CRAIL: I have written several times about my great mystery family - the Crails, at least my 3rd great-grandparents. Now they get some additional attention here.
James and Mary [Jones] Crail were the parents of at least three sons, Sylvester, John and Aaron. Mary bought two town lots in Marietta, Shelby Co., Indiana, one in 1851, the other in 1853. She and James sold those lots in 1854. They seemingly dropped off the face of the earth until a widowed Mary appeared in the 1875 Indianapolis City Directory.
I may have found James in Hamilton Co., Ohio church and tax records in the early 1830s. The name also appears in the Shelby Co. tax records in the 1840s. Most of the Crails named in the Shelby Co. tax records were the probable brothers and father of James. The rest of the family seemed to have stayed together.
Sylvester, John and Aaron were found in the records of Marion and Hamilton Counties in Indiana beginning with their marriages until their deaths in 1898, 1907 and 1868 respectively. Mary [Jones] Crail lived with John for most of the final 12 years of her life.
Where were James and Mary before 1851? James' birthplace is given as Ohio, probably Hamilton Co., where the two eldest boys were born [according to their military service records.] Aaron was born in Marion Co., Ohio in 1839. They appear to have been in Shelby Co. during the 1840s, in 1851, 1853 and 1854. Mary was a native of Kentucky - probably from one of the northern counties near Hamilton Co., Ohio.
From 1854 until 1875? James and Mary were probably in central Indiana. I can't imagine that they went west [or east, or south, etc.] while the boys started their families. I'm also guessing that they were in a small town or rural area, since the were not in the city directories. At some point, James died, leaving Mary a widow. Mary was with her son John from 1875-1887, when she died.
The wrinkle in the story is that there may well be a fourth son named George. A George B. Crail is recorded as the son of James B. and Mary A. [Jones] Crail. The descendants of George with whom I have communicated have been a bit inconsistent in identifying family members. The number of brothers varied, one of the grandsons claimed for George was in reality a grandson of Aaron. I haven't found any records placing George with the rest of the family.
In support of George belonging to the family? Common parents. He, like James and Mary, is missing from the 1850-70 censuses. James had a brother named George.
If the fit is there then the family is already traced back to Scotland. I just need convincing!!
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