Okay, back to my Crawford line. I don't know if I've mentioned, but for years I could go not further with my mother's paternal line than her grandfather, John W Crawford who married Mariah Weaver in 1849 in Laurel Co, KY. I posted online in every message board and listserv I could find until finally, after several years, I heard from someone from Kentucky who was descended from John's sister, Ela Crawford Mahaffey (see photo below)... and to top it off, they sent me copies of the pages from the family Bible, that listed all his siblings, his parents, and his grandparents. How Lucky Is That!!!
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| Ela Mahaffey's tombstone |
Well, that has been where I've stayed for another 4 or 5 years, unable to go any further back (Crawford is as common a surname as Smith or Jones, I think) to parentage on George Crawford, grandfather of John W Crawford or on Rachel Stringfellow Crawford. Occasionally I check them on Rootsweb and Ancestry, but hadn't had much success until yesterday. Someone had posted a George Nelson Crawford (b about 1750), married to Rachel Stringfellow, and son of George Crawford (b. 1727 in Augusta Co, VA) and Elizabeth Poage (b. 1733 in VA).
Here are some of the sources cited:
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| Augusta Co, Virginia |
CHRONICLES OF THE Scotch-Irish Settlement IN VIRGINIA EXTRACTED FROM THE ORIGINAL COURT RECORDS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY 1745-1800 AUGUSTA COUNTY COURT RECORDS. Order Book No. XX. page 246 - Page (80) George Crawford allowed for a gun lost in the service.
CHRONICLES OF THE Scotch-Irish Settlement IN VIRGINIA EXTRACTED FROM THE ORIGINAL COURT RECORDS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY 1745-1800. Deed Book NO. 4. Additional Members Of The Executive Committee, page 299- Page 25.--27th November, 1757. John Harrison, farmer, to Robert Renick, farmer, 241 acres. Teste: Andrew Woods, John Poage (brother-in-law??), George Crawford.
CHRONICLES OF THE Scotch-Irish Settlement IN VIRGINIA EXTRACTED FROM THE ORIGINAL COURT RECORDS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY 1745-1800. Deed Book NO. 9. Additional Members of The Executive Committee. page 364 - Page 39.--18th November, 1760. George Crawford to Henry Reburn, £50, 100 acres on North River Shanandore below the Fork; land now Henry lives on, patented to Josia Hickman, 5th April, 1748. Delivered: Henry Reburn. August, 1762.
CHRONICLES OF THE Scotch-Irish Settlement IN VIRGINIA EXTRACTED FROM THE ORIGINAL COURT RECORDS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY 1745-1800. Deed Book NO. 12. Additional Members of the Executive Committee. page 424 - Page 2.--22d May, 1765. William Baskins and Mary to George Crawford, £200, 212 acres on Lewis Creek; corner James Lessley; corner Pickens; corner Mathews. Delivered: George Crawford, 4th October, 1772.
CHRONICLES OF THE Scotch-Irish Settlement IN VIRGINIA EXTRACTED FROM THE ORIGINAL COURT RECORDS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY 1745-1800. AUGUSTA COUNTY COURT RECORDS. Order Book No. XXIV. page 292 - Page (470) George Crawford exempted from levy on account of age and infirmity.
19th July, 1779. George Crawford's will (of Middle River)--To wife, Elizabeth, 1/2 home plantation; to son, James, 1/2 home plantation and entry adjoining; to son, George, plantation bought from Joshua Hickman on Littler's Creek; to son, Robert, plantation bought of Brice Russell with addition taken off of Hickman's place on Lettler's Creek; to son, William Crawford, plantation bought of Wm. Baskins; to son, John, 1/2 home plantation before devised to wife above; to daughter, Margaret Anderson; to daughter, Mary Renkin; to daughter, Elizabeth Crawford; to daughter, Martha; to daughter, Sarah; to daughter, Jane. Executors, sons James and George. Teste: John Givens, John Givens, Jr., Thomas Graham. Proved. 16th May, 1780, by the Givenses. Executors qualify.
CHRONICLES OF THE Scotch-Irish Settlement IN VIRGINIA EXTRACTED FROM THE ORIGINAL COURT RECORDS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY 1745-1800. Circuit Court Records, Section "I." Judgements. page 199 - Austin vs. Carthrae--O. S. 262; N. S. 92--Orator is Richard Austin of Rockingham. On 28th November, 1805, Casper, alias Gasper Mifford, made his will in Rockingham and died, leaving a widow called Mary and children, viz: George, Ben, Cate (wife of Jacob Kile), John, Casper and Leancy, alias Magdalene, widow of Thos. Hana. Mary, the widow, died April, 1816, testate. John Mefford had a son George. George Mefford had a son George. Patent, 31st July, 1800, to Casper Mifford, 41 acres in Rockingham. Patent, 5th April, 1749, to Joshua Hickman for 100 acres on North River of Shenando. On April 6, 1816, George and Benj. Meffert, Catherine Kile and George Meffert, son of John Meffert, are non-residents of Virginia. Deed, 16th January, 1815, by Magdalena Hanah, daughter of Gasper Mefford and widow of late Thomas Hana, to Richard Austin of Rockingham, all her interest in her father's estate. Will of Gasper Mefford dated 28th November, 1805. Wife, Mary; son, Benjamin; daughters, Leoney, Caty Ryle; son John's son, George. Recorded in Rockingham, December, 1805. Deed, 24th August, 1778, by Henry Reburn and Jane of Rockingham to Casper Meffort of Rockingham, 100 acres on North River of Shennandoe below the Fork where Reburn now lives, granted to Joshua Hickman, 5th April, 1748, and conveyed to Henry by George Crawford, 18th November, 1760. Letter addressed to Ensign George Eskridge, Staunton: Dear Sir: Winchester, 28th April, 1813. Congratulations upon appointment and acceptance. Signed by Thomas Parker, Colo., 12th Infantry. Thos. Hannah, aged 28, deposes, in Rockingham, 2d June, 1817, is grandson of Gasper Mefford
George (1727) was married to Elizabeth Poage who is the daughter of Robert Poage (b. 1702 in Ireland) and Elizabeth Preston (b. 1702). Here are some notes I found on Robert Poage -
From Virginia Land Records, Virginia Valley Settlers;
Robert Poage settled on the "Pennsylvania road" or 'Irish Path', as the present Valley Turnpike was then called, about three miles north of Staunton, VA.
Robert Poage and James Bell were among the first members of the county court of Augusta county, and Daniel McNair was a Captain of Militia in 1747.
Robert Poage (Beverley Patent NE, 772 acres, 1739), (b. 1700, prob. Ireland, d. 1774, Augusta County, VA), who married Elizabeth Preston, daughter of Archibald Preston. in Ireland. Robert had a large family that intermarried with many early families in Augusta County.
Robert Poague (Poage) (Beverley Patent SW, 202 acres, 1740), same as above.
From Annals of Augusta Co.by Waddell pp 258-259
Robert Poage first appeared in Orange Co [VA]. Court May 22 1740 to "prove his importation" with the view of taking up public lands. The records sets forth that he,his wife Elizabeth, and nine named children came from Ireland to Philadelphia and "thence to this colony" at his own expense...Mr Poage settled on a plantation 3 miles north of Stauton... in Beverly's Manor..[on a] track of the Blue Ridge" provided the guarantee should pay a fee rent of one shilling for every 50 acres annually on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel".
Son Thomas was not named in the "importation" of 1740 and it is assumed he was born in America.
Scotch-Irish Chronicles P. 216--20 Oct 1773. Robert Poack's(sic) will--
To sons John & Thomas, My real estate, 260 acres,lying upon a branch of Linvel's Creek;to daughter, Martha Woods,1 pistole (see below); to sons, Robert, George,and William, 1 pistole: to daughters Elizabeth Crawford, Margaret Robertson, 1 pistole. Executors, William Lewis and John Poage.
Teste: John Craig, Isabella Helena Craig, Charles Baskin. Proved, 16 Mar 1774, by John Craig, Clerk,and Baskins. (no administration order.)
The pistole, a common coin in Virginia, at least until the 1760s, was a Spanish gold coin, sometimes called a doubloon. By the mid eighteenth century, a pistole was worth almost a pound (.83), or a little over 18 shillings. Since the colonists were not allowed to coin their own money, they usually had to use such foreign coins. As one of the most common circulating coins used in the first half of the eighteenth century, the pistole became a primary medium of exchange. A pistole probably amounted to around the purchase price of a cow, and was thus a not inconsiderable sum, perhaps as much as two to three hundred dollars today. In the 1750s Governor Dinwiddie's attempt to charge a pistole fee for all land patents provoked a storm of criticism from the Virginia assembly--made up of men who, if anyone in the colony, could afford the fee. Information drawn from McCusker, John J. Money and Exchange in Europe and America, 1600-1775 : A Handbook. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Va., by the University of North Carolina Press, 1978.
Two daughters not mentioned in the will-- Mary and Sarah-- may have died before it was written. One is thought to have been the wife of Major Robert Breckinridge, son of Alexander, and left 2 young son, Robert and Alexander, who became prominent in Ky. --- Robert Poage, immigrant from Ireland.
Page 64.--6th _____, 1746. Robert Poage. farmer, to Robert Gamble, weaver, £15 current money Virginia; 306 acres on west side Blue Ridge; corner to Alexander Blair; John Young's line. Witnesses, John Nuckens (Pickens), James Trimble, Silas Hart. Acknowledged, and dower released by Elizabeth, wife of Robert, 15th April, 1746.
Page 509.--19th May, 1748. £35. Robert Poage to James Thompson, 378 acres, 1 R., 20 P.. on a branch called Poage's Run. Teste: Peter Scholl, Jno. Buchanan, Silas Hart. Acknowledged by Robert, and dower released by Elizabeth, 19th May, 1748.
Page 123.--15th March, 1767. Robert Poage to Robert Poage, his son, £20, 150 acres on Back Creek, a branch of Roanoke, at a place called the Forks, patented to Robert 20th June, 1749. Teste: John Buchanan, William ( ) Hall, Robert Bellshe. Delivered: Robert Poage, May, 1770.
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| Robert Poage house |
:Posted by jshirel, Sturgis, Kentucky (June 21, 2008 By Betty Jean Poague Smith , Fort Defiance, Augusta County, Virginia)
All of our history started with Robert and Elizabeth Poage. My father and his two sisters are mentioned in a book that is called "The Descendants of Robert and John Poage: Pioneer Settlers in Augusta County, VA" based on the manuscript collections of Prof. Andrew Woods Williamson and Henry Martyn Williamson and John Guy Bishop, Supplemented and Arranged by Robert Bell Woodworth, D. Sc. on page #947 is where it is mentioned.
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| Augusta Stone Church |
Augusta Stone Church, established in 1740 by the Rev. John Craig, is one of the oldest Presbyterian organizations in Virginia. The solid, stone building has served its people since it was completed in 1749 to the present, thus earning the distinction of being the oldest Presbyterian house of worship in continuous use in the State of Virginia.
The founders of this church were the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who came to America seeking both religious and civil freedom. As early as 1720, small numbers of these pioneers who had landed at New Castle, Delaware, were making their way south to the fertile Valley of Virginia. These settlers felt a deep-rooted need to establish in this new land the church of their ancestors. In 1737 the newly settled "peoples of Beverley Manor in the back parts of Virginia" petitioned Donegal Presbytery in Philadelphia for supply ministers. It was not until 1740 that a regular minister came to serve "the people of the Shenandoah and South River." This young minister was the Rev. John Craig, who, in accepting the call, became the first minister of any denomination to settle in what is now Augusta County, and the first ordained Presbyterian minister to settle in the Valley of Virginia.
Upon arriving in Augusta County in 1740, he described his first impression of the new settlement as "...wilderness, without a place of worship or church order." "The Congregation of the Triple Forks of the Shenandoah," although one congregation, actually had at least two places of worship - one came to be known as Tinkling Spring and another as Augusta Stone.
In 1747 under the leadership of the Rev. Craig, the congregation began the building of a stone Church which was to serve a dual purpose - a religious sanctuary, and a fort in case of Indian attack. It was unique from the very beginning in that the early houses and churches were usually built of logs. The church was completed in 1749 and today constitutes most of the nave of the present sanctuary. It is believed that the architecture was patterned after Donegore Parish Church, which was located only two miles from John Craig's home in Northern Ireland.
In 1755, after Braddock's defeat, the Valley settlers were most vulnerable to attack by the Indians. Many were in favor of fleeing to the safety of eastern Virginia, but the Rev. Craig persuaded them to hold fast and to build a stockade around the church. Although the Indians never actually attacked the church, the small congregation frequently fled to Stone Church for protection when the alarm was spread that the Indians were on the warpath. Legend has it that the name Fort Defiance derives from the steadfastness and bravery demonstrated by these early Presbyterian settlers.
From the Poage surname message board (Posted: 3 Dec 2000 12:00PM GMT):
I am not a Pogue researcher but because I am the administrator of the Augusta Co., Va. Mailing List a very kind gentleman sent me some information on the Poage family with the hope that it would help someone researching this family.
He was not a Poage researcher either and did not know where he got the information so to protect his privacy I will not mention his name or e-mail address.
Robert Poage and wife emigrated from Ireland 1739 through port of Philadelphia. (Proved in ct. 22 May 1740)
He r. on plantation 3 miles N. of Staunton, Va. in "Beverly's Manor" - 772 acres.
Robert Poage was an elder in the Augusta Stone Church 1740. Robert, wife Elizabeth and 9 children appeared in Orange Court May 22, 1740 to "prove his importation" with the view of taking up public lands. They came through the port of Philadelphia and immigrated at his own expense.
Robert settled on a plantation 3 miles north of Staunton, which he must have purchased from Wm. Beverly as the land was in Beverly's Manor. The tract contained originally 778 acres. It was there, no doubt, that the young preacher, McAden, obtained his first dinner in Virginia, on Saturday, June 21, 1755
(BARB'S NOTE) This last sentence seems out of place and I'm not sure to what it refers. There may be a page missing or something)
He acquired other lands from the government. A patent on parchment, executed by Gov. Gooch July 30, 1742, granted to Robert Poage 306 acres of land "in the county of Orange on the west side of the Blue Ridge" to be held "in free and common soccage, and not in capite or by knight's service" in consideration of 35 shillings for every 50 acres, annually, "on the Feast of St. Michael, the Archangel," and so forth. The seal attached to the patent has on it an impression of the royal crown of Great Britain.
The will of Robert Poage, dated Oct. 20, 1773, was proved in court March 6, 1774. The executors were Wm. Lewis and testator's son John. The testator mentions his sons John, Thomas, Robert, George, and William; and his daughters Martha Woods, Elizabeth Crawford, and Margaret Robertson. To the last six he gave only "one pistol" each, having provided for them otherwise. The son Thomas is not named in the Orange County court record, and the daughters, Mary and Sarah, who were not named in the will.
Robert Poage was one of the first magistrates of the county, named by Gov. Gooch, and was a soldier in the Colonial Militia of Augusta County in 1742.
Robert Poage
b. 1700 in Ireland
d. 1774 in Staunton, Augusta Co., Va.
m. ca 1722
Elizabeth Preston
b. ca 1704 in Ireland
her father Richard Preston
Children:
1. Sarah b. 1723 in Ireland m. Thomas Gordon 1740
2. John, b. ca 1726 in Ireland, will 16 Feb. 1789. Pr. 22 April, 1789. m. Mary Crawford 3 June, 1751, Augusta Co., Va.
3. Martha - b. 1728 in Ireland - d. April 15, 1818 in Ripley , Ohio - m. Andrew Woods 1750
4. Robert - b. 1730 in Ireland - rem. to Botetourt Co., Va. - m. Jean Wallace
5. Mary - b. ca. 1732 in Ireland - d. 1757 - m. Maj. Robert Breckenridge of Augusta Co., Va.
6. Elizabeth - b. ca. 1733 in Ireland - d. 1791 - m. George Crawford
7. (Col.) George - b. 1734 in Ireland - d. 1787 in Botetourt Co., Va. - m. 1st Marie Jordan? 2nd Rachel Stevenson - m. 2nd 23 July, 1754 in Augusta Co., Va.
8. William - b. ca. 1735 in Ireland - moved first to Albermarle & then to Ky. - d. 3 Sept. 1778 - killed by Indians - m. Anne (Kennedy) Wilson 17 April 1762.
9. Margaret - b. ca. 1737 in Ireland - m. Col. James Robertson 5 May 1762 in Augusta Co., Va.
10. Thomas - b. 1739 in Augusta Co., Va. - d. 1802 in Staunton, Va. - he inherited & r. of Father's estate - m. Polly (Mary) McClanahan, 27 April, 1752 in Augusta Co., Va.
In Augusta County near Stauton is a memorial to Robert Poage--
Sacred to the Memory of ROBERT POAGE Immigrant from Ireland -- 1739 Elder in Augusta Stone Church -- 1740 Justice. First Commissioner of the Peace Augusta County -- 1745 Died in 1774 And to the Memory of his Wife Elizabeth Preston. |
Okay, this all looks good, but when you research the George Crawfords of VA, there are many of them and some sources cite the George Crawford, son of George and Elizabeth (Poage) Crawford married Florence Henderson. So, I'm sure to be several years researching further on this to prove or disprove it.
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