Saturday, January 20, 2018

The Family of James Berry Crail Sr. [part I]

At last the family of James B. Crail Sr. & Margaret Stewart! There were a lot of twists and turns in compiling this family group record. The children listed are those known to have survived into adulthood.

1.  James Berry Crail Sr.12 was born on 24 Dec 1783 in Patton, Washington Co., Pennsylvania.1 He died between 1860 and 1870 at the age of 77 in Bartholomew Co., Indiana.1 The story of the Crail family becomes somewhat sketchy with James Berry Crail, Sr. and his wife Margaret Stewart. He was born in 1783 in Washington Co., Pennsylvania and had moved to Campbell Co., Kentucky with his family about 1795.

He was living in Pendleton Co., Kentucky from 1804 to 1811. James and Margaret Stewart were probably married there about 1806/7. The 1810 census for Pendleton Co. shows a James Crale with 3 males under 10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 26-44, 1 female over 45.[roll 8, p. 105] (The tick mark for the 1 female over 45 could be in error and should have been in the 26-44 column.) By 1810, James and Margaret would have son James and possibly Thomas.

In 1812 James purchased 150 acres on Grassy Creek. He was on the Campbell Co., Kentucky tax list as "James Creal." He was shown on the Delinquent Tax List for 1812 as having moved to Campbell Co. Crail was recorded on the Campbell Co. tax lists through 1818. James purchased a sale bill from the estate of neighbor John Thrasher on 9 May 1818.

There is a James Crale listed in the 1820 census for Harrison Co., Indiana [M33_14, p. 56] with 2 males 0-10, 1 male 10-16, 1 male 26-45, 3 females 0-10, 1 female 10-16, 1 female over 45. The 1830 census for Washington Co., Indiana [M19_31, p. 310] shows a James B. Crale with 1 male 5-10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 15-20, 1 male 20-30, 1 male 40-50, 1 female 0-5, 1 female 5-10, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 15-20, and 1 female 40-50.
Some interpretation of the census records is offered here. Unfortunately, assumptions have to be made as well, such as misplaced tick marks for the eldest female in 1810 and 1820. In 1810, the known family members were James Senior and Junior and Margaret. That means, assuming this to be the correct family, that there were two other boys born between 1800-1810 and a third born between 1795-1800. It is unlikely that all four are sons of James and Margaret. The eldest could be a young farmhand. The other two, if sons, probably died before 1820.

The 1820 census accounts for James Sr. [37], James Jr. [c11],Thomas [9], Absalom [4], Margaret [36], Mary [c7] and Senar Jane [c1]. Left are a daughter 10-15, and a daughter under 10.

The numbers for 1830 account for James [47], James [c21], Thomas [19], Absalom [13], Robert [8], Margaret [46], Mary [17], Senar Jane [10] and Margaret [2]. Yet to be identified is a daughter between ages 5-9. A daughter 20-25 either married or died before 1830.

The following scenario is offered as a possiblity of birth order for the unidentified and identified children. (1) James, Jr. - born c. 1808; (2) Daughter. - born c. 1809/10; (3) Thomas - born 1811; (4) Mary W. - born c. 1813; (5) Absalom - born c. 1816; (6) Senar Jane - born c. 1820; (7)  Robert R. - born 1822; (8) Daughter - born 1821-25; (9)Margaret - born c. 1828.
On 14 June 1839 James Crail purchased two 80 acre tracts near Cyntheria, Hendricks Twp., Shelby Co., Indiana; one of which was transferred to Robert R. Crail on 29 March 1845. Crail was living in Addison Twp. in 1840.  In August 1843 James and Thomas lost land in a sheriff's sale. On 26 August 1845, James sold land to Francis Coyle of Warren Co., Ohio [Shelby Co. Deed Book N, p. 339] His last appearance in the Shelby Co. records was on the Addison Twp. tax list for 1848.

James purchased 42.17 acres in Bartholomew Co., IN on 10 May 1848. He purchased 40 acres in Brown Co., IN on 1 May 1850 and was residing in Jackson Twp. of that county in the 1850 census. James was listed as being blind. Wife Margaret and daughter Margaret were also in the household. James, Margaret and Margaret were in Harrison Twp., Bartholomew Co. by 1860. Absalom and Thomas J. Crail followed James in the census.

Margaret's death is given as 31 May 1865 in Bartholomew Co. James Berry Crail Sr. died sometime during the 1860s. He and Margaret were buried in the Crail Cemetery [now Alanson, Bishop, Crail Cemetery] in Bartholomew Co.
James Berry Crail Sr. and Margaret Stewart36 were married about 1807 in Probably Pendleton Co., Kentucky, United States.1 [est. based on James B., Jr. being eldest son.] Margaret Stewart7, daughter of Charles Stewart and Elizabeth [Stewart], was born about 1784 in Patton, Washington Co., Pennsylvania.1 She died on 31 May 1865 at the age of 81 in Bartholomew Co., Indiana, United States.1 Margaret was the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth [_______] Stewart. She was born in Pennsylvania about 1784.

Family tradition holds that she was a cousin to Daniel Boone.
 
James Berry Crail and Margaret Stewart had the following children:
 
2 i. James Berry Crail Jr., born ca 1807–1809, Ohio; married Mary A. Jones, ca 1833, Ohio; died 1855–1874, Indiana?.
3 ii. Thomas Jefferson Crail, born ca 1811, Pendleton Co., Kentucky, United States; married Mary Coy, 4 Aug 1836, Hamilton Co., Ohio, United States; married Catherine Lock, 20 Jan 1845, Rush Co., Indiana, United States; died ca 1881/2, Bartholomew Co., Indiana, United States.
4 iii. Mary W. Crail, born ca 1813, Pendleton Co., Kentucky, United States; married Cyrus Boyles, 7 Aug 1835, Hamilton Co., Ohio, United States; died aft 1881, Dearborn Co., Indiana, United States.
5 iv. Absalom Crail, born ca 1816, Campbell Co., Kentucky, United States; married Celestia Harford, 11 Feb 1844, Decatur Co., Indiana, United States; died aft 1880, Camden Co., Missouri, United States.
6 v. Senar Jane Crail, born 14 Jul 1820, Ohio; married Joseph Houk, 1 Jul 1837, Dearborn Co., Indiana, United States; died 12 Oct 1903, Harrison Twp., Bartholomew, Indiana, United States.
7 vi. Robert Ralston Crail, born 21 Feb 1822, Harrison Co., Indiana, United States; married Lucinda Keeler, 24 Apr 1845, Shelby Co., Indiana, United States; died 25 Jun 1897, Willow Hill, Jasper, Illinois, United States.
vii. Margaret Crail8 was born circa 1827 in Harrison Co., Indiana, United States.8 Margaret was the youngest of the Crail children. According to census records, she could neither read nor write. There is no further record of her after 1860.

No comments:

Post a Comment