The Canaday Family

Our Canaday Family most likely were Irish Quakers who came to America to be able to practice their religion in a new country without persecution. If they weren't Quakers back in Ireland, they soon became so here in America. The Irish spelling of the name could have been either Canaday or Kennedey, both pronounced about the same.

The earliest proven member of our Canaday family that I have been able to uncover was Charles Canaday who was in Chester County, Pennsylvania or more likely, in Maryland as both these areas were served by the Nottingham Monthly Meeting held right on the border. He was not the original immigrant and the family was probably there by the mid 1600s. However, I have no records of him earlier than his marriage in 1740.

I have uncovered several other researchers working on other lines with the spellings of Cannaday, Cannady, Canady, etc. They too trace back to this same general area on the eastern shore of Maryland. In every case, like me they are not able to get back to the original immigrant. Several of these other lines were Quakers as well. I am convinced that several of these other lines are related to our family, but I just cannot prove it. But I'm still trying.

Our Canaday Family remained staunch and devout Quakers into the Twentieth Century. They traveled from Maryland to Virginia to North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois and westward establishing new Friends Meeting Houses as they migrated further to the frontiers of America.

This family was typical of the early American Pioneers, striking out for new opportunities as the West was opened for settlement. The families that married into the Canaday family likewise arrived early in the history of America and helped to form it into the country it is today.

The following history covers the Canaday Family and also includes histories of the families that married into this family along the way. It is a rich heritage indeed.

The first of my Canaday line that I have records of was Charles Canaday. I will begin this Family History with him. First, I will list what I know of various Canaday, Cannaday families present in the Eastern Shore of Maryland area very early on. We are all connected to this line, I am convinced, but I still do not know how. Our Charles was certainly not the first of the family to set foot in America.