Monthly Archives: March 2016

THE WILL OF SAMUEL CAPLE

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2016-03-13 20.18.23

 

I held the will for Samuel Caples in my hand and struggled to read the writing.  The will was recorded before a probate judge  on May 17, 1869.

The synopsis follows:

I give and bequeath to my wife in lieu of her dower 800 dollars. I device and bequeath to my son Jacob Caples, one dollar, my son Nimrod Caples, one dollar, my son Samuel Caples, 800 dollars, my son Andrew Caples, 800 dollars, my son Robert Caples, 800 dollars, to my daughter Rebecca married to David Grimes, 400 dollars, to my daughter Elizabeth married to Joseph Evans, 400 dollars, to my daughter Ruth married to Abraham Linnard, 400 dollars, to Keisa married to Henry Crabbs, 400 dollars, to Amy Church, James Church and Ann Church one dollar each, Emeline Caples, daughter of William Caples one dollar.

I was elated. I had found Jacob’s father. It wasn’t just that his name was listed as a son but also the mention of a son named Nimrod. Nimrod was the name my aunt had found while researching the family in  Monroe, Iowa. The same town where Jacob had lived. The name Rebecca Grimes was also listed which matched what Daisy Lee Grimes had said in her query in that old book in the used book store.

That Jacob and Nimrod had only received one dollar in inheritance suggest they might have had a falling out with their father, however I think it is more likely they had already received their share, perhaps in the sale of the land Jacob had handled for Samuel.

And there was another Samuel mentioned. No wonder my great-grandfather insisted on being called Samuel Hugh. He had an uncle and grandfather sharing his name.

The S on the end of Caple didn’t bother me. I’d learned in the 1800’s people weren’t as concerned about how things were spelled. Even within the land documents Jacob had sold his name appeared with and without the S in the same document.  Samuel Hugh’s pension files had him listed both as Caple and Caples.

Now it was time for me to see if this Ohio, Samuel Caple was connected to the revolutionary war Samuel Caple, from Maryland. Time to start looking at the early census records in  Maryland and connect to those who had more information about the Maryland Caple family via the internet.

IN SEARCH OF JACOB CAPLE’S Father

2016-02-22 20.41.47 (2)

Jacob Caple, born about 1816, Carroll County, Maryland

Synopsis:  Through family stories and my Great Grandfather, Samuel Hugh Caple’s Civil War pension records, I had discovered Samuel H. Caple was born in 1845 in Knox County, Ohio. His parents were Jacob Caple and Sarah Garey.  Jacob had been born in Maryland but married in Knox county, Ohio in 1841. Around 1857 Jacob had moved his family to Monroe, Jasper county, Iowa. Land documents there, led me to believe, he was connected to Samuel Caple of Richland County, Ohio. Census records in Ohio revealed that a Samuel Caple had lived there and had also been born in Maryland. He was the right age to be Jacob’s father.  Now I needed a will or other document to prove a connection

 

IN SEARCH FOR JACOB CAPLE’S FATHER

Shortly after mailing my request for a will for Samuel Caple of Ohio, my husband and I visited a used bookstore. As I gazed at a shelf of fiction, my husband rounded the corner.

“I found something for you to look at.” he said.

He handed me a thick book of  genealogical queries. He pointed to an entry –  “CAPLE, SAMUEL.”  A Daisy Lee Grimes was looking for more information about her great-grandfather, Samuel Caple, born in Maryland and who had lived in Ohio. I was fairly certain this was the same Samuel Caple I was looking for.  I would have called her right then and there except the book was from the 1940’s, it was unlikely that now in the 1990’s, Daisy was still alive.

The following week I perused the shelf containing family genealogies at my local library. I knew there was no way I was going to find a Caple genealogy, still I looked. My eyes scanned the titles for surnames beginning with C – “History And Genealogy Of The Caples Family And Allied Families Of Maryland.” Surprised, I pulled the book off the shelf.  Could this be my family, Jacob was from Maryland.

I opened the thin, hand bound book. It had been written in the 1960’s. The Caple’s in this book were from the earliest days of colonial Maryland. I still had a lot of work to do before I could discover if we connected to this family. But how had this hand typed copy from Maryland ended up in a Tacoma, WA library?

The following week I went to the Seattle National Regional Archives to work on another branch of my family tree. I was re-winding a microfilm when the archives announced it would be closed in 30 minutes. I gathered my things and went to slip the film back into its place in a file cabinet. Bent over, I glanced sideways, the words – CAPLE, SAMUEL – jumped out at me.  It was the first entry for a drawer full of Revolutionary War pension files.  Why was I suddenly finding the name Caple everywhere?

Never mind the archive was about to close, I had to see what was on it. I hastily threaded the microfilm onto the machine. I scrolled forward, the file was long. Quickly I skimmed, the old, difficult to read, cursive writing. Fortunately the pages deemed to be the best source of genealogical facts had been placed at the beginning of the file. This Samuel Caple had been born in Maryland. He hadn’t mentioned children by name but did say he had sons. And since he was born in 1752, he could easily be Samuel Caple of Ohio’s father. But it was too soon to jump to such conclusions.  I left hoping someday I would have reason to return and inspect this film in detail, in the meantime I had to prove or disprove Jacob was the son of Samuel Caple in Ohio. Only then could I begin to look for a link for someone in Maryland. Now more than ever I was anxious to find Jacob’s father.

On a rainy day a few weeks later, I pulled a thin envelope postmarked Ohio out of my mailbox. It looked much too thin to contain the information I wanted. With shaking hands I ripped the envelope open and pulled out the  will for Samuel Caple of Richland County, Ohio.  I began to read the difficult to decipher writing ; fingers crossed it would contain Jacob’s name.