The name, Caldwell – Scotch, cold-wold, the Hazelwood, or Divining Rod. The divining rod was for a long time hung in Bavarian Court rooms, a symbol of authority, and from it was the baton of officers suggested and evolved. Schoolmaster’s rods in the olden days were of Hazelwood.
Caldwell, as given in Lower (Patronymica Britanica) signifies the Cold-Well: Armorial bearings of the name are wells, waves, fountains, fishes – each suggesting water. In Doomsday Book the name is spelled Caldeuuelle. The name has been common for centuries in England, Scotland, Ireland and France.
In Scotland, the Caldwells of Caldwell, Ayrskire, were prominent as early as 1349. They furnished at that date, a Chancelor to Scotland.
Caldwells from Mount Arid, near Toulon, went into Scotland (probably around 1525) in the reign (1515-1547) of Francis I. Caldwells migrated from England, Scotland and Ireland to America and established early homes in New England, New Jersey and the South.”
Caldwell – John Caldwell and Sarah Dillingham Caldwell, Ipswitch, Mass., 1654; Augustine Caldwell, Ipswitch, Mass., 1904, page 11. (by the way, when I was in Ipswitch several years ago, I visited the Stephen A. Caldwell Memorial Cemetary. I didn’t find my tombstone…)
EXTRACT FROM THE MEMORANDA OF HUGH CALDWELL OF BOTETOURT COUNTY, VIRGINA:
“The first mention or account of any person bearing the name of Caldwell I found in an ancient record of possession of Oliver Caldwell, whom I accidently met in Carlisle PA. He had just emigrated from Ireland and was then (1754) in search of a place in the neighborhood where I met him to settle. He was accompanied by a young man named Daniel Cawldwell of Scotland. On my alluding to the difference in the spelling their name Oliver handed me a record of the Caldwell family wherein the family spelled and pronounced their names differently, some spelling it Colewell, Caldwell, Cawldwell, Callwell, Coldwell, etc.
EXTRACT FROM THE RECORD THAT OLIVER CALDWELL HANDED ME: Three brothers named John, Alexander and Oliver, who were connected with and commanded vessels under two brothers, notorious pirates, by the name of Barbarossa, who had complete mastery of all the Mediterranean the latter end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century. (Khaireddin Barbarossa, the famous corsair, became Bay of Algiers in 1518) All nations of that sea paid them tribute, and at the same time courted their friendship, yet dreaded their power and influence, for they were in alliance with some of the most daring spirits of Spain, France, and Scotland. These pirates flourished for twenty years, when they were surprised and completely defeated and broken up by the Governor of Aran, a capital of a nation of Africa. After this defeat those of the party who escaped, dispersed and settled in different parts of the world. John, Alexander, and Oliver above mentioned settled Toulon in France (in which city they were born) at a place called Mt Arid. Here they were much dreaded, for they commanded a powerful banditti, who were notorious as the “Robbers of Arid.”
Francis 1st, then King of France, was in battle made prisoner by the Victorious Charles V of Germany, who was also King of Spain. After his release he was by these brothers robbed on his journey home. This circumstance turned the attention of that monarch to their conduct as robbers, and by his order they were so closely pressed that they thought proper to provide for their safety by leaving the country. The then settled in Scotland near Solway Firth, where they purchased an Estate of a Bishop named Douglas, with the consent of James I (1566-1625) on condition that the said brothers, John, Alexander, and Oliver, late of “Mt Arid,” and which estate should thereafter be known as Cauldwell.”
…to be continued…