John Crow

My 4th great grandfather, John Crow was born February 23, 1736, in Baltimore County, Maryland.    He was the son of John Crow and his third wife, Judith Magee.    

We believe John migrated to North Carolina prior to 1770.   

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

John married my 4th great grandmother, Sarah (last name unknown), probably about 1776, in North Carolina.     Census indicates Sarah was probably born about 1756-1758. 

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 3rd great grandfather.

John appears on the 1790 Hillsborough, Chatham County, North Carolina, census.    The census shows John Crow, a free white male 16 and over (b. bef 1774); four free white males (Jesse, Reuben, James & John) under the age of 16 (b. 1775-1790) and four free white females (wife Sarah & daughters Rachel & 2 unknown).

 We believe John purchased 150 acres of land at Stumpy Mountain in May 1796, from Stephen Crow and his wife Margaret.     We found a number of land transactions concerning John Crow.    We know that John 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, a male 45 and over (b. 1755 & bef); four males (Jesse, Reuben, James & John) age 10-15 (b. 1785-1790); four males (Gabriel, Johnson & 2 unknown) under 10 (b. 1791-1800); one female (Sarah) 26-44 (b. 1756-1774); one female (Rachel) 10-15 (b. 1785-1790) and two females (Elizabeth & Sarah) under 10 (b. 1791-1800).      He also had one slave.  

 The 1800 census shows 8 sons and 3 daughters, for a total of 11 children.    The 1790 census shows that John had 3 daughters born prior to 1790, and since daughters Elizabeth & Sarah were born after 1790, we know there were two daughters who had died between the 1790 census and the 1800 census.    That would mean that Sarah had given birth to 13 children by 1800. 

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

The 1810 Chatham County census shows John, a male 45 and over (b. 1765 & bef); one male (James) 26-44 (b. 1766-1784); one male (John) 16-25 (b. 1785-1794); two males (Gabriel & Johnson) 10-15 (b. 1795-1800); one female (Sarah) 45 and over (b. 1765 & bef); one female (Elizabeth) 16-25 (b. 1785-1794) and one female (Sarah) 10-15 (b.1795-1800).     John's sons, Jesse and Reuben, and their families were living near John at that time.    This census accounts for six of John's sons (4 living at home, plus Jesse and Reuben), and 2 of his daughters (Rachel, the eldest had married prior to 1810).    It appears that 2 of John's sons died between 1800 and 1810.  

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 on 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 Jesse, Reuben, Rachel Smith, James, John, Gabriel, Johnson, Elizabeth, and Sarah.    John's will names 9 children, and since we know that 2 daughters had died between 1790 and 1800, and 2 sons had died between 1800 and 1810, that means that John and Sarah had a total of 13 children - 8 sons and 5 daughters.     

John died between May 25, 1815, when he signed his will, and August 7, 1820, when the census was dated.    

John's widow, Sarah, appears on the 1820 Chatham County census.    The census shows Sarah Crow, a female 45 and over; one male (Johnson) 16-26; and one female (Elizabeth) age 26-45.    The census also shows two male slaves and five female slaves.    Living not far from Sarah was her son James Crow, who was my 3rd great grandfather.    Living a short distance away were sons, Jesse (listed as John on the census) and Reuben.   

The 1830 Chatham County census shows Sarah and her daughter Elizabeth living with her son James and his family.   The census shows Sarah was between 70 and 80 years old.

Sarah died about 1831-1833 in Chatham County.

The 1800 census indicates John and Sarah had at least 13 children.     Only 9 children were named in John's will, dated 1815, so we know that 4 of his children died prior to 1815, and left no heirs to claim their part of John's estate.

Note: Although we were given dates of birth for some of John's children, our findings do not agree with some of those dates.    Some of the birth dates given to us were as early as the mid 1760's to the mid 1770's.    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 and 3 daughters born prior to 1790.   (A total of seven children born prior to 1790.)     The 1800 census narrows those birth dates down to 1785 to 1790.    We believe a couple of those sons were born earlier than 1785, but not as early as 1775.  

   We have estimated the birth years and the birth order of John's children using the order in which the children were listed in John's will, and the ages given for them on census records.  

Children of John Crow and Sarah