Conflicting dates on Thomas Cady and Marriage.Source 1880 Census. His land, according to Mestsker's Atlas, was half in Linn Co. and half in Lane Co. just west of where freeway No. 5 crosses the county line ( Mud creek runs through his land. Linn 65 Sec 1,4 .Thomas Cady DLC 1805 RB Linn and Lane Co. Oregon.They were married in Lane County. He was originally in the Joel Palmer wagon train and some way met up with the Vaughn train and he got his land claim next to the Vaughn claim. ----------------------------------------------------------------- From The Cady Saga by Lee Cady, 1880 census of Linn Co. Mo..,Probate records, Walworth Co, Wisc 1865. Land records Linn Co. Or. Deed book 6 pg 87 Book R page 186. The certificate for his land in Rosebud, Oregon is No. 1805 30 Jan 1848. Proven by certificate 32026 on 29 Sept 1853. Roseburg, Certificate Number 1805, 624.04 Acres township 16s, Range 3w Sect 3,8,9,10,16,17 ( Precinct Kirk ????? ) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Contrary to the Saga, Elizabeth Cady Alvord was not a widow but had deserted her husband, Joseph Alvord, and joined her father and family to go to Oregon in 1847. She did not get a divorce but married Thomas Cady in Oregon.The family had wintered in Platte Co, Mo. near Weston and joined the William Vaughn train out of St. Joseph, Mo. on May 28, 1847. They left through St. Joseph, Missouri and not from the main starting point of Kansas City, Missouri. Thomas was with a 19 wagon train out of Indiana with Thomas Cox, Called the Chicago Co. with his cousin, David Chamberlain. The train was overtaken by Joel Palmer train. They had taken the National Road to Wandilia, Ill. then on West.On the trail, Thomas Cady left the train because of illness and was picked up by the Vaughn train. Thomas Cady and Elizabeth Michael Alvord were married tn Oregon. He owned land in Oregon and went to the Gold Fields in Northern California to trade cattle ect. with the miners. He accumulated
$ 50,000 in gold dust. ( my research finds only about $ 12,000 ). They sewed the gold into their vests and sailed to Panama, walked the Isthmus with 4 children,( the railroad was finished in 1855 so they probably rode the train but did some jungle walking as claimed ) and then sailed up the East Coast and eventually went to Rochester, Racine Co. Wisc. to his brother, Henry Cady, who was settled there. He then built a huge frame house to house him and his children and their families to come in Linn Precinct, Walworth Co, Wisc. This is about 4 miles south of Lake Geneva, Wisc. ( I saw the small hotel of a house as it stood in ruin in 1991. I visited it again in 1996 and it was in worse shape and the owner would not let me in again. The place is a pig farm and a mess. Then there was cheap land in Northern Missouri and Thomas Cady sold his property in Wisconsin and went down to Missouri and bought 5 farms for his children. ( I found only one purchase but his wife bought the others when she arrived in Missouri ) He returned to Wisconsin and died of a Carbuncle infection on his neck 7 July 1865. I visited his grave in the Old Pioneer Cemetery at Lake Geneva, Wisc. and the stone had been beautifully restored by Dr. Lee Cady and Mae Drew and other Cady family members. Elizabeth and the then 5 children had to get to Missouri with 300 head of sheep and all their belongings. ( I found records in the Walworth Co. Courthouse proving that she had close to 400 head of sheep). She hired two helpers, one of which, was a returned Civil War Veteran, William A. Balcolm. She married William A. Balcolm on 10 July 1867 and died of a miscarriage 11 July, 1868 leaving five minor children of ages 19 to 6 years. She was 39 years old and Balcolm was 29 years old at the time of marriage. Family lore says that when David became of age that they gave Balcolm $ 500.00 and sent him on his way and he was not heard of again. The facts is that he took care of the two young girls in his home after a second marriage. Census records prove this. He became a leading citizen in the area and is buried with his third wife and family members in the Laclede Cemetery, Laclede, Linn Co., Mo. Near the grave of Jared Cady. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I found that Elizabeth Michael Alvord was not divorced but left Alvord and went to Oregon. I found his divorce from her and have a photo copy of the proceedings from the courthouse of Howard Co. Indiana in my files. This probably is why her family did not know about the first marriage until just before she died. She probably never knew of the divorce from Alvord. She already had one child, David, by Thomas Cady at the time of the divorce. They left the claim 29 Sept 1853 to return to Wisconsin by the way of Panama and New York.He never lived to see any grandchildren. Lee Cady found in the Red Bluffs, California, newspapers three advertisements where Thomas Cady was selling, in 1859, 300 head of cattle in one advertizment and 200 head of cattle in another. He was supposed to be in the miners supply business in Northern California during the gold rush and he probably made most of his money here and not on the land claim in Oregon. One ad was in March 16, 1859 and the other Dec. 21, 1859. There is no exact date of their trip to Panama and back through N.Y. to Wisconsin but it must have been in the winter of 1859-60 as they were still selling cattle in Dec. 1859 and were in Wisconsin for the 1860 census. When in Oregon he was involved in the military putting down the Cayuse Indian problem and executing 5 leaders. He was not actively involved but did handle some of the funds that were used by the soldiers ________________________________________________________
June 1, 1960, Rochester, Racine Co, census lists Thomas, age 45, born in New York, Elizabeth 31, born in Indiana. David 10, Jared 9, Thomas Jr aged 7 and Mary aged 5. The probate listed his estate worth at $15,000. This is a far cry from the 40 to 50 thousand that he was supposed to have had and I have questioned as I can not find any record of disposal of over 15 to 20 thousands of dollars. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Tales told by Jared, his son, to Dr. Lee Cady, his grandson. They had a neighbor close to their house who beat his wife but when anyone interfered he would have to fight both of them. One day Thomas Cady heard this fighting in their home and the door was open. He looked in and saw the back of the man sitting on his wife beating her. Thomas picked up a club and knocked the man unconscious and disappeared before the woman even saw him. He was walking through a field on a dark night and nervously looked back to see, to his horror, a horned monster was ready to attack him. He grabbed the horns only to find that they were the roots of an upturned tree and the fiery eyes were foxfire , a fungus that glows in the dark under certain circumstances. The Cady boys were breaking sod to plant a field using a team of oxen and a hand plow. One oxen laid down and would not move. The local idiot came by and said that he could get the animal up. The man took his cap off and reversed it and crawled up to the ox like a dog. The ox scrambled to its feet and kicked the man unconscious. ----------------------------------------------------------------- From The Heritage July 1990 THOMAS CADY, BORN 19 NOV. 1814 in Oneida County, New York and came to the Oregon Territory in 1847 and took up a donation land claim of 624 acres. In 1848 he married Elizabeth Michael, daughter of Jared and Mary Kelso Michael and also the widow of Joseph Alvord. They had the following children: David Cady, married Ada Bently; Jared Cady married Mary H. Knight. ( Jared died the 28 th January 1933 in Utica, Livingston County, Missouri ); Thomas Cady married Elizabeth R. Wilcox ( Thomas died 26 March 1914 north of Limon, Lincoln Co, Colorado ); Mary Cady married Thomas A. Loomis; ( He died in Kansas City, Missouri ); Amanda Cady married F.E. Webley. Amanda was born in Wisconsin in 1862 so the family all moved to Wisconsin where they were considered rich. They built a 21 room "Memorial " farmhouse which would house the family into the third generation or some such dream. There being much cheap land in Northern Missouri, they disposed of their Wisconsin land and reinvested it in several farms near Linneus, Linn County, Missouri. Thomas Cady Sr. who had made arrangements for the move died 7 June 1865 and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery at Lake Geneva, Walworth County, Wisconsin. Elizabeth Michael moved to Linn County, Missouri, married Wm. A. Balcom and died there on 11 July 1868 and is buried in the old cemetery at Linneus, Linn Co, Missouri. Most records say that she died from infection from a miscarriage but one said that she was buried with the baby. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The only sign of a middle name for him was a signature that was supposed to be his on a land deed in 1865 in the courthouse, Walworth Co. Wisc. It was not his but a beautifully written T. W. Cady. Signed by Ira Buell, Justice of Peace. NOTE- he had an uncle named William and a grandmother Miriam Wilson Cady. This is on a record that I have from Walworth Co. Wisconsin. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I rereading notes from Dr. Lee Cady, I found some interesting materials.. I have always said that there was no proof of the 40 to 50 thousand dollars being brought back from Oregon. First, that the price of gold at that time would have made them carrying close to 150 pounds in two vests, 75 pounds each. Then when he died his estate said that his wealth was ten thousand dollars less twelve hundred in debts and no real estate.. In the 1860 national census Thomas Cady listed his value as $ 15,000. Also, from the property that he bought in Missouri, I figures that he was worth about $12,000. Also, $ 15,000 in gold would have weighed about 75 pounds and divided into two vests would still would have weighed between 30 and 40 pounds each. Lee Cady also found newspaper advertisements of him offering cattle for sale in northern California. ________________________________________________________ Notes from Lee Cady, whose father, Jared, remembers coming back to Wisconsin from Oregon and says that they walked across Panama and did not take the railroad. I really doubt it, as knowing the area and having lived there for five years, it would have been a terrible task and they had money. Even walking from the docks to the railroad could have been bad enough in the heat and humidity. from Lee cady- Thomas Cady purchase 1n 1865 4 parcels of land totaling 515 acres. Another warrenty deed dates Sep 13 1865 converted 140 acres to Thomas Cady heirs. ( Book R pg 410. book R pg 409, Book R pg 48, book S pg 280, Linn Co Deed Book ) Other warrranty deeds to Elizabeth Cady need some explaining. In 1865 of $ 475 ( Book R 186-187 linn Co ) also on March 1864 deed book Apparently dated 27 March, 1864, 80 acres were bought, ( Book 6, Pg. 87, Linn Co, Mo. ) Also on Oregon Donation Claims Vol 2 N06 - Cady, Thomas and wife - Land office RB Cert. No, 1805, Acres 624.04 township 16S Range 3 W Section 3 -8-9-10-16-17 ----------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Census in June 1860 shows the Thomas Cady family returned from Oregon and living with Henry Cady in Rochester, Wisc. At the time Amanda was not born but it still put 14 in the home counting Henry Cady and his family. -----------------------------------------------------------------
From Linn Co Marriage book of the County Clerk --
Thomas Cady --- Elizabeth Michael June 5 1848-
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Thomas Cady was an associate supervisor for Walworth Co. Wisc. 1863-1864
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The Cady home near Lake Geneva was a complete wreck when we say it in Oct.2002. It is south of Lake Geneva a half mile north of Highway B on west side of the road.