by Tina Pue

Created on: January 30, 2008

From the Hebrew language comes the name Caleb, with the pronunciation of Kay-leb, meaning bold, dog, crow and basket. As a common boys' name, as well as a surname, you can find a variety of spellings from Cayleb, Kaleb, and Kayleb to Kaylob. For short you may hear Cal or Cale.

There are many who believe the meaning of this name is faithful or devoted. This belief may come from the Old Testament where the name was first heard. Caleb was a devoted and faithful servant to God, who was sent by Moses along with eleven others to spy on the promise land. Caleb and Joshua came back with a report of truth and hope. The remaining ten spies gave testimonies of lies and evil. The Israelites believed the deceit of the ten spies and refused to go into the promise land. Therefor they wandered the wilderness for forty years. Because of his dedication and his truthfulness he was granted entrance to the promise land.

Introduced to America by the Puritans, the name Caleb was associated with the history of the United States. Beginning with a man named Caleb Pusey, who was a lasmaker by trade. He had a reputation of "honest, sagacious and absolutely fearless". In 1682, he served William Penn as a manager and agent for the Chester Mills. He then occupied a house in 1683, which still stands today that holds any documented claim of William Penn's association to the building.

Moving ahead to January 9, 1745, one of the founding fathers of this nation, Caleb Strong, was born in Northampton Massachusetts. He was a lawyer who worked his way to becoming a delegate to the constitutional convention. During the convention, he was called away due to his wife becoming ill, leaving Massachusetts the only state that did not sign the constitution. Caleb moved on to become one of the first senators in 1789, then to become governor of Massachusetts in 1800. In his first election in office, there was not a single vote against him from his hometown or the thirty surrounding communities. Caleb Strong passed away on November 7, 1819.

Around 1815 or 1816, a young student with the name of Abraham Lincoln was taught by a man name Caleb Hazel. As years followed, the teacher was not the only Caleb in is life.

In 1831, the future president met a man name Caleb Carman, whom he had boarded a room with at a later date. For a partial payment of his rent, Abraham re-caned a chair for Caleb, which is now displayed at the New Salem State Park Museum. Then in 1861, during President Lincoln's term in office, a man named

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