John Cantrell Sr (1724 - abt. 1803)

Born 6 Oct 1724 in Wilmington, New Castle County, Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 11 Feb 1803 at about age 78 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA [uncertain]

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John Cantrell Sr performed Patriotic Service in North Carolina in the American Revolution.

Biography

He was born on 06 October 1724 in Wilmington, New Castle County, Pennsylvania and baptized on 25 March 1726 at Holy Trinity (Old Swede) Church, New Castle County, Pennsylvania (now Delaware, USA). ^[1] His parents were Catherine (Heath) and Joseph Cantrell.

By 1738 his father had moved the family to Orange County, Virginia. He spent all of his life as a farmer.

John Cantrell first married about 1743 in Pennsylvania to Hannah Marie Brittain ^[2] and they had over a dozen children. There were supposedly a number of twins in the family.

The family had become associated with the Baptist Church and John's brother, Isaac Cantrell, was ordained a minister. The family settled in the "Land of Eden", Granville County, North Carolina, which became Orange County in September 1752.

In 1754 the Sheriff submitted a tax list which included John with 2 white polls.

On 13 November 1756 his brother, Isaac, received a land grant for 202 acres of land in Orange County. He sold this land to John on 13 March 1759. The deed was witnessed by James Watson. The land was on a ridge between the waters of County Line Creek and Jordons Creek. The land was about seven miles north of the Upper Branch of the Haw River, on the waters of Wolf Island Creek which was a branch of the Dan River to the north. It is about two miles north of the present town of Reidsville, Rockingham County, North Carolina.

John next appeared in the Minutes of the Orange County Records for the December 1758 court, when he was sued by James Cary, Jr. on a debt.

In the Court of September 1759, he and his brother Joseph were on a road jury to lay out a road from Hogna's Creek to the county courthouse. He and William Savage were appointed Overseers of the road.

In August 1760 they were appointed to another road jury to lay out a road from Daniel McGullon's plantation to Taylors road leading to the court house. He was appointed overseer to the lower section.

In August 1763, Henry Cobb was appointed to replace John on the Lower town road.

In May 1765 John Morrow was appointed to replace John as Overseer on the other road.

In May 1766 John was appointed Overseer of a road in place of William Laughlin.

On 12 November 1765, John sold his 202 acres of land to William Jones. No record of his having purchased other land are found in Orange County records.

John's 1st wife died in February 1769 in North Carolina. His brother, Isaac Cantrell's wife also died in the area and it is thought that the 2 wives were probably buried at a ridge on a part of Isaac's 770 acre farm. In 1777 the Wolf Island Baptist Church was built on Isaac's property and it is thought that their burial sites were incorporated into what is now the Wolf Island Baptist Church Cemetery in Rockingham County, North Carolina, USA. By the 1960s, it was estimated that there were probably about 100 unmarked graves in that cemetery, when the field markers were removed to facilitate mowing.

John Cantrell married secondly to a Jane (of unknown maiden surname) and they were supposed to have had 4 sons and 2 daughters.

in 1771 part of western part of Orange County went into the formation of Guilford County, North Carolina. John and his family lived in the northern part of this new county. In 1785 this area became Rockingham County, North Carolina, USA.

John Centrell, Sr. served from North Carolina in the American Revolutionary War. Supposedly 3 of his sons were scouts in Gen. Marion's army during the American Revolution. ...

"Aaron, Simon and Peter were captured during the Revolution and were condemned to be shot. Tradition says Peter was shot, and Aaron & Peter [sic] escaped." ^[3]

By 1785 John and his family and many others in the area had moved south westward down the Piedmont Plateau to the 96th District of South Carolina.

He soon acquired 800 acres of land at Buck Creek, on the waters of the Pacolet River (now in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA). Later his brother Isaac and many of his sons and nephews also acquired land in the area.

In 1790 John was included on the census for 96th District, South Carolina, USA with one son under sixteen and two daughters at home. Many family names on this census were familiar names first located in the court records of Orange County, North Carolina.

When John's brother, Isaac Cantrell, moved south in 1795, he became the minister of Buck Creek Baptist Church from 1796 though 1798. John was a messenger to the Bethel Association from 1797 though 1799 and served as Pastor from 1800 to 1803.

He and his family were devoted and active members in the Buck Creek Baptist church and some of his descendants still attend this old church. The Bucks Creek Baptist Church is still standing and the Cantrell Family Cemetery is a short distance away.

He may have been living in the household of his son Moses Cantrell @36, for the 1800 census of South Carolina.

He passed away on 11 Feb 1803 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA.^{[citation needed]} to an actual record. No documentation has been found to support this date.^[4]

m1 Children

1. Abraham Cantrell, Sr., b: 1744; d: 1814; m: Jun 1787 Lucy Watson
2. Isaac Cantrell, Sr., b: c1745; d: c1805; m: Nancy Watson
3. Jacob Cantrell, b: Jan 1746; d: 09 Jul 1790; m: 1767 Mary Buchanon
4. Elijah Cantrell, b: c1747; d: c1790
5. Joshua=Joseph Cantrell, b: c1748; d: c1803; m: Mary Leonard
6. Stephen Cantrell, b: c1749; d: c1827 m: 1782 Ann Blakemore
7. Charles Cantrell, b: c1750; d: 07 Mar 1841; m: 23 Jan 1772 Sarah Elizabeth Murray
8. Daniel Cantrell, b: c1750; d: 20 Jul 1841
9. James Cantrell, b: 1751; d: 17 Oct 1825; m: 1771 Elizabeth Harris
10. Brittian Cantrell, b: c1752; d: 1854
11. Susan Cantrell, b: 30 Nov 1753; d: c1791
12. Simon Cantrell, b: c1755
13. John Cantrell, Jr., b: 18 Aug 1757; d: 17 Oct 1823; m. Elizabeth ???
14. Peter Cantrell, b: c1759
15. Margaret Elizabeth Cantrell; b: c1760; d: c1810; m: 1774 Issac Young
16. Thomas Cantrell, b: 1761; d: 1830; m. Elizabeth Norris
17. Aaron Cantrell, b: 1763; d: 1834; m: 1785 Mary Elizabeth Smith
18. Reuben Cantrell
19. Edward Cantrell
20. Benjamin Cantrell.

m2 Children

1. William Cantrell
2. Moses Cantrell
3. Gabriel Cantrell

Research Notes

• Primary sources needed for information in the biography section. Many errors have been discovered in the Cantrill-Cantrell Genealogy book. A review of all Cantrell deeds in the late 1700s to early 1800s, in Spartanburg County, SC, reveals there isn't evidence that John owned 800 acres. Additionally, no probate records can be found. The alleged probate book, or rather page number, might be for an 1808 deed instead. No indication it was on Bucks Creek. It appears this deed might be misused or conflated with stories about this John. Of the FIVE John Cantrells enumerated in 1800 in Spartanburg none were old enough to this man.^[4]

• There is no evidence that John Cantrell, Sr. had more than two wives. Nancy Watson was removed as a wife because she was actually the wife of John's brother Isaac. Strutton-11 27 Dec 2016

• It has been assumed that John and his brothers were the first to use the spelling of the family name as Cantrell, but it has since been discovered that his father, Joseph used this spelling in 1758 in Virginia.

• It is now known that two of John's listed sons were not Cantrells, but Curtis. Note: which ones ? ^{[citation needed]} This was due to a misreading of the 1790 census. We know that at least three of the children listed were nephews, sons of brother Isaac. Two sons listed were never located on census reports or other records, but this does not mean that they did not exist, so we end up with a list of sixteen sons. Because two daughters of John were born during the years of the 1st marriage, we can assume there were at least four daughters.

• There is no "John Miller Cantrell". Rather, "Old" John Cantrell who married Miss Brittain had a son who was known as John "the miller" Cantrell because he owned a mill in South Carolina. ^[5] This son John Cantrell, Jr. married Elizabeth Cantrell.

• John was probably buried at the Buck Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. The center of the cemetery has at least one hundred graves marked by field stones with only graves since the 1850s containing information on the stones.

• A source is needed to confirm his burial site ...
  • buried: Old Cantrell Cemetery, Mayo, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA ? ^[6] OR
  • buried: Buck Creek Baptist Church, Chesnee, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA ^[7]

• The original family surname began in France as CHANTELLE.
  • The first Cantrell to be recorded in England was William Cantrell, during the reign of King John, 1199, AD.
  • Ninth in line from this first William Cantrell, was another William Cantrell, who arrived on the ship "Phenix" in 1608 at Jamestown, Virginia. This one was the first Cantrell to be married in America and is known as the progenitor of most of the Cantrells in America.
  • From the area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, some Cantrells migrated south as "Missionaries of the Mother Baptist Church" to North Carolina and South Carolina.

Sources

1. ↑ Delaware Baptisms 1697-1886 on FamilySearch database (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV33-SXMV : 30 Jan 2015) citing Papers of the Historical Society of Delaware, IX: Records of Holy Trinity Old Swedes Church; Historical Society of Delaware in Wilmington, DE; Delaware Public Archives in Dover, DE; for John Chantrill, bpt: 25 Mar 1726 Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware
2. ↑ http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=worldmarr_ga&h=152516&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
3. ↑ Cantrell family folder at Georgia Archives
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Probate Deed book "L" p193; Estate administration 23 Aug 1805 Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA; administrators: sons Abraham, Stephen & Moses; widow Jane, received a dower settlement; unable to locate this deed book. ^{[citation needed]} This record does not exist. It's likely conflated with a deed book record in 1808. It includes a John and a Jane. But no mention of Abraham, Stephen & Moses.
   • Conveyance books (Spartanburg County, South Carolina), 1785-1911; indexes, 1785-1919; Conveyance books, v. L-N 1807-1813; FamilySearch; Pg 193.
     • Jane Cantrell 24 Feb 1808, wife of John Cantrell dec’d. Jane Cantrell to Aaron Templeton noted as Dower.
   • Conveyance books (Spartanburg County, South Carolina), 1785-1911; indexes, 1785-1919; Conveyance books, v. L-N 1807-1813; FamilySearch; Pg 165.
     • John Cantrell 12 Jan 1808 to Aaron Templeton. Land granted to Jesse Cannel then to Joseph Davis and conveyed by William Richland Vincent Wyatt attorney to Thomason to John Cantrell. Witnesses Abner Benson, Jas H Jones. Pacolet River; South side. Note: Not on Bucks Creek.
5. ↑ Richard Cantrell/Cantrill of Derbyshire] on Facebook; middle name of "Miller" is not correct. He was a miller by trade and called "John, the miller"; most of FAG info is not correct; per Donna Campbell
6. ↑ 1989 Info from Earnest H. Cantrell, Route#1, Box 50, Beaverton, AL, 35544; Cantrell Cemetery is near the Buck Creek Baptist Church
7. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #110842689 for John Cantrell, b: 06 Oct 1724; d: Feb 1803; buried: Buck Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Chesnee, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA; NO photo

• Connecticut Town Birth-Death & Marriage Records, Pre 1870 (Barbour Collection) Connecticut

• DAR record #A018946

• "Cantrill-Cantrell Genealogy by Susan Cantrill Christie & Grafton Press Genealogical Publishers of New York in 1908; Descendants of Richard Cantrill, who was a Resident of Philadelphia Prior to 1689, and of Earlier Cantrills in England and America; p8

• U.S. and International Marriage Records 1560-1900 compiled by Yates Publishing on ancestry.com

• Family Data Collection - Individual Records compiled by Edmund West on ancestry.com

• Cantrell Potter Magness Genealogy

• WFT v73 tree#179

• http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=23138780&pid=580 Ancestry Family Tree

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile was created through the import of PittsPenn_2010-09-21.ged on 22 Sep 2010

• Cantrell-307 was created 14 on Nov 2011 by Darlene Nelson through the import of WikiGedcom.ged

• Cantrell-470 was created on 26 Jul 2012 by Jamie Henderson through the import of Lozon.ged

• Cantrell-550 was created on 02 Aug 2012 by John Stroud through the import of mom_2012-08-01.ged

• Cantrell-589 was created on 07 Sep 2012 by John Stroud through the import of taylor gedcom.ged

• Cantrell-913 was created on 18 Aug 2013 by George Cantrell

• WikiTree profile was created by Mary Ruth Westerman