Various members of the Casey family appear with Penningtons in the South Carolina records. Also, the will of Jacob Pennington lists one of his daughters as Abigail "Cassey". However, most research on Pennington-Casey connections has focused on Jacob's daughters Mary and Charity, both of whom are said to have married Randolph Casey. Based on various sources and on-line information (including the Jefferson Co.,, IL genweb site), the consensus of Casey researchers goes something like this: Randolph Casey married in the mid 1760s to Mary Jane Pennington, daughter of Jacob. Randolph and Mary Jane had several children. Around 1790 they moved to Georgia, and by 1810 they had moved on to Smith County, Tennessee where Randolph died, leaving a will (written 3 Aug 1814, proved Nov 1814). Most researchers agree that after the first several children were born, Mary Jane Pennington Casey died, and Randolph married Mary Jane's sister Charity. There were 8 children total, most of whom moved to Illinois. These include Randolph's son Zadock Casey who served for a time as the Lt. Governor of Illinois.
In my own examination of the Casey/Pennington connection, I have been able to verify certain components of the standard line given above, but not others. Key points and observations:
Randolph Casey DID marry Charity Pennington, daughter of Jacob. Jacob's 1762 will (Berkeley County, South Carolina) mentions a daughter Charity who is given "One Hundred and fifty Acres of land Situate on the Beaver dam Creek, a branch of and on the South Side of little River". In September 1787, Randolph Casey of Greenville County, South Carolina., SC and his wife Charity sold to Richard Robison of Abbeville County 150 acres on Beaverdam Creek of Little River. The deed states the land had been conveyed to Casey and his wife by the will of Jacob Pennington (several sources summarize this deed, which is found in Laurens Deed Book B:381). Note also that Randolph Casey's 1814 will lists his wife's name as Charity, and that "Pennington" appears frequently in the names of his descendants (for example, he had a son named Abraham Pennington Casey).
Randolph's earlier marriage to Mary Jane Pennington is more difficult to prove. The belief that Randolph Casey first married Mary Jane Pennington is widespread among Casey researchers. So far as I can tell, this belief is based on a family history compiled by Lewis F. Casey in 1876. Lewis Casey wrote that information pertaining to the early history of the Casey line was "gained largely from Gov. Zadok Casey and from my Grandmother, 'Aunt Nancy Casey,' the wife of Abraham Pennington Casey". Regarding his ancestor, Lewis Casey writes
"Randolph Casey, my great-grandfather, as above stated, was born in Virginia, but was raised and grew up in Spartanburg District, SC, where he married Mary Jane Pennington, a woman of superior mind and judgement. From the best information I can get, he must have married in 1765 to 1768."
Despite Lewis Casey's unambiguous and seemingly well-informed statement that Randolph Casey married Mary Jane Pennington, my own perusal of the South Carolina records (mostly published compilations of abstracts) has yet to uncover any documents backing this up. Further, it is odd that "Casey Family History" makes no mention of Randolph's marriage to Charity Pennington. Jacob Pennington's 1762 will does, in fact, mention a daughter Mary, but she is listed as Mary Noble. Of course it cannot be ruled out that Mary Pennington Noble had a second marriage to Randolph Casey in the 1763 to 1765 time frame, and documents may yet turn up which clarify the situation. However, I personally consider it possible that Randolph Casey had only one marriage to a daughter of Jacob Pennington, with that marriage being to Charity.
Lewis Casey lists Randolph Casey's children as follows: Levi, Isaac, Rebecca, Abraham Pennington, Samual, Randolph, Hiram, and Zadok.
Randolph Casey/Charity Pennington timeline
(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
First-some comments and disclaimers
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