Possible Calendar Changes Re: Zachariah MOORMAN and Mary CANDLER by Douglas Tucker JUN 1996 [This, waiting for me when we returned from vacation, seems like a good place to re-start the CLARK/MOORMAN round robin. To help the newest members: Zachariah and Mary are thought to be the parents of the VA MOORMANs who arrived late 17th century; some descendants migrated to North Carolina and points south. In all honesty, we haven't dealt with the earliest MOORMAN (and his pos sible descendants) who was in VA c1620s. The content below is Doug's work; capitalization of surnames and typos are mine. LSS] I want to suggest some calendar modifications which I think add to the credibility of the central elements of the family legend. All of the following items are offered for consideration and com ment. 1. Lt. Col. William CANDLER of Callan, Ireland probably was the William CANDLER who was born in 25 SEP 1608 in Ixworth, Suffolk, the son of William (b.1582) and grandson of Ralph and Ann CANDLER, all of Ixworth. (Some have reported an 1580 birth date for our William CANDLER which is clearly incorrect.) Several CANDLER family histories acknowledge the Ralph-William-William descendancy. They also note that William was a Captain in the English Army as late as 1643 and a Major as late as 1652. Don't know as how there were many 63 year-old Captains in the English forces, or 70 year-old Majors! As information, Newcastle-upon Tyne, which has been reported as the hometown of William Candler, was a royal garrison town, meaning that the soldiers stationed there were in the employ of the crown and not members of the lo cal county militia. The royal garrison at Newcastle-upon-Tyne was one of England's largest and was tasked with keeping an eye on the bothersome Scots who occasionally raided into Northumber land. (Does anyone know anything about records of the royal gar risons during the early 17th century? Also, records of the Nor thumberland Militia for the same period?) I checked on the structure and traditions of the English Army during the 17th century. Until 1645, the English Army was made up largely of County militias, each with a relatively small, permanent officer corps whose job was to train and command the local enlisted militia who spent relatively short periods in serv- ice. This would give the counties a reserve force of trained sol- diers that could be offered to the crown in times of national emergency. In effect, by the beginning of the 17th century counties had replaced medieval lords as the primary provider of troops to the crown. Some of the more dedicated militia officers offered themselves to foreign armies as mercenaries, with the overt approval of London because these experienced officers could be called on to serve England in times of peril. The Crown main tained royal garrisons at several key spots in the country, in cluding London, but the number of "Royal" troops was never great because of cost. In 1645, during the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell persuaded Parlia ment to authorize maintenance of a standing Army of 22,000 funded entirely by Parliament. The officer corps of Cromwell's "New Or der Army" was small and well-paid, and officers were officially granted the title "Gentlemen". Officers were appointed by the commanding general but with the explicit approval of Parliament. There were only six officer ranks (Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel and General) and the entire New Order Army had only 27 officers with the rank of Colonel and above. Cromwell's goal was to create a full-time, professional officer corps loyal to the central government and ready to participate in conflicts whether in the British Isles or on the Continent. Generally speaking, military service remained for the relatively young and most Army officers were retired, or dead, by age 40. Entry age for Cromwell's Army was 16 years of age, 17 for of ficers, and rank advancement was one step every seven-to-ten years for the lower three ranks. As had long been English tradition, officer rank in the New Order Army was generally restricted to the aristocratic and landed gentry class. One study of Cromwell's Army, circa 1650, found only 1 out of 30 Army officers came from the commoner class. Later, the ratio widened, and later yet, officer rank had to be "purchased". It is well to remember this when we assess the parentage of Zachariah MOORMAN. The chance of Capt. Zachariah MOORMAN being the son of a man who served as an indentured seaman on the Bona Nova in 1619 seems extremely remote. 2. The widowed Anne (Vavasour?) Villiers probably did not marry William CANDLER until after 1632 and perhaps as late as 1634. Capt. John Villiers, Ann's first husband was reportedly from Hartley, Northampton, but I have been unable to locate any record of him. Anne VAVASOUR was reportedly from Rushton (Rushden), Nor thampton but no sign of her either in English church records. However, if William CANDLER joined the Army at age 17, the ear liest possible age for an officer, he would have joined in 1625 and would not have made Captain until about 1632 at age 24. (English Army tradition was seven years from Lt. to Capt. I'm sure it could have occurred quicker, but let's stick with the nor- mal situation for sake of argument.) If he married the widow of a Captain, chances are that he, too, was a Captain. English society was extremely class conscious -- the Army was both class and rank conscious. Under this scenario, William CANDLER prob ably did not marry the widow Ann Villiers until 1632 at the ear liest. Regardless of the marriage date, it seems unlikely that daughter Mary could have been born in 1626 as some have reported. Did Wil- liam, perhaps, have an earlier wife who could have been Mary's mother? Not likely, given William's birth date and low rank status in the Army. (Those that have suggested Elizabeth ANTHONY as William's first wife are confusing William Candler of the early 17th century England/Ireland with Daniel Candler's son, William, who was born in 1736 and who married Elizabeth ANTHONY, daughter of Joseph An thony and Elizabeth CLARK in 1761. This later William Candler moved to Georgia and fought with distinction (with the rank of Colonel) in the Revolutionary War. He and his wife are well docu- mented in VA and GA.) 3. William and Ann CANDLER had four children who are known to have lived to adulthood. Their first two children were daughters named Annabella and Mary. The last two were sons: Thomas born in 1637 and John born in 1641. Mary Candler's birth date would likely have been between 1632 and 1636 or 1638 or later. My "guess" is that Annabella was the eldest child (named after her mother?) and Mary was the second-born. I would place Mary's birth date as 1634-36, some ten years later than earlier researchers have reported. 4. The Irish Rebellion was not put down until 1651. It was a particularly nasty affair and Ireland was in shambles at the end. The CANDLER family histories state that William Candler's family did not arrive in Ireland from Northumberland until sometime after April 1653, after William had been awarded the Callan es tates by Parliament. Annaella Candler was married to Jonathan COPE at Callan in 1654. If Mary Candler married Zachariah MOOR MAN in Ireland, she probably did so after 1653 and the marriage was more likely at Callan than at Belfast as previously reported. The CANDLER family histories say only that one of William Candler's daughters "married a Capt. Moorman, formerly of Major Candler's troop". It is possible that Zachariah and Mary may have lived in Belfast after they married. (By the way, the term "troop" refers to cavalry which rquired members to provide their own horse and horse upkeep. Another reason why Zachariah Moorman does not fit as the son of Thomas Moreman of the Bona Nova.) Zachariah and Mary Moorman's first surviving child was Thomas, born in 1658. This, plus the 1653 date of the Candler family's arrival in Ireland, suggest that Zachariah and Mary wed between 1653 and 1657, and not in 1646 as some have reported. 5. In the late 1650's, many officers in the New Order Army be came Quakers. Their new faith apparently did not conflict with their Army duties until January 1661 when Fox made pacifism part of the Quaker doctrine. Well-known Quakers like James Nayler, William Duesbury, Richard Hubberthone, John Whitehead, Edward Billing, John Cook, Thomas Symonds and George Fox Jr. were all field officers in Cromwell's new Order Army. All served in Ireland, and all became Quakers after the end of the Irish campa ing in 1651. All were still in the Army in 1661 but many resigned shortly thereafter. (Thomas Wright, _A History of Quakers in Ireland_, 1811). The Moorman family legend suggests that Zachariah resigned his commission in the early 1650's due to differences with Cromwell's policies after he became military dictator. I have speculated that his Quaker faith may have had more to do with his Army resig- nation than differences with Cromwell's policies. However, his tory tells us that Cromwell was personally quite tolerant of the Quaker faith and made no move to purge the Army of Quakers. Crom- well died in 1658 and Charles II was restored to the crown in 1660. Fox's pacifism decree in 1661 was in direct response to changes that were occuring in London where religious tolerance was again wearing thin. So when did Zachariah Moorman leave the Army? Don't really know, but if his Quaker faith was the reason, he probably didn't resign his commission until after 1661. 6. The MOORMAN clan on the Isle of Wight in the late 16th and early 17th centuries appears to have been small and geographi cally isolated, numbering perhaps three or four families located in the parishes of Brading, Northwood, Calbourne. There were no Moorman families in any other part of Hampshire or in any of the surrounding counties (Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorset). The closest surname to Moorman was a MARMAN clan lo cated in Sussex and Surrey. There were no families with the CANDLER surname in Hampshire or the Isle of Wight or any of the immediately surrounding counties. NONE! Something like Army service would have been necessary for Zachariah Moorman of the Isle of Wight to link-up with a member of the CANDLER of Northumberland and Callan, Ireland. To recap, I think some of the dates surrounding the Moorman/Cand ler relationships are about a decade too early. Mary Candler probably was born nearer to 1636 than to 1626. She and Zachariah MOORMAN proably were married in the mid-1650's and not in 1646. This also points to the possibility that Zachariah Moorman was born later than the 1620 date commonly cited for his birth. He was a Captain in rank when he married Mary Candler. Using the normal rate of rank advancement, his age in 1655 could have ranged from roughly 26 to 33, placing his birth date between 1622-1629. Another factor to consider is that rank advancement during wartime was sometimes faster than during peacetime and the Civil War in Ireland had just ended. We need more to go on before we change Zachariah's birth date, but I think the chances are good that it was closer to 1630 than to 1620. I would be interested to hear what others think about this alter native calendar of events. Are there other bits and pieces of facts out there which support or refute the revised calendar? One question I have given some thought to is "How did the earlier dates get such wide currency?" Don't know the answer, but my suspicion is that the early dates are related to the notion that Sally Ann MOORMAN and Micajah CLARK were already married when the Moormans and Clarks left for Barbadoes in 1669. (Micajah Clark's birth date has been reported as early as 1646, but it seems far more likely that he was born in 1655/56.) _Thomas MOORMAN of West Cowes, Isle of Wight, circa 1630_ [also by Douglas Tucker] My discussion of possible modifications to birth and marriage dates, especially as relates to Zachariah Moorman brings up a cer- tain church record on the Isle of Wight that shows that a Thomas MOORMAN married an Ida BRADING in Norwood Parish (adjacent to West Cowes) on 11 November 1630. I think it unlikely that this Thomas Moorman was the father of Zachariah, if only because it was standard practice of the age to name a first-born son after the father or grandfather. At the very least, it places a Moor man family on the Isle of Wight at the same time as Zachariah Moorman is reported to have lived there. A Peter BRADING has stated interest in the early Brading family of the Isle of Wight at the e-mail address p.brading@bris.ac.uk Someone with Internet access and an e-mail address might want to query him on this Brading/Moorman marriage. Also, there is a small village on the east side of the Isle of Wight that is named Brading. Cowes is on the northern side of IoW, directly across "The Solent" from the estuary that served Southampton. This Thomas MOORMAN of 1630 also could be Zachariah's older brother who, according to family legend, went to Holland and later, Germany, as a Quaker missionary. The Moormann [note two "n"s. LSS] clan of Damme, Germany is supposedly descended from this Moorman. This may also tie in with the Moorman male that Dave Goodwin described as a "Dutchman". (In this vein, I have had several conversations with a Moorman family in Cincinnati, Ohio that lends some credence to the reported connection between the Moorman family of the Isle of Wight and the MOORMANN clan of Damme, Germany, many of whom emigrated to Cincinnati in the early 19th century. They claim their branch of the family lived in Ger- many (Damme and elsehwere) only about 150 years and that their ancestors were religious refugees from England and Holland. They have family letters from the 18th century that are written in both German and English. Interesting!)