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CAVENDER

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(Possible origin of the surname “Cavender”)

However, no explanation was given as to why he even changed his surname, and why he picked that particular surname when there is little evidence that any “Cavender” ever actually lived in Ireland, versus just passing through.

For example, the following is an excerpt from a letter dated March 16, 1995 from the Irish Genealogical Office in Dublin, Dublin County, Ireland:

“I have checked Vicars’ Index to Prerogative Wills of Ireland 1536-1810 but, unfortunately, no entry for the name CAVENDER occurs. Numerous entries for Cavenagh and Cavendish were found.”

According to a letter dated August 17, 2001 from Della Murphy, Assistant Keeper II, Genealogical Office, Dublin, Dublin County, Ireland, it was stated:

“I would suspect that your name may have originally been Cavanagh (pronounced Cavana).”

A possible explanation is the fact that maybe Charles Kavanagh/Cavender did not actually know how to spell or even correctly pronounce his surname with sufficient clarity so that the particular person drafting the document to be signed by him could spell his surname correctly. Merely a "mark" represented his signature. Consequently, a later generation family member may have subsequently received sufficient education to correct the original misspelling of the surname. However, there are those who, even today, do not subscribe to this theory.

A person from Northern England just recently wrote:

“The concept of ‘correct’ spelling of any name is comparatively modern - because, of course, spelling only has meaning to literate people. On the very few occasions when our distant ancestors’ names were recorded, the spelling would be determined by the vicar or official who wrote it. That spelling was as valid as any other - our ancestor didn’t know or care because he couldn’t read it. An illiterate man’s name was only a sound - not a sequence of letters. Do not expect fixed spellings of any surname until 1870 or even later.”

It is of interest to note that, according to literature presently being distributed by the organization known as the “Clann Chaomhanach” located in Wexford County, Ireland, the surnames “Cavenaugh”, "Cavner", "Cavinar", "Cavnar" and "Cavanar" are actually the descendants of 12th century Irish Gaelic King of Leinster by the name of Donal Chaomhanach (also spelled "Donal Caomhanach"), who was the eldest son of the Irish King, Dermot MacMurrough, and who first adopted the name, which means “a son or follower of St. Caomhan.” ⁴¹⁵ Keeping in mind that the use of surnames only began in the late 13th century.

It has been recorded by some sources who are considered knowledgeable in the origin of surnames, that the surname “Cavender” is actually a corruption of the native Irish name “Cavanagh” which the English pronounced as “Cavaner” and that the name Cavanagh, or, more correctly Kavanagh as there is no such letter as “K” in the Irish language (the hard “C” takes its place”) is from the Gaelic Irish Coamhanach, a famous branch of the MacMorroughs. ^{1 , 115 & 168}

It is also said that the surnames Cavender, Cavaner, Cavinder and Cavenner are quite common in the coal mining regions of Northern England near the Scotland border, i.e., the counties of Lancashire, Durham and Northumberland, thus providing some evidence that the spelling of CAVENDER may actually be of English origin.⁴⁸³ However, there were a number of Cavender’s in Whitehaven, Cumberland County, England during the years 1766-1889. Also, a Dority Cavender (“Dorothy Cavender”), daughter of Francis Cavender, was baptized in Domston Parish, Worcestershire County, England on August 19, 1615 and is the earliest presently known spelling of “CAVENDER”. However, as her father was undoubtedly at least 21 years old, or older, then the spelling CAVENDER dates back to the late 1500's, which is getting within 100 years of the first use of surnames said to be in the late 1400's.

Also, a Jeames Cavener (“James Cavender”?) was buried on October 22, 1647 in the cemetery of the Church of St. Augustine, Bristol, Bristol County, England.

It was recently stated by a well-known researcher in England:

“The foregoing results indicate a very rare name that is almost extinct in the UK. Why should this be? It is possible to surmise that the family members that carried this name were victims of the plague. England was visited a number of time by this awful pestilence, the first being in 1348. At times, whole villages with all inhabitants became victims. A likely scenario in that the Cavener family (surnames only began in the late 13^th century) were of a very small area when the first plague visitation occurred and that their particular village was decimated.”

Still another theory is that, after the breakdown of the clan system, people normally adopted their place of origin as their surname. For example, the county of Cavan, Ireland is a sparsely populated county in north central Ireland, immediately south of the border with Northern Ireland, with the city of Cavan being the county seat. The country is hilly with many lakes, some of which link to the River Erne. Cavan, Ireland became part of the province of Ulster in the early 17th century, and was later colonized by English and Scottish settlers. Thus, a person named "John" who came from Cavan, Ireland would have been known as John from Cavan, or that he was a Cavan "er", thus the final name of John Cavaner upon the demise of the clan system.

It is of interest to note that at least one line who presently spell their surname as "Cavener" and "Cavner" were actually descendants of a James Cavender. For some unknown reasons, various members of the very same family still, to this day, continued to spell their surname differently.

In the index of the CALENDAR OF DOCUMENTS PRESERVED IN FRANCE, illustrative of the history of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1, AD 918-1206, it is suggested that the surname “Cawenter” is a variation of “Cawentry” and “Cawender” which are derived from the Charter of Hugh, Bishop of Coventry. As names were quite often derived from titles and regions from where individuals came, the name “Coventry” could have been pronounced by the English, Scots, Irish and Welsh as “Caweter”, “Cawentry”, “Cawenter”, “Cawender” and quite possibly “Cavender”.⁴³⁹

According to another author, the name Kavanagh and Cavanagh is derived from the Irish Gaelic name Caomhanche, which means a son or follower of St. Caomahan. It has been said that no clan in Ireland was more constant or fierce in their opposition of the Norman invaders that the Kavanaghs, who steadfastly refused to accept the authority of English kings for more than five hundred years. On the descendancy chart of Murtagh Kavanagh, the Sept. of Clanhanrick and Knockangarrow, there appear the names of three brothers named: Phelim, Maurice and Edmond, with the added notation that Phelim escaped to the Netherlands and that Maurice and Edmond were pardoned in 1603. It is to be noted that on July 8, 1635 an official order was issued which stated: "Order for the following prisoners in Newgate ("Newgate County, England"?) to be transported to Virginia and to be executed if they return." One name listed in the order was that of a Maurice Cavenaugh (“Maurice Kavanagh”?, “Maurice Cavender”?, “Maurice Cavenough”? & “Maruce Cavener”?).^{Sect. II, Ch. 30, 1635}

The surname of "CAVENDER" has been found in many original documents in this country as being spelled: Caffinder, Carpenter, Cavander, Cavanor, Cavener, Cavner, Cavenar, Cavenor, Carvender, Carvinder, Carviner, Cavanear, Cavanier, Cavenaugh, Cavenear, Caveneir, Cavener, Cavenner, Cavennor, Cavenor, Cavenar, Caventer, Caveniar, Cavenier, Caverner, Cavinar, Caviner, Cavinor, Cavinear, Cavinder, Cevender, Corvender, and even Havener and Lavender.

In fact, in the author's particular line, the name of his gggggrandfather, Hugh Cavender, was actually spelled/misspelled at various times as: Hough Carpenter, Hugh Caffinder, Hugh Cavinor, Hugh Cavenor and as Hugh Cavinder. In fact, the name of his son, James Cavender, was actually spelled "James Cavennour" in the 1820 census for Williamson County, Tennessee. Additionally, a John Kavineer who came to this country from Devon County, England “changed” the spelling of his name to “John Cavender”.

Even in the early 1800 records of Gloucester County, England, the spellings "Cavener", "Cavenor", "Cavenaugh", "Cavenough" & "Cavanagh" appear to be different spellings of the very same surname.

As further evidence of erroneous and possibly haphazard spelling, in 1862 a William P. Cavender ("William Cavender") served as a Corporal in Company D of the 14th. Regiment of the Missouri State Militia Calvary and his name was also officially spelled in his military records as William P. Cavner ("William Cavner") with reference to the exact same company and regiment. Another example is found in the family Bible of John Alston Cavender who wrote his own surname and the surname of all of his children as “Cavaner”. In later years, the same John Alston Cavender and all of his children were each spelling their surname as “Cavender”.

As earlier mentioned, it is a known fact that the early working-class settlers were mostly illiterate farmers who, not only did not how to read or write, they were not even familiar with the correct pronunciation of syllables, which obviously would have been of substantial assistance to the person drafting the particular legal document on their behalf, and who, themselves, undoubtedly in some instances were not much better at spelling. Consequently, when a settler attempted to pronounce his or her name, the resulting spelling of the name was obviously a phonetic spelling resulting in how the surname was understood by the person drafting the particular legal document, and considering the particular dialect spoken by the particular person. Subsequently, when the educational system became more available and many more people later learned to read and write, they either corrected the spelling of their surname, or they merely elected to continue to spell it the way it had been spelled for many years.

In fact, it has been found in one family, some of the children in the very same family spelled their surname one way and the remainder of the children in the very same family spelled their surname differently.

Consequently, any one of the foregoing spellings of “Cavender” may actually be the original spelling, wherever originated. Additionally, because of carelessness, many of the scribes hired by the various County Clerks at times would actually spell the very same surname two or three different ways in the very same document.

The first wagon road into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia followed the path of an Indian trail and, according to the late professor, John W. Wayland, a well respected Virginia historian, U. S. Route 11 was constructed along the course of that old wagon road. As early as 1734, the Great Wagon Road was cited on a land survey as the "Wagon Road" that goes from the Conestogo region to Opeckin Creek. “Opeckin” was the phonetic for Opequon Creek. The Conestogo was a region in southeastern Pennsylvania that was named after an Indian tribe and creek, where the famous Conestogo wagon was developed by the Pennsylvania Germans. Opeckin Creek flows near Winchester, Virginia and empties into the Potomac River. This road brought the first settlers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland to Old Orange and Old Frederick Counties, Virginia. Quakers and Presbyterians came from Cecil County, Maryland during this era, while Welsh and English Quakers came from Philadelphia and Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Also, a group of settlers who were mostly Quakers came from Monocacy Valley, Maryland within the time period 1730-1750. A crude map that was developed by Frye and Jefferson and published in 1755, showed the course of the Great Wagon Road. The road commenced in Philadelphia and followed a westerly course through Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania, similar to the course of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. At some point below Shippensburg, it turned south (now US 11/I-81) and later crossed the Potomac River into Old Frederick County. This section of the road was labeled "The Great Wagon Road to Philadelphia." A companion survey map showed the path of the Great Wagon Road as it moved through the Shenandoah Valley, with the notation "Indian Road by the Treaty of Lancaster." An extension of the same road, illustrated on a quadrant of a third map dated 1747 which showed the road continuing southward up the valley until it crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains where the Staunton River cuts through a mountain pass. The road was labeled on this map as "The Great Road From the Yadkin River" in North Carolina, through Virginia, and onward to Philadelphia for a total mileage of 455 miles. All three of the above maps were published on the results of independent surveys conducted by Joshua Frye sometime between 1700 and 1754, and by Peter Jefferson sometime between 1708 and 1757. Peter Jefferson was the father of Thomas Jefferson. These particular maps are believed to be on sale by the Virginia State Library and Archives. It is to be noted that there still exists a one room historic log cabin near the edge of the Jackson River near Covington, Virginia owned by a William Robinson and which has a sign explaining how in the early 1800's ferry men would help folks across the river on their way across the Appalachian’s. This route was given the name “The Kanawha Turnpike”. It led from Lewisburg, Virginia and into the Kanawha Valley of Charleston, West Virginia.

Land transactions show that extensive immigration occurred between the Shenandoah Valley and the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina during the mid-18th century. One of the early land developers in Frederick County, North Carolina was Morgan Bryan (1691-1773) who led a movement in 1748 to help settle the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina under Lord Granville. Bryant arrived in Frederick County, North Carolina about 1730, where he and Quaker Alexander Ross applied for a grant of 100,000 acres by Lt. Governor William Gooch, to be divided into land grants for 100 families. The main route through Frederick County, North Carolina used by Bryan and other pioneer settlers was called "The Great Wagon Road" to distinguish it from the Indian trail on which it was built. References about the road to the Yadkin were made in journals kept by Moravian missionaries during the mid-1700s. When a Fairfax County, Virginia survey was accomplished in 1746, the surveyors mentioned that it crossed the Indian Road at a point south of New Market, near the Shenandoah-Rockingham County line. According to Dr. Wayland, that point is now on U.S. Route 11. A major east-west road was developed during the 1740's between Winchester and the South Branch River near the present site of Romney, West Virginia. Jeremiah Smith, Joseph Edwards, James Caudy, Robert White, and other early settlers were responsible for building the wagon road along a buffalo path and the remnants of an old Indian trail. U.S. Route 50 follows the general pattern of that wagon road. It was extended to Cumberland, Maryland and then followed the approximate course of U.S. Route 40.

Some settlers moving to Tennessee from Virginia and North Carolina traversed the Wilderness Road and Warrior's Path to a point near the headwaters of the Cumberland River, thence southwesterly along the Cumberland Trail to Nashville, Tennessee, and beyond. The Old Natchez Road, also known as the Natchez Trace, runs through the western section of Williamson County, Tennessee and connected Nashville Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi. This is the route apparently taken by Eudaley James Cavender in late 1805 and early 1806 when he settled in Williamson County, Tennessee adjacent to Davidson County, Tennessee.

Most colonial roads were built as a result of petitions filed by citizens in the local court who usually appointed an overseer and identified the class of laborers, for example, all male "tithables" who live within 3 miles of the proposed road. Roads have always been a very political subject, and during the colonial period was no exception. The best procedure to locating the colonial road network is to utilize all available road orders that are filed in "Order Books" in the Virginia county courthouses. The University of Virginia is believed to be undertaking such a project and several counties have been completed and published. An early Frederick County, Virginia petition stated that the two closest market towns were located in Fredericksburg, Virginia and Philadelphia. Winchester, Virginia was established in 1744, and later became a market town for that region.

Migration from Eastern Shore, Maryland to the Northern Neck of Virginia primarily involved a different type of settler who was aligned with the ruling class. Often they were absentee landlords who developed large acreage into a tenement farming system. An overseer ran the operation with help of slave labor. The Northern Neck of Virginia comprises the 4 counties at the end of the northernmost peninsula on the Chesapeake Bay comprising Northumberland, Lancaster, Richmond and Westmoreland. In 1765, Paulin Anderson, while living in King and Queen County, Virginia, paid 12 tithe taxes in Raleigh Parish in Amelia County, Virginia which included his 2 overseers of his 2221 acre plantation by the names of John Townsend and Hugh Cavinder (actually, “Hugh Cavender”), my ggggg grandfather.

Generally speaking, the U.S. routes and Interstates follow courses of the old trails and wagon roads from Virginia to Tennessee. It is believed that Bedford County, Virginia was a crossroads for the migration trails between Virginia and Tennessee. That is, most emigrants from most sections of Virginia went through Bedford. From there they went through what is now Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee to Knoxville. This approximates present-day I-81. In Knoxville, pioneers turned right to follow a course due west on wagon roads that led to Nashville.

It is to be noted that a great number of Virginians became acquainted with the territory of Georgia and the deep South as a result of the free land lotteries conducted in Georgia, and also via various military campaigns during the Revolutionary War. In addition to the 1st. Virginia Regiment, 2nd. Virginia Regiment, 3rd. Virginia Regiment, 4th... Virginia Regiment, 7th. Virginia Regiment and the 10th. Virginia Regiment of the Virginia Continental Line who were captured by the British at Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina in 1780, the 8th. Virginia Regiment had been in Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina in 1776, and the 2nd. Georgia Regiment was raised in Williamsburg, Virginia and was filled with Virginian solders. These events evidentially prompted a large migration of Virginia settlers to North and South Carolina and Georgia, which later spawned the states of Kentucky and Tennessee.