B.
Roscoe Caldwell, M. D.
Caldwells emigrated from England,
Scotland and Ireland to America and established early homes in New England,
New Jersey and the South. The name has been common in the countries named and
in France for centuries, the name in England appearing on Domesday Book as
Caldennuelle. In Scotland the Caldwells of Ayrshire, were prominent as early
as 1349, a chancellor of Scotland bearing that name. In Scotch the name
signifies Coldwold, the Hazelwood or divining rod, in English
Coldwell.
John Caldwell, of Scotch ancestry, but Irish birth, came from Antrim,
Ireland, settling first at Chestnut Level, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, soon afterward removing to
Charlotte County, Virginia, the family home there
being known as the Caldwell settlement. He had seven children, the youngest
being Rev. James Caldwell, born in Charlotte county,
Virginia, in April, 1734, whose wife, Hannah (Ogden) Caldwell, was
killed by the British at the battle of Springfield, New
Jersey.
Nothing more did I say Wait one moment you've heard Of
Caldwell the parson, who once preached the word Down at Springheld? What, no?
Come—that's bad; why he had All the Jerseys aflame! And they gave him the name
Of the "Rebel high priest." He stuck in their gorge, For he loved the Lord
God, and he hated King George. Bret Harte.
One
of the sons of Rev. James Caldwell, "the rebel high priest," was taken to
France and educated by Lafayette. Martha Caldwell, a niece of Rev. James
Caldwell, married Patrick Calhoun, and was the mother of the famous statesman,
John Caldwell Calhoun, of South Carolina.
Caldwells have been
prominent in Virginia in different walks of life,
public and private. In the present day they are
represented in New Castle, Virginia, by Dr. B.
Roscoe Caldwell, a leader in the medical profession, son of John Pendleton
Caldwell, and grandson of Andrew Caldwell, of
Craig County, Virginia, who was the father of
seven children: John Pendleton, of whom further; Oscar, a farmer of Craig County, Virginia; William, deceased; Ann, Jane.
Adeline. Armita.
John Pendleton Caldwell was born in Craig County
in 1846. During the War Between the States he served for eight months
in a Virginia regiment, fighting at Cedar Creek.
Malvern Hill, and elsewhere. After the war he became a merchant, also was
proprietor of a hotel. He was elected a member of the Virginia legislature, serving during the sessions of
1887-88. He was commissioner of internal revenue for Craig County, assessor of taxes for New Castle, and
postmaster of that city for four years, appointed by President Cleveland. He
married Victoria, daughter of Daniel Hoffman, of Craig
County, she born in 1852, died in October, 1910. Her brothers, Ransom,
Mazerine, Dexter and Palse, all served in the Confederate army; Ransom, a
private in the Twenty-eighth Regiment Virginia
Infantry, was wounded in battle; Mazerine was second lieutenant of a
regiment recruited in New Castle county, was
captured with his entire company by the Union forces, confined in Fort
Delaware, later exchanged and was in the service until the end; Dexter served
during the latter part of the war in a Virginia
regiment and is now a farmer of West Virginia;
Palse is now residing in Portland. Oregon. Children of John Pendleton
and Victoria (Hoffman) Caldwell: B. Roscoe, of further
mention; Lottie Vesta, born in Craig county,
married Thomas H. Hawerton, and resides at
Newcastle, Pennsylvania; she has a son Roscoe, born there in August, 1897;
Mrs. Hawerton is president of the Craig County
Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy.
Dr. B. Roscoe
Caldwell was born in New Castle, Craig County, Virginia,
December 22, 1877. His early and academic education was obtained in
public and private schools, New Castle Academy, of
which he is a graduate, and Virginia Military
Institute, attending the latter but one year (1897). In the autumn of 1898 he
entered the Medical College of Virginia, whence he
was graduated Doctor of Medicine, class of 1901. He pursued post-graduate
study at the Post Graduate College and Hospital, New York, in 1901 and 1902,
and at the Polyclinic Hospital, New York, in 1903.
In 1901 he located in New Castle, Virginia,
and is there well established in general practice.
He is a member of the American and Virginia
State Medical societies, is past master of Mountain Lodge, No. 163,
Free and Accepted Masons, is a Democrat in politics, and liberal in his
religious belief.
[Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Under the Editorial Supervision
of Lyon Gardiner Tyler, 1915 – Transcribed by AFOFG]
