James Castellaw
From Scotland to America
The earliest record of Castellaw in the Old Parish Records at the General Register Office of Scotland is a christening of a James Castellaw in the Canongate Edinburgh District in 1565 with the father listed as Alexander Castellaw. There are about 46 Castellaw entries through the late 1700’s in the records that include births, christenings, and marriages. About this time the family name seemed to die out in that country. The Archivist at the University of Glasgow says it is a not a common name in Scotland today.
Proving that the Castellaw members listed in the Scottish records are the ancestors of our Bertie County ancestors is difficult, if not impossible. There is just too little to go on. We do know that the father of the Castellaw family in America was James Castellaw.
Obviously not the same person as the first recorded entry, he was born November 6, 1685 in the County of Renfrew, Scotland and in the Abbey Parish, which is also called Paisley Parish because it is near the town of Paisley. There is still a large abbey (a home for monks) at Paisley . This area is near Glasgow in the southwestern part of the country. The Firth of Clyde provides access to the Scottish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
The original record of James’s 1685 baptism is a rare treat in genealogy. It is shown in Figure 2 from the Old Parish records of births and baptisms from November, 1685 in the Scottish General Register Office. James’s father is listed as Thomas Castellaw. It is generally believed that Thomas was the minister who preached in the presbytery of Dunfermline after graduating from Edinburgh University in 1663. The records from the University of Edinburgh show Thomas was married to Katherine Hutchison, who died in April, 1713. There is some question here because the Edinburgh records do not list James as Thomas’s son and do not show Eufame, who is listed in the General Registe Office baptismal records as a daughter of Thomas (so she would have been James’s sister). It is possible, therefore, that the Thomas in James’s baptismal record is a different one than the minister. Many of us still assume they were the same person, however.
Figure 2. Original Christening Record of James Castellow
James Son lawfull to Mr. Thomas Castellow born the 6 and bapt the 8 of
this.
Wit James Day and Robert Alexander
What is known is that James entered Glasgow University in 1703. There is no record of his graduation. This only other related record there shows he was taught by Gershom Carmichael.[1]
From this point it has been said by others that James graduated in 1707, married Sarah Williams in 1710, and came to the Americas soon after. Many people did not graduate during this time, and the graduation records of these very established institutions are pretty complete, even from this long ago. Since the university has no record of his graduation, James may have actually left college early to seek his fortune. His wife was definitely Sarah Williams. However, Sarah’s family had been in Isle of Wight County, Virginia for at least two generations, and possibly three. Therefore, it seems most likely that James met Sarah after he came here. No records have been found yet for exactly when he came or where he landed. Both Virginia and the Cape Fear areas were likely ports of landing, but we still don’t know.
James Castellaw witnessed the will of Henry Woodnot on December 29, 1718 in Chowan Precinct (Bertie Precinct was formed in 1722). James proved the will before Charles Eden June 29, 1719. However and whenever James got here, he must have had some nobility (proven by letters, heritage, etc.) or money, and probably both. During 1719, he received two land grants for a total of 1,190 acres. He got a third grant in 1720 for 340 acres and a later one in 1726 for another 640 acres. This was a total of 2,140 acres in the county through land grants. These grants were obtained through the Crown and generally were granted with a promise to cultivate the land and pay annual rents. However, there were limits as to the amount that could be granted to one person, generally 640 acres. Exceptions were easily obtained by men with the right political connections, so James Castellaw must have secured such approval.
James also began buying land with multiple transactions listed in the Chowan County and Bertie County Deed Books. He bought tracts of 640 acres and 150 acres in April, 1721 and another of 100 acres in July, 1721. James was involved in various land purchases and sales in Bertie County throughout the next 20 years.
Henry Gustin, James Milliken, and James Castellaw were partners doing business at Casia and Roanoke in 1727. Each one put in 300 pounds in general partnership.
James was one of his Majesty’s Court Justices in 1724 and in 1729 was a member of the North Carolina Assembly. Numerous actions in the Colonial Records of the North Carolina Assembly refer to his service there throughout the rest of his life. He was Treasurer of Bertie Precinct from 1735 to 1748.
James was a merchant and owned a warehouse situated on the Cashie River near what is now called Hoggard Mill. He built this mill, originally called Castellaw Mill. The millsite became a hub for local shipping back to England and Scotland. James used his influence to site the Bertie County Courthouse here when the Courthouse had to be moved after Northampton County was split from Bertie in 1744. A Courthouse, Jail, Tavern, and Stocks were constructed at the site.
During May 13, 1746 Court, Governor Gabriel Johnston assigned James Castellaw (and others) as Justice-of-the-Peace.
James was listed as present as a justice on the February 14, 1749 Court in Bertie. He was not listed in the May 1749 Court records and his son, Thomas, applied for administration of his estate at the August 8, 1749 Court because James was deceased. In the will of William Castellaw (another son) dated June 18, 1749, he left his plantation to his mother, Sarah, "during her widowhood." Therefore, James probably died before William wrote his will.
A personal theory is that James died suddenly between February and June in 1749. A man of his prominence would have normally had a will in those days. He may have died unexpectedly. He would have been 64 at the time. It is possible that he had a will that was lost and not probated through the court. However, his estate sale, administered by his son Thomas in 1749 and 1750, sold off what appeared to be all of his worldly goods. It seems that if a will had been in place, it would have passed many of the articles and possessions directly to his heirs.
James’s final resting place is a mystery as well. It seems such a man would have been buried in a prominent location and certainly would have had a tombstone. However, there is no such grave in any of the county’s surviving church cemeteries. It is not in the large cemetery in Edenton. There is a small cemetery near the millsite, which is where he is thought to have been living at the time. However, the cemetery has no visible tombstones and may have been put to use much later than the time of James Castellaw’s death.
James’s descendents spread in a generation to Duplin County, NC; Barnwell, SC; and Haywood County, TN. Today, we find more descendents all the time in many states including Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, and California.
There is a lot more we do not know about James Castellaw than we probably will ever find out. He came from Scotland sometime between the ages of 18 and 33 and started a new generation. Today, all records seem to indicate that every Castellaw, Castellow, and Castelloe (there are probably other spellings as well) in the country descend from this one man.