Another Crawford Puzzle - Who Is This William Crawford

Do you struggle with figuring out who’s who in records created before the 1850 census began naming everyone in a household?

I certainly do—especially when researching the CRAWFORD surname in Kentucky.

While using FamilySearch Full Text Search for records involving William Crawford in Madison County, Kentucky, I uncovered a 1792 court document that caught my attention. Among several men summoned to testify was:

William Crawford, Junr.

That little word “Junr” immediately raised a much bigger question.

Which William Crawford Was He?

Was this William Crawford Jr. the son of the William Crawford who later migrated to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri?

Or was he simply a younger William Crawford living in the same area who was unrelated—or perhaps only distantly related—to the older William?

The designation Junior is an important clue, but it does not by itself establish a father-son relationship. Historically, Senior and Junior could be used simply to distinguish two men of the same name living in the same community.

A Complication in the Family Tree

My current tree identifies a William Crawford, born in 1771, as a son of the William Crawford who later migrated to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.

However, that relationship is not firmly established. In 2024, the parent-child relationship involving these men was changed on the FamilySearch Family Tree, giving me another reason to question whether the younger William [LVSF-BCK] has been correctly placed.

And now this Madison County record adds another piece to the puzzle.

The document is dated 13 February 1792. William Crawford Jr., along with Ned Stevens, Nicholas Hawkins, John King, George James, Charles Barnard, and David Kennedy, was ordered to appear before the Madison County Court to testify on behalf of Humphrey Best in a case against James Mason.

Unfortunately, the document tells me that William Crawford Jr. was associated with these men and this court case—but it doesn't tell me who his father was.

That means I don't yet have enough evidence to identify this William Crawford Jr. with confidence.

Instead of solving a CRAWFORD mystery, I've apparently found another one.

Where Do I Go From Here?

The next step is to investigate the people surrounding William Crawford Jr. in this record. Who were Humphrey Best, James Mason, Ned Stevens, Nicholas Hawkins, John King, George James, Charles Barnard, and David Kennedy? Do any of them appear in records involving either of the William Crawfords I'm researching?

The court case itself may also contain additional documents that explain why these men were called as witnesses and perhaps reveal land, neighborhood, business, or family connections.

For now, I'm leaving the identity of William Crawford, Junr. as an open question.

Below is my transcription of the court document, followed by an image of the original record.

Transcription

The Commonwealth of Virginia to
the Sheriff of Madison County Greeting
you are hereby commanded to Summon
Ned Stevens, Nicholas Hawkins, John
King, George James, Charles Barnard,
William Crawford, Junr & David Kenn-
edy, to appear before the Justices of our
said County Court at the Courthouse
on the first Tuesday in May next
to testify and the truth to say in behalf
of Humphrey Best [in] a Certain
Matter of controversy in our said Court
Depending and undetermined between the
said Humphrey Best Plaintiff and
James Mason Defendant and this they
shall in no wise omit under the penal-
ty of £100 Witness William Irvine
Clerk of our said Court at the Court-
house the 13th day of Feby 1792 and in
the sixteenth year of the Commonweal-
th

Will Irvine

Source: “Madison, Kentucky, United States records,” images, FamilySearch, image 832 of 3407, Image Group Number 007838115, accessed 12 September 2026.