Heartland Genealogy

When researching a difficult ancestor, sometimes the people surrounding that ancestor become almost as important as the ancestor himself. That's certainly true in my continuing effort to untangle the various Crawford families of early Kentucky. One of those people is Moses Dooley . Moses isn't a Crawford, and I currently have no evidence that he was related to my Crawford family by blood or marriage. Yet the more I learn about him, the more convinced I am that he belongs in my Crawford FAN club. Why? Because Moses Dooley keeps showing up in the same places as the Crawfords I'm trying to understand. From Virginia to Sugar Creek Moses Dooley was born about 1748 in Virginia. By 1780, he was involved in Kentucky land acquisition. A survey for 500 acres on Sugar Creek was completed for him on May 26, 1780. He later filed land entry papers and received a grant for those 500 acres. Moses was also an early Baptist preacher associated with the Old Sugar Creek Meeting House in what...

Following the Crawfords from Kentucky to Ohio One of my longstanding genealogy questions concerns my ancestor James Crawford , born 17 April 1772 in Virginia. He married the widow Sarah "Sally" Smith Duggins in Garrard County, Kentucky, in 1799 and later settled in Preble County, Ohio. Who were his parents? I still don't know. However, marriage records, land records, tax lists, migration patterns, associates, and Y-DNA are beginning to reveal a network of Crawford and Sellers families that may eventually help answer that question. Instead of looking at my James Crawford in isolation, I'm now asking a broader question: How was my James Crawford related to the other Crawford families living in the same part of Kentucky? The Crawford-Sellers Connection One of the first clues comes from marriage records. In 1791, James Sellers married Mary Crawford in Lincoln County, Kentucky. Rebekah Crawford gave permission for Mary to marry. Five years later, in 1796, William Sellers...

Have you ever run across a record in a county you've been researching and have no idea how the person in the record fits with known families in that area? Well, that's my situation -- and it is anoter James Crawford. James and Martha Crawford sold land in Barren County, Kentucky. Tax lists for Barren County show a James Crawford with 200 acres on the Marrowbone River. These tax lists also show another James Crawford with 50 acres on the Marrowbone. This second James Crawford is thought to be James and Sally (Smith Duggins) Crawford. I've also identified the family of David Crawford who died in Barren County, KY in 1812. Now, I've found a deed for a James Crawford and Patsy his wife selling land in Wythe County Virginia to Peter Kinson. This 1806 deed indicates that James and Patsy were living in Montgomery County, Ohio at the time.

I found the following deed in Barren County for a James Crawford and his wife, Patsy. This James Crawford was living in Montgomery County, Ohio in 1806. I currently do not know anything about this James Crawford. Vols. Before A 1798-1807 Vol. A 1799-1899 FS Film 209719 DGS 7899149 Vol. A page 277 Image 270 Page 277 Crawford to Kinson

One of the tasks handed me during my ' Brick Wall' Consultation was to review all of my data and document the elimination of individuals as potential fathers to James Crawford (1772-1854) of Preble County, Ohio. Thus, I'm digging thru both my memory and my files. My memory was telling me that I had found a will for a Crawford in Barren County, Kentucky that eliminated this person as a father to James. Digging thru my files, I found some handwritten notes about a will in Barren County, Kentucky.

Have you ever seen a name in a deed or court document and thought to yourself, 'Hey, I've seen that name before?' Well that was my situation when I was looking at tax records for Barren County, Kentucky. Since I found James Crawford with 200 acres of land on the Marrowbone listed on the 1800 tax list for Barren County, KY , I started looking for other people owning land on the Marrowbone. That's when I found Moses Dooly Junr also owning 200 acres of land on the Marrowbone. Not only was Moses Dooly Junr in Barren County, but so was his father and brothers.

Have you ever re-looked at some tax records and discovered that you can now figure out who these people might be when before they were just a list of names found in that county? Well, that has been my experience as I'm going back thru some of my Crawford Kentucky research in hopes that it leads me back another generation. I've recently re-looked at Madison, Lincoln and Garrard county tax lists and combined with land records, I have a much better understanding of who the various Crawfords listed in these tax roles are. Since I have deeds indicating James Crawford (husband of Martha Knight) lived in Barren County, Kentucky, I decided to re-look at those tax records. I first searched the Barren County KY tax lists some time ago. Based on the "V20-0014" notation on my notes, I'm guessing I used the American Genealogical Lending Library to research these records at home.

Have you ever questioned whether an ancestor lived in a certain place because the migration path was illogical? Well, that is the case with our Crawford research. James Crawford and Martha Knight were married in Lincoln County, KY in 1793. James Crawford and Sally Duggins were married in Garrard County, KY in 1799. Both families migrated to Preble County, Ohio. So when clues pointed to at least one of them being in Barren County, KY (South of Lincoln and Garrard), those clues were questioned because it seemed illogical for these couples to migrate South before migrating North to Ohio. That gut feeling was proven incorrect when a Barren County deed was discovered. This 1821 deed was for the sale of land by a James Crawford of Preble County, Ohio. Records place both James Crawfords in Preble County, Ohio at the time. So far, no record has been found for a third James Crawford in Preble County, Ohio in 1821. Since the deed identifies the wife of James Crawford as Martha, this deed...