johncrow

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John Crow

It is believed that John Crow, born February 23, 1736, in Baltimore County, Maryland, was my 4th great grandfather. We have been told he was the son of John Crow and his third wife, Judith Magee.

John may have served with the Chatham County, North Carolina Militia, in 1772, in Captain Isaiah Hogan's Company.

Records show that on January 11, 1790, John Crow bought 320 acres of land in Rutherford County, North Carolina, on the waters of Little Hickory Creek "adjoining Harrold's old corner and Batis", from Ruben Crow, a hatter, of Chatham County. John later willed this piece of land to his son James, who was my great-great-great grandfather.

John appears on the 1790 Hillsborough, Chatham County, North Carolina, census. He is shown as free white male 16 and over. With him are four free white males under the age of 16 and four free white females.

We believe John purchased 150 acres of land at Stumpy Mountain in May 1796, from Stephen Crow and his wife Margaret. We have found a number of land transactions concerning John Crow. At this time we do not know if all these transactions involved our John, or if some of them involved another John Crow. We do know that our John Crow became a wealthy planter, with a great deal of property and a number of slaves. Joy Crow Barnes (now deceased), a descendant of John Crow, indicated in her studies that John also acquired a land grant in 1797.

The 1800 Chatham County census shows John Crow, age 45 and over, with four males age 10-16; four males under 10; one female age 26-45; one female age 10-16; and two females under the age of 10 years. He also had one slave.

In February 1806, John purchased 75 acres of land on the north side of Haw River from Josiah Copeland. This was referred to as the "Copeland Place". John later willed this piece of land to his son Jesse.

The 1810 Chatham County census shows John, age 45 and over, with one male age 26-45; one male age 16-26; two males age 10-16; one female age 45 and over; and two females age 16-26. John's sons, Jesse and Ruben, and their families were living near John at that time.

The 1815 Chatham County tax list shows John Crow paid one white poll tax and two black poll taxes, and paid taxes on 400 acres adjoining George Brewer and 75 acres adjoining John White, called "the Copeland Place".

John Crow signed his will on May 25, 1815, in Chatham County. In it he named his wife, Sarah, and children Ruben, James, John, Jesse, Gabriel, Johnson, Rachel, Elizabeth, and Sarah.

John died between the time he signed his will and the time of the 1820 census. We believe he probably died soon after signing his will.

John's widow, Sarah, appears on the 1820 Chatham County census. She is shown as a female age 45 and over. With her is one male age 16-26 and one female age 26-45. The census also shows two male slaves and five female slaves. The census shows that three people were engaged in agriculture. Living not far from Sarah, was her son James Crow, who was my great-great-great grandfather.

The 1830 Chatham County census shows Sarah living with her son James and his family. She is shown to be between 70 and 80 years old.

Sarah died between 1830 and 1840, in either Chatham or Guilford County, North Carolina.

Census indicates John and Sarah had at least eleven, and possibly as many as thirteen children. Only nine children were named in John's will, which was dated 1815, so we can only assume that the other children had already died and left no heirs to claim their part of the estate. Although other researchers have provided us with dates of birth for part of those children, our findings do not agree. If all the children listed on the census records were John's children and not other family members, the 1790 census indicates he had 4 sons born between 1774 and 1790, and 3 daughters born prior to 1790. The 1800 census indicates he had 4 more sons born between 1790 and 1800, and 2 daughters born during that time. We will use our dates, as we believe them to be more correct.