Adams on Sugar Creek

Garrard County, Kentucky
Deeds 1787-1902; indexes, 1899-1960

Vol. C 1793-1796
Family Search DGS 183284 Film 008141322

Book C page 554 – image 291

This Indenture made this 6th day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety five Between Charles Bland of the County of Madison and State of Kentucky of the one part and Fethergill Adams of the state and County aforesaid of the other part witnesseth that for an inconsideration of the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds current money of the aforesaid state to him in hand paid by the said Fethergill Adams, the receipt whereof the said Charles Bland do hereby acknowledges and himself therewith fully satisfied and contented hath granted bargained sold aliened and confirmed and by these presents doth grant bargain sell alien and confirm unto the said Feathergill Adams one certain tract or parcell of land containing one hundreds and twenty six acres situate lying and being in the County of Madison and on the waters of Shugar Creek being the [apperend] of a seven hundred acre survey assigned to Walker Daniel by Green Glay and bounded as follows to wit Begining at three beech trees standing in Moses Dooley’s south and north line of his five hundred acre survey and on the west side of a small drain extending from thence south eighty one degrees east at thirty four poles crossing Jno Clarks road in all one hundred and ninety four poles to three beach trees standing in William McClures line thence

image 292 — Page 555

with his line south forty five degrees west two hundred and seventy poles to a Shugartree standing in the said Dooleys south and north line thence with sd Dooleys line north two hundred and eighteen poles to the Beginning with its appurtenances To have and to hold the said land and premises with every of its appurtenances unto the said Feathergill Adams and his heirs forever and the said Charles Bland for himself his heirs exors and admors the said tract of land and premises unto the said Feathergill Adams his heirs Exors and Admors shall and will warrante and defend against the claim of him the said Charles Bland his heirs executors and Administrators or from any other person or persons by or under him or them and against the claim of all and every other person or persons whatsoever In witness whereof the said Charles Bland for himself his heirs exors and Admors hath hereunto set his hand and affixed his seal the day and date above written.
Charles Bland (LS)
Phillis (her mark) Bland (LS)
Signed Sealed acknowledged
and delivered in presence of

At a court held for Madison County on Tuesday the 6th day of October 1795.
This Indenture was acknowledged by Charles Bland and Phillis his wife to be their act and deed she being first privately examined as the law Directs and relenquished her right of dower therein and ordered to be records.
Teste Will Irving MCC

Boonesborough Connection

Do you ever attempt to connect a genealogy line to a major historical event? I’m sure most genealogists with families in the United States have tried to connect ancestors to military records related to any of our major wars. 
With my early Kentucky research, one of my goals is to figure out when they arrived in Kentucky. Thus, I checked the list of “Early Settlers of Boonesborough” for my Crawford families and did not find them listed. 

As I’ve dug into these Crawford families, I’ve started looking at other family ties. One of those ties is to the John Anderson family. John’s daughter, Rebecca, was married to James Crawford. Since I couldn’t find documentation of James’ arrival, I started looking for information for the arrival of Rebecca’s siblings. 
Thanks to a 1798 Madison County Kentucky deed, Rebecca’s father was identified as John Anderson and her siblings as the following:

• Samuel Campbell and Mary his wife
• Bez’l Maxwell and Margret his wife
• James Crawford and Rebecca his wife
• James Anderson and Hannah his wife
• John Gass and Anne his wife
• William M. Morris and Betsey his wife
• Isaac Anderson
• Samuel Anderson

Since Bazeleel Maxwell appears in many of the same records as James Crawford, I decided to try and learn more about this Anderson family. 
This took me back to Boonesborough — where I found several Anderson family members on The Fort Boonesbourough Monument:

• Anderson, James – 1775
• Anderson, Jemima
• Anderson, John – 1780
• Anderson, Mary – married Captain John Kennedy
• Anderson, Nicholas

Besides the Anderson children, I found several of the spouses:

• Gass. John – 1775 — s/o Capt. David Gass
• Morris, William
• Campbell, Samuel

Based on the names in the deed and the names at Boonesborough, it looks like John Anderson and several of his daughters were in Boonesborough. Missing from Boonesborough are sons Isaac and Samuel and daughters, Margret and Rebecca.
Since Rebecca Anderson was married to a sibling of Bazaleel Maxwell prior to her marriage to James Crawford, there is a strong family connection between Bazaleel Maxwell and James Crawford. Thus, I’ve been looking for Maxwell families when looking for my Crawford families. 
Thus, I found Bazaleel Maxwell listed on the tax list for Montgomery County, Virginia in 1782. (Kegley, Mary B., compiler and editor. Tax List of Montgomery County, Virginia, 1782. Roanoke, VA: Copy Cat, 1974.) 

Several Crawford families are also listed on this 1782 tax list, including Edward, James, a reference to the estate of John Crawford and Robert Crawford. 

So far, I don’t have anything to prove that the James Crawford in the 1782 tax list is the James Crawford who married Rebecca Anderson. However, the fact that a James Crawford and a Bazaleel Maxwell are both listed on the 1782 tax lists is incentive to continue researching the Crawford family in Montgomery County, Virginia prior to 1786 when James Crawford purchased land in Kentucky.

James Crawford Land in Warren County Indiana

One of the challenges with my CRAWFORD research is separating my CRAWFORD family from the family of James and Martha Crawford. My ancestor, Nelson G. Crawford is the son of James and Sally (Smith Duggins) Crawford.

Both James Crawford families lived in Preble County, Ohio before James and Martha and their children along with my ancestor, Nelson G. Crawford, moved to Warren County, Indiana. So, when I saw that Nelson Crawford was a first land owner in section 8 with James Crawford listed as a first landowner in both section 5 and section 8, I had to wonder if this could be MY James Crawford.

---

So, when I found the will of James Crawford (wife Martha) on Ancestry, I realized that I needed to put the land descriptions in the will onto a map. Below are the land descriptions from James Crawford’s will and images of the sections from First Landowners Project web site.

Home Place:- – Given to wife Martha and then to daughter, Celinda
North end of Quarter Section No 21 Range 8 West Township 21N

Harvey H Crawford
south half of section No 21 Range 8 West Township 21 N

Polly Swank
East half of SW quarter section no five T21N R8 west

Rebeekah
West half of section no 5 T21N R8 West

Nancy
East Half NW Quarter Section 8 T21N R8 W

By looking at the map, I can see that Polly Swank and Rebekah Crawford received the James Crawford land near Nelson G. Crawford via the will of their father James Crawford. Thus, the James Crawford who registered land near Nelson G. Crawford is not the father of Nelson G. Crawford.

Looking at other areas of Warren County on the First Landowners Project, there are several Crawford tracts of land in sections 25, 26, 35, 36 of Township 21 North Range 9 West and section 1 of Township 20 North of Range 9 West.

Will of James Crawford 

Indiana, Wills and Probate Records, 1789-1999, James Crawford, Feb 1834; database with images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed online December 2019).

Page 11
State of Indiana Warren County

Be it remembered that on the 12th day of February AD 1834 there was filed in the office of the clerk of the Probate Court of said County a will and testament of James Crawford late of said county deceased which will & Testament and affidavit or probate anexed thereto reads in the words & figures following to wit

“In the name of God amen I James Crawford of the county of Warren and State of Indiana being at present of sount and disposing mind and memory do make and publish this and no to be my last will and testament in manner and form following that is to say — First I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Martha the whole of the farm where on I now live that is to say eight acres acrss the norht end of the quarter section No 21 R8 W T 21N Together with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging and I do fur give and bequeath unto her all the stock and other property belonging to said farm, together with all my household furniture all of which is to be for her use and disposal during her natural lifetime — And at the death of my above name wife Martha I then give and bequeath unto my beloved daughter Clinda the whole of the above described eight acres of land whereon I now live to be for her use and disposal forever. And I do further will and bequeath unto my beloved son Harvey H Crawford all the South half of the above named and described quarter section so soon as he becomes of full and lawful age to be at his use and disposal forever. And I further give and bequeath unto him a young horse known by the name of Poney to be at his disposal forever.

page 12

And I do also give and bequeath unto my beloved daughter Polly Swank the East half of the SW quarter section no five T21 N R8 West to be at her sole use and disposal forever to make her equal with my daughter Betsy Lincoln and Sally Shanklin John D Crawford and William A Crawford and James S Crawford — And I do also give and bequeath unto my beloved daughter Rebeekah; all the west half of the above described section no five T21 N R8 West to be at her sole use and disposal forever — And I do also give and bequeath unto my beloved daughter Nancy all the East half of the North West quarter Section Eight T21N R8 W to be at her sole use and disposal forever — And I do more over give and bequeath unto my beloved sons James & Harvey Crawford one hundred dollars out of a note which I hold on Adam Swinehart which money is to be laid out for an eight acre lot of land to be equally divided between them both, and be at their disposal forever.
And I do hereby ratify and confirm this and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this fifth day of Sepber in the year of our Lord 1831. And I do hereby constitute my friends William Pugh and D. D. Hall to be my executors of this my last will and Testament.
James Crawford (seal)
Attest
John C Irvin
James Higgenbottom

State of Indiana Warren County
Warren Probate Court February Term A.D. 1834
Be it remembered that on the 12th day of February aforesaid being the third judicial day of the aforesaid term of the court into open court

page 13

came John C Irvin and James Higenbottom the subscribing witnesses to the annexed will and testament of James Crawford who being duly sworn upon their oaths say that they saw the said James the testator sign and seal said will and heard him proclaim it to be his last will and testament and that they verily believe at the time of his doing the same he the said James was of sound and disposing mind memory and understanding and that they at that time subscribed their names as witnesses thereunto at his the said Testator request
John C Irvin
James Higginbottom

Sworn to and subscribed in open court this twelfth day of February AD one thousand eight hundred and thirty four

James Cunningham Clerk
by L Kenkennon Depty

Recorded the twelfth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty four.
James Cunningham Clerk of the
Probate Court of Warren County Indiana