Life History

Notes

• Several genealogies report on David and his father and his descendants.  Various genealogies have different details that produce a consistent picture of David.  David came to Virginia with his father John Crawford, from Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1643, receiving a land grant from Governor Berkley.  David's father was killed in a battle with Indians in a campaign called Bacon's Rebellion.
  
  David was also killed by Indians on 13 December 1689 on New Kent County, Virginia.  David is reported by some data collections and genealogies as being born in Hanover County, Virginia, instead of Scotland.  It is not clear if there was another similar family of Crawfords, or if the reference in Hanover and Kent refer to the dame family, with dates mangled.
  
  Locations of the Crawfords in Hanover County may also refer to this same family, but dates of some life events are different in records referencing Hanover County.  They are associated with a plantation in Broaddus Flats which is in Hanover County.
  --  See http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/53277220/person/13483432430/photo/9398d7cb-0d9a-44af-a86a-753fd8ce0c33?src=search
  
  David Crawford, b abt 1625 in Kilburney, Ayrshire, Scotland, d 1704; wife Unknown; children:  Elizabeth, Judith, Angelina, David, Capt b 1662
  --  Ancestry World Tree, Valleau Family, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm?cgi?op=GET&db=valleaux&id=I05996
  
  Some stories and genealogies report that David lived until 1710, but others report an exact death date of 13 December 1689.  I have not been able to sort this out from original sources, and have followed the earlier death date, which still allows for the other known facts about his children's birth.
  
  Here is one short story that tells about David.  Note that he is referred to as a Colonel in some sources.  This story reports that he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1892, after the date reported by many sources as his date of death in 1689.
  
  ===============================================
  Colonel David Crawford
  
  Colonel David Crawford (c. 1625 - 1710) was a member of the House of Burgesses and an early plantation owner in Virginia.
  
  David Crawford was born circa 1625, in Scotland, emigrating to the Virginia Colony with his father, John Crawford around 1643. His father was later killed in Bacon's Rebellion of 1676.
  
  Crawford amassed many acres of land and owned a large plantation that eventually became the site of Richmond, Virginia. On April 2, 1692 he was elected to the House of Burgesses as one of two representatives from New Kent County, Virginia for two years. He introduced a piece of legislation, requiring that County Clerks maintain an office in their respective County Courthouse.
  
  As an elderly man he was killed by some Pamunkey Indians in 1710 in New Kent County, Virginia. [other sources report he died in 1689.]
  --  Karen Tadora, Crawford Tree, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/4361878/person/-1592855067/story/a26595fa-784f-49c3-a651-b594b9be1d53?src=search&ftm=1
  ===============================================
  
  I have found the information attached to David Crawford who died in 1710 to show that his parents are John Crawford and Mary McConnell.  It appears the David Crawford in the line I am presenting here was Margaret Cunningham.  It appears that the John Crawford who married Mary McConnell is a different David Crawford than the David Crawford I identify who was born in 1625.  The same birth year is given for both these John Crawfords but the death year is different.
  
  There were numerous Crawfords in colonial Virginia.  Death records report death of a David Crawford in 1697, 1700 and 1710, as well as the 1689 I report here.  These seem to have been mixed and I have been certain how to clarify the family lines.  These death reports do not report parents or birth dates for comparison.  I have not been able to definitively clarify which connection is the one for my actual family. I am keeping this Crawford Question under advisement.
  
  The first references I found to this David Crawford were unaware of the name of David's wife.  In July 2009, I found a credible genealogy with good details that reported David's wife as Jane, but with maiden name unknown.
  
  David Crawford b: 1625 in Ayrshire, Kilburney, Scotland d: December 13, 1689 in New Kent Co, VA
  + Jane ? m: 1654 in James City, VA b: 1633 in VA
  --  Descendants of David Crawford, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bjcasey/crawford.htm
  
  Note that the Valleaux genealogy reports a death year of 1704, while the Crawford genealogy reports an exact date of 13 Dec 1689.  Due to the precision of this latter date, and other credible detail in this genealogy, this is what I am using as the date of death for David.  This source also provides his place of death.
  
  I have also added details on David and Jane's son Captain David Crawford and his wife Ann Anderson and their daughter Judith.  [Ann may be the stemother of Judith, Elizabeth Smith likely being the birth mother; two families of Crawfords may also be confused in the data collections used as sources.] The Crawford lineage is of importance to this genealogy because Judith married Joseph Terry and ancestor of Lewis Terry, and his descendant Julia Virginia Terry, who married Joseph Asa Jenkins, my grandmother, in 1901 in Indian Territory.  The Crawfords of Hanover County may be the same Crawford lineage, but there is confusoin on dates of death, with death reported variously in Hanover or Kent.
  --  Orville Boyd Jenkins, genealogist
  
  The compilation called the Millennium Collection records the following information about David Crawford, son of John Crawford an Margaret Cunningham.
  
  Millennium File
  David Crawford
  Parents: John Crawford (mother not listed
  Spouse: Jane (last name Unknown)
  Birth 1625 Ayrshire, Scotland [sic]
  Death 13 Dec 1689 New Kent, New Kent County, Virginia, USA
  Children: David (Capt.) Crawford
  --  http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=millind&h=104212359&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt&ssrc=pt_t6789605_p-1192371260_g32768
  
  Family Data Collection - Deaths
  David Crawford
  Death 13 Dec 1689 Assaouin, New Kent County, VA USA
  
  The locatoin name here appears tobe a mistranscription of the name of David Cawford's plantation Assassquin.  The plantation was built on Assassquin Run on the York River.  The name also appears as Assaquin,  David Crawford was awarded the Assassquin land for services to Governor Berkely in Bacon's rebellion in Virginia Colony.
  
  The history of the area finds his surname spelled Crafford.  The family's story is recorded in tdetail by Mary Callaway Jones.  Her reserach is referenced in The History of the Broaddus Flats Site.
  --  http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/53277220/person/13483432430/photo/9398d7cb-0d9a-44af-a86a-753fd8ce0c33?src=search

Sources

• 1. Family Data Collection - Births
• 2. Ancestry Trees
  • Valleau Family, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm?cgi?op=GET&db=valleaux&id=I05996
• 3. Ancestry Trees
  • Young Family, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/5169545/person/-24576605?ssrc=&ftm=1
• 4. RootsWeb Trees
• 5. Family Data Collection - Deaths
• 6. Ancestry Trees
  • Blust-Reed, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm?cgi?op=GET&db=kardiblust&id=I0900
• 7. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• 8. Family Data Collection - Individual Records