In the Nation Genealogical Society Quarterly, volume 47, June 1959, pages 84-87, the author published an article entitled. "The Family of Henry Parry of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." It was stated therein that Parry, a Welsh immigrant married (about 1796) Sarah, daughter of John and Jane (Evans) Cadwal(l)ader. The tradition among their descendants was this John Cadwal(l)ader was the famous Revolutionary War general of the name. The writer rejected the tradition because (1) General John Cadwalader did not marry Jane Evans, and (2) he had no daughter named Sarah by either of his two wives, Elizabeth Lloyd and Williamina Bond. An Allegheny County, Pa. deed of 1806, whereby Archibald McCall Call, of Philadelphia, and his wife Elizabeth, on of General Cadwalader's three daughters by his first wife, granted property to Henry and Sarah Parry under peculiar conditions was cited to suggest a relationship to the Revolutionary War hero. Because of the lack of sound evidence, the whole connection was left dangling in mid-air.

Since the publication of the article, intensive investigation among the vast Cadwalader family archives in the Manuscript Department of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, have revealed that Sarah Parry was indeed a daughter of General John Cadwalader---by his mistress, Anne Dingwell. "Jane Evans," given the writer's former article as the mother of Sarah Parry, was completely mythical. The "family record," mentioned on page 86, note 1, has since disappeared and is believed to have been a modern compilation, not a contemporary record.

The evidence whereby we have proved that the family tradition connecting the Parry's with the Cadwaladers's is correct, may summarized as follows:

1. History of Dearborn and Ohio Counties, Indiana, from Their Earliest Settlement (1885; author anonymous) gives a biographical sketch of Rees[E] Hiester Parry, a son of Henry and Sarah, in which the following statement is made: "His father... married Sarah Cadwalader (sic!), a daughter of Gen. John Cadwalader (sic!).Henry Parry, the father died in Pittsburgh, Penn., October 7, 1847, aged eighty-six years; his wife was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, March 3. 1777, died April 27, 1882..." The significance of this account is as follows: (a) Rees(e) H. Parry, the son of Henry and Sarah, was alive when this book was published; (b) he was undoubtedly the source of the information that his mother was a daughter of General Cadwalader; (c) he should have know if his own grandfather was indeed the Revolutionary War general.

2. On 30 March 1806, Archibald McCall Call of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, merchant , and Elizabeth his wife, deeded property (212 1/4 acres) to Henry Parry of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pa., and Sarah his wife. For an in consideration of the sum of $1.00, said Archibald and Elizabeth McCall granted to "the said Henry Parry and Sarah his wife for a and during their natural lives and to the heirs of the said Sarah Parry, wife of the said Henry Parry and to their Heirs and Assigns forever," a tract of land called Juliann's Borough on the north west side of the Allegheny River, formerly in Westmoreland County, now in Allegheny County, in John Cunningham's District No 44, numbered 105 in the plan of the side district. Witnesses: Samuel McCall, Richard McCall. (Deed Book 14, pp. 245-246, Office of the Recorder of Deeds, Pittsburgh, Pa.) Significance: (a) Elizabeth, wife of Archibald McCall, was the second daughter of General John Cadwalader; and (b) as the purchase price was only $1.00 (in order to make the transaction legal), and also as the land was to go to the heirs of Sarah, and not the heirs of Henry if Sarah should die and he re-marry and have children by another wife), it is obvious that Sarah was regarded as somebody of particular importance to the McCalls.

3. The papers in the General John Cadwalader Section of the 100,000-item Cadwalader Collection in The Historical society of PA, contain copies of five wills made by the General on 21 October 1780, 29 January 1781, 15 February 1783, 19 April 1783 and 29 April 1785. In the fist will he gave a legacy of 50 pounds"to Anne Dingwell who formerly nursed my daughter Maria," and also a legacy of 25 pounds "to Sarah daughter of the said Anne Dingwell". His brother, Lambert Cadwalader, was charged with the responsibility of supporting the little girl until she should come of age, or marry, whichever should first happen. She was described as being "now an infant between two & three years old." In the later wills Sarah's age was given as appropriate to the dates of the will. In the final document (recorded in Kent County, MD. Wills, Liber 7, folios 128-129 Chester, MD.) the following provision is made: "Also I give and devise to Anne who formerly nursed my daughter Maria but is since married, Fifty pounds to be paid in six months after my death without intrust. Also, I give and devise to the daughter of the said Anne who was born before the said Ann's marriage & who is now about seven years old the sum of Two hundred pounds to be placed at interest by my brother Lambert Cadwalader and the Interest to be appropriated by him for her maintenance till she arrives at the age of Eighteen years or marries which ever may first happen & then the said sum of Two Hundred pounds to be paid to her and the said interest to cease." Note the following points in the Gerneral's final will: (a) Ann's maiden surname (Dingwell) is omitted, although it is clearly stated the earlier wills; (b) her married name is not given; (c) her daughter's name is not given although in the earlier will the General specifically calls her Sarah; (d) the General states positively that Anne's daughter was born before Anne's marriage; (e) he name his brother Colonel Lambert Cadwalader, the trustee for the child's legacy, an unusual step if the child were not his own.

4. Items 2 and 3 should analyzed together: (a) General Cadwalader felt a strong sense of obligation toward the illegitimate daughter of his child's former nurse; (b) would he have had the feeling of obligation if the girl were not his own daughter? (c) would he as mentioned in the 3 (e), have made his own brother the little girl's trustee if he had not recognized her as his daughter? (d) in the earlier wills he called the girl Sara--the very name of the ancestress of the Parry's who was traditionally described as a daughter of Gen real Cadwalader.

5. The papers in the Cadwalader Collection in the Historical Society of PA relating to the General's estate contain two receipts: (a) On 13 March 1787, Ann Saverne, acknowledged payment by Lambert Cadwalader of 25 pounds as part of the legacy left to her by the Gerneral; (b)on 7 September 1787 Ann Savern acknowledged payment by Lambert Cadwalader of the balance (25 pounds)of the legacy left to her by the General. (This receipt was witnessed by Hannah Cadwalader, the aged mother of John and Lamber Cadwalader.)

6. Other records concerning this matter: (a) Ledger of Lambert Cadwalader and Philemon Dickinson, executor of John Cadwalader, page 27: 27 Nov 1787 it was reported that the 50 pound legacy had been paid to "Ann Savern, formerly Ann Dingwell" (Cadwalader Collection); (b) In the Kent County, MD. Administration Accounts, Liber 7, folio 200 (Kent Co. Court House, Chestertown MD.) it was reported on 6 December 1787, that the 50 pound legacy had been paid to Savan (sic!) formerly Ann Dingwell.

7. The Day Book of Lambert Cadwalader and Philemon Dickinson, page 114, in the Cadwalader Collection, contains the following record date 10 February 1796:

"Bond for 200 pounds being a Legacy left to Ann Dingwells daughter -------------200.-

Ann Dingwell a Legacy left her by J.C.------------------------------------------------- 50.-

8. The clincher came with the discovery of a letter written by General Cadwalader's son-in-law, Samuel Ringgold, from his estate, "Fountain Rock," Washington County, MD., on 14 May 1804, to another son-in-law of the General, Archibald McCall, in Philadelphia:

"Dear Arch

"On Thursday last just as we were sitting down to dinner with company a carriage drove up to the door, and a well dressed man and woman got out and after showing them into a private room he delivered me a letter from Presley Neville Esq. of Pittsburgh__On perusing it I fund them to be the Natural Daughter of our deceased father in law and her husband a Mr. Henry Parry..." (Italics supplied.)

The rest of this letter describes the distress of Mrs. Ringgold (the former Maria Cadwalader, whose nurse was Anne Dingwell) at this unexpected, and because of her socially prominent guest, most inopportune arrival of her illegitimate half-sister. Mr. Parry chose this opportunity to ask Ringgold what the Cadwalader family could do for his wife and himself. This explains the grant of land in Allegheny County, PA. which, two years later, Archibald and Elizabeth (Cadwalader) McCall made to Henry and Sarah Parry, and to Sarah's heirs.

With the accumulation of evidence__ the bequests in General Cadwalader's five wills, the accounts of the settlement of his estate and his son-in-law's acknowledgment of Sarah's existence as the General's natural daughter, we submit that the parentage of Sarah, wife of Henry Parry, of Pittsburgh, has been proved.

This web page was updated 5/14/2002