PA-OLD-CHESTER-L Archives

Archiver > PA-OLD-CHESTER > 2008-06 > 1213455813


From: Larry Sarner <>
Subject: [PaOldC] John Cadwallader/Sarah Roberts
Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:03:33 -0600


Hello all,

I am writing to see if anyone can help sort out the family of 17th
Century John Cadwal(l)ader and Sarah (Roberts). The consensus about
this family appears to be as follows:

John Cadwal(l)ader, b. 1644/1645 in Radnorshire, Wales; emigrated at
an unknown date to Radnor, Pennsylvania; and d. 20 Oct 1742 in Goshen
twp, Chester co, Pennsylvania. He m. Sarah El(l)in Roberts in 1669,
Chester co. Sarah was b. 1647/1650 in Marion, Pennsylvania, and d.
10 Aug 1737 in Goshen twp. The two were parents of the following
seven children:

a. Gwen(dolyn) Cadwal(l)ader, b. 1670, Radnor, Pennsylvania.
b. John Cadwal(l)ader, b. 1676, Montgomeryshire, Wales.
c. Elizabeth Cadwal(la)der, b. 1679, Wales.
d. David Cadwallader, b. 20 Feb 1694, Radnor, Goshen twp, Chester
co, Pennsylvania.
e. Nathan Cadwallader, b. 1696, Chester co, Pennsylvania.
f. John Cadwallader, b. 5 Jan 1699, Radnor, Goshen twp, Chester co,
Pennsylvania.
g. Elizabeth Cadwallader, b. 1701, Chester co, Pennsylvania.

There are numerous variants to all this, most notably the omission of
John (b) and Elizabeth (c). Most accounts which include both Johns
conclude that John (b) is the one who m. Mary Cassel(l) in 1701, and
John (f) m. Elizabeth Gaitlaff [sic] in 1729. Most accounts which
include both Elizabeths conclude that Elizabeth (g) is the one who m.
Thomas (ap) John, while no marriage at all is identified for
Elizabeth (c). Several accounts only give Gwendolyn (or the name's
diminutive form, Gwen) as a child of the marriage.

(My interest in the family comes from a putative descent from David.)

There are some obvious problems with the above account. First, there
is the glaring gap between the birth(s) of Gwen (and/or John and/or
Elizabeth), 1670-1679, and David-Nathan-John-Elizabeth, 1694-1701;
this gap is hardly acknowledged, much less addressed, by those
relating the family. Second, there are the birthdates of the parents
relative to the children. Sarah would have to be aged a very
unlikely 51 years when her youngest was born; if she was instead no
more than 40 yo, she would have been an even more improbable 9 yo
when her eldest was born. Third, why (and how) was the marriage --
and birth of the oldest child -- in Pennsylvania, while the second
and third children were born in Wales, then the later 4 children born
back in Pennsylvania? Fourth, the parents were incredibly elderly at
their decease -- John was at least 97 yo, while Sarah was at least 87
-- yet no one, contemporaneously or currently, finds such unusual
longevity (on a frontier, no less) remarkable or even noteworthy.

I strongly suspect that most of the assertions in the above account
have been attributed or adduced, not discovered. Does anyone here
know of any documentary or other reliable evidence substantiating any
of the above facts, identities, or relationships? I have encountered
other assertions that can be used to construct an alternative that
might better account for these people, but I'd like to first
establish what is factual before going out on a limb.

Thanks in advance to any who are able or willing to respond.

This thread: