James Caudy

James Caudy (1707 – March 15, 1784) was an early American frontiersman, settler, and landowner in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the Colony of Virginia (present-day West Virginia). Born in the Netherlands, Caudy immigrated to the Thirteen Colonies in the 1730s and settled within the Cacapon River valley near present-day Capon Bridge in Hampshire County. Caudy participated in the French and Indian War, and is best known for having purportedly defended himself from attack by a band of Native American fighters atop the Caudy's Castle sandstone rock formation, which now bears his name. According to tradition, Caudy pushed his Native American attackers into the Cacapon River with his long rifle barrel.

Early life
While the exact location of his birth is unknown, James Caudy was born in 1707 in the Netherlands. He possibly arrived in the Thirteen Colonies through Prince George's County in the Province of Maryland in the 1730s. While in Prince George's County, Caudy married his first wife, Mary Hutchinson.

Settlement in Virginia
Around 1738, Caudy and fellow frontiersman Joseph Edwards purchased tracts of land along the Cacapon River, and with them, they brought the first two families of European descent into the Cacapon River valley. Caudy and his family settled on 358 acre within the Cacapon River valley near present-day Capon Bridge in what was then Orange County (later part of Frederick County following its creation in 1743, then Hampshire County following its creation from Frederick in 1754). His land parcel was located to the south of frontiersman Joseph Edwards's 400 acre, with present-day U.S. Route 50 (Northwestern Turnpike) approximately corresponding to the diving line between the two land parcels.

Development of transportation routes
As early as 1741, Caudy was associated with the arrangement and development of transportation routes throughout present-day Hampshire County. On March 25, 1742, an Orange County court order mandated that Jeremiah Smith and James Eaton "view and lay" a road from Caudy's property on the Cacapon River to Isaac Perkins's mill near Winchester. In 1742, the wagon road was constructed between Winchester and Caudy's land tract on the Cacapon at present-day Capon Bridge. By 1744, this route was extended from Caudy's property on the Cacapon River to the North River at present-day North River Mills. This route later terminated at the mouth of Pattersons Creek on the North Branch Potomac River and connected Winchester with Cumberland.

In December 1742, the County Court of Orange County further ordered the construction of another wagon road from Caudy's land tract on the Cacapon River to the South Branch Potomac River. In 1743, a wagon road connecting Winchester and Moorefield traversed Caudy's land tract, utilizing a ford in the Cacapon River. This Winchester–Moorefield transportation route led to the watermill of Noah Hampton near Old Fields on the South Branch Potomac River. Due to the location of Caudy's settlement along the Winchester–Moorefield route, his residence served as an overnight stopping point for George Washington and George William Fairfax in April 1748. Washington and Fairfax were returning to Winchester en route to Belvoir following their surveying expedition in the South Branch Potomac River valley in present-day Hardy County. Washington and his surveying party stayed overnight in Caudy's log cabin. On April 12, 1750, George Washington surveyed a plat of "waste land" for Caudy, utilizing white oak (Quercus alba) trees as boundary markers.

Caudy and John Stewart of Frederick County coordinated on the layout and construction of further transportation routes through the region, and received respect for their efforts. Following his death in 1750, Stewart left his eldest son in the charge of Caudy and Captain Jeremiah Smith, who both procured land for Stewart's son along the Cacapon River.

Caudy's Castle incident
According to local tradition and folklore, Caudy is famously known as an "Indian fighter." Upon detecting a Native American stalker in pursuit of him, Caudy pretended to escape along a pathway leading up the mountain toward the craggy bluffs spanning between 450 ft and 600 ft above the Cacapon River, south of present-day Forks of Cacapon. This pathway edged around the face of the rock formation overlooking the Cacapon River, and narrowed into a rock shelf ledge. Another legend suggests that Caudy was leading a group of pioneer settlers in defense against Native American attacks.

In either case, Caudy positioned himself within the craggy recesses of the rock formation awaiting his Native American pursuers. These narrow recesses within the pinnacle's sandstone ledges allowed only single file passage through the rock outcrop toward the formation's face. As the Native American fighters maneuvered through the rock formation's narrow passes and ledges, it is purported that Caudy single-handedly nudged the pursuing Native Americans one by one with his long rifle barrel, thus pushing them off the rock formation's precipice into the Cacapon River 450 ft to 600 ft below. Other legends suggest that Caudy utilized this tactic from atop this rock formation on several occasions. This rock formation was later named and is presently known as "Caudy's Castle." With the exception of this event, there exist no other accounts of encounters or conflicts between Caudy and Native American peoples.

French and Indian War service
During the French and Indian War, Caudy remained on his property on the Cacapon River which he staunchly defended, and likely sought further protection at Fort Edwards to the north. Caudy's own residence was possibly fortified, as it was known as "Coddy's Fort," although this fortification was not part of the "chain of forts" organized by George Washington for the defense of settlers against Native American raids in the South Branch Potomac and Cacapon River valleys. Caudy also served in the militia of Maryland frontiersman Michael Cresap as a drummer.

Caudy hosted Washington again in 1755, and he provided him with an ample supply of grass seed that was likely produced in one of Caudy's fertile fields known as "Caudy's Meadow." Civil engineer Claudius Crozet later made mention of "Caudy's Meadow" in his fieldnotes during the planning and construction of the Northwestern Turnpike nearby. Washington sent payment for the grass seed to Caudy through James Wood, the founder of Winchester, Virginia.

Later life and death
Following his marriage to the widow of James McCoy by 1761, Caudy intended to acquire McCoy's 369 acre east of Great North Mountain in Frederick County. Caudy's claim to McCoy's land was disputed by John Capper, who asserted that he had purchased McCoy's property before his death. A feud developed between Caudy and Capper until it was resolved by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron in November 1762. Lord Fairfax awarded 165 acre to Caudy, and the remainder of the disputed land parcel to Capper.

Caudy never learned to write in the English language, and he signed his last will and testament with an X mark in 1784. Caudy died on March 15, 1784 and he was interred on his property south of present-day Capon Bridge. According to local tradition, Caudy was buried with a Native American on either side of him. Another tradition holds that Caudy was buried with his horse. The site of Caudy's interment is presently located on property known as the Hartford Bealer farm. In the 1930s, his burial site was attended to by a local Boy Scouts troop, which landscaped the burial plot and planted shrubbery. By 1976, Caudy's burial place was marked by four posts. In 2002, the Capon Bridge Ruritan Club removed the overgrown shrubs and erected a white fence around Caudy's interment site. The project was initiated by Capon Bridge area residents Roy Giffin, Ken Edmonds, and Roberta Munske. The Ruritans purchased a marble marker, and erected it at Caudy's interment site at 9 a.m. on November 15, 2003. The burial site is accessible and visible from Christian Church Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 13).

Marriage and issue
Caudy married first to Mary Hutchinson in Prince George's County, Maryland. He and Mary had five children together:


 * David Caudy (died in November 1782), married Martha Hiett
 * Ann Caudy Dulany, married a Mr. Dulany
 * Margaret Caudy Wood, married Daniel Wood
 * Mary Caudy Kinman, married Samuel Kinman
 * Sarah Caudy Hancher, married Joseph Hancher

By 1761, Caudy married the widow of James McCoy, who resided across Great North Mountain in Frederick County.