Documenting my family's past for future generations. My family tree includes the Smith/Mansell families of Alabama and Oklahoma, the Castle/Day families of Kentucky and Oklahoma, the Wheat/Ming families of Texas and Oklahoma, and the Bell/Roberts families of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Jacob Castle the Longhunter


The parents of Goldman Davidson Castle were William Castle (1799-1859) and Margaret Cox (1799-1880).  Siblings of G.D. Castle were James, John, Sarah, William Henderson, Margaret, Henry, George Harvey, and Patton Robert.  Sometime after the birth of their children, William and Margaret moved to Pulaski County, Kentucky, and then to Morgan County, in a large migration of Castles, Days, Salyers, and others from the Copper Creek area of southwestern Virginia. Goldman Davidson is thought to have been named for men with those surnames that his parents knew in Virginia. William’s parents were Jacob Castle, Jr. (1749-1849—yes, 100 years!) and Mary Shane. 

My cousin Fred Castle, son of my grandmother’s youngest brother Tom, was the Castle historian.  He made several trips to Kentucky and southwest Virginia trying to tie our Castles to the families of Castlewood, Virginia.  I remember when he first had contact with Castle family members that still lived in Castlewood, and how excited he was when he felt he could finally prove our descent, through William Castle, from Jacob Castle, “the Longhunter.”

Jacob Castle Sr. was quite a character, and if Castle family researchers are correct in naming Peter Cassel as his father, he came from quite a family.  Peter Cassel was the son of Johannes Cassel, a Mennonite who came on the ship Jeffries to Philadelphia in 1682 after attending a meeting in Kriesham, Germany, in which William Penn himself spoke to the audience about religious freedom and the land that was available in America.  Johannes became one of the signers of the Germantown, Pennsylvania charter.

Jacob took a different path—he went native.  His first wife was Shawnee; her name Sowege means “gliding swan.”  They married about 1736, and she was the mother of Jacob Jr. and perhaps others.  Jacob may have had several other wives, reputedly all Cherokee, with whom he had other children.  He came to southwest Virginia when it was the frontier, and apparently traded with the natives for land that became known as “Castle’s woods.”  Because his name had been associated with the area long before Daniel Boone set foot there, it has been suggested that old Jacob may have been the one who pointed out the Cumberland Gap to Boone.

Jacob’s Indian name was “White Tassel,” and some have even gone so far as to describe him as an albino.  It is more probable that, with his German heritage, he was very fair-haired compared to his Indian neighbors.  As a longhunter, he would have ranged far from home, killing deer for meat and hides with his long-barreled rifle made by German gunsmiths in Pennsylvania.  He would have lived much as the Indians did.  In my mind, I see him as a blonde Daniel Day-Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans.

For this next part I am indebted to Mitchell Farish, a librarian at the University of Virginia, who has a great website with the title “Birth of American Frontier Culture.”  He put historical documents and traditions concerning Jacob Castle into a context that finally made sense to me.

In 1740 Jacob bought land on the New River from Jacob Stover.  When he was home from his travels, he seemed to have conflicts with his neighbors, particularly one named Adam Herman (or Harmon.)  In 1746 Jacob and other settlers were detailed to build a road from Adam Harmon’s to the river; Jacob objected.  In April 1749 Herman’s home was robbed of several deer and elk skins on three consecutive days.  Jacob became a suspect since he hunted with a party of Indians that had been known to steal horses and other livestock in the settlement.  Herman applied for a writ to arrest Jacob Castle and led a posse to Jacob’s hunting camp in Castle’s woods, but Jacob’s Indian friends chased the posse away.  Later in the month Adam and his brother were arrested because they had robbed Jacob.  By May 17 Adam was out of jail, charging Jacob with “threatening to aid and assist the French against his Majesty’s forces.”  Jacob was arrested, tried, and acquitted of the charge of treason.

Others have commented that Jacob probably did feel more loyalty to his Indian friends—and thus the French—than he did to the British.  I would like to think so, since my sympathies have always been with the Indians.  (Wait till you hear about my ancestor on the other side of the family, William Whitley.  He and Jacob Castle are my only claims to famous ancestors, and they couldn’t have been more different.)  In any case, Jacob was thought to have taken part in the Battle of Kings Mountain in the Revolutionary War—with the Americans.

My cousin Fred died several years ago, but I was pleased to recently find this post of his from a genealogy message board about the eventual resting place of Jacob Castle: “What an experience it was to visit the area where the old Jacob Castle was supposedly buried on a hill near a plot of land still called Castle's meadow, uphill from Copper Creek.”  It makes me think of the poem by Robert Louis Stevenson:

Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

44 comments:

  1. Hi! Becky,
    My name is William Brent Castle Jr. Great Grandson of Patton Robert Castle. I too was a great admirer of Fred Castle. As a matter of fact, Patsy and I had a closer relationship than did Fred and Patsy.
    I just happened upon your magnificent web site yesterday. I am truly envious. Should you be interested, I have reams of Information to share.
    William Castle
    370 Kachina Circle
    Las Vegas, Nv. 89123
    Home 702 896 5849
    Cell 702 334 9003

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  2. i am looking for records documents on Jacob Castle and Sowege"gliding swan" if you can help it would be appreciated

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    1. Some people show a marriage in 1736 in Lancaster Co. PA to a woman named Mary Elizabeth, supposedly the English name of Gliding Swan. I don't know if this record really exists, and if it does, I'm not sure how you would prove that Mary Elizabeth was really Gliding Swan. DNA has not been helpful to me personally on this point, because I don't show any native American ancestry. That doesn't mean I don't have any, but my DNA tests with two different companies don't show it.

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    2. My DNA also lacks any Native American blood with Jacob as a 5th great grandfather. It would seem he fathered children with European women too.

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  3. Hello,
    I'm intrigued! I descend from the Mennonites that came to pa on the jefferies. My ancestors include Johannes &Yelles Cassel.
    Both my sister & I would love to know more!
    Any information would be greatly appreciated!

    Thank you!
    jackie.cassel@gmail.com

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    1. Check out more recent posts on Jacob Castle in my blog. The posts are called "DNA Circle: Jacob Castle" and "In Memoriam" and deal with the circle of descendants of Jacob Castle on Ancestry DNA and with my Castle cousin's y-DNA test. My cousin matches other Castles on the Castle Project but not those that show that they descend from Peter Cassell. So the story that Jacob's father was Peter Cassell may or may not be true.

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    2. Becky, I've been researching Jacob Castle, SALYER STAPLETON and other Southwest Virginia Frontier Families for over 30 years. I published THE CLAN STAPLETON in 2008 documenting our Family Tree. Elizabeth L. W. Salyer documented THE SALYER FAMILY in her 650+ page book before she passed. 5th Great Grandfather Jacob Castle has been most difficult to document. I had concluded from documentation that he was not son of Johannes, Yelles or Peter Cassel, but wanted to see Y-DNA results before the final conclusion, and initial DNA results indicate we are a separate line. My DNA indicates no Native American.

      I have been working on a manuscript about Jacob for a number of years JACOB CASTLE LONG HUNTER of CASTLE'S WOODS, but was waiting on DNA results before publishing. I have another CASTLE male cousin who is in the process of taking the Y-DNA test to compare to the existing claimed descendants, which will enable me to conclude Jacob Castle's relationship to the other lines on the CASTLE DNA project.

      I was born and raised in Scott Co., VA ancestral homeland of the CASTLE SALYER STAPLETON Clans, and today I live in Staunton, VA in the center of Augusta County where the first records from Orange county exist for Jacob Castle, including the court records finding him innocent of being a traitor and joining the French and Indians. He owned land here that he purchased from Jacob Stover and by coincidence our children and grandchildren lived on part of this land.

      I'm glad to see you are also pursuing the DNA results to finally answer the question about Jacob Castle.

      Great site, glad I found your site.

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    3. Thanks so much for your comments. I'm not that knowledgeable about DNA, and I'm glad you have reached the same conclusion I did--that Jacob was probably not descended from the Cassels. Did you notice that the Castles seem to be closely related to descendants of Adam Harmon? I think that's interesting, since Jacob and Adam seemed to have carried on a feud for years. Wonderful that you live right there where Jacob lived. Do you have any idea where he might be buried?

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    4. Becky, I have another male CASTLE cousin that is getting the Y-DNA testing done, adding to the pool to prove his ancestry.

      I am completing my manuscript now and plan to publish, even though most researchers still choose Peter and the Kassel/Cassel/Castle family of PA as his ancestors, even in the face of the Y-DNA evidence currently available. I have access to a couple of unpublished Y-DNA CASTLE males to add to the published info.

      There is an exciting story to Jacob Castle's life yet to be told. Too bad he did not have a writer/publisher/press agent like Daniel Boone.

      I have a closed Facebook site with 800 STAPLETON SALYER CASTLE and related Southwest Virginia Frontier Families staying in touch. If you would like to join, Friend me on FB and I will add you.

      Raymond Stapleton

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    5. Folk lore and old documents indicates he was buried in "Castle's Woods" today Castlewood, VA. In the 1800's and early 1900 old timers pointed out a stone handmade marker in the area. To my knowledge no such stone exists today (if it ever did it is probably in a private collection)and no one has proof of his grave that I can document.

      Ray

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    6. Some DNA shows them closely linked to my STAPLETON line, but only larger pools of Y-DNA will eventually sort it out for us.

      My saying, recorded almost 30 years ago when I began genealogy research is this: YOU CANNOT CHOOSE YOUR ANCESTORS, ONLY YOUR FRIENDS, SO CHOOSE WISELY.

      I found the same situation when I published THE CLAN STAPLETON where all known researchers had CHOSEN the wrong ancestor, as proven today by DNA. I believe we have a similar situation with Grandfather Jacob Castle.

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    7. Hello all. I have just recently found that I am a 5th great granddaughter to Jacob and Sowege. I am trying to validate the ancestry as much as possible. Any information that anyone is willing to be share would be great.

      Donna E.

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    8. I have been doing my tree on the castle/meadows side of my family. I am Jacob Castle Jr. 6x great Granddaughter. Any info at all would be greatly appreciated

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  4. I'm so excited that I found your blog!it's the most information I've read so far. I recently started digging into my family history and found out that Jacob is my 7th great grand father's on my mother's side. Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of this wonderful knowledge with the world.

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    1. Thanks for reading my blog. I hope you found some information that's helpful. I am always learning more and sometimes finding that what I thought to be true isn't. But Jacob is certainly an interesting character!

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  5. I'm so excited that I found your blog!it's the most information I've read so far. I recently started digging into my family history and found out that Jacob is my 7th great grand father's on my mother's side. Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of this wonderful knowledge with the world.

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  6. I to just found d out that I am related to jacob on my father's side of the family and I would love to know more, I suppose we are all related in some way shape or form lol.please fin me on Facebook I live in Pennsylvania

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  7. This line of Castle comes down to my line of Salyers. Here is what it says on Find A Grave about Jacob's burial: Burial:
    Non-Cemetery Burial
    Specifically: Castle Indian Cemetery, Russell County, Virginia
    Jacob is my GGGG Grandad.

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  8. Becky - thank you for your work and for sharing it! I wanted to ask your thoughts on the parents of Margaret Cox. I believe I know who they were but I see others have listed her as a daughter of Capt David Cox and Margaret McGowan. Do you know if there is any source for that? I'm going to go to work on Margaret because I am 99% certain that she is a new daughter of the Cox family I am researching. Let me know your thoughts.
    Terry

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    1. I'm glad you called my attention to Margaret Cox. Honestly, I believe I probably "borrowed" the names of Margaret Cox Castle's parents from other trees on Ancestry. Looking back at it now, I can see that she is not the same Margaret that was the daughter of David Cox and Margaret McGowan, and I have removed those names from my tree on Ancestry. I would love to know your thoughts about who were parents really were.
      BTW, I list her as Margaret Sarah Cox on my tree because she is listed on the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses as Margaret, but on her daughter's death certificate, her name is listed as Sarah Cox.
      Thanks for your comments!

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  9. Great! It is very unlikely that she is the daughter of any of the Cox families of Grayson. Most of the people in and around Castle's Woods and NE Scott County were in Russell for a very long time or they came down from Wythe/Giles areas. I believe Margaret to be the daughter of John Cox who filed for Rev. Pension in 1833 from Scott County. From deeds and court records, his wife was Margaret but I have yet to figure out her maiden name. This Cox family inter-married with other members of the Castle family and also with the (Ellis Sr) Dean family and had close ties to the (Jonas Sr) Powers family. They lived in NE Scott Co near Dungannon, a couple miles from Castle's Woods. I think their relationship with the Castle's may go back further than their arrival in the area around 1818 but I can't prove this yet. They were definitely hanging out with the Powers and Dean families from at least 1790.

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  10. ... also, Goldman Davison / Davidson was a prominent figure in Scott County. He appears on countless deeds and court records. He was a constable for a while. He was involved in many, many lawsuits and was sued by his siblings over the estate of his father. Anyone interested in him should review Scott County deed and court records. The Cox family also had a descendant named Goldman Davison Donaldson/Donalson. There is also a person in Lee County in the 1840's or 1850's named Goolman Davison. Since the Virginian's of the time seemed to leave the D's out of names (Davison/Davidson, Donaldson/Donalson, etc.), I suspect his name was also Goldman Davidson.

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    1. Oh, wow, thanks for all the information! I'm a lot more familiar with my Castles and related families after they moved to Kentucky. I'm a little hazy on their Virginia roots. I will do some research myself on the Cox family of Scott Co., but I would love to know when you come to any conclusions about Margaret!
      My 2nd great grandfather, Goldman Davidson Castle, had such an unusual name that I have always looked for its origins. I had run across a couple of men in Virginia named Goldman and Davidson and thought maybe their names were combined to create my gggrandfather's name, but I didn't realize there was an actual Goldman Davidson. Is Gool a typical pronunciation for that area? I don't believe I've ever mentioned it in the blog, but my Goldman Davidson was called Gool by family and friends. My email is bhatchett5183@sbcglobal.net, if you'd rather communicate by email. Thanks again for all the information!

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  11. Trying to authenticate Ancestry record which shows my Grandmother - Sylvia Casteel who died in 1936 is part of this family. I know there is native American but confused as to why this came up under Casteel. hitadeguermo@aol.com

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  12. Becky, sent you a note on my involvement with Jacob Castle DNA Circle. Hope that helps, I am publishing my Manuscript this year, I've seen nothing in DNA that proves his link to Peter/Johannes, as a matter of fact all I have been able to find is to the contrary indicating they are separate Haplogroups and separate DNA lines as I had decided after 30+ years of family research in Southwest Virginia.

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  13. I have a closed Facebook page with about 950 CASTLE STAPLETON SALYER and related SWVA Frontier Families staying in touch. If anyone wants an invite, Friend me on FB.

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    1. what is the Facebook Page , I also am related to the fantastic Castle family line.

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    2. I have tried to find you on facebook, but there are many Raymond Stapletons. Could you provide an easier way to find you or the group? Thank you :)

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  14. "I am a relative of Mahala Castle Of Adams County Ohio. I have been researching this family for my Grandmothers Family from Sabina.Ohio. Thank you for the history." contact me @ bearmudhauls@gmail.com or bknight@embarqmail.com

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  15. My name is Johnny Castle, and I learned from my cousin Jack Castle that Jacob Castle is my Great (x5) Grandfather! This is fascinating, as my Castle clan hails from Central & Eastern OKlahoma. There is a Castle,OK named for my Great Grandfather Manfred Burns Castle.

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  16. Great to hear from you! I always wondered if Castle, OK, had any connection to our family, and now I know. Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. Thanks for having this blog site...a little late to the party. But here I am!!

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  19. My name is James Ratliff. My family on both sides genealogy brought me here today. I just today did research of the area I moved to a few years ago and found out about Jacob. My mother and father both said we have Native Americans in us and my mother said Shawnee over and over. My Dad's side claimed we had a direct line to Daniel Boone or his closest family. All this has been unsubstantiated so far. I have found several interesting characters in my family line but my mother's father was orphaned and it's harder to search his line. It is my belief I may have been related to Jacob and perhaps others who were mentioned in these stories. I have not only Native American in my DNA but also Dutch Irish. Some of my Dad's family had migrated out to Pulaski County Kentucky and back in to Pike County Kentucky where I was born in 1974. My dad was friends with Mennonites out in Central Kentucky and lived there until he came back to Eastern Kentucky about 10 or 12 years ago. I would love to know if my line goes back to Jacob for sure and if anyone has a Daniel Boone link I would be interested to search that too. I would also be interested to know if any of Jacob's family married into the descendants of Boone's. If so this might clear up those rumors a little for me. As I sit her at my home in Castlewood Virginia I am very excited to see if anyone has any information that could prove or disprove these stories. Thanks and God Bless.

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  20. Hi, thanks for reading! My Castles were originally from Russell Co., then Pulaski, then Morgan County KY. They had neighbors who were Ratliffs. A couple of suggestions for you: I would suggest you have a y-DNA test or even an autosomal DNA test (like Ancestry). A y-DNA would test your Ratliff line all the way back to a common ancestor, which might give you some insight into their connections with the Boones. I believe Family Tree DNA is the only company that does y-DNA. Also, you might enjoy a Facebook group called Stapleton Connections. You have to ask to be a member, but it's a great group that includes Castle descendants. They post some great things about SW Virginia and the leader of the group has just written a book on Jacob Castle available through LULU.com.

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  21. Hi, my name is Joe Carter and I have been looking for the information on this site for sometime. My mother was born a Castle, in Nickelsville VA. (Scott Co.) She and I lived with my grandparents Joe and Emma Lou (Poch) Castle for most of my childhood, in Sullivan Co. Tennessee. I had always heard that the Castle who first came to what is now the US was from Germany and married an Indian woman, but I had not found proof of it.

    I have not researched Jacob and Jacob Jr. enough to confirm a link to the Castle family tree that I am relatively sure of. But, what I have found makes it seem plausible. If someone who knows more about this than I could look at it and tell me if it could be right or wrong, I would be grateful.

    Joe Newton Castle (1914 - 1970) - William Patton Castle (1880 - 1943) - Madison Service Castle (?) - Isaac Castle (1843 - 1873) - Zachariah Castle (1797 - 1871) - Jacob Castle Jr. (?) Jacob Castle (?)
    Thanks for the information.

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  22. Hi, Joe! First, I have looked at the above information, and I think you are correct in what you have researched. Jacob Castle Jr. lived from 1749-1849, and yes, he was supposed to have been 100 when he died! I myself have not found a definite link between Jacob Jr. and Jacob the Longhunter, but I believe they are son and father. I don't have any proof of Jacob the Longhunter's wife, and I don't believe any will ever be found. I am pretty sure she was not named Sowege/Gliding Swan, as Sowege is not even a Shawnee word. Another interesting thing I saw was the name Patton among your Castle ancestors. My 3rd great-grandfather, William Castle (1795-1849), who was another son of Jacob Jr., had a son named Patton (1842-1932). I think that must have been a family name, although I have never found any ancestors with that surname. I think that is a good clue that our two families are connected. I would encourage you to join a Facebook group called Stapleton Connections. Ray Stapleton, who started the group, is a descendant of Jacob the Longhunter and has just written a book about him. Lots of Castle descendants belong to the group, and he posts things about the Castle family almost every week. If you want to contact me directly, my email is bhatchett5183@sbcglobal.net.

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  23. Hello My name is Christopher Castle, My family is from Trammel as miners on the castle side. The farthest back I can trace my family is to william bill castle (born around 1873) can't find anything on his mother or father. It recommends a catherine castle but no husband and I couldn't see william taking his mother maiden name in those days. His son Nelson Castle was my great great grandfather. I just came to a dead end with William Bill Castle.

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  24. Christopher, off the top of my head I didn't know how this family fit into the Castle tree, but I did a little research on Ancestry. I can see why you are stuck. I found a couple of things that might help get you unstuck, although I couldn't find William's parents either. What I found is too long to share here. Email me at bhatchett5183@sbcglobal.net, and I'll be glad to share what I found.

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  25. come do a show with us at arc television. arctelevision@gmail.com

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  26. Hi, my name is Becky as well. I am a descendant to Jacob Castle, but I believe he had children with the negro slave he purchased. This is whom I believe my DNA turns towards. Do you have any information in regards to this, as my DNA does not show any indian DNA rather Congo tribe. Thanks ever so much.

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  27. Jacob Is my 7th great-grandfather his son jacob jr is my 6th great-grandfather

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  28. Just made a Facebook group for jacob castle I will be putting all the stuff I found off ancestry I have done my DNA it doesn't say anything about Native American but I am missing 1% of my DNA on there the group is called jacob castle 1717

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