| Notes |
- These notes are edited from notes by Charles Thomas Cantrell (CTC) and Mamie Marie Cantrell (MMC).
The birthdate for Isaac is uncertain. Susan Cantrill Christie shows it as 1729. However, during court proceedings in connection with Isaac's will in 1806, Lawrence Bankston, a friend of over 50 years, stated that Isaac was about 72 years old at his death in 1805. This would place his birth at 1733. In any event, Isaac was born in New Castle County, Pennsylvania (now Delaware). He was not baptized in the Old Swede's church as were his older siblings. This suggests that his parents had moved to Virginia after his birth but before he was baptized.
Isaac's first marriage, according to one of his descendants, was to Talitha Cloud. Talitha is believed to be the great granddaughter of William Cloud. He brought his family to the Colonies in 1682 from the County Wilks, England. William purchased 500 acres of land from William Penn in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where the city of Concord now stands.
Isaac's second marriage was to a girl whose given name was Elizabeth. Her surname is not known. She and Isaac had a daughter named Sarah on July 27, 1769. This is attested to by an inscription on the title page of a hymnal owned by Sheridan C. Randolph of Cleveland, Tennessee. Apparently, Elizabeth died about 1772, and Isaac married again.
His third wife was Mary Linder, a daughter of John Linder, a farmerin the community. Mary was born in 1775 and was about 17 years old when she married Isaac who was at least 40.
Isaac fathered 25 children with Talitha, Elizabeth, and Mary. Talitha had 12, Elizabeth had 1 or possibly 2 or 3, and Mary had the remainder.
Isaac is first located 14 Dec 1756 in Old Orange County, North Carolina. According to county records, he bought 200 acres of land from the Earl of Granville. He is also known to have received a land grant of 202 acres on a ridge between County Line Creek and Jordan's Creek. These he sold to his brother John on 23 Mar 1759. On 10 November 1761 he bought 280 acres from Robert Cate. Isaac is recorded as having bought and sold several other pieces of land, and as being active in community affairs.
In a History of Wolf Island Primitive Baptist Church by J. W. Carter jr., Isaac, an ordained Baptist minister, is said to have organized the church in 1777 and served as its pastor for over 20 years. It is located on Wilson Road (state rd. 1985) near Reidsville, NC. It is one of the oldest churches in Rockingham County. As late as 1807, the church was referred to as Cantrell's Meeting House. The land on which the church stood belonged to Isaac. He sold it to Clement Whitmore in 1798.
According to CTC and MMC, Isaac moved his family to the old 96th district of South Carolina about 1795. This date does not square with the time line in Carter's history cited above. According to Carter, Isaac would have been at the Wolf Island Church until he sold the church land in 1798. No matter, when Isaac made the move to South Carolina, he was reunited with his brother John. John had been instrumental in establishing the Buck Creek Baptist Church there. Isaac now became the pastor, and served about 3 years. Isaac bought considerable land in the Buck Creek area and farmed it. In 1800, his household included his wife and 7 children.
Isaac prepared his will on 23 Aug 1805, and died soon after. He is believed to be buried in the Buck Creek Baptist Church cemetery where his brother John had been buried two years earlier. Considerable litigation took place after the inventory of Isaac's estate was made known. MMC says that Isaac's son Peter led the protest, naming most of Isaac's other children in the suit.
The record of the children of Isaac Cantrell and his wives is taken from his estate records, North Carolina records, and Susan Cantrill Christie's genealogy, 1907.
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1733 - 1805 (76 years)
