In 1825 at the age of 79 John Rodgers, a son of Margaret (Caldwell) Rodgers, wrote a letter to his cousin Elias Boudinot Caldwell, of Washington City. (a Supreme Court clerk) and outlined his and Elias's Caldwell family history. Within that letter he stated:
"Within 25 miles of that place in that neighborhood I was born and in it was married and had 6 children before I moved to Kentucky in the year 1781. Our grandfather's (John F. Caldwell who married Margaret Phillips) children were William, Thomas, David, Margaret, John, Robert and James. My father(William Rodgers) and grandfather (John F. Caldwell) both died in October 1750, just 14 days apart. My mother (Margaret Caldwell Rogers) then married a man by the name of James Mitchell. She had 5 children by each husband. Two of her daughters died in Virginia. The rest all came to Kentucky and have been numerous families. Her son Robert [Rogers] died in Kentucky. William, Thomas, and David Caldwell (his three Caldwell uncles) are all buried in the same graveyard with their father. David's widow and all that family moved to Kentucky. Uncle John went to South Carolina and died there. Uncle William's widow and all that family went to South Carolina, also. Our friend, John C. Calhoun is a son of the 2nd daughter of that family.�
Most genealogical trees state Margaret (Caldwell) Rogers later Mitchell was born 16 March 1712 in Ballyoogan, Lifford Parish, in County Donegal, Ireland. A 1712 birth year means she was 38 years of age in Oct 1750 when her husband William Rogers died.
Her son John Rodgers stated in the 1825 letter to his cousin Elias B. Caldwell that after his father died, his mother married James Mitchell by whom she had 5 children.
My ancestor James Mitchell born 17 Nov 1754 Bedford Co. VA was John Rodgers half-brother. IF the 1712 birth year for Margaret Caldwell is accurate, she would have been 42 years old when my ancestor James Mitchell was born and had time for at most one child before him and three children after him assuming a 1751/52 marriage date for James Mitchell, Sr. & Margaret (Caldwell) Rogers.
She would have been about 39/40 years of age when she married James Mitchell. 5 children in roughly 10 years is not atypical for a woman in her 20's or 30's, but for a woman in her 40's it is statistically unlikely when her ovarium reserve would be in significant decline. [See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_female_fertility]
If the 1712 birth year is based upon a baptismal record, did that Margaret Mitchell die as an infant and a second daughter born about 1722 get named Margaret? Thoughts?
You can find my research on James Mitchell 1720-1774 here:
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~theduffypapers/mitchell/1710_james_mitch...
