Stephen Jacob Caudill

Stephen J. Caudill is our double cousin. He was born November 18, 1826, and died July 26, 1906. Stephen was the son of John A. Caudill and Rachel Cornett. Our common ancestors are John Cornett and Rachel Smith & Stephen Caudill and Sarah Adams.

He married Elizabeth Adams.  She was born on June 3, 1826, and died September 7, 1900. Stephen and Elizabeth were married in Lee County, Virginia, on December 12, 1845. Stephen bought a large land grant in Letcher County, Kentucky, for $24, an old army musket, and a gallon of whiskey. The boundaries were the railroad bridge, on the west end of Whitesburg, to the head of Sandlick and to the top of Cowan Ridge to below where the Mouth of Cowan is on to the top of Dry Fork Ridge. They finally settled at the mouth of Sandlick Creek a mile below Whitesburg.

Stephen and William Watson Long walked to Washington, DC to see a presidential inauguration. They brought back a franchise to build a mill at Whitesburg and began operations in about 1870.  Stephen and Elizabeth also helped build the first school house in Whitesburg, and the first church at Sandlick.

Sources:
Major portions of the above were adopted from an article that appeared in the The East Kentuckian, Vol XXII, No. 1 based on information provided by Burdette Bloome, including the above a photo of Stephen and Elizabeth that accompanied the article

Updated 2:10 PM 1/27/2013
Mark S. Carroll