1986 News-Caster (Top of Page 55)

THE CASTOR FAMILY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA FAMILY ORIGINS We have started our newsletter each year with this article. It is a good intro- duction. We believe it is worth repeating for the benefit of the new members. Some updating occurs. There are several different origins of the Caster/Castor/Kaster/Kastor families. Some came to this country as Caster, Castor, Kaster or Kastor; and some came as something entirely different. For example, in 1736, Hans Georg Gerster and his wife, Eve Gisin, arrived in Philadelphia aboard the ship Princess Agusta which had come from Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. Hans was born 1710 in Basel, Switzerland. Hans and Eve married in 1735, and after their arrival in this country, they had a family of eight. Although their surname was Gerster, it was soon pronounced Gaster or Garster in this country, and was corrupted into Caster or Castor. By 1762, Hans had become John George Castor, and more frequently, George Castor. Most of his descendants carry the surname Castor, although some are Caster. Other Gerster families came to America in 1748, 1749, 1768, 1803, 1804 and 1805, and most of their descendants are today either Caster or Castor. And then there was John de Castorer who was born 1748 in New London, Connecticut. John married 1770 Anna Calkins, and they lived near Spencertown, New Your from where John enlisted in 1776 for the Revolutionary War. After the war, they moved to Redfield, New York, and later to Ellisburg, New York. Their surname shortened to Caster, and their nine children were styled either Caster or Castor. Another group of Castors has evolved in Western Pennsylvania in the late 18th century. They were known earlier by the surname Custard or Kusterd, and Custer, Kuster or Kester even earlier. In this group were the families of Arnold, Benjamin, George, Isaac, John,,: Noah and Thomas Custard and many others. Some are considered to be brothers, and thought to have come from the hills of what is today Rockingham County, Virginia. Some believe they were the children or close relatives of Conrad Custer/Custard who lived in Brock's Gap, Virginia. The group in Western Pennsylvania gradually became Kaster, Kastor, Caster or Castor, as their descendants are known today. Conrad Custer/Custard of Brock's Gap, Virginia was the grandson of Paulus and Gertrude Kuster. Paulus and Gertrude came from Kaldenkirchen (near Krefeld), Germany to this country in 1687-91, page -1- arriving in Germantown, Pennsylvania with their three children, Arnold, Johannes and Hermanus. The descendants of Johannes and Hermanus seem to have chosen the surname of Custer or Kester. Today, the descendants of Arnold appear mostly as Custer, but some use the surname of Custard, Caster, Castor, Kaster or Kastor. Other colonial immigrants named Kuster (or Kuester) arrived, and several of these became Custer, Kester or Custard, and the name seems to have stabilized as such for many. The family of Paul and Mary (Garver) Custer is interesting. Paul was born February 1778 in Bertie County, North Carolina, and later settled in Wayne County, Indiana. Paul and Mary had ten children, seven of whom remained Custers, and three of the boys became Casters;-thus starting a new strain of Caster. Many families came to this country as Kaster, Kastor, Caster, Castor, Custer, Kuster or Kester, especially in the 19th century, as the flood of immigrants slept in from Europe. Many of these came from Germany, and the name is generally regarded as a German family name. However, several have come from England, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia and other European countries. One example is the Johann Castor family who left in 1857 from the town of Clotten, Coblenz District of Prussia, to settle near Sandusky, Ohio. After arriving in this country, they changed their surname to Kastor, and Johann became John. Many other families came as Kaster or Kastor, and changed the "K" to "C". It was not unusual for the surname to change during the 18th and 19th centuries. Perhaps some of the changes occurred because of Anglicization, or simplification. Sometimes it was a matter of not being able to spell as well as we do today. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CASTATOR This surname has come up a few times, and we are beginning to wonder about its origin, and relation to the Caster/Castor group. The name has recently been brought to our attention by Mary Frances Porter of Reno, Nevada, and by Sheryl Ullrey Sato of Farmerville, California. They both are descendants of Phoebe Castator who married 22 November 1821 Richard Morris in Pendleton County, Kentucky. This is very close to the area where a Conrad Custard/Caster lived in Campbell County, Kentucky. The temptation is to assume that Phoebe was a Caster, and the name Castator is simply another variant. We are not so sure, however. Several other Castator marriages were recorded in Pendleton County. And Mary Frances Porter has come up with several other Castator families. It is interesting that some appear in times and places that are frequented by Caster families as well. We are far from the point of understanding the situation -- and we are interested in what knowledge our readers have of the relation (if any) between the Castator and Caster/Castor families. Mary Frances Porter has found five Castator families in the 1790 census of Northumberland County of Pennsylvania -- Adam, John, Leonard, Leonard, and Mary. In 1810, there is Tobias Castator. Sebastian Castator appears in Mifflin County, Pa in 1800. John and Peter Castator appear in 1820 in Butler County, Ohio (just northwest and across the Ohio River from Campbell County, Kentucky where John and Peter Castor appear in 1800). Anyone having information pertaining to this confusion, please share it with us. * * * * * * * * * * * * * page -2- THE CAVES ON THE DELAWARE RIVER by Elizabeth Pound Campuzano, McNeal, Arizona When I read Chester Custer's valuable article in the June 1985 issue of the The News-Caster about my ancestors, Paul and Gertrude Kester, his mention of the caves caught my attention. The best description I have found of the physical setting of Philadelphia when it was first laid out is in a book by John Frederick Lewis THE HISTORY OF AN OLD PHILADELPHIA LAND TITLE, 208 South Fourth Street, published in Philadelphia in 1934. William Penn visited Krefeld in 1671 and 1677. Then Stephen Crisp, an English Quaker missionary visited them in 1678, and a small Quaker meeting was formed of about twenty people. (See FRIENDS JOURNAL, p 13, 1 December 1983). They were also visited by Franz Daniel Sceper, better known as Pastorius," an extremely well-educated man, who was the agent for the Frankfurt Company. Pastorius arrived first in Philadelphia, 20 August 1683, and took up residence in a cave on the banks of the Delaware, where he lived for two years. He came on the AMERICA, a voyage of eight weeks, and during the trip became a convinced Friend, largely due to the influence of a fellow passenger, Thomas Lloyd, a Welsh physician. Pastorius said he often got lost in the woods and brush going from his cave to the house of the Dutch baker Bom, at the southeast corner of Third and Chestnut, to buy bread. The City was heavily wooded, and even in 1818, a grove of black walnut trees still stood on Chestnut opposite the State House. When the first thirteen heads of households arrived from Krefeld on the CONCORD, 6 October 1683, they took up residence in these caves, situated 25 feet above the water. On the 12th of October their land was divided into 14 lots, and they met on the 25th of October, in Pastorius' cave, to draw lots. Pastorius took the fourteenth lot. They may not have realized when they left Krefeld that they were going to a heavily wooded wilderness, or they may not have been able to take all they needed, after paying for passage. Wilhelm Streypers wrote his brother, Jan, asking for weaving supplies, and among other articles sent him there was a tub, for retting flax. On 5 September 1685, the Provincial Council gave notice that the caves were to be vacated and demolished. Patrick Robinson, Clerk of the Privy Council, asked for a month's grace (page 33 of Lewis' book). William Penn, in some cases at least, arranged for newcomers to have a city lot and another in the country. When I was a child, my father told me that our family owned a lot in downtown Philadelphia. I could not understand why we did not go there to claim such a valuable property. When I read Keith Pound's book DESCENDANTS OF JOHN POUND 1735-1790 (April 1978), I discovered that the family had done just that, establishing their original right to the title in court, but that, due to the statute of limitations, it was no longer possible to take possession. Apparently, the loss of the land was due to the early deaths of two owners in succession, Johnnes Kester/Koster and his son Paul, leaving heirs that were not of age. Germantown, first called Armentown, was founded 24 October 1683, by Mennonites and Quakers, who worshipped together. When they split, Johannes went with the Quakers to the Abington Meeting, and his siblings, Elizabeth and Herman, stayed with the Mennonites. * * * * * * * * * * * * * page -3- INFANT MORTALITY AND BAPTISM AMONG THE MENNONITES by Elizabeth Pound Campuzano, McNeal, Arizona Germany did not become a country, as we think of the term, until after the Franco-German war of 1867. Until then, it was a loose collection of states and principaliites. Religious toleration of a sort existed there by 1555, thanks to the Peace of Augsburg.

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