Individual Notes
Note for: Sarah Hawkins, ABT 1600 - 1672
Index
Individual Note: On 19 September 1626 Ludowich Rouzee of Ashford, Doctor of Physic, bachelor about 3 and Sarah Catlett, of St Peter, Canterbury widow about 24 relict of John Catlett late of Sittenbourne, Gentleman, deceased at Berhersden were issued a marriage license. The couple produced six children three of whom came to Virginia with John Catlett. They were Ralph, Edward Rowzee and Martha Rowzee. Ralph died in 1662 and John Catlett delivered to Daniel Gaines, property he and Ralph Rouszee owned jointly for the children of Ralph. This actions Suggest Gaines had recently married the widow of Ralph Rowzee.
Margaret R. Amundson
Individual Notes
Note for: Katherine Sheldon, 2 Jan 1549 - 1586
Index
Individual Note: Invalid baptism temple code: Albert.
Invalid endowment temple code: Albert.
Invalid seal-to-parents temple code: Albert.
Individual Notes
Note for: John Catlet, ABT 1540 -
Index
Individual Note: The date of the Catlett-Rowzie marriage was 1626 not 1620. This is an excerpt
from an article authored by me and published in The Virginia Genealogist. I
have 27 pages of Catleet Note assembled I can attach to an E-mail if anyone is
interested in the early Catlett records.
BACKGROUND ON THE CATLETT FAMILY OF VIRGINIA
The names Thomas and William are familiar as given names to students of the
Catlett family. The Catlett surname first appeared in Virginia 23 May 1650 when
John Catlett and his half brother Ralph Rouzee [Rowzee and other spellings]
patented 400 acres of land on the south side of the Rappahannock River. Among
the headrights for this patent was Nicholas Catlett. John was the only son of
JohnA Catlett and Sarah Hawkins. John wed Sarah, the daughter of Ralph
Hawkins and Martha Baldwin, 10 April 1623. The marriage was short lived as JohnA
died before his son was born. In his will he devised cherry gardens to his
wife for her natural life and if she was with child they were to go to the child
and heirs of its body. If there was no child, the gardens were to go to his
brother Thomas Catlett upon the death of his wife.
Sarah returned to her home to give birth to John1, who was baptized 12 March
1625/26 in All Saints, Canterbury, Kent County, England. Ludowich Rouzee of
Ashford, Doctor of Physic, bachelor about 36 and Sarah Catlett of St. Peters
Canterbury widow about 24, relict of John Catlett late of Sittingbourne, Gent.
Deceased at Berhersden were issued a license to marry on 19 September 1626.
The couple had six children, three of whom came to the colonies with their half
brother John. John began to accumulate land very quickly and massed quite an
estate over his lifetime. He married the widow, Elizabeth [Underwood] Taylor,
Slaughter, [and later Butler] by October 1659. The couple had five
children. In a letter addressed to his most esteemed friend & Kinsman Mr. Tho: Catlett
at Hollingborne In Kent, in 1664, John related his youngest son died at age
three months.
Elizabeth was a remarkable woman in her own right and although plagued by
Indian attacks, as related by her husband in his letter to his Catlett kinsman in
England, the family enjoyed a fairly comfortable life style as evidenced in
her will. Through Elizabeth and her family and John's connections to the
Rouzee and Hawkins, families the couple enjoyed a tightly knit kinship network
composed of most of the prominent families in the area. John served as an officer
in the militia, sheriff, and president of the court. His sons followed him
in public service, as did his grandsons. Their home must have been a focal
point for the community. John is said to have died defending the fort at Port
Royal from an Indian attack in 1671. Descendants of theirs have risen to
prominence over the centuries and held leadership positions in their communities.
Their great great-grandson was a driving force in framing the United States
Constitution and served as fourth president of the United States.
For most of this century the work of Dr. and Mrs. William Carter Stubbs has
been considered the authority on this distinguished colonial family. The
Stubbs corresponded with a number of Catlett descendants before they published
their work around 1918. These letters are preserved [without their replies] in
the manuscript collection of Earl Gregg Swem Library at The College of
William and Mary in Williamsburg.
The Stubbs assigned sons Nicholas and Thomas Catlett to John Catlett the
immigrant by an unsubstantiated prior marriage. A study of early Catlett records
of the Rappahannock region does show a Nicholas Catlett as a headright for
John Catlett. John appeared is some records with Nicholas. Nothing other than
his presence in the same area identifies or implies Nicholas was the son of
John. In fact one record regarding John's son John2 Catlett suggests he may not
be John's son. That is a deed recorded in 1706 in Essex County, Virginia
wherein John2's wife Mary Catlett relinquished her dower interest in land John1
inherited from his father in England. This land was entailed in the will of
JohnA Catlett. Possession of entailed land carries with it the assumption that
John2 was the heir at law although the will of John1 has not survived, making
it impossible to establish precisely what the provision regarding the land
was. The 1706 deed is remarkable because it is the only record stating the name
of the wife of John2 Catlett. By the time John2 wrote his will in 1724 his wife
was no longer living, as there were no provisions for her in his will.
President James Madison drew a pedigree chart showing his ancestors.
According to the chart his great-grandfather, John2 Catlett, married a Gaines. This
document is now the property of the Library of Congress and was published in
William and Mary Quarterly Historical Magazine, 1st Series, Volume 9. Madison did
not give a first name for Catlett's Gaines wife. Yet one does not have to
search too long in the genealogical literature to find the wife of John2 called
Elizabeth Gaines. This enjoys wide circulation in many genealogies compiled
over many decades. However, if one consults the actual records related to
Daniel Gaines they will find no evidence he had a daughter Elizabeth. He did,
however have a daughter Mary. And John2 Catlett was married to a Mary in 1706 as
the Essex County deed indicates.
Margaret R. Amundson, CGsm is a service mark of the Board for Certification
of Genealogists, used under license by Board-certified associates after
periodic proficiency evaluations.