Crawford Tree Issues

I’m sure we can all agree that each of us needs to work toward having as accurate a family tree as possible. However, I’m willing to admit and hopefully you are too that there could be a mistake or two or several in my tree. Even with an effort to separate out people of the same name and to carefully document findings, those mistakes can still creep in.

Since I have a large database, the chances for such a mistake in my work is high. I hope that when someone else discovers that error in my tree they tell me about it and point me to sources to correct that error.

When it comes to my CRAWFORD research, there are a lot of common given names such as James, John, William, Alexander and Edward that make it difficult to distinguish families. Most of my CRAWFORD research traces the family from early Kentucky back to Montgomery, Botetourt and Augusta counties in Virginia. Augusata County, Virginia is where the family of Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford raised their family.

And it is when Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford get attached to many many many Crawford trees that other CRAWFORD researchers get frustrated. This is particularly frustrating when working with yDNA tests to help identify family lines.

Several of the Kentucky CRAWFORD lines have participated in the CRAWFORD yDNA project. I believe all five of the Kentucky James Crawford families I’ve worked to untangle are all found in the R1b supergroup.

Crawford yDNA project – part of R1b group

The three families from the area of early Garrard county, Kentucky are in the same haplogroup: R-Y88686.

• James Crawford b1772VA m1799Ky d1854OH – My line – in the R1b-01B Ardmillan group R-Y88686
• James Crawford b1770 VA M Knight 1793 KY d1833 IN – in the R1b-01B Ardmillan group R-Y88686 — the Crawford family that was neighbors to my Crawford line for over 100 years
• James Crawford b 1758 VA; d1836 IN – in the R1b-01B Ardmillan group R-Y88686 — the James Crawford married to Rebeccca Anderson Maxwell; this James owned land along Paint Lick Creek in Garrard County, Kentucky prior to migrating to Indiana.

I believe the James Crawford of Fleming county, Kentucky is represented on the project in the R1b-01C group as James Crawford b1758. This family also likely has roots in Montgomery, Botetourt and Augusta Counties in Virginia.

So where do descendants of Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford fit in this yDNA study? There is one R1b test that indicates Alexander Crawford b1716 d1764 as the earliest known ancestor. Working with this tester, it appears that his line does descend from William Crawford and his wife Rachel Sawyers, making it a legitimate Alexander Crawford line. Currently this tester is in group R1b-01F. Based on this test, that would put Rev James Crawford of Lexington, Kentucky in the R1b-01F group.

However, there are several other yDNA testers claiming Alexander Crawford as their earliest known ancestor.

I1-D5 group

I1-D9 group

I1-12 group

R1a-5 group

Granted, I’m not sure all four of the above tests are referring to the Alexander Crawford that was killed by Indians in 1764, but I’m guessing at least three of them are claiming Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford as their ancestors.

So which is it? Do Alexander Crawford’s descendants fall in the R1b-01F group? Or are they in the I1-D5 group, or the I1-D9 group, or the I1-12 group? Or what about the R1a-5 group? I don’t believe they can be in all FIVE yDNA groupings.

These examples from yDNA testing are just a small portion of the issue. A search of Ancestry trees for Alexander Crawford and his wife Mary McPheeters reveals 5869 public trees contain this couple. Now, not all of those trees will represent descendants but many of them will. (My tree would be included in that count and I don’t descend from Alexander and Mary.)

Since I’m fairly certain that the James Crawford (1758-1836) who married Rebecca Anderson does not descend from Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford, I did a search for such a combination: James Crawford b1758, d1836, father Alexander Crawford, mother Mary McPheeters and spouse Rebecca. That search resulted in 2282 trees. Looking at the results, I found the James Crawford of Fleming County, KY (wife Sarah Van Zandt) on that list many times. Browsing down the list, I found James Crawford who married Rebecca Anderson.

Even though the DAR records for these two James Crawford have been confused over time, they are two separate families. Since they were both born in 1758, they can’t both be sons of Alexander Crawford and Mary McPheeters.

Below is what I have for the family of Alexander and Mary Crawford.

If the above family is correct, then neither the James who married Rebecca Anderson nor the James who married Sarah Van Zandt are sons of Alexander and Mary Crawford.

There are a few books that I’ve used to figure out that my James Crawford does NOT descend from Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford:

• Helen McPheeters Rice, The McPheeters Family (Winter Park, FL: No publisher, 1956). There is an digital edition of this book on FamilySearch.
• William M. Clemens, Crawford Family Records: An Account of the First American Settlers and Colonial Families of the Name of Crawford (New York: William M. Clemens, 1914). This book is also available on FamilySearch.
• Amanda Crawford Arbogast Forbes and Lucetta Crawford Sammis, Compilers, Descendants of Alexander & Mary McPheeters Crawford: Pioneer Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia (Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, 1980). The Family History Library has the book on microfiche. Microfiche of this book can be found at Midwest Genealogy Center (and possibly other major genealogy libraries). This book outlines descendants for several generations and includes lots of source references.

My Crawford family has roots in the same area that descendants of Alexander and Mary Crawford lived. Thus the records for my family line will be intermingled with the records for Alexander’s line. I’m guessing that there were other Crawford family lines also living in that area of Virginia prior to 1800.

Thus, a lot of work will need to be done to try and identify these various Crawford family lines in early Augusta county. If you have Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford as ancestors in your tree, are you willing to use the above resources and the documents mentioned in them to verify your descent? Until we get these family lines sorted out correctly, our DNA results won’t help identify that next generation. Are you willing to help sort these early Augusta County, Virginia Crawford families out?

Alexander Crawford Ancestors

One of my favorite Facebook groups is the Clan Crawford Association Ancestry & DNA Research Forum. If you are a Crawford researcher and NOT a member of this Facebook group, I strongly encourage you to ask to join the group. A lot of the discussion in this group is about DNA results – particularly yDNA. However, some of this discussion is about our Crawford brick walls and resources, including DNA, that we can use to help break down those brick walls.

Recently, there was a discussion about yDNA tests with Virginia roots. In the list of these tests with Virginia roots is a test showing Alexander Crawford b1715-d1764 as the earliest known ancestor. Since this person is one of my yDNA matches, I was able to view the pedigree and see that this Alexander Crawford is the Alexander Crawford of Augusta County, VA who was married to Mary McPheeters.

Recently, I was asked by an administrator of the Crawford project about the ancestry of Alexander Crawford.

Do you know if Alexander’s ancestors are documented, and if so, how far back? That R1b-01F kit’s tree lists this:

1 James Crawford b.1588 Glasgow, d.1660 Scotland, m. Margaret Maxwell
22 Patrick Crawford b.1628 Glasgow, d. 1656 Garrive, m. Jean Hamiltoun
333 Robert Crawford b.7 Sep 1656 Glasgow, d.30 Nov 1703 Glasgow, m. Mary Shaw
4444 William Crawford b.7 Jun 1691 Glasgow, d.1761 Ohio River, m. Mary Ann Douglas
55555 Alexander Crawford b.1715 Clydesdale, d.29 Sep 1764 Mountain View, VA, m. Mary McPheeters
666666 William Crawford b.1 Jun 1744 Mountain View, VA, d.15 Oct 1792 Mountain View, VA, m. Rachel Sawyers

I used several comments to answer this query. Below is a copy of my answers.

Part 1: The kit in R1b-01B that identifies Alexander Crawford (1715-1764) as his most distant relative goes thru Alexander’s grandson, James Crawford (1772-1854) who married Nancy Ann Sawyers in 1797. I have done some research – mostly in Ancestry records – on the descendants of James and Nancy Crawford and have documentation that supports that lineage. I haven’t done much research on William Crawford (1744-1792), but there is quite a bit of information on William and his descendants in the book, Descendants of Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford: Pioneer Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia (pages 57 to 203). This book includes quite a few references to original records. Pages 5 thru 12 of this same book discuss Alexander Crawford (1715-1764).

Part 2: William Crawford m Mary Ann Douglas – I haven’t done much research on Alexander’s parents but the first few pages of the book, Descendants of Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford does provide some information. Col. William Crawford (1691-1761) on the FamilySearch tree has quite a few sources attached. Unfortunately, some FS users are confusing this Col. William Crawford with the Col. William Crawford who was killed in Ohio. Thus one would have to sourt thru the sources to isolate those for the Col. William Crawford of Scotland. Looking at the record of changes for him, it appears that there are some serious researchers that one could contact to see if they have more information. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LVQ4-928

Part 3: Robert Crawford md Mary Shaw – Again, I haven’t done much research on this couple. However, a researcher of the William Crawford (1748-1809) who was in the Garrard County, KY area at the same time as my ancestor says that Robert Crawford and Mary Shaw are the great grandparents of his William Crawford. He also believes that William Crawford is a brother to James Crawford (md Rebecca Anderson). [A descendant of this James Crawford has completed a big Y test and is a match to my line]. I believe this other researcher has at least some documentation to support his theory. He has 32 sources attached on Family Search. Most of those resources are from Scotland Births… and some may be duplicates. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L5B1-L8Y

 Part 4: Patrick Crawford (1628-1656) – This is where I have to totally rely on the research of others. On FamilySearch, there are a few sources attached and several active researchers.  https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L6XY-SV8

Part 5 – And then we get to James Crawford (1588-1660) and his wife Margaret Maxwell. Again I have not done any research. However, I do have records placing MAXWELLs in the same vicinity as the CRAWFORDs in Virginia and Kentucky. Bazeleel Maxwell is a brother-in-law to James Crawford (1758-1836) [BigY test]. I have found the Maxwells on the same tax records where I have found the CRAWFORD families of Lincoln/Garrard/Madison counties, Kentucky. Below is a link to James Crawford (1588-1660) on FamilySearch – https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/93KH-WV2

Part 6 – The book, Descendants of Alexander Crawford, contains some info on his ancestry on pages 1 thru 4.

Part 7: At first, I researched Alexander Crawford (1715-1764) in hopes that my line connected. However, it became fairly obvious that my line does not descend from Alexander. However, I’ve kept that original research and keep referring back to his line since his descendants seem to cross paths with the research of my line. Another source that provides info on Alexander’s descendants and possibly some info on his ancestry is the following book: William M. Clemens, Crawford Family Records: An Account of the First American Settlers and Colonial Families of the Name of Crawford (New York: William M. Clemens, 1914), This book is available as full text on FamilySearch: https://www.familysearch.org/…/218570-crawford-family…

As pointed out in a reply to my posts, the Clan Crawford Association maintains an archive of Crawford family resources. This archive is one of the benefits provided to members of the Clan Crawford Association. Please consider joining the discussion – both on Facebook and as a member of the Clan Crawford Association.

James Crawford / Nancy Sawyers

When researching a surname, do you ever encounter a ‘famous’ individual who seems to illogically appear in a lot of trees? With colonial CRAWFORD research, we have two such individuals. One is Col. William Crawford who was burned at the stake in the area that became Ohio. The other is Alexander Crawford and his wife Mary McPheeters Crawford who were killed by Indians in 1764.

In my research, I have had to sort out my line from the line of Alexander and Mary (McPheeters) Crawford. For a long time, I just assumed that Alexander’s line was ‘not my line’. However, with yDNA it appears that my line might have a common ancestor with the line of Alexander Crawford. My James Crawford line has been placed in the R1b-01B group while a descendant of Alexander Crawford has been placed in the R1b-01F group. Even though we aren’t closely related, it appears like we do have a common ancestor.

Since this suggested relationship is dependent on both of our trees being accurate, I decided to do some research on the tree posted by the Alexander Crawford descendant.

This tree goes thru Alexander’s son, William who married Rachel Sawyers and their son, James Crawford who married Nancy Ann Sawyers. These generations match up with the research included in the book, Descendants of Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford by Amanda Crawford, Arbogast Forbes and Lucetta Crawford Sammes.

Knowing the tree aligned with the research found in this book, I started researching James Crawford and Nancy Ann Sawyers, and their descendants. Below is the family group sheet that I have compiled for James Crawford and his wife Nancy Sawyers.

jamescrawford-nancysawyers-fgsDownload

Endnotes

1.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online November 2016), memorial for James Crawford (1772-1854), Find a Grave Memorial no. #41243396, created by Debbie Crowder, citing Prairie Grove Cemetery, Prairie Grove, Washington County, Arkansas;, James Crawford.
2.         Helen McPheeters Rice, The McPheeters Family (Winter Park, FL: No publisher, 1956), p. 168.
3.         William M. Clemens, Crawford Family Records: An Account of the First American Settlers and Colonial Families of the Name of Crawford (New York: William M. Clemens, 1914), p. 10[AccessType] [AccessDate].
4.         Arkansas, Northwestern Counties History, 1889, James Crawford, 1830; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed online September 2019). Original Source: History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas published in 1889.
5.         1830 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Washington County, Arkansas, image 11 of 24 , James Crawford; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online September 2019).
6.         History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas (Chicago, IL: Goodspeed Publishing, 1889), page 147; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 26 May 2020.
7.         1840 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, image 1 of 6 Image , James Crawford; digital iamge, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online September 2019).
8.         1850 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Marshill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 330 (stamped), family 20, E. M. Crawford; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online September 2019).
9.         Dodd, Jordan, “Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1660-1800,” database, Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.com (: viewed online September 2019), James Crawford.
10.         Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785-1940, James Crawford, 31 January 1797; database online, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed online September 2019).
11.         U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7836/). Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900.
12.         “Virginia, Land, Marriage and Probate Recrods, 1639-1850,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online September 2019), James Crawford.
13.         First Marriage Record of Augusta County, Virginia 1785-1813, James Crawford – Nancy Sawyers, 31 January 1797; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed online September 2019). Original Source: compiled by Col. Thomas Hughart Chapter, D.A.R., 1979.
14.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 6 June 2020), memorial for Nancy Ann Sawyers Crawford (1771-1854), Find a Grave Memorial no. #41243397.
15.         Edmund West comp., Family Data Collection – Births (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001), Nancy Ann Sawyers.
16.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 3 June 2020), memorial for William Crawford (1797-1889), Find a Grave Memorial no. #25935730.
17.         Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982, Silverton, Briscoe, Texas, Pleasant Lafayett Crawford, 15 April 1912; database on-line, Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com . viewed online 3 June 2020.
18.         1850 U.S. Census, Washington County Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 332 Image 9 of 15, family 59, William Crawford; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 3 June 2020); NARA microfilm publication M432.
19.         1860 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 74 Image 16 of 23, family 106, William Crawford; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 3 June 2020); NARA microfilm publication M653.
20.         1870 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hills Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 25 Image 25 of 32, family 164, Crawford Wm; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 3 June 2020); NARA Microfilm Publication T132.
21.         1880 U.S. Census, Stephens County, Texas, population schedule, , ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed ); NARA microfilm publication T9.
22.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 3 June 2020), memorial for Lucinda “Lucy” Crawford Moore (1799-1881), Find a Grave Memorial no. #41243580.
23.         1850 U.S. Census, Washington County Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 7, , Lucinda Moore.
24.         1860 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Cane Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 84, family 15, Lucinda Moore.
25.         1870 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 11, family 83, Lucy Moore.
26.         1880 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Prairie Grove, Washington County, Arkansas, ; digital imags, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed ); NARA microfilm publication T9.
27.         “Local News,” Fayetteville Weekly Democrat (Fayetteville, Arkansas), 20 October 1881, page 5; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspaper.com : viewed online 3 June 2020).
28.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 4 June 2020), memorial for Hannah H. Crawford Divin (1805-1882), Find a Grave Memorial no. #44083700.
29.         “Arkansas, Compiled Census and Census Substitutions Index, 1819-1870,”Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online (4 June 2020), Hannah Divin; Jackson, ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp., Arkansas Census, 1819-1870.
30.         1840 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 21, , Hannah Divin.
31.         1850 U.S. Census, Washington County Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 8, family 53, Hannah Devin.
32.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 4 June 2020), memorial for Mary Armstrong Crawford West (1810-1849), Find a Grave Memorial no. #41243675.
33.         U.S. Federal Census Mortlaity Schedules, 1850-1880, Mary A. West, 1850; database with images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed online 4 June 2020).
34.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 4 June 2020), memorial for George Alexander Crawford (1812-1875), Find a Grave Memorial no. #27157185.
35.         Oregon, Biographical and Other Index File, 1700s-1900s, George Alexander Crawford, database with images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed online 4 June 2020). Original Source: Oregon Historical Society.
36.         1850 U.S. Census, Washington County Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 378, family 131, George A. Crawford.
37.         1860 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 58, family 1, George Crawford.
38.         1870 U.S. Census, Clackamas County, Oregon, population schedule, Hardings Precinct, Clackamas County Oregon, page 3 Image 9 of 11, family 716, G. A. Crawford; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 4 June 2020); NARA microfilm publication M593.
39.         “Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1780-2002,” database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 4 June 2020), George A. Crawford.
40.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 5 June 2020), memorial for Robert Donald “Bob” Crawford (1816-1899), Find a Grave Memorial no. #41684621.
41.         1850 U.S. Census, Washington County Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, family 62, Robt D Crawford.
42.         1860 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 78 and 79, family 139, Robert Crawford.
43.         1870 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 25, family 170, Crawford R D.
44.         1880 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, ED 203, Page 18, family 156, Robert D Crawford.
45.         “Arkansas, Compiled Marriages, 1779-1850,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 5 June 2020), Robert D Crawford.
46.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 5 June 2020), memorial for Edward McLin Crawford (1818-1862), Find a Grave Memorial no. #27157163.
47.         1860 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 58, family 2, Edward Crawford.
48.         Rice, The McPheeters Family, page 172.
49.         Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 10 February 2020), memorial for John Irbin Crawford (1801-1876), Find a Grave Memorial no. #39058782.
50.         1830 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas Territory, population schedule, Washington County, Arkansas Territory, ; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed ).
51.         1840 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, , John Crawford.
52.         1850 U.S. Census, Washington County Arkansas, population schedule, Marshill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 336, family 89, John Crawford.
53.         1860 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 35, family 241, John Crawford.
54.         1870 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Marrs Hill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 9, family 61, S R Crawford.
55.         1850 U.S. Census, Washington County Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 8, family 51, William Morton.
56.         1860 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 36, family 10, William Morton.
57.         1870 U.S. Census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Mountain Township, Washington County, Arkansas, page 15, family 108, Wm Morton.

Based on this brief research of James Crawford and his wife Nancy Sawyers and their descendants, I believe that the tree for the Alexander Crawford yDNA test is valid. Thus, even though my line isn’t closely related to that of Alexander Crawford, we do share a common ancestor, somewhere back in the tree. As I learn more about Alexander, his siblings and his parents, I might find information that helps me identify my Crawford heritage.

Hey Crawford Researchers – Let’s Get This Right!

Anyone who has been doing genealogical research will eventually run into ‘same name’ issues, where two people of the same name are found in the same vicinity or same records. With my Crawford research, my same name struggle has been with my ancestor, James Crawford (1772-1854).

James is a common given name in Crawford research and my James seems to be surrounded by other James Crawfords during his adult life. Even though most of the time, I’ve been able to separate out the various families, I haven’t been able to find siblings or parents for my James Crawford.

However, I have encountered a lot of what I’m going to call ‘latchkey’ trees. With pre-1800 Crawford research in Virginia and surrounding areas, it is fairly easy to find published family histories for various Crawford lines. This would include David Crawford, Col. William Crawford and brothers, Alexander and Patrick Crawford. Since given names like James, John and Mary are found in many Crawford families, it is tempting to take a proven ancestor named James, John or Mary Crawford and ‘latch’ onto one of these families to identify parents of our ancestor.

With my Crawford research centered in Kentucky and Virginia, I encounter a lot of trees for these early Kentucky Crawford families connecting to Alexander Crawford and his wife Mary McPheeters or to Alexander’s brother Patrick. Some of these trees match the information in the well documented book, Descendants of Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford by Amanda Forbes. Unfortunately, many trees lead back to Alexander and Mary McPheeters Crawford when the documents for the child in the tree contradicts known documentation for the family of Alexander Crawford.

Unfortunately, these ‘latchkey’ trees create problems for everyone researching their Crawford line.

• They lead other Crawford researchers down an incorrect path
• They complicate the interpretation of DNA results

With autosomal DNA and features like ThruLines, an incorrect ancestor in my tree can lead all of my DNA matches down a wrong path.
Not only is this an issue with autosomal DNA but with yDNA research. In the Crawford DNA project, there were several tests with Alexander Crawford identified as the paternal ancestor. One of those is a fairly close match to my brother’s yDNA indicating that our lines might connect at some time in the past. However, there were other tests identifying Alexander Crawford as the paternal ancestor that are not related to my Crawford line. Based on information from an administrator of the Crawford project, these yDNA tests were significantly different and could not all have descended from Alexander Crawford. 
So, I’m asking for all Crawford researchers to help get this right. Let’s work together to document our Crawford lineage to make sure our trees are well documented — including parent-child links. Let’s

• Search out wills, probate records and court records that identify family connections
• Search out deeds that not only document residency but can also show movement from place to place or identify family members
• Utilize collaborative trees such as FamilySearch or WikiTree to connect with other researchers 
• Share our findings and the supporting documents on these collaborative trees or in public trees on genealogy sites

Please join me with this effort — and if your Crawford research takes you to Garrard, Madison or Lincoln counties in Kentucky prior to 1800, please contact me — I might be able to help you.

Crawford Clan DNA Challenge

Have you had your DNA tested? If so, did DNA help you answer a question? Based on Facebook posts I’ve seen, it appears that DNA is helping adoptees to connect with their birth family.

In my case, I wasn’t hoping to identify a close relative. Instead, I was hoping (and still am hoping) to identify my 5th great grandparents — particularly on my dad’s CRAWFORD line. It’s been 3 years since I first spit in a test tube (autosomal DNA) and since my brother swabbed his cheek (yDNA). That’s 3 years of working with various DNA results and few clues about this mysterious CRAWFORD grandfather.

As I’m trying to learn more about our yDNA results, so I can make sense of how we might fit in the Crawford Clan, I’ve come to a couple of conclusions:

• There’s too little data – I need more 5th, 6th and 7th cousins to do a yDNA test
• Determining relationships is VERY dependent on the accuracy of BOTH of our family trees

The closest matches at 37 and 67 markers do not have a common earliest known ancestor. Nor were any of these earliest known ancestors in my paper research — even in my broader research of Kentucky James Crawford families.

As I was able to upgrade the yDNA test to 111 markers, the genetic distances increased to 6 and I still had a wide variety of potential relatives (their earliest known ancestors).
Since the BigY results have come back, my branch of the BigY tree was identified as R-A13336.

Besides identifying my branch on the tree, the BigY test confirmed my placement in the R1b-01B Ardmillan group on the Crawford DNA project. According to the project administrator, I could share a common ancestor with any of the people in the R1b-01 section of the project. 
Unfortunately, I still have no idea how I might be related to any of my matches in the R-A13336 haplogroup. However, I do recognize several of the other ‘earliest known ancestors’ in this area of the Crawford project.

The two “James Crawford b1758” likely refer to the James Crawford married to Rebecca Anderson. This James Crawford owned land on Paint Lick Creek in Madison/Garrard Counties, Kentucky prior to his move to Jefferson County, Indiana. This is the same area of Kentucky where my ancestor was married in 1799 along with several other Crawford (William, Rebecca, and Mary) families. I suspect that my ancestor is somehow related to these other Crawfords but have not been able to locate any documentation to support that suspicion.
Another Crawford researcher has James, William and the spouses of Rebecca and Mary as grandsons of Col. John Crawford and great-grandsons of Robert Crawford II and Mary Shaw. This researcher has William Crawford (b. 1691 and d. 1767) as a second son to Robert Crawford II. According to this researcher, sons of William (1691-1767)  include Patrick (d. 1787) and Alexander (1716-1764). William, Patrick and Alexander are likely listed as the following earliest known ancestors in the Crawford yDNA project:  Patrick (b. 1723 and d. 1787), William (b. 1691 and d. 1761) and Alexander (b. 1715 -d 1764).
This same researcher believes my James Crawford may be the son of Mary Crawford, and thus a grandson of Col. John Crawford and great grandson of Robert Crawford II. (Again, I don’t have any documentation to support this theory.) If this is the case, then my James Crawford (1772-1854) would be a first cousin twice removed to the Alexander Crawford, married to Mary McPheeters, who was killed in 1764. This theory also makes James Crawford (1758-1836) an uncle to my James Crawford. The R1b-01B grouping of yDNA results supports this theory.
A search of the Crawford yDNA project for male children of William Crawford and Mary Ann Douglas (grandsons of Robert and Mary Shaw Crawford) did not locate any ‘earliest known ancestors’ listing for Robert, John, Edward, James, Thomas, William or George using the suggested birth and death information. As stated previously, there is a listing for Patrick in the R1b-01C section and a listing for Alexander Crawford (b. 1715-D1764) in the R1b-01F Ardmillan Outliers section.
Unfortunately, using other trees to locate the documentation to verify this theory becomes very tricky. Many Crawford trees with family going back to the area of Augusta County, Virginia prior to the revolutionary war find the information about the family of Alexander Crawford and his wife Mary McPheeters and try to fit their tree into Alexander’s family. 
Thus, the challenges ahead:

• Find more Crawford descendants of these Augusta County, VA lines and encourage them to have their yDNA tested.
• Identify descendants with GedMatch kits and encourage them to participate in the autosomal Crawford gedmatch project
• Encourage my known Crawford autosomal DNA matches to transfer their DNA data to GedMatch and join the project
• Figure out a communication method to connect everyone
• Work with other researchers to document the various Crawford families with roots going back to Augusta County, Virginia (map from https://www.mapofus.org/virginia/)

Please consider joining me in this

Augusta County, VA Crawford project!

Am I Making Incorrect Conclusions?

Have you ever looked at the FamilySearch tree or at personal trees on Ancestry and wondered how and why they made those family connections? I know I have. I hope that others if others have such a question about the research reflected in my Ancestry tree, that they would contact me with their concerns and questions!

This is important to me. I want my tree to accurately reflect family relationships. Since I research siblings and their descendants, some might ask why it is important that I get those relationships right. As Ancestry is providing us with more DNA tools, I’m finding that my ability to interpret my DNA matches is affected by whether I have those family connections correct. This became more apparent to me when I was studying my ThruLines and discovered that I didn’t have any DNA matches thru siblings of my ancestor. (See Crawford ThruLines Question)

As I’m researching the James Crawford(1758-1836) who married Rebecca Anderson, I’m finding that what I have in my tree disagrees with what a lot of others have.

I have also been researching Anna Crawford who married Robert Creath. I believe Anna to be the daughter of James and Rebecca (Anderson) Crawford. Again, I’m finding that others do not agree with me.

Many of these trees trace their Crawford line to Alexander and Mary (McPheeters) Crawford. Alexander and Mary were killed in 1764. Their descendants are identified in several publications.

Rice, Helen McPheeters. The McPheeters Family. Winter Park, Florida: no pub, 1956. p. 103

Clemens, William M. Crawford Family Records. New York: William M. Clemens, 1914p. 11

Based on the clues in these and other publications, I’ve identified the James Crawford living in Fayette County, Kentucky as the son of Alexander and Mary (McPheeters) Crawford. Find a Grave memorial number 59499985 provides more information on this James Crawford.

This James Crawford had a spouse named Rebecca. However, I believe there is another James Crawford with a wife named Rebecca living along Paint Lick Creek in Garrard County, KY. The book, Maxwell History and Genealogy outlines the family of James and Rebecca Anderson.

Housston, FLorence Wilson, Laura Cowan Blaine and Ella Dunn Mellette. Maxwell History and Genealogy. Indianapolis, IN: Indianaolis Engraving Co., 1916. p. 255.

I’ve been using the information from this Maxwell history to help research this James Crawford and his family. I have deeds for James Crawford indicating that he migrated from Garrard County, Kentucky to Jefferson County, Indiana. Of the eight children identified in the Maxwell history, I have marriage records for four of them from Garrard County, Kentucky and for three of them from Jefferson County, Indiana. 
Unfortunately, I’m still looking for a will, probate file and/or deed tying James Crawford (1758-1836) to his children. Without this type of documentation, the information in my tree could be wrong. 
Since circumstantial evidence suggests that my ancestor, James Crawford (1772-1854) might be related to the James Crawford (1758-1836) of Garrard County, I’d like to use DNA evidence to both support such a relationship and to connect with other researchers.
Thus, I’d like to be able to search my DNA matches for the surnames of James and Rebecca (Anderson) Crawford’s. Finding multiple matches when searching for Creath, Guthrie, or Vawter suggest a possible relationship between my ancestor and James Crawford (1758-1836). But, I also find matches for the surname of McPheeters, which suggests the other trees may be correct. These DNA matches would be helpful IF our paper trees matched. Unfortunately, our trees don’t match making it difficult to utilize this DNA data.
For my DNA matches to be helpful, I need my tree to be as accurate as possible. I also need others to have trees as accurate as possible. So, if you find something in my tree that you disagree with, please contact me!

Below are links to my data:

• RootsMagic data
  • Rev. James Crawford (1753-1803)
  • James Crawford (1758-1836)
  • James Crawford (1772-1854)
• Ancestry Tree: Heartland Genealogy

Following Women to Find Hints

Do you research the spouses of your ancestor’s siblings? If you are like me, you don’t spend much time identifying let alone researching the parents of an ancestor’s sister-in-law.

However, with my Crawford research, I’m finding valuable clues from published genealogies. Many of those published genealogies are for the families of women who married into the Crawford family.

There are a couple of McPheeters genealogies that include the family of Alexander and Mary (McPheeters) Crawford. These works have helped me separate my Crawford line from the descendants of Alexander Crawford.

Since my ancestor, James Crawford, was married in Garrard County, I have spent a lot of time researching the Crawford families in Garrard County at the time. I suspect that my James Crawford is somehow related to the James Crawford that owned land along the Paint Lick Creek in Madison and Garrard counties. This James Crawford was married to Rebecca Anderson.

Thru the John Anderson deed found in Madison County, Kentucky (Book D page 712 and 713), I was able to identify the siblings of Rebecca Anderson Crawford. This deed along with additional research on James and Rebecca Crawford led me to a Maxwell Family History.

I also found information on some of James and Rebecca Crawford’s children in the Vawter Family History. 

By researching these VAWTER families, I came across a WPA Interview with James Vawter Crawford and hist mother Mary F Cowgill (Crawford) Coon.

The transcript of the interview contains a ‘Life Sketch of Philamen V. Crawford, written by himself in 1882.’ This life sketch includes information on James and Rebecca Crawford, the grandparents of Philamen V. Crawford.

All of these sources provides clues about the family of James and Rebecca (Anderson) Crawford. Armed with these clues, I have been able to locate marriage records, deeds and court documents to further document this family.

Even though I’ve been able to back up the information from these family genealogies with other records, that isn’t always the case. Scott Fisher reminds us to utilize caution when working with published genealogies in episode #77 of Fisher’s Top Tips.

“Early genealogists were just as prone to error as anyone posting a public tree today … use that old book as a clue, then validate that the author got it right,” said Scott Fisher on Episode #77 of Fisher’s Top Tips.

I’m no closer to proving a relationship between my James Crawford and James and Rebecca (Anderson) Crawford. However, I’m thankful that I’ve found these published genealogies. Who knows, one of these clues might lead to a document connecting the two men.

Sources Used:
Forbes, Amanda Crawford Arbogast and Lucetta Eggleston Crawford Sammis. Descendants of Alexander & Mary McPheeters Crawford: Pioneer Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia. Silver Spring, Maryland: A.A. Forbes, c1980.

Grace Vawter Bicknell, Vawter Family in America: with the Allied Families of Branham, Crawford,Wise, Lewis, Stribling, Glover, Moncrief (Indianapolis: The Hollenbeck Press, 1905), p. 324; digital images, Internet Archive (us.archive.org : downloaded pdf May 2019).

Houston Florence Wilson, Laura Cowan Blaine, Ella Dunn Mellette, Maxwell History and Genealogy (Indianapolis, IN: C. E. Pauley & Co, 1916), 255; digital images, Google Books (books.google.com : viewed online August 2016; Rebecca Anderson / James Crawford family.)

Interview with James Vawter Crawford and his mother Mary F. Cowgill (Crawford) Coon (Shedd, Oregon), by WPA Interviews for Linn County Oregon and transcribed by Patricia Dunn, transcribed 2000. transcription held by WPA Interviews (http://www.lgsoregon.org/lgstng/showmedia.php?mediaID=22398).

Rice, Helen McPheeters. The McPheeters Family. Winter Park, Fla.: Russell Fuller Multi-copy, 1956.