USA > Virginia > Gleanings of Virginia history. An historical and genealogical collection, largely from original sources > Part 17
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279
NEWMAN FAMILY OF VIRGINIA.
tary of War of June, 1834, Pension Establishment of the U. S. for the State of Virginia, page 98.) Abner was sheriff for Shenandoah county. He appears to have removed from Fauquier about 1788, as in this year he records a deed of sale for all his lands in the county. Of the children of Abner Newman and Hester, nee Mauzy, but little is known; it is believed, however, that with others, William, who married Miss Tucker, in 1804, in Culpeper county; Alexander, who married Peggie Douglass, in 1806, in Rockingham county, and Abner, who married Eliza Cornaga, in 1824, in Culpeper county, were his sons. The dates of his death and that of his wife and children are unknown to the writer. After 1824 he probably removed to Rockingham county with his son Alex- ander, where he spent the remainder of his life; but owing to the partial destruction of the records of this county during the Civil War, no further mention has been found of him or his children.
FOURTH GENERATION.
Third. James Newman, 3d and youngest child of Alex- ander, of Orange, son of Thomas, Jr., son of Thomas the emigrant, born between 1705 and 1715; married -; is believed to have had at least three sons and a daughter :
1. Thomas, b.
2. Robert, b. .
3. James, b.
4. Elizabeth, b.
FIFTH GENERATION.
First. Thomas Newman, 1st of James, 3d of Alexander, settled perhaps in Berkeley county, Va., as in 1778 he recorded a deed at Martinsburg conveying certain lands to Elizabeth Newman, who was either his mother or sister. He was exec- utor of his brother Robert's will, proven Sept. 27, 1819, in Hardy county, now West Virginia.
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GLEANINGS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY.
Second. Robert Newman, 2d of James, 3d of Alexander, of Orange, born - -; married, 1789, Elizabeth Latham, in Culpeper county. In January, 1816, he appears to have been in Alleghany county, Maryland. On Sept. 27, 1819, his will was proven in Hardy county. It was dated March 18, 1813, and is recorded in Liber 2 of Wills, folio 59. He .. left his wife Elizabeth all estate during her widowhood. His brother Thomas was executor and brother James one of the witnesses. From the sales of his personal estate, recorded in Liber 2, folio 305, he appears to have had two sons, Gadsby and Edgar, the latter a minor in 1820, and a daughter Nancy, also a minor.
SIXTH GENERATION.
Gadsby Newman, son of Robert and Elizabeth, nee Latham, born in Culpeper county ; settled with his parents in Hardy county. On Sept. 3, 1824, he married Elizabeth Reed ; died early in life. His estate was settled May 15, 1833, Liber 6, folio -, Hardy county records. No further record.
Second. Edgar Newman, 2d of Robert and Elizabeth, nee Latham, was living in Hardy county in 1833, as his name appears as a purchaser at the sale of his brother's personal estate. No further record.
FIFTH GENERATION.
Third. James Newman, 3d of James, 3d of Alexander, of Orange, born -; married, -, 1789, Mary Early, in Culpeper county ; was living in Hardy county in 1813, where he witnessed the will of his brother Robert. Whether he was the same James who, with his wife Nancy, made a deed to lands in Culpeper in 1805 is not known.
THIRD GENERATION.
Second. George Newman, 2d of Thomas, Jr., son of Thomas the immigrant, born --; married Elizabeth -; died in Richmond county, Va., in 1734. His will was proven at
licen
281
NEWMAN FAMILY OF VIRGINIA.
Warsaw in 1734. Issue: one child, a daughter, Patience, born -; married before 1733, John Ford. No further record.
Third. John Newman, 3d son of Thomas, Jr., and twin brother of George, married Eliza (probably) Burdett. The will of Henry Burdett, Jr., at Warsaw, proven in 1724, leaves his property to John Newman and his wife Eliza, Thomas Thornton and his wife Susanna, and Humphrey Thomas and his wife Jane; the relationship is not stated. John Newman died in 1759, intestate. Issue, three children :
1. George, b. (a minor in 1733).
2. John, b.
3. Thomas, b.
FOURTH GENERATION.
First. George Newman, 1st of John and Eliza, nee Burdett, of Richmond county, where he was born ; married
Five children :
1. George, b. -.
2. Patty, b.
3. Milley, b. ; m. - Crewdson.
4. Jenny, b.
5. Nancy, b.
George Newman died in Richmond county, Va., where his will was proven in 1784.
FIFTH GENERATION.
First. George Newman, 1st of George, of Richmond county, born -; married Alice -. Three children : Joseph, Samuel, and grand-daughter Amelia, daughter of son George, are mentioned in his will, proven in Richmond . county, Aug. 2, 1830. Of his four sisters nothing further is known.
FOURTH GENERATION.
Second. John Newman, 2d of John and Eliza, nee Burdett,
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282
GLEANINGS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY.
of Richmond county, where he was born -; married Elizabeth Deane, daughter of John, of Richmond county ; moved to Prince William county about 1760. Owing to the partial destruction of the records of Prince William county during the Civil War, no satisfactory information of his descendants has been obtained.
Third. Thomas Newman, 3d of John and Eliza, nee Bur- dett, of Richmond county, where he was born - -; is be- lieved to have moved to York county, where he was clerk of the courts and deputy sheriff after the Revolution. He is mentioned in the will of his brother George.
The Newman Genealogy is based upon facts in the posses- sion of Mr. William B. Newman, of Talladega, Alabama, taken from family and various county records, liber and folio, as stated ; also upon researches made by the compiler at his request. Mr. Newman intends preparing a genealogy of the descendants of John and Thomas Newman, Englishmen, and this sketch is inserted by his permission.
He will welcome any corrections, as well as new matter, and is especially anxious that dates be given, where possible, with as much biographical matter as can be had from the records, family Bibles, and other credible sources of information.
283
NOTES OF HUGH THOMAS.
HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF HUGH THOMAS, OF WESTMORELAND CO., VA.
Hugh Thomas, of Westmoreland county, Va., was born about 1663-4 in Charles county, Maryland. His father Hugh immigrated to the province of Maryland in the spring of 1661, as will appear from a demand made on the Lord Pro- prietor for lands by Robert Slye, June 18, 1661, for transport- ing the said Hugh Thomas. Liber 4, folio 555, Land office of Maryland.
April 19, 1666, Hugh Thomas, Sr., had assigned and patented to him 600 acres of land, called Rich Hill, on the west side of the Wicomico river, in Charles county, Md. See rent roll for said county, liber 1, folio 37, Land office, Md .; and on June 20, 1675, a patent for 83 acres, called Thomas's Addition to Rich Hill; April 14, 1681, 100 acres, called Fortune.
In Nov., 1681, Hugh Thomas was a member of the grand jury for Charles county, liber 1-8, folio 174.
About 1662-3 he married Ann - - in Charles county ; issue, three sons of whom we have record ; Hugh born about 1663 ; John born 1664-5; and James about 1666.
On Nov. 13, 1684, Hugh Thomas, Sr., sold his Rich Hill plantation to John Harrison, Gentleman, of Charles county ; consideration, 13,000 lbs. of Merchantable tobacco, his wife Ann joining in this deed, liber L, No. 1, folio 53, Charles county record. At this date his son John is possessed by deed of gift from his father of the 100 acres called Fortune ; See Rent roll No. 2, folio 328 for said county.
Hugh Thomas died in 1688 in Charles county. See letters Testamentary, Provincial, Annapolis, Md.
His son, Hugh, Jr., the subject of this notice, was born as above stated, about 1663, and settled early in life in Cople Parish, Westmoreland county, Va., where he married Ann -, and where he died in July, 1718, leaving his widow
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GLEANINGS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY.
Ann and two minor sons, Hugh and Daniel surviving. His will is dated Nov. 6, 1717 ; proven July 30, 1718 ; wife Ann, executrix, filed her inventory Sept. 8, 1718. In Sept., 1719, Mrs. Ann Thomas died intestate, as on Sept. 30, 1719, a com- mission was appointed to appraise her estate with her brother- in-law, John Thomas, as administrator. He reported the. amount of appraisement to the court Dec. 16, 1719, and was appointed guardian of his two nephews, Hugh and Daniel, as per the will of their father.
THIRD GENERATION.
First. Hugh Thomas, 1st of Hugh, Gentleman, of West- moreland county, Va., and Ann his wife, was born about 1705, in Cople Parish, where he married about 1730-5, Mary Carr, daughter of William. See will of William Carr, liber 3, folio 125, proven 1702, Westmoreland county record. Re- ferring to his two infant children, Joseph and Mary, also a deed of gift of 100 acres of land by Joseph Carr for love and affection to his sister Mary, now wife of Hugh Thomas, dated June 12, 1735. See also deed to Hugh and Daniel Thomas for love and affection from their uncle James, dated June 30, 1735, in which they are called his nephews.
In 1744 Hugh Thomas and Mary, his wife, deeded the 100 acres received by gift from Joseph Carr to Daniel Tibbs; con- sideration, 9,000 lbs. of Merchantable tobacco, and 8 £ of Va. money. Mary Thomas, nee Carr, appears to have died about 1745-50, as her name does not occur in any deeds after 1744. Her husband, Hugh Thomas No. 3, remained a resident free- holder in Westmoreland county until 1764, this being the date of his last deed of record in that county. After this he settled with his uncle John and brother Daniel in Prince William county, where he is believed to have died ; but owing to the partial destruction of the records of Prince William, there being neither will nor intestate to be found, the date of his death and the names of his children have not been ascertaincd.
285
NOTES OF HUGH THOMAS.
Second. Daniel Thomas, 2d and youngest child of Hugh, Jr., and Ann, his wife, of Westmoreland county, born about 1706-7, married, in Westmoreland county, his first cousin, Catherine Thomas, daughter of his uncle James. See will of James Thomas.
March 11, 1728, he and his brother Hugh secured a warrant for 300 acres of land in Stafford county, and Nov. 16, 1731, for 667 acres in Prince William. These lands were subse- quently divided between the brothers by order of court.
All their lands were, subsequent to 1742, in Fairfax county. As evidence that Daniel had settled in that county, it is shown by the records that as a free-holder he voted in 1744 for Capt. Lawrence Washington and Capt. Lewis Ellzey for the House of Burgesses. He continued to reside in this county up to 1757, his name appearing to that date as a suc- cessful plaintiff in a number of suits at law.
Early in 1757 he filed a suit in equity against his uncle John and wife Elizabeth; but when the suit was called in the autumn of the same year, the attorney for the defense re- ported both defendants as dead.
On March 12, 1757, Daniel Thomas sold to William Bayly, of Fairfax county, 333} acres of land, his half of the 667 . granted Nov. 16, 1731, to him and his brother Hugh. Liber A, folio 149, Fairfax county record.
April 15, 1763, account book of Fairfax county : An agree- ment between Daniel Thomas and William Bayly. This is the last entry of said Daniel Thomas in Fairfax county. He is believed to have removed to Prince William county, where again the loss of records prevents positive information of him or his descendants. The will of his wife's father, James, proven in 1742 in Westmoreland county, makes positive reference to his grandson, William Thomas, the son of his daughter Catherine. This William appears later to have , figured in Prince William and Orange counties.
286
GLEANINGS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY.
SECOND GENERATION.
Second. John Thomas, 2d of Hugh of Charles county, Md., and Ann, his wife, born about 1664-5, was a planter. He received by deeds of gift from his father 100 acres of land called Fortune, in Charles county, Md., where he doubtless married his first wife
After the death of his parents in Md., and prior to 1717, he settled in Westmoreland county, Va., where he probably mar- ried Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Spencer, about 1718, as her brother John Spencer records a deed of gift for love and affection in 1718 to 50 acres of land with house and orchard, etc., to John Thomas and wife Elizabeth. It appears from the records that after settling up the estate of his brother Hugh as administrator de bonis non, and that of his widow Ann in 1719, he removed to that part of Stafford county, which after 1730 was Prince William, and after 1742 to Fairfax county, with his two wards, Hugh and Daniel Thomas, nephews, and sons of his brother Hugh. There he was the owner of several tracts of land. The last mention of him is in 1755 in the case of the suit by his nephew Daniel at Fairfax Court House previously referred to.
Third. James Thomas, 3d of Hugh, of Charles county, Md., and Ann, his wife, born about 1666-7; settled early in life in Westmoreland county, Va., where, after 1700, he mar- ried Sarah From 1728 until his death in 1742 he was surveyor for Lord Fairfax and for the county of West- moreland. He was possessed of a large landed estate : Sept. 17, 1705, a northern Neck deed for .729 acres in Richmond county ; March 8, 1727, 1,728 acres in Stafford county ; Oct. 30, 1728, 1,450 acres in Stafford county ; Aug. 6, 1731, 1,504 acres in Prince William county. June 20, 1735, he records a deed of gift to his two nephews, Hugh and Daniel Thomas, on the Yeocomac river, in the parish of Cople, county of West- moreland. He diod November, 1742; his will, bearing date Feb. 10, 1742, was proven Dec. 1, 1742. In which he names his
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NOTES OF HUGH THOMAS. 287
children in the following order : Sons-James, George, John ; daughters-Winnifred Thomas, Elizabeth Thomas; his grand- son William Thomas, the son of his daughter Catherine, wife of Daniel Thomas; daughter Hannah Thomas, daughter Sarah Jennings, to whom he leaves his lands, etc., and appoints his son John executor and residuary legatee, he to provide for his mother Sarah during the remainder of her life.
THIRD GENERATION.
First. James Thomas, 1st of James and Sarah, born in Westmoreland county, died in 1743. His estate personal was appraised at £12 11 shillings and 6 pence ; settled in open court 1743. (See Court Docket, Westmoreland county.) In this account neither wife nor children are referred to.
Second. George Thomas, son of James and Sarah, born in Westmoreland county ; married Eleanor ; died in Prince William county January, 1781. His will, bearing date Jan. 1st, 1781, was proven Feb. 5, 1781. In it reference is made to three sisters: Elizabeth Latheram, Ann Winnifred, and Nancy Thomas, to whom he left legacies. To his wife Eleanor he bequeathed the bulk of his estate and appointed her executrix. (Liber G, folio 107, Prince William record.) The inventory of his estate was reported to the court at £13,985 10 shillings sterling money. From the verbiage of his will no information can be gathered as to his children.
Third. John Thomas, son of James, of Cople Parish, West- moreland county, where he was born, received, by the will of his father, a large tract of land in Prince William county, known as the Sugar Lands. He also purchased several tracts, one from John Foster and wife in Prince William county ; consideration £650 Va. money. (Liber Z, folio 166.)
After 1742, the date of the formation of Fairfax county from Prince William, he became a freeholder of Fairfax county. On March 27, 1750, he recorded a deed for several
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LA VATS MAGA
288
GLEANINGS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY.
negroes in favor of his mother Sarah ; consideration, £60 Vir- ginia money. (Liber C, folio 6.) This is the last entry we find in Fairfax county of either John Thomas or his mother.
ADDENDUM .- Hugh Thomas, of Frederick county, Md.,. from whom descended Governor Francis Thomas, deceased, was in no wise, as has been claimed, a relative of Hugh Thomas, gentleman, of Westmoreland county, Va.
Governor Francis Thomas, deceased, was a descendant of a Hugh Thomas who was born in Pennsylvania, and who about 1733 settled in Prince George (later Frederick) county, Md.
The descendants of Hugh Thomas, of Frederick county, Md., will be treated in a similar volume devoted to Maryland.
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289
BIRTH AND DEATH RECORD FROM TOMBSTONES.
BIRTH AND DEATH RECORDS FROM THE TOMB- STONES OF THE OLD STONE CHURCH GRAVE YARD IN AUGUSTA COUNTY, VIRGINIA.
Allison, Sarah, born 1760 ; died Jan. 2, 1791. Allen, Mary, wife of John, born Jan. 1, 1778 ; died May 6, 1819. Bell, Joseph, born 1774 ; died March, 1823.
Bell, Margaret, wife of James, born Dec. 25, 1785 ; died Feb. 27,1856.
Bell, Sarah, wife of James, born 1788; died Dec. 18, 1806. Bell, Joseph, born May, 1746; died Sept. 13, 1833.
Bell, Major William, born 1744; died Aug. 22, 1833.
Bell, Margaret, wife of William, born Feb. 22, 1759; died June 20, 1844.
Bourland, James, born Feb. 8, 1780 ; died June 29, 1861. Bourland, Mary, born Sept. 10, 1791 ; died July 28, 1828. Beard, Joseph, born June 4, 1778 ; died Jan. 16, 1856. Crawford, Mrs. wife of Robert, born 1722; died Sept. 3, 1807. Crawford, Major John, born 1763 ; died Dec. 17, 1846. Crawford, Rebecca, wife of John, born 1769 ; died Dec. 6, 1851. Crawford, Harriett, wife of John, born 1800; died Nov. 29, 1843. Crawford, Elizabeth, born Dec. 13, 1775 ; died March 24, 1847. Crawford, Elizabeth, born Sept. 1, 1795; died April 2, 1822. Crawford, George, born 1775 ; died Dec. 17, 1824.
Crawford, Mrs. Jane, born 1751; died Sept. 13, 1834. Crawford, James, born 1777 ; died Feb. 12, 1831.
Crawford, Mary, born Oct. 27, 1795; died Jan. 23, 1834.
Crawford, Alexander, born 1791 ; died Nov. 24, 1826. Crawford, Capt. Samuel, born 1786 ; died Feb. 13, 1846. Crawford, Sarah, born 1767; died 1846.
Clinedinst, Michael, born 1773 ; died Feb. 24, 1848. Curry, Samuel, born April 13, 1770 ; died July 15, 1845. Craig, Jane, born 1744; died June 11, 1811. Craig, William, born 1750; died Sept. 8, 1829.
Craig, James, born April 17, 1781 ; died March 27, 1863.
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In
290
GLEANINGS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY.
Craig, Martha, born May 31, 1794 ; died Nov., 1851.
Craig, Susan, wife of James, born 1796; died May 15, 1821.
Givens, John, born May, 1740; died 1812.
Givens, Jane, born Sept. 14, 1750 ; died Nov. 13, 1812. Givens, Letitia, born May 10, 1790; died June 25, 1811.
Gamble, John, born 1760; died January, 1831.
Gamble, Rebecca, born 1767 ; died May 18, 1832.
Gamble, Elizabeth, born 1788; died June 30, 1861.
Gamble, Philander, born October, 1800; died April 18, 1856.
Harnsberger, Samuel, born 1790; died Oct. 30, 1851.
Harnsberger, Annie C., born Feb. 12, 1797; died April 13, 1860. Harnsberger, Rebecca, born May 30, 1794; died March 21, 1852. Henton, Sarah, born 1800 ; died 1849.
Hufing, Andrew, born 1797; died Sept. 30, 1836.
Huston, Jane, wife of N. H. Huston, born May 21, 1797; died Dec. 17, 1854.
Hyde, Mary, wife of Joseph, born Nov. 17, 1797; died March, 1838.
Kerr, James, born 1800; died 1867.
Kenny, James, born July 2, 1729 ; died Nov. 7, 1864.
Marvin, Ann, wife of J. Marvin, born 1783; died May 10, 1823. Montgomery, Wm. Ellis, born Sept. 1, 1796; died Jan. 9, 1853. Nelson, Alexander, born 1749; died Jan. 9, 1834.
Nelson, Nancy, wife of Alexander, born 1763; died 1829.
Nelson, James, born 1794; died March 11, 1850.
Nelson, Alexander, born Oct. 25, 1798; died Oct. 23, 1850.
Poague, Major William, born March 18, 1781; died Sept. 23, 1855.
Reid, L., born 1769; died Oct. 28, 1845.
Reid, Benjamin T., born 1798 ; died July 25, 1859.
Robertson, Alexander, born 1750 ; died April 22, 1801. Robertson, Jane, born 1751; died Nov. 25, 1823.
Robertson, Sarah, born 1755 ; died Sept. 4, 1785.
Robertson, Alexander, born Mar. 1, 1744; died Nov. 25, 1816. Robertson, Elizabeth, born Oct., 1751; died Feb. 6, 1825.
Robertson, Letitia R., born Jan. 12, 1792; died Aug. 8, 1836.
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291
NOTES OF WILLIAM CRAIG.
Rhodes, Mildred, wife of William, born 1795 ; died Sept. 18, 1833.
Stover, Jacob, born Jan. 23, 1777; died March 12, 1851. Stover, Margaret, wife of Jacob, born June 14, 1799; died July 15, 1854.
Snapp, Robert, born June 24, 1796 ; died July 1, 1865. Speece, Rev. Conrad, pastor of Stone Church for 22 years, born Nov. 21, 1776 ; died Feb. 15, 1836.
Tate, John A., born 1796; died Nov. 12, 1827.
Van Lear, Nancy, born 1770; died July 9, 1853 (wife of Jacob).
Van Lear, Jacob, born 1773 ; died Feb. 28, 1845.
Walker, John, born 1770 ; died April 7, 1836.
Wayt, Susan, wife of John, born 1768; died April 2, 1836. Wilson, Rev. Wm., second pastor of Stone Church, born Aug.
1, 1751; died Dec. 1, 1835.
Young, Thomas, born 1749; died 1758.
HEBRON CHURCH YARD, BEVERLY MANOR, AUGUSTA COUNTY, VA.
Bell, Francis, born 1770; died Jan., 1851.
Bell, Sarah, wife of Francis, born Jan. 1, 1776; died Dec. 19, 1852.
Boll, Rebecca, wife of Samuel, born Feb. 6, 1779; died July 31, 1855.
Bell, Samuel, born 1759 ; died May 15, 1838.
Bell, Mary, born Oct. 31, 1751 ; died Feb. 7, 1794.
Boll, George, born 1787; died March 18, 1852.
Bell, James, born Sept. 13, 1790 ; died Mar. 27, 1847.
Bell, Rebecca, wife of James, born Jan. 13, 1798 ; died Apr. 9, 1880.
ROSE CEMETERY, STAUNTON, VA. Craig, William, born 1789 ; died May 17, 1869.
Supplied by Miss Minnie F. Mickley, of Washington, D. C., author of the Mickley Genealogy.
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292
GLEANINGS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY.
HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF WIL- LIAM CRAIG, OF AUGUSTA COUNTY, VIRGINIA, AND HIS DESCENDANTS:
According to a brief memoir of his family left by William Craig, of Mt. Meridian, Va., grandson and namesake of the immigrant, William Craig and Jean his wife, landed in America from the north of Ireland in the year 1721-22 with three sons, Robert, James and John. He first settled in Penn- sylvania in what is now either Lancaster or Chester county, and thence removed with his family to Augusta county, Va.
The date of his removal is not definitely known. Robert, the eldest son, seems to have been the first of the family to leave Pennsylvania. His name appears in Captain John Smith's company of militia in Augusta in the year 1742. (See January number, 1901, Virginia Magazine of History & Biography.) The baptismal register of the Rev. John Craig, now in the library of Gen. John E. Roller, of Harrisonburg, Va., shows that John, son of Robert Craig, was baptized March 15, 1741, so that it may be fairly inferred that he re- moved to Augusta in the summer or fall of 1740. He will be mentioned again in the course of this sketch.
William Craig, the immigrant, and the rest of his family, are believed to have removed from Pennsylvania to Virginia in the year 1744. This is inferred from the fact that Sarah, daughter of James, second son of William, was born, accord- ing to Bible record, Feb. 1, 1743, and baptized by the Rev. John Craig, Oct. 21, 1744. It would seem that her baptism would have occurred at an earlier period had her father been in Augusta much prior to this date. In addition to this, James Craig did not take title to lands until Feb. 10, 1745, when Wm. Thompson conveyed to him 305 acres of land "lying in Augusta county, Va., on the northwest side of Middle River near Shenandoe." This deed is recorded in libor 1, page 30, of the Augusta county land records.
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293
NOTES OF WILLIAM CRAIG.
From these facts the inference may be drawn that Wm. Craig, his wife Jean, and his two sons, James and John, re- moved from their home in Pennsylvania to Augusta county, Va., in the spring or summer of 1744.
The land records at Richmond, Orange and Staunton, do not show any conveyances to Wm. Craig, yet by his will dated Feb. 21, 1756, and recorded at Staunton, Nov. 26, 1759, he devises two-fifths of his landed estate to his " dearly beloved wife Janet (diminutive for Jean), to do with as she chooses," and one-fifth of the remainder to each of his sons, Robert, James and John. Evidently his lands had been ac- quired by purchase and his deeds were not recorded, which was quite a common practice in the early settlement of the Valley.
But little is known of his life beyond the fact that he was a Scotch-Irish Covenanter Presbyterian. The tradition among his descendants is that he and his family aided in building the old Stone Church in Augusta, and for generations his posterity have been among the most devoted adherents of that historic congregation. He was born between the years 1685 and 1690, judging from the date of James's birth, which was in 1714-15. His wife Jean (or Janet) was evidently still liv- ing in 1759, but nothing is known of her further history nor of the date of her death. She was, beyond question, of the same race from which he sprung, and was doubtless a worthy helpmate of the man who was among the pioneer Scotch emi- grants to America.
As to the children of William and Janet, his wife, and their descendants, full information is not in the possession of the writer, but enough is known to form the basis of future research.
1. The history of ROBERT and his descendants is almost entirely unknown to the other branches descending from Wil- liam and Janet Craig. It was long believed that he had re- moved from Augusta county to the Holston river country about the year 1765, when a large number of persons went
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