Sometime prior to 1737, a German immigrant family, led by patriarch Leonhardt Kegel, arrived in America, and first, like many other families that would trickel south, settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania. This family would trickle down into North Carolina within a few decades, eventually making their way into Moore, Montgomery, Cumberland, Rowan and Cabarrus Counties. I have one, and possibly two, lines of descent from the the Cagle family, as the name would be angelized to, both from female ancestors. A Rebecca Cagle married Caleb Aldridge, Jr. and they are one set of my 4th Great Grandparents. Rebecca Cagle Aldridge is constantly being merged with a Rebecca Cagle Whitley, who was probably a cousin of some degree, but exactly how, I've not determined, or even tried to. What I do know is that a consanguineous clutch of Cagles settled around the southwestern part of Stanly County, North Carolina. Among them was a man named George Washington Cagle.
I touched on George W. Cagle, briefly, in my last post titled: The Secrets of Adeline, concerning a daughter of his.
While I was imbibing and digesting the old 19th century court records of Stanly County, I was astounded and amused at the pervicacity in which I encountered the citizens of the community of Big Lick. It was presented as an amoral and ruthless place, its citizens holding a general insouciance and lack of propriety. If ever a single individual was the embodiment or the scion of the general population of Big Lick, it was George Washington Cagle.
George W. Cagle was born about 1813, in what was then Montgomery County, North Carolina, probably along the Rocky River close to where he would dwell for the remainder of his life. He was the son of Charles Robert Cagle, Sr. (1786-1864) and wife, Elizabeth Maranda Springer (1789-1867). He was the grandson of George Cagle and wife, Rebecca, who was no doubt the forebear of a string of granddaughters and great-granddaughters named Rebecca, including my own Rebecca Cagle Aldride and also Rebecca Cagle Whitley, wife and ex-wife of George Whitley III, with whom she is often merged.
George Cagle, our notorious G. W.'s grandfather, was himself the grandson of the previously mentioned German ancestor, Leonhardt Kegel, via his son Johann Theobald Kegel. Therefore, George Washington Cagle was the Great Great-Grandson of the original immigrant ancestor. He was also the grandson, on his maternal side, of George Springer and wife, Sally Bloom Springer, the ancestors of another proliferant Big Lick family, meaning George had a lot of kin in and around the Oakboro/Red Cross/Stanfield area.
He was one of nine children and the oldest son of Charles and Maranda. His siblings were, according to accepted Cagle research were:
A) 1810-1890 Sylvia Cagle, who married John Honeycutt. This one is debatable. Some have Syvia as a Burris. Others, a Robbins, due to John's close relationship with the elderly Fanny Whitley Robbins, daughter of George Whitley Sr. and widow of Isham Robbins. I've examined the one death certificate of one of their children that names Sylvia's maiden name and it appears more as Cagle, so I believe this to be correct.
John Honneycutt and wife Sylvia Cagle buried on property of Cromer and Polly Burrus, Across the road from Liberty Hill Chruch Cem. ---graves will be moved to Liberty Hill because of hwy. expansion
GRAVES HAVE BEEN MOVED.
1880 Stanley Co,. NC census-- Smith,James A. 22 Maria ,32 wife, Silvey Cagle- Honeycutt age 72.
-from her ancestry.com profile.
B) 1811-1858 Mary Rebecca Cagle - married Needham Whitley, Jr.
C) Insert George Washington Whitley, (1813-1876).
D) 1816-1880 Susan A. Cagle, never married, died of dropsy in 1880 per mortality schedule.
E) 1821-1823 Charles Robert Cagle, Jr. died at age 2.
E) 1824-aft 1880 Charles Robert Cagle, III, married Sarah Yow, fought in Civil War. Found last in Cabarrus County in 1880.
F) 1827-1867 Sina Cagle, married Needham Whitley II.
G) 1828-1915 David M. Cagle , married 'Mikel' Michelle Hinson. Also found in Civil War.
H) 1829-1922 Millie Elizabeth Cagle, married Lewis Brown.
I) 1830-1889 Eva Lee Cagle, unmarried.
I am not sure I agree with these on all accounts as I have not personally researched this level of this family, and some of it seems a bit conflicting/confusing or contrived.
There is a George W. Cagle who received a few land grants on Bear Creek, but this was not the same George W. Cagle or the same Bear Creek. This individual, and this Bear Creek, were in Moore and Chatham Counties, and I believe was a distant cousin, as he sprang from the same lineage of Kegel/Cagle's who had migrated down from Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Book 1 Page 92 Andrew Honeycutt sells to George Cagle and Thomas Long, 200 acres on both sides of Island Creek for $200. This deed was dated 1844, and an older George, G. W. Cagle's uncle, was still alive. His daughter Mary Long, is mentioned in his Will, so I believe this one is the older George. He died in 1851, so after that, George W. was the only George Cagle in the area.
In November of 1855. Isaiah Coley, sold to in a group, George Cagle and several of his close neighbors, found in Book 4, page189, a number of personal items to cover his debts. The others, besides George Cagle, were Solomon Burris, Green D. Whitley, McCamey Willis and Jesse Hathcock. The debt were owed to Nelson Smith, Albemarle Merchant, Daniel Freeman and to the estate of Robert Motley. The goods included oxen, cattle, hogs, crops and the tract of land on which Isaiah Coley lived.
Later on, not long before his decease, George Cagle would purchase a tract of land from Susan Coley, located on Cucumber Creek, found in Book 7, Page 352. This would have been Susan Green Coley, later Howell, widow of William Coley and daughter of Jacob Green, and just before she would marry Edward H. Howell. The Green family sometime crossed Big Lick and seem to have first landed along the river, but they were of a different cut than most of the later citizens of Big Lick. The Greens were in a class equal to that of the Brooks, and the Austins and even most of the Morgans. Slightly wealthier, steadily devout and for the most part, strongly moral.
George Cagle would sell more property than he would purchase. On July 2, 1844, he sold 100 acres on Cedar Branch to Daniel Reap, located on the north side of the Charlotte Road, witnessed by J. A. Pless. This is found in Book 2 Page 176.
On the 29th day of December, 1856, George sold to Charles and John W. Hinson, for $800, several tracts on both sides of Stony Run Creek, that met that of John Honeycutt, Solomon Burris, a Deberry, to the "Big Road", to D. W. Burris's corner, and back to George Cagle's own property and John Honeycutts again.
In Book 4, Page 415, George sold 150 acres and a crop of wheat and oats to George Treece to cover a $1000 debt George Cagle owed to Edmund D. Ingram. This was dated February 13, 1860.
In March of 1868, George sold to W. A. Morton, a tract of land that bordered John Hartsell's property, of 59 acres, found in Book 6 Page 512.
On April 18, 1873, George sold to Solomon Hathcock, some property located on the Rocky River and Stillwater Creek, that adjoined the lands of William and James Parker, his business partners, Mary Hinson, David Cagle, John Austin, that contained 310 acres. This was in trust to Solomon Hathcock, with the intentions of repayment of the $800. Found in Book 7 589.
On March 27, 1875, near the end of his life, although he wasn't aware of this factor, George sold to Joseph Marshall, trustee, 160 acres of land on both sides of the Rocky River, placing part of it in Union County, adjoining the lands that George still held, and that of William Parker, in which was located a grist mill, a saw mill and a cotton gin, as part of the partnership of Cagle and Parker Mills, of which George owned half. This was to cover a $250 note. By this time, by 1873, actually, George Cagle's life had started spinning out of control, which we would see later.
Book 10, Page 96 is a transaction between George Cagle, and his Company, Cagle and Parker, and A. H. Griffin, dated September 11, 1875. Almost completely faded into illegibility, there's a mention of 'articles of said real estate viz a tract of land known as Griffin's Mill and land adjoining E. R. Griffin, ? M. Griffin and J. W. Huneycutt". It mentioned a debt and 20 days, and was signed by George Cagle, with the J. W. Huneycutt as a witness.
The rest of the deeds involving George Cagle were after his demise. In Book 15, Page 382, a transaction between A. G. Morton and John Brooks involving "the public sale at the Parker Mills and Rocky River", held on the first day of August, 1878. John Brooks became the purchaser for $955. He purchased the Grist Mill and the land around it, known as the Parker Mill tract in the counties of Union and Stanly. It mentioned the north bank of the Rocky River, Joseph Hartsells corner, the Whitley Meeting House, Mineral Springs, then Hartsell's other line to a stake in the road. From the middle of the river to a ford, perhaps old Coble ford, or Ledbetters, across the river to the south bank of the Rocky River, the east edge of the road, to James M. Meggs house, to a stake on the road near the mouth of a branch, then with the bank of the river opposite the Stillwater Branch, then back to Hartsell's line containing 115 acres. Signed A. G. Morton, administrator of the estate of George W. Cagle.
Book 16 Page 1 contains another transaction of A. G. Morton acting as the Administrator of George Cagle's property. It took place on the 11th day of January, 1878 and involved a man named J. H. Walters. For $250, was the sale of Lot Number 17 on the Plat of the Town of Big Lick, on the north corner of the Crossroads of Big Lick, Iza Hathcock's corner, R. J. Morton's line, to the side of the road leading to Daniel Reaps, an area of 67 square rods. Witnesses were Iza Hathcock and A. M. Cox.
The sum of all these can give one an idea of George Cagle's situation in life, he bought and traded in large lots of land. Some of what he sold he had purchased, other parts he had inherited through inheritance from his father, other parts from his first wife's father and his second wife's father. He was a businessman, a sucessful one, but still one to find himself in debt. He owned land in two counties, and in a variety of locations in western Stanly County, including a place in the small town of Big Lick. Put this was only one piece of the puzzle of what made George Cagle.
Other records would tell a different story of the character of the man who colored the Village of Big Lick.
The Court of Pleas and Quarters of the new County of Stanly, North Carolina held several mentions of a George Cagle
August Session 1842 - State vs George Cagle - Peace Warrant, defendant surrendered and discharged. Edmund Almond to pay costs. Not issued.
November 1842 - Andrew Honeycutt to George Cagle and Thomas Long, acknowledged.
The above two, I believe were referring to the old George Cagle, George W's uncle, as his daughter, Mary, had married a Long, and in 1830, old George is listed next to Ed Almond.
Any of the below could have been either George.
August Session 1848 -Jury duty, later chosen for Grand Jury in the same session of court.
February 1849 - Jury again in the case of Simeon Smith, and several more times he served as a juror before 1850. Not a troublesome time for George Cagle.
George In the Census Records: There is one George in the 1830 census of Montgomery County, of which Stanly was a part, but this was not George W. as he would have been only 17, and the oldest male was in his 50's. This was 'Uncle George'. George was probably in the home of his father Charles, which is seen as:
| Name | Charles Cagle |
|---|---|
| Home in 1830 (City, County, State) | Montgomery, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 5 | 1 David |
| Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14 | 1 Charles Jr. |
| Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19 | 1 George W. 17 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49 | 1 Charles |
| Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14 | 1 Susan |
| Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19 | 2 Rebecca & Sina |
| Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29 | 1 Sylvia |
| Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49 | 1 Miranda |
| Free White Persons - Under 20 | 6 |
| Free White Persons - 20 thru 49 | 3 |
| Total Free White Persons | 9 |
| Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored) | 9 |
1840 - There were three George Cagles in the 1840 census, one was a man in his 60's. This would have been Charles's brother, George II. A second George was in his 30's, and had a family of 5. This George was a cousin and had migrated away before 1850. The third George was in his 20's and had a family of 7. Seen below, this fits George W. Cagle best.
| Name | Geo Cagle |
|---|---|
| Residence Date | 1840 |
| Home in 1840 (City, County, State) | West Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 5 | 1 David S. |
| Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29 | 1 George |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 5 | 2 Sarah & Polly |
| Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9 | 2 Adeline, Ithama |
| Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29 | 1 Elizabeth |
| Persons Employed in Agriculture | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Under 20 | 5 |
| Free White Persons - 20 thru 49 | 2 |
| Total Free White Persons | 7 |
| Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves | 7 |
1850 - There were two George Cagles in the 1850 census. One was George W. Cagle. He is shown here with his first wife, Elizabeth Rosa Whitley. Only one Child is missing, oldest daughter, Menece Adaline Cagle, who married Tillman Coley. She would have been 18.
| Name | George Cagle |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Race | White |
| Residence Age | 37 |
| Birth Date | abt 1813 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Residence Date | 1850 |
| Home in 1850 | Smiths, Stanly, North Carolina, USA |
| Occupation | Farmer |
| Industry | Agriculture |
| Real Estate | 200 |
| Line Number | 5 |
| Dwelling Number | 714 |
| Family Number | 719 |
| Inferred Spouse | Elizabeth Cagle |
| Inferred Child | Barthena Cagle |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| George Cagle | 37 |
| Elizabeth Cagle | 38 |
| Barthena Cagle | 10 |
| David S Cagle | 15 |
| Sarah Cagle | 13 |
| Mary Cagle | 12 |
| Martha Cagle | 10 |
| Elizabeth Cagle | 8 |
| Methena Cagle | 7 |
| Catharine Cagle | 3 |
| Melinda Cagle | 9 |
| Joshua Honeycutt | 15 |
The other was old Uncle George, with his daughter, Sarah. In 1840, the household was a 60 year old man and a woman in her 20's, same family.
| Name | Sarah Cagle |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Race | White |
| Residence Age | 35 |
| Birth Date | abt 1815 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina |
| Residence Date | 1850 |
| Home in 1850 | Furrs, Stanly, North Carolina, USA |
| Cannot Read, Write | Yes |
| Line Number | 25 |
| Dwelling Number | 541 |
| Family Number | 543 |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| George Cagle | 73 |
| Sarah Cagle | 35 |
It is after this date that things begin to change is the life of George W. Cagle, and George along with it. I believe it began the day that his wife died, sometime within months after the 1850 census. Her exact date of death and place of burial is unknown. She would have been around 48 years old. George, at 47, became a hot commodity.
He began a relationship with not just one, but multiple women. He couldn't pick just one, but he married just one. He became infatuated with another, and a third after that. His older children began to marry and build their own nests. Other children were just being born. In the decade between 1850 and 1860:
- 1850 Ithama Barrthena Cagle marries William B. Hinson
- Jan. 4, 1852 George marries a second time to Nancy Jane Hinson, widow of Joseph Speight by whom she had two or three children.
- June 5, 1853, Sarah P. Cagle marries Wiley Allen Jones, who was also the father of Ellen Safely who I featured in my post, The Bad Mother.
- Jan. 10, 1854 David S. Cagle marries Sarah Michell Thomas
- Sept. 21, 1854 Anna Jane Cagle is born to George W. and Nancy Hinson Cagle.
- Jun 3, 1856 Ellison "Eli" Franklin Cagle/Huneycutt is born to Maniza Huneycutt.
- June, 1856 Mary Caroline Huneycutt is born to Maniza Huneycutt. She appears to be a twin to Eli. At this point, Maniza's children seem to be attributed to George W. Cagle. He names Eli in his Will.
- September 6, 1857, James Alfred Huneycutt is born to Maniza Huneycutt.
- 1857 Frances Laura Cagle is born to George and Nancy Hinson Cagle, their last.
- 1857 Mary Polly Cagle marries Alfred Smith, son of Richard and Susan Smith.
- April 1, 1858 Elizabeth Cagle marries John W. Huneycutt, son of George W. and Tabitha Tomlinson Huneycutt.
- July 20, 1858, Malinda Cagle marries Jacob A. Crisco II.
In the decade between 1860 and 1870:
George's mother, Malinda Springer Cagle passes away September 11, 1861.
His father, Charles R. Cagle Sr. passes away April 9, 1864.
Menece Adeline Cagle married second husband, Holden Hartsell on October 13, 1865, and was soon widowed.
Lucy Catherine Cagle married James T. Baker on June 9, 1868.
Elizabeth Cagle Huneycutt would pass away before the end of the decade and her husband, John W. Huneycutt would become a Civil War casualty. Her father, George would get custody of their son, William Huneycutt.
Another unusual event of note took place on October 20, 1860. Maniza Huneycutt, George's paramour, married Gabriel Barbee. Gabriel Barbee would also become a Civil War casualty in 1864, leaving Maniza widowed, however, I believe the marriage may have ended before that happened, as she is never seen with the surname Barbee again. He may have discovered things about her he had not previously known and set her aside, divorced her or had the marriage annulled. They supposedly had a daughter named Martha, born in 1861.
In 1866, Maniza Huneycutt had to press charges against George W. Cagle due to his lewd and lascivious behavior. The court pages are shown below.
February Session, 1866 in the Stanly County Court of Pleas and Quarters, the jurors for the State of NC declared George Cagle. " a person of most wicked, lewd, lascivious, depraved and abandoned mind and disposition and wholly lost to all sense of decency, morality and religion." He was accused of, on September 5, 1865, displaying himself naked and with an indecent posture in front of the home of Maniza Huneycutt, in full view of a number of people, and they were appalled and shocked by his behavior.
It appears that George had gotten drunk, was missing his mistress and started flashing the entire neighborhood. He was dealt with accordingly with fines and minimal punishment. It may have been due to the fact that Maniza was not considered a moral woman, having had children out of wedlock by this man.
They were apparently neighbors around this time. Maniza's parents had relocated to Catawba County with their youngest son, and left several of their single, but not childless daughters, huddled together at the old homeplace with their collective children.
In the 1870 census, George Cagle is 58. His household consists of his second wife, Nancy, their youngest daughter, Fannie, his son by Maniza Huneycutt, Eli, a border, Mariah Myers Meggs and her young daughter, and his 11-year-old grandson, William Huneycutt, son of his daughter Elizabeth, who predeceased him, and her husband, John W. Huneycutt, who died in the Civil War. His only legitimate son, David S. Cagle is listed after him.
In the list above him are the three Huneycutt sisters, Frances, or Franky, and her children, Clara, and her one son, James H. Huneycutt, and Maniza and her children. All of the children by these three sisters were "fatherless", so to speak, although they all had fathers, of course. I believe Maniza was incorrectly transcribed as "Mariah".
In 1868, George penned a Will. It is unknown what spurred him to do so. A sudden illness he recovered from? His recent run in with the law? Threats by irate and offended neighbors? The deaths of his parents, son-in-laws and neighbors in the War or just after returning from the War in weak and wounded conditions? Perhaps it was a combination of these things, but he felt the desire to ensure his widowed and unmarried daughters were cared for, as well as his orphaned grandson.
George's Will, dated November 30, 1868, is found below. It can be found in the Stanly County Will Book No. 2, Page 176 and 177.
"George Cagle's Will
Be it remembered that I George Cagle of the County of Stanly and the State of North Carolina Concidering myself to be of perfect sound mind and memory and not knowing the length of my earthly existence do make and declare this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills made by me (viz).
First I give and devise unto my daughter Menece A. Hartsell fifty acres of land off the Western end of my three hundred acre tract commencing on Dunn's line and running to southwest so as to include the above amount of lands. Also I give and devise unto Ely Huneycutt, my illegitimate son, one hundred and fifty acres of land the whereon I now live, by his maintaining my daughter Beedy M. Cagle during her natural life, in case she does not marry and if she marries, he shall be released from that obligation by his paying her one humdred dollars.
Also I give and devise unto my grandson William Huneycutt, seventy five acres of land adjoining the fifty acres given Menece A. to include The long House place, now in case the abobe Ely Huneycutt and William Huneycutt shall be disobedient to me and not serve as dutiful children till they attain the age of twenty-one years, in that case they shall have none of my property and in such case I direct that my daughter Beedy M have one hundred acres of the lands designated for Ely Huneycutt including the dwelling house and outbuildings and I direct that the remainder of the lands designated for Ely and all the land designated for William, and also all the balance of my lands not herein disposed of after running off my son David S. Cagle's fifty acres, to be divided equally between my daughters Sarah Jones, Mary Smith, Martha Cagle, Any Jane and Fany L. Cagle and Malinda Crisco.
Allso, I direct that my personal estate goods and chattels in every respect to be sold and equally divided between my daughters Sarah Jones, Mary Smith, Martha Cagle, Ann J Cagle, Fany L. Cagle, Malinda Crisco, Menece A. Hartsell and Beedy M. Cagle and my son David S. Cagle and my son Ely Huneycutt and my grandson William Huneycutt and also my saw mill with the two acres of land for the cite and priveledges of the same adjoining J. A. Criscos line be sold and equally divided between my daughters above named.
I hereby make ordain and appoint S.C. Little my Lawful Executor of this my last Will and Testament in testament whereof I hereunto set my hands and subscribe my name this 30th day of September 1868
George Cagle (seal)
Attest
A J Austin
S C Little
The Will is reiterated above in the estate papers, but what struck me as unusual was that George didn't mention two of his daughters, Ithamia Barthena Cagle Hinson and Lucy Catherine Cagle Baker, or his wife, Nancy Hinson Speight Cagle. I can't say why.
George Cagle passed away six years after the 1870 census, wherein his son Eli or Ely and grandson William Huneycutt was living with him, along with his youngest daughter, Fanny and a border, Mariah Meggs and her daughter. On February 27, 1876, the man who would flavor the Town of Big Lick with his big personality and indecent behaviour, would be no more.His demise bears a story of its own. His death was not natural and was a result of his wayward and moraless exploits. He was 63 years old and the place of his burial is unknown, but thought to be somewhere in Big Lick, or around Liberty Hill.
On April 6, 1876, six months after his death, we see that A. G. Morton, not S. C. Little, had been appointed administrator of his estate. His heirs at this time, in 1876, were listed as Nancy Cagle, the widow, Adaline Hartsell, named Menece A.Hartsell in the Will, ,Lithany Hinson, (Ithamia Barthena Cagle Hinson, not mentioned in the will, D.S. Cagle, his son David S.Cagle, mentioned in will, Sarah Jones, Mary Smith, mentioned in Will, Elizabeth Baker, his daughter Elizabeth who married John W. Huneycutt and was the mother of William Huneycutt, who is mentioned in the Will. She would later marry a Baker in Cabarrus County as Elizabeth Huneycutt, Malinda Crisco, named in the Will, married Jacob Crisco, B. D. Cagle, can only be Beedie Methena Luphrenia Cagle, unmarried daughter mentioned in the Will. Where did the "D" come from? Catherine Baker, Lucy Catherine, youngest daughter by first wife, Elizabeth Rosa Whitley, Amy J Hartsell, actually Annie Jane Cagle, first daughter by second wife, Nancy Hinson Speight, who married Joseph Hartsell, a son of Holden Hartsell who had married George's oldest daughter, Adaline, so two sisters, one who married the father and another who married the son. Fanny Larceny Cagle, youngest daughter by second wife, unmarried.
Georg'es estate took many years to completely settle. There were lawsuits concerning the mishandling of monies and heirs that were left out of the will and heirs that were mentioned in the Will. A Green Morton would be appointed Administrator instead of S C Little, who George had chosen. The estate file is it's own story, as is the complete story of George's demise. Who were actually the heirs of George Cagle?
