Like my Grandmother Mae’s family, my Grandfather William Roy Caple’s, roots also went back to colonial America.  His paternal side of the family were from Maryland and Pennsylvania while his maternal originated in Virginia.

William Roy’s great grandfather, Samuel Caple Jr. moved from Maryland in the 1830’s to Richland County, Ohio. His oldest son Jacob Caple was William Roy’s grandfather. Jacob married Sarah Ann Garey whose roots were from colonial Pennsylvania. They were the parents of Samuel Hugh Caple born in 1845. In 1857 the family moved to Monroe, Jasper County, Iowa.

Samuel Hugh Caple was a veteran of the civil war and a wanderer. After the war he married a hometown girl. She passed away in 1876 leaving him with 2 small children Milo and Minnie. In 1877 he married Margaret Melinda Ragsdale in Brookline, Missouri. The couple soon moved to Kansas and are found in several different areas of the state. While in Kansas the family grew with the addition of Samuel Jr. in 1879, Ida in 1880 and Joseph in 1883. In 1885 William Roy, my grandfather was born near Coffeyville, Kansas. Around 1887 or 1888 they moved to Washington territory. Their youngest son was born in Cheney, Washington in 1889. During this time they are found living in several areas including Spokane, Cheney and Puyallup, Washington. There were probably at least two other children who died in infancy.

In 1892, when a depression hit Puyallup hard, Samuel H. decided to try homesteading with his brother in Caple, Oklahoma, present day Texas county. My grandfather, William Roy, would have been between the ages of 7 to 9 when they made this move. Their daughter Ida died in route and is buried somewhere along the trail in Idaho.

There they lived in a sod house and their youngest daughter Lida was born there in 1899. The couple’s oldest son drowned while rounding up cattle during a storm in 1899. By 1901 they are again found living in Puyallup, Washington.

My grandfather’s Mother was born in 1858 and raised in the home of Richard Jordan Ragsdale. Her parents were said to have died when she was a baby during either in a smallpox or measle epidemic. Richard Jordan was said to have been a cousin. He had been born in TN and his roots go back to the early days of Virginia near present day Jamestown. Who her real parents were remains unknown.