HODGE-PODGE of MOORMAN and CANDLER by Linda Sparks Starr MAY 1996 [This represents the e-mail messages received prior to end of March which were filed away in one of my fits of house cleaning. Again, I've tried to use my initials within my bracketed "aside" comments throughout. LSS] Back in early March Paul Phelps forwarded Dave Moorman's findings of Spencer F. Tillman's 1968 manuscript on the MOORMAN family which he located in the Breckinridge Co. KY Archives in Har dinsburg. [A very good source for anyone with people in the area. LSS] Mary Stewart, who is working with a later version of Tillman's manuscript provided more details on Mr. Tillman. "Col. Stephen Tillman died c.1969. He lived in Silver Spring, MD, and as far as I have ever been able to discover, his notes went with him. Two of my aunts worked with him for years ... " [How is he related to Stephen Frederick Tillman who wrote the REYNOLDS book, which supposedly gives the line for Elizabeth who married Charles Moorman? It'll surprise no one to hear I have difficulty with his findings too. LSS] Tthe "story" of this Thomas partly checks out -- Thomas Moorman b. c.1593 on the Isle of Wight came to VA on the ship 'Nova Bona' about 1619 as a representative of the London Land Company... Thomas had a son Zachariah b. c1620 on the Isle of Wight." Paul made a trip to the Library of Congress where he located the following in _Records of the VA Co. of London_, published 1906. [Paul notes that he "regularized" the spelling and rearranged the items a bit to benefit the narrative; I admit to abbreviating and editing even more. LSS]: * A letter from the Gov. of the Council to the VA Co. in London dated 11 NOV 1619 refers to "the company of a hundred new men sent hither in the Bona Nova to become tenants upon the Company's land and the College land." Since the Co. didn't send enough supplies to feed 100 men over the winter, they were "rented" to established planters for 12 months. One of those planters was...Capt. Samuel MATHEWS, who was clearing land at "Harrowatox" near the falls of the James, in what is now Henrico Co. * In NOV 1620, a Thomas MOREMAN petitioned the Co., saying "that he went to VA in a ship called the Bona Nova in the year 1619 in the Company's service, wherein he still remains under the command of Capt. Mathews." Having served out his year, and "satisfied... the charge they have been at in placing him there as their tenant," he asks for his freedom and "that proportion of land as is usually allotted to others in the like kind." The Court (which I take to be the Board of Directors meeting in Lon don) thought this request "very reasonable and did generally as sent thereunto." * However, there is no record of the grant or patent of land, and no other mention of Thomas MOREMAN/MOORMAN in the four volumes of the records. There is none...in the list of those who died between Apr 1622 and Feb 1623, nor in the muster of 16 FEB 1623, nor in the muster of 1624-1625. He may have died before the massacre of 22 MAR 1622, but it's also possible that he returned home. [Doug Tucker discusses the "problems" with VA Patents prior to 1650 which I'll pass along when I locate it among the messages I haven't gotten to yet. LSS] * Capt. Samuel Mathews went on to become a major figure in Jamestown, sitting on the Gov's Council and leading a large plan tation 'over against James City' -- that is, in what is now Isle of Wight or Surry Co... He also seems to have made one trip back to England in 1622: on 20 NOV 1622 the Court approved a patent to "Capta: Sam: Mathewes' who, with several others, 'have under taken to transport 100 persons apiece to VA." (A similar patent was granted to a "Thomas More" in May 1623, but that's a reach.) And in the muster of 1624-25 it's indicated that Capt. Mathews came to VA on the ship 'Southampton' in 1622, although we know he's found in the records in 1619. He may have returned home for good before 1627, when a deed refers to "land of Capt. Samuel Mathews now in the tenure of Thomas Howell." In 1652, however, a "prominent Virginian" named Samuel Mathews was one of three com missioners in command of a Parliamentary fleet sent from England to secure the surrender of MD and VA to the Commonwealth; his son, Samuel Mathews Jr. (c1630-1660) was the last Gov. of VA before the Restoration. (Recall that Thomas Moreman's putative son, Zachariah Moorman, also served in the Parliamentary forces.) Richard Hopper then added another interesting twist to this. [I need help with your citation -- CCC ? LSS]: "In 1619 Alderman Robert JOHNSON sent to VA the ship 'Bona Nova' and among the pas sengers were 'Navigator John CLARKE', and a Soldier 'Thomas MOORMAN'. John CLARKE sailed from the port of London in the month of March, taking the route for the 'Xacan', since that was the name of VA, on the coast of Florida, with three ships, one of 300 tons, in which he came himself, and the others of 150 and 90". Also in the Bona Nova was Thomas MOORMAN, who went 'in the Companies service under the command of Captain MATTHEWS. [CCC page 264] And also on the Bona Nova were John JOHNSON and John Boyce, assumed to have been the brother of Sir Robert JOHNSTON and his wife Isobel Boyce (Boys)." (page 177) [Is Sir Robert kin in anyway to Penelope's father, Edward, or Benj. Johnston who m. dau of Capt Xpher Clark? LSS] Paul then raised the following questions: "Could this Thomas MOREMAN b. c1593 be the father or some other relation of our Zachariah MOORMAN b. c1620? Did he die in VA between 1620 and 1622, or did he cash in his patent and return home in 1622, pos sibly in the company of Capt. Samuel Matthews? Were either of these individuals from the Isle of Wight, England? Is there any evidence that when Zachariah MOORMAN came to VA in 1670, he was following in his fathr's footsteps, or possibly coming to claim his patrimony, land that had been granted to Thomas MOREMAN in 1620? Mary Stewart located one more interesting tidbit on this first MOREMAN immigrant: "Last year VA Magazine of Genealogy [vol 33, no 1, FEB 95, p. 11] printed an article derived from the Ferrar papers including the passenger list of the Bona Nova which lists 'Thomas Moreman (age) 30 grocer Warwickshire'. On 12 JUL 1620 Thomas petitioned the VA Co. Court in London for his freedom [op. cit. p.6]. Mary then added that "the vast majority of the pas sengers, including Thomas, were indentured servants. If this Thomas is the presumed father of Zachariah, I think we've been looking in the wrong place." In a later e-mail Mary wrote: "If we are ever able to connect back to England it may be through in vestigating Thomas of Warwickshire and what happened to him. I think this is the most interesting possibility I've seen in a long time...and a whole new methodology to learn." Toward the Isle of Wight end, David Goodwin wrote 20 MAR 1996: "I have done some long-distance checking of Isle of Wight vital statistics which turned up nebulous information about Moormans there...it seems there were a number of them, and the oldest reference I found described a Moorman (Moreman) as a Dutchman. ... I have also been in touch with a Moorman in a town on the mainland across from IofW who sent me an interesting letter about Moormans on IofW (currently) who simply refused to talk with him ... In it [his letter] he shows possible connections to Moormans in Devon and Cornwall. I later found a long biography of the Moorman he referred to who was a big-league religious type in a town near Exeter, an interesting location for me. ..." [I think we've exhausted all possibilities of finding the Thomas Moorman who signed the 1677 grievance in New Kent Co. in earlier VA records UNLESS he is the one in the 1670 patent record. That one could even be a descendant of the earlier Thomas who was born in VA but traveled out of the colony for a period of time. Perhaps looking at this earlier Thomas Moreman and his descen dants (if any) in VA records and in Warwickshire is the best course to take right now. I, for one, have not gone through ALL early VA county records looking for the surname. Has anyone else? LSS] Turning now to the MOORMAN legend itself, Mary wrote MAR 19: "I have a LOT of questions about the early tradition, starting with Thomas the grocer of Warwickshire. How on earth did Bro. Ambrose (and I'm pretty sure he is the source) come up with arms for a grocer. He was clearly an indentured servant, not an 'ancient planter'. The name itself makes me think the family was originally farmers/sheepherders or something comparable. Arms? I don't think so." We've even tried to locate the notes of earlier researchers, hoping they would lead us to their sources. One source most of ten cited (when anyone makes the effort) is Mrs. Thomas Eldridge's newspaper articles on the Moorman family published in one of the Atlanta newspapers 1930s. Mary Stewart located Mrs. Eldridge's daughter on Compuserve; unfortunately the daughter doesn't have her mother's notes. I Think HER source was Jesse Bryan and Mrs. Wirt Carrington, both deceased long ago. He's the itinerant printer who spent some time in the town where the Carrington's lived; they supposedly exchanged data. None of their notes are known to have survived, but we're still looking. Back in NOV someone on va-roots supplied the following informa tion on Nansemond Co. VA: "It became extinct when the City of Suffolk was incorporated. The old boundary of the Upper parish roughly follows the South boundary of current Isle of Wight Co. in southeast VA close to Norfolk. Nansemond was the home to many VA Quakers when they were persecuted by the Church of England. Unfortunately most of the early records were destroyed during the Federal occupation of 1860-65." Some discussion went around in early March about George Fox's sup- posed reference in his diary to spending the night with MOORMANs at the edge of the Dismal Swamp in 1672. Bill Moorman found a "specific" reference in a chapter titled, "The Religious Society of Friends and Campbell Co." written by Lindley M. Winston. Mary Stewart quickly shot this one down; it turns out Lindley Winston is her cousin and was simply repeating the "story". In fact Mary found Fox's diary entries on the "net". What he specifically wrote is [capital letters for emphasis are mine LSS]: "Next day we had a great meeting at Nancemum, of Friends and others...After the meeting, we hastened toward Carolina; yet had several meetings by the way...Another very good meeting we had at William Yarrow's, at Pagan creek;...After this, our way to Carolina grew worse, being much of it plashy, and pretty full of great bogs and swamps; so that we were commonly wet to the knees, and lay abroad anight in the woods by a fire; saving one of the nights we got TO A POOR HOUSE AT SOMMERTOWN, and lay by the fire. The WOMAN OF THE HOUSE HAD A SENSE OF GOD UPON HER. The report of our travel had reached thither, and drawn some that lived beyond Sommertown to that house, in expectation to have seen and heard us; but they missed us. Next day, the twenty-first of the ninth month, having travelled hard through the woods, and over many bogs and swamps, we reached Bonner's creek; there we lay that night by the fire-side, the WOMAN LENDING US A MAT to lie on." [We should "keep our eye out" for possible diaries or journals kept by Fox's companions. Otherwise, this is the ONLY known pos sible source for Fox staying with Zachariah and Mary during his travels. LSS] In early MAR I tossed out a "question of the week" -- Since the MOORMANs and Edward JOHNSON are supposed to have been such zealous Quakers in England, why didn't they settle a meeting in VA? And when they did, nearer their residences? I based my ques- tion on Jay Worrall's _The Friendly VAians: American's 1st Quakers_, (Iberian Press 1994) page 84) which specifically says spring 1691 two missionaries went "through the woods to Black Creek [in NKCo] where we had appointed a meeting...none having been there before." Mary Stewart added her question of WHY did Thomas Moorman and Ed ward Johnson baptize their children in St. Peter's Parish when other Quakers in this period refused to do so and were simply fined. She also pointed out that the first mention of a MOORMAN in extant Quaker records is 1744 when "Charles and son, Thomas [were] chosen overseers of a meeting lately settled in the upper part of Louisa Co." [Hinshaw, page 260, Cedar Creek] She pointed out they could have attended the Henrico Meeting where other families closely associated with them are found; but their names are not in Henrico records. On the other hand, Mary wrote later that week: "[Since] Charles & Thomas were chosen over seers, my *guess* is that they had become Quakers at some earlier point and assumed a leadership role in beginning this meeting. Going on with other "what about's": Mary wrote in MAR "in the last few days I read that the register of St. Peter's Parish begins in 1686...it might explain why there are no records of children before 1686. I've often wondered about that because it would make Thomas about 35 before he married and had children -- a good 12 to 15 years later than most and highly unusual for the day. I can see at least two scenarios: Thomas the son of Capt. Zach really did arrive 1670, was probably in his late teens, married and had children soon after. The children who were bap tized were either very late (their mother would have been ap proaching 40 -- pretty old in those days) or the product of a second marriage OR it's possible that these are grandchildren of the first Thomas. I think the grandchild idea is pretty far fetched but what happened during that 16 year gap ???" I think I covered this in an update, but it's worth repeating. Martha Wright wrote in early MAR: "One of my friends...has done quite a lot of research in Quaker records. She said that if a person's name appears in one of the registers (birth, marriage or death) that person is a Quaker. However, if the name appears among those signing that they had witnessed a wedding, then the person may or may not be a Quaker...Something else I learned is that about 1744 there was...'the Great Awakening'. Many Anglican members and others left their churches and became Quakers. That may explain why Christopher became a Quaker." [Along this same line, I can offer "proof" of a non-Quaker sign ing a Quaker marriage certificate. Thomas Martin CLARK appears only once in Quaker records -- signing a marriage certificate at South River Monthly Meeting in 1795. He was NOT a Quaker for he and his wife were "closer kin" than first cousins and neither were disowned / removed from Quaker membership when they married DEC 1787 in Campbell Co. Also, he owned several slaves when he died 1811 in Breckinridge Co. KY. LSS] If anyone wants to check the original Quaker records (e.g. Xpher and Elizabeth Clark's signature on the marriage certicate) Sue Wright reported in FEB that VA Quaker MM records are located at Swarthmore Library in PA with a few at Haverford College, also in PA... Microfilm copies and photostats of some records are at the Maryland State Archives and the VA State Library. Additional questions not answered: Has anyone tracked down or verified Elizabeth Micajah SIMPSON as Thomas Moorman's wife? And now to Zachariah. His name appears NO WHERE in VA records -- and I'm not aware of its appearance in Isle of Wight, England. I have copies of pages from two CANDLER/CHANDLER genealogies, neither of which mention Mary and Zachariah Moorman. Admittedly, that's not proof of anything since she was a "daughter" and they are often ignored by writers. But except for the recurring name "Zachariah" in some of the MOORMAN/CLARK lines, I would swear this couple was "dreamed up" by earlier researchers. Several of us have tried in vain to corroborate ANY and EVERY SPECIFIC state- ment in the Moorman legend. It's not just one or two, it's NONE of the statements can be confirmed. And that is what really bothers me about the legend. [I'll get off my soap box now. LSS] Moving on to the CANDLER family although I've discouraged people from getting me, at least, into them until we get the MOORMAN line more settled. Richard Hopper in late MAR sent the follow ing info [my apologies for any misspellings of the heraldry terms! LSS]: "CANDLER, once spelt KAENDLER and CHANDLER; the surname seems to be of Saxon origin. The armorial bearings of the family were -- Chequy Argent and Giles on a Bvend Asble (Sable), Three Lions Passant Or, And Their Variances: Chequy Ar gent and Azure, On a Bend Engrailed Sable, Three Lions Passant Or. The Crest Was: A Pelican Sable, In Her Piety, Vert. It seems that from these arms that those granted to Zachariah MOORMAN were based for some of their features, e.g. Che- quy Argent And Gules and Engrailment. These CHANDLER Arms were borne until 1836 when Edward CHANDLER, Esq., the last male descen- dant in Ireland married Janet SEMPILL, Baroness SEMPILL, in the Scottish Peerage and by Royal License assumed the surname of SEM PILL only and arms: Parted In Terce, Per Fesse Engrailed, The Chief Per Pale Azure And Argent, The Base Or, A Canton Gules, But The Moot: Ad Mortem Fidelis Was Retained. Lt. Col. CANDLER of the family of Essex and Northampton Counties, Eng. came to Ireland in 1648, while Oliver CROMWELL was Lord Lieutenant, as a Captain in the Regiment commanded by Sir Hardress WALLER. He afterwards won, by meritorious conduct, promotion to a Lt. Col. and was personally invested by Cromwell with the Barony of Callan Castle about 1653, located 6 miles from Kilkenny. It was defended by a wall and three castles: Butler's Castle, Skerry Castle, and the Great Castle. Its garrison fought bravely, but finally CROMWELL's army stormed it and carried the Great Castle and put all its defenders to the sword. Butler's Castle surrendered and the men were spared, but Skerry fought desperately and refused to surrender while the English were un able to make a break in the wall they scalded the defenders to death. After 1894, during an excavation for a building at Cal lan, a vast quantity of human bones were discovered in a trench and were no doubt the remains of the brave defenders of some two hundred years earlier. [Furnished by Patricia Stanley]" In early March Richard also forwarded a message from Anne B. Cropley of Sydney, Australia, a native of Ireland. She gave all sorts of helpful LDS microfilm numbers where the CANDLER family is found. I will skip these for all deal with the 1700s and our interest in the family begins mid-1600s. However, she also sug gests the following sources: _Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilisation_ edited by Richard J. Hayes; published by G. K. Hall & Co., Boston 1965. There are 22 volumes in all... "well worth checking". Also, she suggests Antonia Fraser's _Cromwell: Our Chief of Men_ published in 1973. She says Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Claren don is mentioned frequently here. For more info on John VILLIERS and his widow, she suggests trying Burke's _Landed Gentry of Ireland_, the 1912 edition which has an entire subheading "Villiers-Stuart" under the name of Cox of Castletown. If he's not in there, she suggests G. E. Cockayne's peerage books under the combined name Villiers-Stuart. Also she suggests checking this family in the above Hayes book. Also, Burke's _Irish Family Records_ published 1960s. For those of us who want "more" than just names, she offers a description of the town Callan, Co. Kilkenny in H. D. Inglis, 2 vols, (London 1834) _Journey through Ireland during Spring, Sum mer and Autumn of 1834_. For a history of the area 1827-1835 she suggests _The Diary of Humphrey O'Sullivan_, published 1980s, a translation of the Gaelic school teacher's account of his life. NOTE: I may have been too quick to dismiss CANDLER research. The very day I'm giving this file "one last proof-read", snail mail brings six pages of circumstantial evidence in the way of CLARK letters written 1764-1788 for Zachariah and Mary's marriage which Doug gleaned from a CANDLER genealogy!!! I'll re-type and send to all as quickly as I can. LSS -------------- [This first is an attached e-mail sent to Paul Phelps and then his reply which he cc'd to LSS who appended to her file.] Doug's sketch has lots of interesting new details on the move to NC, and I clearly need to compare notes with him on my various CLARK, MOORMAN, and THOMAS connections there. I've found a brother for my John THOMAS, but no father yet, and no connection back to Culpeper Co. VA. His wife Molly CLARK turns out to be d/o Francis CLARK Jr. of Louisa Co., who moved to NC in 1754, and his son Benjamin THOMAS m. 1806 Anna MOORMAN, d/o that same Zachariah MOORMAN (1732-1788) and Elizabeth JOHNSON. My only question on his facts is about this wife of Zachariah MOORMAN. Doug has her as Elizabeth JOHNSON d/o Capt. James and Lucy (Moorman) JOHNSON. My records show her as d/o John and Lucretia (Massie) JOHNSON. Since you're probably the original source of my information, perhaps you can shed some light. I do have a small addition on the subject of William CANDLER (and Zachariah MOORMAN) during Cromwell's campaign in Ireland. You'll recall that we have two versions of that story, the simple and the elaborate. The simple: "William [Candler] was a lieutenant in Cromwell's army and was granted estates in Ireland." -- SOURCES: Linda Starr cites: * O'Donnell, "Moorman of VA," in Boddie, _Historical Southern Families_, vol. 4; * Virkus, _Compendium of American Genealogies_; * Colonial Dames, _17th Century Colonial Ancestors 1915-1975_. Or the elaborate, based apparently on the Candler MS: "Lt. Col. Candler of the family of Essex and Northampton Counties, England came to Ireland in 1648, while Oliver Cromwell was Lord Lieutenant, as a Captain in the Regiment commanded by Sir Hardress Waller. He afterwards won, by meritorious conduct, promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and was personally invested by Cromwell with the Barony of Callan Castle about 1653, located 6 miles from Kilkenny. It was defended by a wall and three castles: Butler's Castle, Skerry Castle, and the Great Castle. Its garrison fought bravely, but finally Cromwell's army stormed it and carried the Great Castle and put all its defenders to the sword. Butler's Castle surrendered and the men were spared, but Skerry fought desperately and refused to surrender. While the English were unable to make a break in the wall, they scalded the defenders to death. About 1894, during an excavation for a building at Callan, a vast quantity of human bones were discovered in a trench and were not doubt the remains of the brave defenders of some 200 years before." --- SOURCE: Patricia Stanley, quoted by Richard Hopper email 5 Mar 1996 Well, here's what I learned about units and personnel of the Irish campaign from Sir Charles H. Firth and Godfrey Davies, _The Regimental History of Cromwell's Army_ (Oxford, ENG: Clarendon Press, 1940], vol. 2. It confirms the general facts but not the specific details of the above, and related information from the Candler MS that Doug includes in his sketch: "Hardress Waller was a man of Kent by birth . . . knighted by Charles I on 6 Jul 1629, and had probably seen some service in one of the English regiments in Holland or Germany. Settling in Ireland about 1630 he married an heiress in county Limerick, lost his estate in the rebellion of 1641, and became colonel of a regiment in Munster under Lord Inchiquin. . . . [He commanded a regiment of foot in the New Model Army in England 1645-1649.] . . . Waller landed at Kinsale about the end of December 1649. . . . "The part played by Waller's regiment in the Irish war is not easy to trace. It was no doubt with him at the siege of Limerick, and in his expedition into Kerry. . . . "Three companies of Waller's regiment were disbanded in 1655, and were allotted land in county Wexford. . . ." (pp. 442-446) * * * [There is no mention of William Candler or Chandler in connection with Waller; however, the name does appear in connection with the regiment of Robert Phayre or Farr:] * * * "In April [1649] Lieutenant-Colonel 'Farr' was ordered to conduct to the waterside a regiment formed from the Kentish forces, and in May it appears as Colonel Phayre's regiment. There is a list of it in the Clarke manuscripts. This list . . . mentions Captains Thomas Chandler . . . William Candler . . . adding the names of lieutenants and ensigns. . . . Phayre's regiment accompanied Cromwell to Ireland and he was destined for employment in Munster. When Cromwell heard of the revolt in Cork he sent Phayre thither in a man-of-war, 'having along with him near five-hundred foot . . . Phayre's services were more administrative than military. . . . He was for many years the governor of Cork. . . . he was friendly to the Quakers . . . It is said that Phayre finally became a Muggletonian [a somewhat similar sect of the late 1600s] . . . and is supposed to have been buried [1682] in a Quaker cemetery at Cork." (pp. 655-657) * * * [Capt. Thomas Chandler is mentioned again in connection with his earlier service with the regiment of Peter Stubber, which was disbanded in Aug 1655 and settled in Kilkenny and Upper Ossory, near the legendary Castle Callan. However, the name of William Candler or Chandler appears nowhere else. Of Capt. John Villiers, whose widow William Candler is said to have married, there is the following:] * * * "The regiment [of horse of Michael Jones] accompanied him to Ireland in June 1647 [two years before Cromwell]. A muster at Dublin about May 1648 supplies the names of Major John Villiers [and various captains with] a total of 81 officers and 491 troopers. . . . "After the capture of Drogheda, Jones's regiment formed part of the brigade sent to take possession of Dundalk and Newry, and marched under Venables as far as Belfast. . . . Major Villiers was killed in Ireland." (p.599) * * * [There is no mention of Villiers's connection with the Earl of Buckingham, who does not seem to have come to Ireland in any event. Nor is there any mention of a battle for the castles of Callan, Butler, or Skerry (Firth doesn't go into the campaign in detail). Nor is there any mention of Zachariah Moorman or any other Moorman. It might be interesting to have a look at the "Clarke MS" and various documents in the Public Records Office -- when the disbanded units learned that they could apply for land instead of back pay, they promptly began leaving a copious paper trail -- but that kind of research is beyond my resources. Perhaps we need to add a British member to the Moorman-Net?]