OUR EARLIEST CASWELLS
The
first Caswell in Ireland, that we can claim descent from, is James Caswell of
Scariff Tichburn (referred to in this book as James #1). Scariff is a small
village in the vicinity of Altnamackin, County Armagh.
The
only mention that we have of James (#1) is in an indenture between Alexander
McCombe and James Caswell, dated 7 January 1820 (1) (see end of document for full text). James states that, after his death, his lease
is to go to his sixth son, Robert Caswell.
ABSTRACT OF LEASE ON LAND
AT ALTNAMACKIN PARISH
Alexander McCombe of
Dublin, Gent, Lessor: James Carswell of Scariff parish of Newtownhamilton,
Barony of Upper Fews, County of Armagh, farmer, lessee.
Dated 7 January 1820.
Ten acres and four
perches, Irish plantation measure, more or less. Mears and bounds: on the north by a meadow in
the possession of James Hogan, the road leading from the main road to the bog
on the east, partly by bog in the possession of said James Hagan, and land in
the possession of Elizabeth Robinson and on the west by the road leading from
Keady to Dundalk. To have and to hold
the said devised premises, with rights, members and appurtenances thereunto
belonging or in anywise appertaining unto the said James Carswell, his heirs
and assigns, from the first day of November which was in the year of our Lord,
one thousand eight hundred and eighteen and during the life and lives of his
Royal highness George Prince of Wales Regent of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland and Robert Carswell sixth son of the said James Carswell
party hereto or twenty one years, whichever lasts the longest.
Payment to be two pounds
sterling for each acre, annually. This
to be over and above “all taxes, charges, and impositions whatsoever…quit rent
and crown rent excepted.
Alexander McCombe
James Carswell
I wonder if James (#1) wife was Sarah. If naming patterns hold Andrew and Mary Jane's first son - James Dickson Caswell was obviously named for the two grandfathers. Second daughter Margaret was named for her maternal grandmother, Margaret Wallace - so was first daughter Sarah named for her paternal grandmother? The only other daughter out of the thirteen children (and my great grandmother) was named after her mother, Mary Jane.
For
a hundred years, Canadian and US Caswells crossed the Atlantic to visit with
the Caswells still on the original farm in Altnamackin. How we were connected to this family had been
lost as the old timers passed away.
Still the visiting continued. In
an attempt to clarify this connection I placed an ad in the Belfast paper
looking for Caswells (about 1973). My letter was answered
by a Reverend Robert Caswell. His family
as well, was from the Altnamackin area.
For 15 years we corresponded but could not make a connection. I corresponded with a number of Roberts
cousins that were also interested in genealogy – still could not find how we related. I had collected over a hundred names of
collateral Caswells in Ireland, but no proof to be able to claim them as family.
I
was also tracking a family of Carswells that had been in the Darlington,
Ontario area about the same time as our Caswells - but no idea if they were ours.
AND
THEN, a packet of letters
came from Murray Caswell in Saskatoon.
In it was a letter written in the 1930’s by a James Caswell, who resided
in Armagh. It was addressed to his
“cousin” Robert (grandfather of the above Murray) and in the letter he listed all the sons of
James (#1) Caswell and the maiden names of all their wives. What an unexpected treasure trove of information! And, how did James know all of this? Is there a family bible or list in the old homestead in Ireland? What
I found fascinating was that in a letter written in 1939 was the
information about family from about 100 years ago including family that had left Ireland. James
included the maiden names of of all his great aunts. Quite a stretch to know this information off the top of his head. Unfortunately James did not mention which wife went with which Caswell, I have not been able to connect them all. What I do know is -
Descendants of James Caswell
JAMES CASWELL was born in 1778 in
Armagh, Ireland and
had the following children:
ANDREW CASWELL was born in 1798 and married MARY JANE DICKSON
MARGARET CASWELL was born in 1799 and possibly married STEPHEN CASWELL
JOSEPH CASWELL
was born about 1800
JOHN CASWELL was born about 1800
JAMES CASWELL was born about 1800
and married HAGAN
DAVID CASWELL was born about 1805 and married JANE MCLELAND
WILLIAM CASWELL was born abt 1810 and married MARY JOHNSTON
ROBERT CASWELL was born abt 1811 and married RACHEL SMART
Unaccounted for is HUGGARD and SMYTH. No mention of a sister was made in James letter but Murray Caswell also provided a copy of a death notice for Margaret Caswell in Manitoba with a note that this was Andrews sister.
James Caswell's home built in 1911 - Caswell farm in Ireland
Rachel Herron and Annie Caswell, with Alberta Caswell
This home was originally stone but plastered over. It was built about 1911 as 2 single story houses for James (1 house) and 2 single cousins (2nd house). When the latter died, James added a second story and joined the two houses.
James
Caswell (the letter writer) was a grandson of James #1’s son, James and wife Miss
Hagan. (Could she be related to the
James Hagan on the farm next door?) James #1’s descendants still farm the
original Caswell land in Altnamackin. It
was one of his letters that enabled me to fit together all the bits of information
that I had collected about potential Caswell relatives.
Robert Caswell home on Caswell farm in Ireland
Rev.
Robert was descended from the son that inherited the lease – Robert. William Carswell in Ontario was another
brother and this was the family that our Andrew stayed with when they
immigrated to Canada.
Genealogical
research is like a very difficult jigsaw puzzle. When a piece fits, and a whole section can be
completed it is an amazingly satisfying moment even if it took 20 years for the pieces to fit!
John Caswell home on farm in Ireland
He went to America. Will Herron bought this property (24 acres) in 1961
Another view of one of the vacant homes still standing on the Caswell farm
Most
of the people reading this book will be tracing their roots back to Andrew
Caswell (son of James #1) and Mary Jane Dickson. The first date we have for
Andrew is his birth about 1798. He was
born in County Armagh, probably within ten miles of Altnamackin. The next
mention we find of Andrew is of his joining the Clarkesbridge Presbyterian
Church in November 1825 at the age of 27. Joseph Caswell, probably a brother,
joined at the same time.
This
may seem rather late to make one’s confession of faith. However, Andrews son,
the Rev. Alexander Caswell, has said, “When I was a boy of sixteen I wished to
unite with the church, but was told that I was too young; better wait till I
was older and would understand better what I was doing. In the meantime no
effort was made to explain away my difficulties. Young people were not expected,
or at least not urged, to ‘come forward’ until they had babies to be
baptized.’’ This practice would explain Andrew’s late
confession of faith.
Andrew
was the first of five Caswells to join the Clarkesbridge Church. From the baptismal records for the 1830's so
far as the imperfect record shows:
November 1825: Andrew Carswell and Joseph Carswell
November 1826: James Carswell
May 1834: David
Carswell
May 1838: Eliza
Carswell
Andrew
and Mary Jane were married in Ireland in 1834. (2) Mary Jane was the daughter of James Dickson and Margaret Ann Wallace. Both
were Scottish in origin but not sure if by birth. Andrew and Mary Jane's first son, James Dickson Caswell was
born in Castleblanney, which is not too far from Altnamackin. Mary Jane and parents were from the Castleblanney
area.
From
the 1847 edition of Samuel Lewis’ 'Topographical Dictionary of Ireland' -- "the
linen manufacture was established here (Castleblaney) at a very early period. Both spinning and weaving declined
considerably until the last few years."
Andrew,
as a weaver possibly sought his fortunes in Castleblanney, where he met Mary
Jane Dickson. With the decline of the weaving
trade Andrew, Mary Jane and baby James made their way back to Altnamackin where
a number of other children were born.
The
following baptismal records are from the Clarkesbridge Presbyterian Church:(3)
January
8, 1835 Andrew Carswell 1st child baptized James (James Dickson Caswell). Not consistent with the birth date given for James of 26 May 1835. One of the sons commented that their mother was not good with dates. This may account for the seeming impossibility of the two dates. It is also possible that a transcription error was made when copying the information from the original parish registers.
February 28, 1836 Andrew Carswell
2nd child 1st daughter baptized Serah (Sarah Case)
The
Clarkesbridge Presbyterian Church is about a mile from the site of the old Caswell home. The church was a “Secession
Church”. Like the Free Church of
Scotland, the Seceders opposed the appointment of ministers by the local
landholder, a privilege exercised in both Scotland and England.
John and Alberta Caswell made a trip back to Ireland in the 1987 re-establishing the connection with our Irish relatives after a lapse of twenty years. John and Alberta visited with the local ministers wife. Another fortuitous meeting that greatly helped our genealogical research. Underneath the ministers bed were the parish registers. Helena took it upon herself to go through these registers and those from other local churches and provide a transcription of all the Caswells that were mentioned. Again all the stray Caswells in Ireland I had been collecting - fell into place with the document provided by Helena. I will include the information about the Irish Caswells and their descendants in a later post.
To
this day there are still three Caswell houses on the road from Altnamackin that
leads south to the Scariff townlands.
One was rebuilt in 1911 by James Caswell, whom several of our cousins
visited. Another is a ruin, and a third
was bought by James’ grandson, Will. If
one walks northward up the road and jogs a few hundred meters to the right,
then turns left again, one soon glimpses the Clarkesbridge Presbyterian Church,
gleaming white.
Presumably
Andrew’s home was built on land leased to James Caswell, (Andrew’s father) by
the Rev. Alexander McCombe, or his son, also Alexander. Alexander Sr. had received a perpetual lease
for the townlands of Altnamackin, when he became pastor of the Creggan Freeduff
Presbyterian Church in 1733.
In
Robert Caswells (son of Andrew) notes on the family he said that prior to emigration to Canada
his parents and siblings were living in Enniskillen. A search by the Ulster Historical and
Genealogical Society failed to confirm this, but records for that time period
are not very complete. Enniskillen was
the centre of a thriving linen trade so a move here by the Caswells certainly
would make sense.
In a reply from James Caswell to Robert Caswells inquiry about family in Ireland he must have asked about his fathers store - the reply was: "You mention your Father having a store in Newry
but no record is there being so far back." I did look through the 1846 - Slater, National Commercial Directory of Ireland for Newry and Enniskillen hoping to find a reference to Andrew but was not successful. I know from a cousin that visited the Irish relatives (James) in the 1960's that their house was on one side of the border the store on the other. The side in Northern Ireland had electricity, the other did not. Not sure what kind of store it was but perhaps this was an enterprise Andrew had been part of.
I
am not aware of any early surviving correspondence between the new home, in
Canada and the old home in Ireland.
However, when John, as an immigration agent went to Ireland in 1894, he
knew where to find the Caswells. Thomas,
the last one born in Ireland, spent the night with his cousin John at Altnamackin
in 1906.
John's
1987 account of their trip to visit our Irish relatives is as follows:
On a
bright late September morning John and Alberta Caswell set forth to Altnamackin
in search of kinfolk. A good highway led
south to Newry which was on the border. There
were low hills to climb, and here and there a stream or pond. Soldiers had been in evidence elsewhere in
Ulster, usually half a squad riding along in a metal-shelled pickup or armored
truck. At Newry, every vehicle was
stopped at the entrance to the town. At
one side was a two-storied watch tower, with one-way mirrored glass in the
windows, and one did not know how many guns were pointed in their direction. After a close inspection the barrier pole was
raised and we passed.
We
drove around Newry a bit, finally we had to stop and inquire the way to
Newtownhamilton. At Newtownhamilton a church commands the top of the most
conspicuous hill. While much of the town
lies on either side of a little valley below the church. We were directed to the proprietor of a
restaurant who was credited with knowing Altnamackin. We soon found it. Altnamackin, our goal, was little more than a
mile away, but as the road was near the border, the exit from here was
barricaded and we had to go several extra miles through the countryside.
At
the top of a rise was a church and cemetery.
Popularly the Hill Church, its official title was the First Presbyterian
Church of Newtownhamilton. Conspicuous in the surrounding graveyard was a
monument to William George Herron murdered in 1975 by the IRA (Irish Republican
Army).(4)
Later
we discovered William Herron’s wife was Rachel (Caswell) Herron, our hostess
that afternoon. As well as Rachel, we
met her sister Annie Caswell and son and daughter-in-law, Will and Grace
Herron."
(4)Those present also heard the poignant
story of how Orangemen meeting at Tullyvallen Orange Hall were also gunned down
in cold blood, in September 1975. Members of Tullyvallen LOL 630, headed by
Bro. David Smyth, hosted the visit at the hall, where the story of how gunmen
burst in and opened fire was told by Bro. Berry Reaney, who was shot in the arm
during the murderous attack."The meeting started late that night because
the secretary Bro. Nevin McConnell had another meeting beforehand," he
outlined."Just after the prayer and reading of scripture the gunmen burst
in the door and opened fire. Our secretary ran towards the toilets and then
fell. I dived for cover under the table and got shot in the arm from a bullet
that went through the table,""One of the members was in the police
and he rolled onto the floor and got a chance to shoot back at the gunmen and
they ran out," he said. Five members of the lodge died as the result of
the attack; James McKee JP, the WM, W. R. (Ronnie) McKee, John Johnston,
chaplain, Nevin McConnell, secretary, and William G. Herron.