIAM HUNTER CAVENDISH
~1740 = William Henderson CAVENDISH born in Ireland. (1)
1752 = Tradition has it that this Lord Cavendish came to the colony of
Virginia with his mother and two sisters from England. A thorough search of
shipboard records by this researcher could only find one Cavendish before
the mid-eighteen hundreds. That was Margaret Cavendish who was probably the
mother. Early shipboard records did not record the names of children or
women, unless they were unaccompanied by a husband. If this was his mother,
she came on the convict ship -Litchfield- in 1752. (5)
Bet. 1756-1760 = Came to America with his mother Margaret and two sisters. (1)
Date? = Settled in Virginia on the James River not far from Lexington. The
place where they settled is still known as the Cavendish Farm. (1)
1769 = "Cavendish, an Englishman, settled in Greenbrier in 1769." (2)
1769 = "Sufficient to say that young William Hunter Cavendish reflected the
education and breeding of his royal background at an early age. He deposed
in court documents that he was in Greenbrier County as early as 1769 before
the formation of the county."(5)
1783 = Greenbrier Court records-William Hunter Cavendish served on Grand
Jury this
was 1783 (7)
1777 = Will Book 1-1777 will of James McCoy - William Hunter was a witness. (7)
1778-1782 = Served as quarter-master general during the Revolutionary War. (1)
Dates? "I have several documents pertaining to Wm.
H. Cavendish and his patriotism, including a formal request by President
John Adams for services." (8)
1780 = "William Hunter Cavendish married on June 13, 1780 to Jane Murphy by
Rev. John Alderson, Jr. in Rockingham or Greenbrier C - Minister's
Returns." (4)
1780 = "What is well documented is his marriage to my
great-great-great-grandmother, Jane Murphy, on 13 June 1780." (5)
1790 = "He was the first County Clerk of said Co., and served in the State
Legislature 1790-1800. When Bath Co. was organized in 1790 he was one of
the first lawyers given a permit to practice at Warm Springs. By a previous
marriage he had several children living in Greenbrier Co." (2)
1790 = "... William Hunter Cavendish, an Englishman, who was the first
clerk of Greenbrier and later the first clerk of Kanawha. He was a delegate
from Greenbrier almost continuously from 1790 to 1804." (6)
1796 = Appointed to first Board of Visitors at Washington College,
Lexington, Virginia. The proof of this is contained in Laws of Virginia, p.
44, ch. 41, reading, "An act for erecting Liberty Hall Academy into a
College." This act was passed December 21, 1796, and names the Board of
Visitors, including William H. Cavendish of Greenbrier. The duties of the
Board of Visitors were to appoint the president and professors, remove and
suspend the same for a good cause, fix their saleries, make inspections,
and have control of all property belonging to the college. (1)
1800 = Death of wife Jane Murphy. "What is well documented is his marriage
to my great-great-great-grandmother, Jane Murphy, on 13 June 1780.
Subsequent to her death in 1800 ..." (5)
1802-1805 = Served in the Assembly of Virginia, with the exception of two
years when he was Sheriff of Greenbrier County, at which time he lived in
Lewisburg. (1)
1804 = Wiliam H. Cavendish me. Alice McClintic on May 10, 1804. (3)
Date? = Sheriff of Greenbrier County. (1)
Date? = Cavendish vs. Fleming case on record at Lewisburg decided in
settlement of an estate of which William H. Cavendish was an administrator. (1)
1808 = "In 1808, Mrs. Alice McClintic married again to William Hunter
Cavendish, a Lawyer of Greenbrier Co." (3)
1818 = "When he died in 1818, according to his will, specified that he had
no strings attached to his wife's property, but property he owned in
Greenbrier Co., he gave to his own children. After his death, this farm was
always known as the "Old Cavendish" place, and his widow was called Grandma
Cavendish." (2)
1818 = "William Cavendish's will was probated in Bath Co., VA, in 1818."
(5)
(1) THE CAVENDISH FAMILY HISTORY, Printed at Cincinnati, Ohio in 1961.
(2)Info from Sharon McNeeley (smcneeley(a)ahol.com):
*(Written in July and Aug. 1949 by Junius Hunter Arbuckle):
(3) Bath County Marriages 1791-1810, THE RESEARCHERS.
(4) Weilfeck, Marriages of Some VA Residents 1607-1800, Series 1 Vol. 2.
(5) Info from "Greenbrier Co. Family History," p. 43, sub. by Gradon Smales
Love (SAR National No. 142549)
(6) (Morton's "History of Allegheny Co." p. 209-210):
(7) Keith McClung
(8) bjenkins <bjenkins(a)cybertrails.com> (I am trying to get copies of these
documents - Frances)
I will be keeping this TIMELINE and updates on the Rootsweb CAVENDISH
biography page:
http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/surnames/c/a/CAVENDISH/biographies/4
Frances Cavendish Dorman <7cattys(a)keaconnect.net>
My CAVENDISH WEB PAGE:
http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/d/o/r/Frances-C-Dorman/index.html
CAVENDISH email list:
http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/surname/c/cavendish.html
Researching from the VA-WV area:
*** William Hunter CAVENDISH, b.ca.1740, & his wives & descendants ***
*** John Dean KINCAID, b.3-15-1795 m. Mary (Polly) HYDE, b.1799 ***
*** Owen HENDRICKSON, married bef. 1833, Margaret GIVEN/S ***
*** Henry McGRAW, b.ca.1797, m. Mary (Polly) SMITH b.ca.1800 in Mulvane,
Fayette Co., (W)VA ***
***Thomas Alexander TERRY b.ca.1760, m. Sallie (Sarah) KINCAID ***