Chasing Edward

When doing your genealogy research do you sometimes feel like you are going down a rabbit hole or chasing your tail? That's what I sometimes feel like when I research descendants of a Crawford who is not my ancestor.

So yesterday, I was chasing my tail by researching the children of Edward Crawford (1762-1826) of Overton, Tennessee. Even though I don't have any paper research connecting my Crawford line to Edward or even to Overton County, Tennessee, there is a DNA connection. Descendants of Edward Crawford have also done a Big Y DNA test and we have been assigned the same branch of the Big Y Haplotree: R-Y88686.

When I first received these DNA results, I couldn't find a connection between my Crawford family in Garrard County, Kentucky and Edward Crawford of Overton County, Tennessee. However, I remembered that I had found an Edward Crawford in the 1795 and 1796 tax lists for Madison County, Kentucky. Wondering whether the Edward Crawford in the tax lists of Madison County, KY is the same Edward Crawford who died in Overton County, TN.

Thus, I've been researching the children and grandchildren of Edward Crawford of Overton County, Tennessee -- hoping to find some clue that would lead back to Kentucky. As I was finding records for Edward's children and their family, I was comparing my findings to the Edward Crawford [LD9R-8KW] family on the FamilySearch tree. During this comparison, I discovered that other researchers believe that David Crawford [9KMN-WNK], son of Edward and Abigail (Trowbridge) Crawford was born in Clark County, Kentucky.

Wait! A child of Edward was born in Kentucky - in Clark County, Kentucky? Since none of my research had taken me to Clark County, Kentucky, I had to look it up on a map. That's when I discovered that Clark County was on the northeast border of Madison County.

Thus, I've started digging into Clark County records to see what I could learn about Edward Crawford. I started by looking for marriage records involving an Edward Crawford and I found reference to a marriage bond between an Edward Crawford and an Abigail Trowbridge.

Crawford, Edward and Abigail Trowbridge; surety, Silas Trowbridge 1798 Dec 3

Besides the marriage bond  of Edward Crawford, I found information for several other Crawford family marriage bonds on page 85.

page 85
Crawford, Cassillah and George S. Miller; surety, Moses Gentry 1810 Sep10

Crawford, Ceile, and Jehu Cole; surety, Jesse Cole. Jehu Cole guardian of Ceile Crawford 1806 Sep 23

Crawford, Edward and Abigail Trowbridge; surety, Silas Trowbridge 1798 Dec 3

Crawford, John and Dolly Fourt, daughter Peter and Mary Fourt (consent); witness, THomas Hansford; surety, James Ward 1796 Jun 28 [John Andrew Crawford 1765-1851 and Dorothy FOrt 1775-1846 in RootsMagic]

Crawford, Velentine and Susan Wray; surety, Archibald Crawford, consent of Benjamin Wray; witness, George Sharp 1800 Jan 10

Not only did I find information linking the an Edward Crawford of Kentucky to the Edward Crawford of Overton, Kentucky, but I have several other Crawfords to add to my FAN club and another Kentucky county to research.
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George F. Doyle, Marriage Bonds of Clark County, Kentucky from the Formation of the County in 1793 to 1850: compiled from the original bonds in the office of the clerk of the Clark County Court, digital image (Winchester, Kentucky: Clark County Historical Society, 1933), page 85; digital image, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org Film 183194 DGS 7896907 : viewed online 15 February 2020.