I published an article digging into the immediate ancestry of Mary Caldwell Chew, wife of James Chew (~1740-1783). She was the daughter of Andrew and Jane Caldwell of Berkeley County, West Virginia based on the will of her brother, Andrew Caldwell Jr., and that of her father, Andrew Caldwell Sr., all supported by other primary source evidence.
This conclusion is contrary to the common assertion that Mary Caldwell Chew’s parents were James Caldwell and Catherine Buford.
For reference, James Chew was the son of Thomas Chew and Martha Taylor, first cousin to President James Madison’s father, a major in the Virginia Militia during the Revolutionary War, and a member of the 1780 Virginia House of Delegates.
I am involved in research pertaining to John Moore (1789-1867), a Louisiana sugar planter and Whig politician, who served two terms in the U.S. Congress (1841-43 and 1851-53). Based on what I read in your articles on Mary Caldwell Chew, I can confirm that John Moore is one of her grand-nephews, as he is the son of Lewis Moore and Rebecca Henshaw of Frederick (now Berkeley) County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and the grandson of Lewis Moore and Elizabeth Marguerite Caldwell. It is John Moore’s grandfather Lewis who was named as Executor of Andrew Caldwell, Sr.’s will, and John Moore’s father, Lewis, who is mentioned as nephew in the will of Andrew Caldwell, Jr.
Lewis and Rebecca Moore sold their Virginia holdings in 1795, moved to Kentucky in 1795 and then to Louisiana in 1801. They are the parents of five children: Lewis, William, John Joseph and Louisa. The three oldest boys were born at Bunker Hill, Joseph was born in Kentucky and Louisa was born in either Natchez, Mississippi or Opelousas, Louisiana, where Rebecca died shortly after giving birth to Louisa. Lewis and at least one of his sons participated in the Battle of New Orleans, and his son John was a member of a Louisiana militia company that patrolled the western coast at the same time in anticipation of a British invasion in that area. Members of the Chew family also relocated to Louisiana and were neighbors of the Moore family.
If you would be interested in any further information, please let me know by return e-mail.
Thanks,
Pat Powers
Info On Lewis Moore In Louisiana.