Margaret Lee Minor Caskie
(March 9, 1892 - March 30, 1956) Daughter of John Minor and Lucy Lee Trice Minor, wife of Jaquelin Ambler Caskie,
mother of John, Alexander, Jaquelin, Robert, Dabney, and Margaret Caskie.
I was exceedingly grieved to hear of little Margaret's continued illness. In a P.C. received from Lucy
a week ago, she said they considered her out of immediate danger and not having heard anything further,
I had taken "no news for good news." I most sincerely trust that the dear little one may be spared to
them and have great hopes from the wonderful recuperative powers of our family and, as she has a double
infusion of both Minor and Terrell blood, it should stand her in good stead... Dabney Minor Trice, to Eugene Davis, August 25, 1892
Margaret Lee Minor with "Mammy Patty" at "Gale Hill"
...Friday Pat and I packed our gripsack and took the 11:30 train for Gale Hill. Mary and Sally met us
- and we drove over, while they walked. We found Cousin Mary waiting for us on the verandah - as bright and well
as possible. Lucy was at home too - and soon came in bringing her little Margaret. Then Mary, who was not to
be outdone in that matter - went upstairs after her young tyrant - Price Gwinn, Jr. The most splendid
baby you ever saw. After that - the morning was spent admiring, entertaining, and abasing ourselves
before these two royal personages. It was really ridiculous... Susan Colston Minor, to John Wilson, December 4, 1892
Margaret Lee Minor (right) with Price Gwinn,
ca. 1895
Now about Miss Margret - at first she was Margaret Minor. Her home was Gale Hill.
She was a little girl about three years old maby older. She carried flowers at her Aunt's wedding.
A verry pretty little girl she just sooted the flowers she bore. As she passed by I said take your time
Miss Lucy.
She if she was on duty she stoped, said "I am not Miss Lucy; I am Miss Margaret."
There was some talk about
selling Galehill. I dident hear this but I was told by her Aunt Margaret that Margie said "dear Galehill
shall never be sole." I dident know Miss Margaret verry well as a young Miss. I was not at Galehill and
she was off at school, but after she stoped school and com home to stay and take care of her father... She
had lots of friends and Galehill was allways gay. Lots of young ladies... Kate Coles, The Generations Of Gale Hill
Kate Coles (1856-1943) with Robert Ambler Caskie (left)
and Dabney Hamilton Caskie, ca. 1935
Margaret talks of you all constantly and the other day, when I asked John if he did not miss dear
Cousin Lizzie very much when he went to Willoughby, she reproved me saying, "Mamma, you ought
not to say dat, don't you want my Aunt Diddie to be well?" I answered, "Yes, Darling" and she went on,
"Well, God took her to Heben to make her well, and now does you want her to come back so she will be
sick again? There don't nobody ever be sick in Heben, you know"... Lucy Lee Minor to Lucy Minor Davis, February, 1897
Margaret Lee Minor with Mammy Patty in Gale Hill parlor, ca. 1897
...I am discouraged, of course, but still feel hopeful (not of ultimate recovery) but of knocking along
fairly well for some years to come yet until Margie is better able to do without me and can be a comfort
to her father and take care of him. It is all in God's hands and I try to leave it there, but He has
led me so mercifully in the past that I trust Him with the future... If anything should happen to me,
it is my greatest comfort
to know that you are Margaret's godmother and will always influence her for the right...
Margie has just come in and says, "Tell Auntie I went up to the top of a great big house in an
"alligator" and came down again in it." I miss my dear old man so much. Had a long letter from him
this morning in which he says it is so lonely at home without us. Margie is well and happy and the
greatest comfort to me. She is as good as gold too. Lucy Lee Minor, Baltimore, Maryland, to Lucy Davis, mid 1897
Margaret Lee Minor at "Gale Hill", ca. 1906
Margaret Minor Caskie, 1915
Margaret Minor Caskie in the Gale Hill parlor with
her husband, father-in-Law, and one of her children
After the death of her mother, Margaret Lee Minor was largely raised by her father's sisters, especially
Jane Bell Minor Dabney. At some point, she went off to school at Chatham Institute for Girls in Chatham, Virginia.
Eventually, she returned to look after her father at Gale Hill. Like her father, Margaret was fond of sports, including horseback riding,
tennis, and basketball.
In 1915, Margaret Lee Minor married Jaquelin Ambler Caskie of Richmond, Virginia. He was a writer (published
works include the historical novels Nabala and Figure in the Sand, a biography of Matthew
Fontaine Maury, and a genealogy of the Caskie family. In order to support his family of six children, Mr.
Caskie took employment with a savings and loan in Charlottesville. He died on February 3, 1930 of pneumonia.
After her husband's death, Margaret Minor Caskie embarked on the task of raising six children alone during
the Great Depression. Eventually, she was employed selling Fuller brushes, at which she was very
successful. She was a member of the "Blue Pencil" literary society and was widely appreciated for her lively
personality, sense of humor, and storytelling abilities.
During her final years, she lived in turn with her daughters, Jaquelin Caskie Burns and Margaret Caskie Freund,
with whom she was staying when she died in 1956 of heart failure.
