Detailed Research Determines Former Relative
Brenda Kellow
November 6, 2011
The research process can be fascinating, educating, surprising, or it can even jar your senses with startling results! The latter was my experience after researching one of the original families who arrived in Colonial Maryland in the seventeenth century. What I found was a first for me at the time.
In 1924, a woman proved and published her bloodline descent in the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century through one of my lines through the early Maryland family of Robert Cager, his wife, son and daughter. The lineage papers identified Robert Cager’s wife by her first name, Dorothy. She identified the daughter, Dorothy, as marrying William Jones whose daughter Ann is in my direct bloodline.
I suspected the information was incorrect and perpetually published erroneously into this decade. I decided to resolve my suspicions one way or the other. I began the research in records beginning in 1635 by reading the microfilm records on St. Mary’s County, Maryland available at the Family History Center on the Cager family. I carried the research into the mid-eighteenth century documenting all the land transactions, court appearances, wills and probate, inventories and disbursements related to the immigrant Robert, his wife, and their son and daughter. These records gave me a glimpse of the family life, occupations and crops grown and sold.
Robert Cager was a boatwright or boat builder before becoming a farmer. Boatwrights were in demand and successful because of the many watercourses in St. Mary’s County and for maintaining trade with England. It was not long after arriving in 1835 before he became a landowner of a 400-acre farm called Ichcomb’s Freehold. Cager did as many other men did during that time and claimed at various times to have recently landed in St. Mary’s so the government would give him a portion of land.
Cager’s somewhat irreparable behavior carried over to his wife who was his bookkeeper. She appeared in court three times. At least once Mrs. Cager refused to pay an employee. In the documents, the employee said that if Mrs. Cager did not pay him his wages he would set fire to her house. The court ordered her to pay the man. Court records identified Robert Cager’s wife only as Mrs. Cager.
Dorothy, the daughter, angered her father by marrying George Monroe, and as a result, she was forbidden in Cager’s will to inherit while married to Monroe. At his death if the daughter was still married to Monroe, her portion was to be given to the church. I found no indication the daughter lived to inherit or remarry. To be certain concerning my suspicions about the mother and daughter, I even followed the paper trail of the five women in the county by the name of Dorothy with no mention of the women in question. There was no documentation of Dorothy Cager Monroe marrying a second time to William Jones.
Robert Jr. wrote his will dated January 24, 1675. The will was filed for probate on February 4, 1675. Robert Cager, Jr. left everything to the church as his father had wished. At the time of his death, his residence was St. George's Hundred in St. Mary's County, Maryland. Young Robert leaves his entire estate to be used by the inhabitants forever for maintaining of a Protestant ministry in St. George's and Poplar Hill Hundreds for the ministers and teachers.
There is documentation in the form of baptisms that a William Jones’ daughter Ann married Samuel Brashear, known as The Maryland Carpenter, about 1690 in St. George’s County, Maryland. I descend from them.
After analyzing my findings and writing a lengthy report, six pounds worth of report to be exact, I concluded my research. Now, I feel my work is complete. Cager and his family are former relatives! Closure is a very important step to completing the research that took so many hours of my life, but I was rewarded with documented results when it was finished.
Everything I found verified my original suspicions—the assertions made in the 1924 lineage paper were incorrect.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
In 1924, a woman proved and published her bloodline descent in the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century through one of my lines through the early Maryland family of Robert Cager, his wife, son and daughter. The lineage papers identified Robert Cager’s wife by her first name, Dorothy. She identified the daughter, Dorothy, as marrying William Jones whose daughter Ann is in my direct bloodline.
I suspected the information was incorrect and perpetually published erroneously into this decade. I decided to resolve my suspicions one way or the other. I began the research in records beginning in 1635 by reading the microfilm records on St. Mary’s County, Maryland available at the Family History Center on the Cager family. I carried the research into the mid-eighteenth century documenting all the land transactions, court appearances, wills and probate, inventories and disbursements related to the immigrant Robert, his wife, and their son and daughter. These records gave me a glimpse of the family life, occupations and crops grown and sold.
Robert Cager was a boatwright or boat builder before becoming a farmer. Boatwrights were in demand and successful because of the many watercourses in St. Mary’s County and for maintaining trade with England. It was not long after arriving in 1835 before he became a landowner of a 400-acre farm called Ichcomb’s Freehold. Cager did as many other men did during that time and claimed at various times to have recently landed in St. Mary’s so the government would give him a portion of land.
Cager’s somewhat irreparable behavior carried over to his wife who was his bookkeeper. She appeared in court three times. At least once Mrs. Cager refused to pay an employee. In the documents, the employee said that if Mrs. Cager did not pay him his wages he would set fire to her house. The court ordered her to pay the man. Court records identified Robert Cager’s wife only as Mrs. Cager.
Dorothy, the daughter, angered her father by marrying George Monroe, and as a result, she was forbidden in Cager’s will to inherit while married to Monroe. At his death if the daughter was still married to Monroe, her portion was to be given to the church. I found no indication the daughter lived to inherit or remarry. To be certain concerning my suspicions about the mother and daughter, I even followed the paper trail of the five women in the county by the name of Dorothy with no mention of the women in question. There was no documentation of Dorothy Cager Monroe marrying a second time to William Jones.
Robert Jr. wrote his will dated January 24, 1675. The will was filed for probate on February 4, 1675. Robert Cager, Jr. left everything to the church as his father had wished. At the time of his death, his residence was St. George's Hundred in St. Mary's County, Maryland. Young Robert leaves his entire estate to be used by the inhabitants forever for maintaining of a Protestant ministry in St. George's and Poplar Hill Hundreds for the ministers and teachers.
There is documentation in the form of baptisms that a William Jones’ daughter Ann married Samuel Brashear, known as The Maryland Carpenter, about 1690 in St. George’s County, Maryland. I descend from them.
After analyzing my findings and writing a lengthy report, six pounds worth of report to be exact, I concluded my research. Now, I feel my work is complete. Cager and his family are former relatives! Closure is a very important step to completing the research that took so many hours of my life, but I was rewarded with documented results when it was finished.
Everything I found verified my original suspicions—the assertions made in the 1924 lineage paper were incorrect.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].