William Albert Castleman

William Albert is the first in a long line of Castlemans that are found in the Virginia Assembly from 1801 through 1865!

At age 42 William Albert Sr was a Judge of Frederick County Court 1804-1808, and from 1801-02, 1808-09, 1809-10 and 1810-11 for Frederick County a member of the House of Delegates. He was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. Resided at Runnymeade. Funeral at Wickliffe Parish. In order to become a judge William had to have attended law school, quite likely the new William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg as a young man around 1780.

William Albert Castleman Jr 1787-1842 at age 22 married Ury Marcy Shepherd 1793-1859, likely a relation of Uncle John Stephens wife Sarah Shepherd 1766-1842. Jr represented Frederick County in the House 1828-29, 1829-30, 1830-31 and 1838 for Clarke & Warren County. August 21, 1831 Nat Turner and about 60 other men killed 58 white men, women and children.

William Albert III 1813-1884 first wife is Margaret Ann Shepherd

“Private graveyard on “Primrose” farm, owned by Mr. Enders Morris, situated between Castleman’s Ferry and Wickliffe, opposite the old Ore Bank land. Only two stones left, one a flat slab broken in half, the other an upright marble marker, now leaning against a tree. Located in the field near the house, altogether overgrown, what must have been an enclosing stone wall, now scattered over the lot and adjoining field.

The upright stone:
In memory of Sarah, wife of John Crow, who departed this life September 28, 1807, aged 39 years.

The flat slab:

Sacred to the Memory of Margaret Ann Castleman, Consort of William A. Castleman 1813-1884, and daughter of Joseph and Amelia Shepherd, who was born July 14, 1818 and departed this life March 24, 1843, aged 24 years, 9 months and 10 days.”

Clarke County Historical Association. 1941. "Report of the Graveyard Committee." Proceedings of the Clarke County (Virginia) Historical Association. Vol 1, p 19.

The Margaret Ann Shepherd marriage was 22 May, 1837. On 27 April, 1844 William married Ann Rebecca Isler 1824-1908 and they had 9 children.

In February of 1828 Jacksonian party leaders selected William and James Mason as candidates for the State legislature which caused some controversy with the backers of the Adams party. "Castleman stood next to Burwell in the upper ranks of Clarke's gentry" is reported in "A Separate Place" by Virginia historian Warren R. Hofstra.

In April of 1828 William Jr. is elected to Virginia House of Delegates for the first of three consecutive terms. 

In response to agitation from western Virginians a constitutional convention was held in October 1829 and a new Constitution was ratified in 1830. The division between typically small farms in the western part of Virginia and the larger landholders had been festering for decades and this political battle was one of many that eventually culminated in the forming of the new counties, Clarke, and Warren.  

 August 21, 1831 Nat Turner and about 60 other men killed 58 white men, women and children.

Virginia Slavery Debate of 1831–1832

The Virginia slavery debate occurred in the House of Delegates during its 1831–1832 session and was prompted by a slave insurrection in August 1831 led by Nat Turner. In the months that followed, about forty petitions, signed by more than 2,000 Virginians, urged the General Assembly to engage the problems associated with slavery. Some petitions called for outright emancipation, others for colonization. Many focused on removing from the state free Blacks, who were widely seen as a nefarious influence. The House established a select committee, and when the debate finally spilled over into the full body, in mid-January 1832, it focused on two resolutions. One, made by William O. Goode, called for the rejection of all petitions calling for emancipation. Another, made by Thomas Jefferson Randolph, asked the committee to prepare an emancipation plan to go before the state’s voters. By taking up these questions, the House, in effect, considered whether to free Virginia’s enslaved population. After vigorous debate, members declined to pass such a law, deciding instead that they “should await a more definite development of public opinion.” In fact, pro-slavery, anti-abolitionist opinion hardened in Virginia in the years that followed, buttressed by arguments previewed in the House. Randolph believed that even having such an open debate should be considered a victory, while others lamented how divided the state was on the crucial question of slavery.

https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/virginia-slavery-debate-of-1831-1832-the/

Warren and Clarke Counties were established in 1836 and the Castleman family dominated in 1838. The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619-January 11, 1978 : a Bicentennial register of members ; Responsibility: compiled by Cynthia Miller Leonard.

1846-47 James represents Warren & Clarke county  and in 1863-65 Mann Randolph Page (M.R.P.) represents Clarke County.

Children of Johann David and Margaret Johnson birthed between 1758 and 1784

Sarah Martha Castleman, Female 1758–1790 married Thomas Shepherd 1741-1805 in about 1779. Died in Virginia

William Albert Castleman Sr , Male 1762–1832 at age 69 yrs, 3 moms 9 days. Married Massey G. Osburn

John Stephen Castleman, Male 1766–1840 Married Sarah Shepherd 1766-1842 Nov 28, 1785 and they had 10 children died in Virginia

Mary Polly Castleman, Female 1768–1859 in Tennessee

Stephen Castleman, Male 1771–1797 in Mason Kentucky

James Daniel Castleman, Male 1775–1840 in Hardin Kentucky

David Castleman, Male 1776–1831 in Berryville

Benjamin Thomas Castleman, Male 1778–1838 in Hardin, Kentucky

Thomas Taylor Castleman, Male 1781–1833 in Virginia (My 3rd Great Grandfather)

Mary Elizabeth Castleman, Female 1784–1858 in Virginia