Dr. William CABELL

   User ID: P00051650.

  General Notes:

Note: JBR - Much of the following Cabell data and text is lifted (or substantiated by) from the web source referenced below

Click here: Virginians - The Family History of John W. Pritchett <http://www.virginians.com/redirect.htm?topics&3450>

William Cabell An émigré from Warminister, England, William Cabell was a doctor, surveyor, magistrate, farmer, trader, vestryman, churchwarden, and pioneer in early Virginia. A man of numerous talents, his impact on the formation of the colony cannot be underestimated. Born in March, 1699, William was the first son of nine children born to Nicholas Cabell, a wool-stapler, and Rachel Hooper Cabell. He left England as a young man, sailing from Bristol to Virginia in September, 1723. William appears first in "New World" documentation as a witness to a land sale in Henrico county, along with his first cousin, William Mayo. later, William married Elizabeth Burks, a daughter of Samuel Burks. They settled near Dover on land that Elizabeth's father acquired prior to 1716. William Cabell was appointed under-sheriff of Henrico in 1726 and in March 1727 his first child, Mary, was born. When Goochland county was formed in 1728, he was appointed one of its first justices, and in 1729 he qualified as coroner. Begining in 1730, he became an active land surveyor, working along the upper James River. Eventually, he was granted a land patent for 1200 acres in March, 1735 along Licking Hole Creek in Goochland county. Following the birth of daughter Mary in 1727, William was born in March 1727, and Joseph in 1732. William and Elizabeth had to suspend their plans for a large family in 1735 when William had to return to England for six years to settle the affairs of his recently deceased parents. The birth of John, their fourth child is not known; although, correspondence indicates that he was probably born at some point between 1733 and 1735. Upon his return to Virginia in 1742, he resumed increasing his holdings and moved his family up the James River to his 4800 acre land patent in what is now Nelson County. He named the new town "Warminster" for the English town of his youth. A fifth child, George, was born in 1747, but died in infancy. The Cabell's last child, Nicholas, was born in 1750. After Albelmarle county was established, William Cabell served as a justice at its first court hearing in 1745. His responsibilities to the county included collecting tithes, providing security for the Sheriff and Charles Lynch's ferry across the Rivanna River, serving as coroner, and working as assistant surveyor. In 1748, he began operating his own ferry across the James River and obtained a license for a tavern. Additionally, he spent considerable time and energy on serveying the surrounding wilderness. his youth in England included education and training as a doctor. These skills came in handy in the harsh new colony. William had a sucessful practice as a doctor and surgeon. He purchased and made medicines, sold wooden limbs, and operated a hospital near his home. In 1756, his wife Elizabeth passed away. He remarried in 1762 -- a woman named Margaret Meredith, the widow of Samuel Meredith from Hanover County. He survived his second wife as well; she died in 1768. William Cabell, himself, died in 1774 at the age of seventy five, and left most of his estate to his son Nicholas.

CABELL, William, surgeon, born near Warminster, England, 9 March, 1700; died near Warminster, Nelson County, Virginia, 12 April, 1774. He was the son of Nicholas, an English gentleman belonging to the Cabells of Devon and Somersetshire, whose estates were confiscated, either wholly or in part, because of their allegiance to Cromwell. One of the finest specimens of mediaeval glass that has survived the iconoclasm of the Roundheads is in the church of St. John of Frome Selwood, which preserves the Cabell arms in the four panels of a chapel-window. According to tradition, Dr. William Cabell was a surgeon in the British navy, who was captivated by the Virginian climate, resigned his commission about 1723, and procured extensive grants of land along James river, in the present counties of Buckingham, Nelson, Appomattox, and Amherst. The patent for these was issued 12 September, 1738. Dr. Cabell married Elizabeth Birks, but whether in England or America is uncertain. In 1735 he was called to England by the death of his father, and left his wife in charge of the Virginia property. He remained in England for nearly six years, settling the estates of his father and other recently deceased relatives and practicing his profession. On his return he made his home on his patented lands, and was appointed assistant surveyor, an office that enabled him to increase his already generous estate by a large addition of valuable lands, though not equal in fertility to those at first obtained. He promoted immigration, established a private hospital near his residence, and made professional visits far and near, charging from £1 to £5 for a visit, according to the distance traveled. For amputating an arm the charge was £7 10s., or £12 to £15 if "a cure was guaranteed." He had apparently a genuine enthusiasm for his profession, and executive abilities of a high order to carry on such extensive enterprises in a professional way as well as superintending his landed interests and filling acceptably the local offices that he held. His first wife, by whom alone he had issue, died 21 September, 1756, and on 27 September, 1762, he married Mrs. Margaret Meredith (a widow), who died 26 February, 1765. Dr. Cabell had six children, a daughter and five sons; and all of the sons save one, who died in childhood, attained eminence.
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  Noted events in his life were:

• Immigration. Immigrated from England in 1723

William married Elizabeth BURKS, daughter of Samuel BURKS and Mary DAVIS, in 1726 in Hanover, New Kent Co., VA. (Elizabeth BURKS was born in 1709 in Hanover, New Kent Co., VA and died on 21 Sep 1756.)