Henry Montgomery Casteel (1820 - 1865)

Born 1820 in Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth Jane (Hicks) Casteel — married 8 Apr 1840 in Limestone County, Alabama

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Greg Casteel [send private message]

Biography

Henry Montgomery Casteel (c.1817-1865)

[Note that in old records the last name is often spelled Cassteel.]

The earliest records we currently have for Henry and his family are from 1840, when he would have been in his early 20s. We know from census records that he was born in Tennessee, and we know that he got married in Limestone County, Alabama, in 1840, but we have not yet been able to definitively identify his parents or where in Tennessee he was born. There is some reason to suspect that he may have been born in or near Blount County, Tennessee, and that his parents might have been a John and Janey (Lane) Casteel, who are believed to have moved from Tennessee to Arkansas in the late 1820s. However, this is based purely on circumstantial evidence and speculation. We have no hard evidence that would prove any of this beyond a reasonable doubt.

(I have done a considerable amount of research trying to track down Henry's parents. My findings are far too extensive to post here, but I have written a rather lengthy PDF "book" which explains my approach and what I was able to find. It may be found here: https://www.docdroid.net/UrOAbEx/finding-henrys-parents.pdf )

Henry appears in the 1850 and 1860 censuses for Limestone County, Alabama, and his widow appears in the 1870 census, living with her oldest son's family. Although his marriage license places him in Limestone County, AL, by April of 1840, he does not appear in the 1840 census for Limestone County, AL. It is very likely that Henry and Betty were living with relatives at the time. (See the discussion on the WikiTree profile page for Betty Casteel concerning which family members they might have been living with in 1840.)

Henry married Elizabeth "Betty" Jane Hicks on 8 April 1840 in Limestone County, Alabama. The marriage license, issued on 7 April 1840, is on file at the Limestone County Archives. Note that the names on the license are Henry McCassteel and Betty Jane Hicks. In all likelihood, the clerk who entered the names on the marriage license mistook the name Henry M. Cassteel for Henry McCasteel.

Henry and Betty settled in the Lentzville/Temperance Oak/Pleasant Grove area of western Limestone County, Alabama, were they owned a 160 acre farm and where Henry worked as a blacksmith. Henry obtained his farm via land patent from the federal government in 40 acre plots. His first land patent was acquired in 1852, his second in 1857, his third in 1858, and his fourth in 1860. Henry's first land patent from 1852 is the only document discovered thus far that records his middle name: Montgomery.

Henry and Betty had several children. Their oldest, James Henson Casteel, was born in 1842, when Betty was about 20 years old and Henry was in his mid 20s. Their youngest, John Samuel Casteel, was born 20 years later in 1862, when Betty was about 40 and Henry was in his mid 40s. There is some uncertainty about exactly how many children Henry and Betty had. At least ten are certain:

• James Henson Casteel (1842-1892)
  
• Henry M. Casteel (c.1845-before 1860)
  
• Jacob Carol "Jake" Casteel (1847-unknown)
  
• Hannah Evelyn Casteel (1848-1924) — her married name was Goode
  
• Prestain (or Preston) H. Casteel (1851-1867)
  
• Elvira M. "Ellen" Casteel (1856-unknown) — her married name was Looney
  
• Francis Jane "Janie" Casteel (1857-unknown) — her married name was Looney
  
• Nancy Rebecca "Beck" Casteel (1859-1927) — her married name was Lee
  
• Abraham L. (Lincoln?) "Bud" Casteel (1861-1938)
  
• John Samuel Casteel (1862-1939)
  

Some secondary sources claim that there was another daughter named Ellen Casteel who (like two of her sisters) married a Looney. The name Ellen Casteel even appears in the 1880 census, and the name Ellen Looney can be found in the 1900 census. But research has shown that the "Ellen" Casteel Looney in the 1880 and 1900 censuses is actually Elvira Casteel. Apparently Elvira sometimes went by the name Ellen, which has confused some researchers.

The 1870 census lists another son named William, born c.1863, but there are no other records of him, and no one in the family seems to have heard of him. While it is certainly possible that this William Casteel died in childhood, this contributor suspects that there was simply a mistake made by the census taker and that this supposed "William" Casteel was actually Abraham Casteel, who is nowhere else to be found in the 1870 census. (Note that the census taker must have also got the ages wrong, since the age he gives for John Casteel would imply that he was born in 1865 rather than 1862.)

Henry Montgomery Casteel died in November of 1865, not yet having reached age 50. He was buried in a tiny family cemetery — which has come to be known as the old Casteel Cemetery — on Lakeview Estates Road just north of the Elk River in western Limestone County, Alabama. Just two years later, his teenaged son, Prestain H. Casteel, would be buried next to him. Betty Casteel would join them in 1872. About a century later, some of Henry and Betty's great-grandchildren would erect a tombstone on the site of their burial. The dates engraved on the stone are based on family tradition and are likely to be inaccurate.

(See the WikiTree profile for Betty Casteel for an account of what became of her and the Casteel children after Henry's death: http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hicks-4572 )

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Census records for Henry Montgomery Casteel and family:

This family has not been positively identified in any census records prior to 1850. It is known, however, that Henry and Betty were in Limestone County, Alabama, in 1840. It is very likely that they were living with relatives.

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From the 1850 census for Limestone County, Alabama:

Henry M Casteel | 30 | M | Blacksmith | Tennessee
Elizabeth J " | 28 | F | _ | "
James H " | 7 | M | _ | Alabama
Henry M | 5 | M | _ | "
Jacob C " | 3 | M | _ | "
Hannah E " | 1 | F | _ | "

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From the 1860 census for Limestone County, Alabama:

Henry M Casteel | 43 | M | Blacksmith | Tennessee
Elizabeth J | 37 | F | _ | Tennessee
James H | 18 | M | Farm Labor | Alabama
Jacob C | 15 | M | Farm Labor | Alabama
Hannah E | 11 | F | _ | Alabama
Prestin H | 9 | M | _ | Alabama
Elvira M | 6 | F | _ | Alabama
Francis J | 4 | F | _ | Alabama
Nancy R | 1 | F | _ | Alabama

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Henry died before the 1870 census, but his widow Elizabeth is included in the 1870 census for Limestone County, Alabama; she and her youngest children are living with her eldest son James H. Casteel and his family:

Casteel James | 29 | M | W | Blacksmith | Ala
" Teresa | 26 | F | W | Keep house | Ala
" Mary | 4 | F | at home | Ala
" Albert | 1 | M | W | " " | Ala
" Elizabeth | 48 | F | W | at home W | Tenn
" Rebecca | 10 | F | W | " " | Ala
" William | 7 | M | W | " " | Ala
" John | 5 | M | W | " " | Ala

Note that, on the previous page of the census book, Betty's daughters Elvira and (Francis) Jane are listed as living with the neighboring Benjamin Lentz family. Jake Casteel — listed as Carrol Casteel in the 1870 census — is living not too far away with his new wife and baby. It is unclear, however, where Hannah Casteel is living — she has yet to be located in the 1870 census. And assuming that "Ellen" Casteel is not actually Elvira Casteel, and that "WIlliam" Casteel is not actually Abraham Casteel, then neither Ellen nor Abraham Casteel can be found in the 1870 census, either.

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Henry was born in 1820. He was the son of Abraham Casteel and Mary Casteel. He passed away in 1865.

Sources

Much of what we know about Henry and Betty Casteel and their children is due to the family history research of Lynn Parham. Although many of his findings have been overturned in the years since he first published them, his research is still the place to begin any enquiry into the history of the Casteel family of Limestone County, Alabama. He first published his findings in James Lynn Parham, An Alabama Rose Garden (1998), which has proven to be an invaluable reference source throughout this research. He also maintains a Casteel family history web page, which contains much of the same information that he included in the book (though the book includes an extremely useful compendium of the Casteel family line, listing the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of Henry and Betty Casteel, that is not included on his webpage). Unfortunately, his web page contains some outdated information that has been disproved (or at least thrown into serious doubt) by subsequent research. Nonetheless, many of his findings still hold up quite well, and what he has written is certainly worth consideration: http://home.comcast.net/~lynn.parham/casteel.htm

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Although documentary evidence about the lives of Henry, Betty, their children, their friends and neighbors, and their (potential) relatives is quite scarce, a number of important documents — including Henry and Betty's marriage license and the documents appointing James Casteel guardian of his two youngest brothers after their mother's death — are on file at the Limestone County (AL) Archives, and can be accessed online: http://limestonearchives.com/

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Another source for Henry and Betty's marriage record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5Z7-645

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The census information cited above was taken directly from the original microfilm images on file at the National Archives, which have been made available online via the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/index.php

Here are links to the specific sources:

For the 1840 census of Limestone County, Alabama:
— the original images: https://archive.org/details/populationsc18400008unit
(Note that there is no specific record in the 1840 census for Henry and Betty Casteel, even though they are known to have been living in Limestone County at that time. They were likely living with relatives.)

For the 1850 census of Limestone County, Alabama:
— the original images: https://archive.org/details/7thcensus0007unit
— census record for Henry Casteel and family: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH5S-2ZQ

For the 1860 census of Limestone County, Alabama:
— the original images: https://archive.org/details/populationschedu013unit
— census record for Henry Casteel and family: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHDP-412

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Copies of Henry's land patents may be obtained from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management ( http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/ ). Here are links to the specific land patents:

-1852 land patent in the name of Henry Montgomery Cassteel: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=AL3680__.351&docClass=STA&sid=4vnt15wz.grp#patentDetailsTabIndex=1
(Note that this is the only documentary source discovered thus far establishing Henry's middle name as Montgomery.)

-1857 land patent in the name of Henry M. Cassteel: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=AL3760__.181&docClass=STA&sid=4vnt15wz.grp#patentDetailsTabIndex=1

-1858 land patent in the name of Henry M. Cassteel: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=AL3850__.377&docClass=STA&sid=4vnt15wz.grp#patentDetailsTabIndex=1

-1860 land patent in the name of Henry M. Cassteel: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=AL3920__.260&docClass=STA&sid=4vnt15wz.grp#patentDetailsTabIndex=1

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For a map of early land holdings in Limestone County, Alabama, showing the location of the Casteel (Cassteel) farm, see: Gregory A. Boyd, Family Maps of Limestone County, Alabama, Deluxe Edition (2007), page 92.

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See also the list of sources at the WikiTree profile for Henry's wife, Betty Casteel: http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hicks-4572

• "Alabama Marriages, 1816-1957", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5Z7-645 : 13 February 2020), [name withheld by request], 1840.