Caudill Records: Where to Look
This is a starting map for anyone researching the Caudill (or Caudle / Caudle) line — where the records are, which courthouse holds each era, and how the published family books fit in. One rule runs through all of it:
Compilations are leads; originals are proof
Published genealogies, WikiTree profiles, and family websites are invaluable for finding records — but they are leads to follow to the originals they cite, not proof on their own. The goal is always to reach the underlying will, census, deed, or register.
The migration path — which county, which era
The line follows the classic Southern-Appalachian route. Knowing the county for each period tells you which courthouse and archive to search.
| Era | Where |
|---|---|
| 1700s–1760s | Virginia — Brunswick, Lunenburg, Halifax, Surry counties |
| 1760s–1800 | North Carolina — Wilkes, Surry, Ashe counties |
| 1800s onward | Kentucky — Letcher and Perry (and, for one strand, Rowan) |
The documented backbone runs through Lunenburg County, Virginia (James Caudill Sr., b.~1720; James Jr., b.1753; Stephen Adam Caudill, b.1763) before the family removed to Letcher County, Kentucky (Sandlick) by about 1810. A separate strand sits in Rowan County, Kentucky (Morehead) by the late 1800s.
Major compilations & published works
Use these to find leads and citations — then confirm against the originals they cite.
- WikiTree — "Adams and Caudle Families of North Carolina and Kentucky" — a sourced, collaborative study of the intermarried Caudle & Adams families across VA→NC→KY, with marriage tables and citations to wills, deeds, tithables, church and census records.
- Clayton Cox, Appalachia Crossroads: The Caudill Family (3 vols) — the most thorough secondary source for the Kentucky generations.
- Lochlainn Seabrook, The Caudills: an etymological and ethnological study — surname-origin and family study (treat the etymological claims critically; use for leads).
- Dorothy Griffith, Adams Families of Southeast Kentucky — the Adams side (the maternal lines that intermarried with the Caudills).
- RootsWeb — "The Caudill Family" (Letcher Co., KY) and Bentley-Caudill Genealogy — free Letcher County articles with local detail.
- Pine Mountain Settlement School — Caudill Family — local-history and archival material for the Pine Mountain / Letcher area.
Original records, by locality
- Virginia (Brunswick / Lunenburg / Surry) — colonial wills & probate, deeds & land grants, and tithable/tax lists (Library of Virginia; county courthouses). These anchor the 1720–1763 Lunenburg generations.
- North Carolina (Wilkes / Surry / Ashe) — deeds, estate files, and marriage bonds (NC State Archives; the NC Genealogical Society's estate-file indexes). Ashe County formed in 1799.
- Kentucky (Letcher / Perry / Rowan) — wills & probate (from 1801), marriage records (Letcher from 1828), and the U.S. Census 1810–1940. Delayed Kentucky birth certificates (1873–1899) can supply a birth fact for the post-1870 generation.
Record-loss caveat: the 1865 Ashe County, NC courthouse fire destroyed many pre-1865 court records. For the North Carolina era, lean on surviving deeds, the NC State Archives, and the Kentucky records the family left after migrating — Kentucky probate and census carry most of the proof for this line.
Church & Revolutionary-War records
- Regular / Primitive Baptist church records — the family were Regular Baptists; the minute books and membership rolls of the Sandlick, Indian Bottom, and Sweetwater Primitive Baptist churches (Letcher area) record births, deaths, and relationships. John A. Caudill (b.1798) was a Sandlick elder — a primary and under-used source.
- Revolutionary War pensions & DAR — the Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters (revwarapps.org) and DAR Patriot records cover the Revolutionary-era Caudle/Adams men — useful for the VA→NC generations and for documented lineage proof.
Putting it to work: the open cases
- John A. Caudill (b.1798) — to confirm Stephen Adam Caudill (b.1763) as his father, the records to pull are the Letcher County will & probate of Stephen, the 1850/1860 census, the Sandlick church book, and the Find A Grave memorials. (See the worked proof note.)
- J. Watson Caudill (b.1879, Rowan Co., KY) — an open question. The records to check are the 1880 & 1900 U.S. Census for Rowan / Morehead (does a household place him with his parents?) and a delayed Kentucky birth certificate. A "Watson Caudill (b.1845)" by name match is a lead to test, not assume.
Repositories & resources named above
- WikiTree — "Adams and Caudle Families of North Carolina and Kentucky" (collaborative study, sourced).
- Library of Virginia; county courthouses (VA wills, deeds, tithables).
- North Carolina State Archives; NC Genealogical Society estate-file indexes.
- Kentucky county records (Letcher/Perry/Rowan probate, marriage); U.S. Census 1810–1940; delayed KY birth certificates 1873–1899.
- Sandlick, Indian Bottom & Sweetwater Primitive Baptist church minute books (Letcher area).
- Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters (revwarapps.org); DAR.
- Published: Clayton Cox, Appalachia Crossroads: The Caudill Family; Dorothy Griffith, Adams Families of Southeast Kentucky.
A research map, not a substitute for the research. Compilations are leads; originals are proof. Corrections and additions welcome.