Henry

 Do you have slave owners in your tree? I wish that I could say that I don't, but I do have a few. Thus, when I come across a document identifying a slave, I feel obligated to share it. Below is a deed where Matthew M. Bland grants freedom to a slave named Henry -- at the cost of $1000. I have no idea who paid the $1000 but that would have been a lot of money in 1855!

Platte County, Missouri

Volume L
Film 988442 DGS 8486854

image 175 of 431
Page 300

M. M. Bland
To deed
Manusituate
Henry
Know all men by these presents that I Mathew M. Bland
of the County of Platte and State of Missouri hath this
day for and in consideration of the sum of one thous
and dollars to me in hand paid manumit[ates] and set
free and by these presents do manumit and set free one
negro boy named Henry owned by me said Henry is of
a Black color twenty eight years of age five feet eight
inches high with his shoes off and a sear by bruise on
the corner part of the left wrist and I do by these presents
as fully and perfectly set free said Henry to all intense
and purposes as if said Henry had been born free and I do
hereby release all right title interest claim and property
which I now have in and to said Boy Henry
Given under my hand and seal
this 17th day of March A. D . 1855 .
Attest Mathew M. Bland (seal)
State of Missouri
County of Platte ⎬ SS
Be it Remembered that at the March
Term of the Platte Circuit Court held at Platte City on

page 301 Monday March 31st 1855 , among other things we the following
to wit Now at this day comes Mathew M Bland and presents
in open Court a Deed of Emancipation ofslave Henry thereupon
the said Mathew M. Bland acknowledged said deed of Emance
pation to be his act and deed for the purposes therein menti
oned
State of Missouri ⎬
County of Ralls ⎬ SS
I William C Remington Clerk of the Circuit
Court within and for said County do certify that the above and f
foregoing is a correct copy of the acknowledgement taken in
open Court of Mathew B. Bland to deed of Emancipation of
Slave Henry as the same now remains of record in my office ℗

In testimony whereof I have unto subscribe
my name and affix the seal of said Court
at office in Platte City this March 17th A. D . 1855 .

W C Remington Clerk
By P. J. Collins DCC

Filed for Record July 3rd Recorded July 24th 1855
W. S. Remington Recorder

Missouri, Platte County. Deed records, 1839-1895. Film #988442 DGS 8486854. Mathew M Bland, 1855; Vol. L: pages 300-301; digitized images, FamilySearch www.familysearch.org : viewed online 11 April 2024.

Don't Miss the Code - Read / Photocopy Preface

Do you ever get in such a hurry doing research that you miss something important? That is usually my issue. I am trying to make myself slow down and record all of the information needed for a citation. However, during a recent research trip, I didn't follow one of Michael John Neill's tips: Read the Preface.

Because I didn't read the preface or truly study one of the sources I used, I did not realize that the entries incorporated a code for the bibliography citations. As a result, I didn't photocopy the introductory pages that decoded the citations.

Early Settlers of Gentry County, Missouri
Biographical Data
Researched Material Relative to Early Settlers of Gentry County, Missouri
1876 to early 1888

Researched by Carmeta Pierce obertson
Ancestor Lore
Ozark MO
997

Publisher
Carmeta (Pierce) Robertson
Ozark, Mo 65721-7518

Page 50

Missing Child

Do you ever feel like you are going in circles when it comes to records? That's how I'm feeling with my research of Isaac Crawford whom I believe to be the son of James and Rebecca (Anderson) Crawford.

I recently found an obituary for George Whitley Crawford who died in 1889 in Gentry County, Missouri. According to the obituary in the 20 Sept 1889 issue of the Albany Ledger of Albany Missouri, George was born in Bartholomew County, Indiana.

The biography of George W. Crawford, found on page 421 of The History of Gentry and Worth Counties, Missouri (St. Joseph, Missouri: National Historical Co., 1882), provides some more information about George's early life.

Mr. Crawford the son of Isaac and Nancy (Miller) Crawford, both Kentuckians by birth.
During his infancy his parents died, and he was reared by his grand
parents. At the age of two years he was taken to Garrard County, Ken-
tucky, where he remained until ten years of age. In 1833, he moved
to Clay County, Missouri, continuing to reside there until about the year
1838, when he came to Gentry County.

James A. Crawford's Move to Texas

James A. Crawford, who is right
close to the oldest settler of Gentry
county, is preparing to remove
from the county and take up his
residence with his son in Texas.

Eliza Part 2

As discussed in my recent post, Duplicate or Different, I followed up on a 'notice of change' message to discover two Eliza Van Valkenbergs on Family Search. By looking at the differences between the two women, I discovered some clues that led to more information in Eliza.

One of those clues was the differing death dates for Eliza. In one case, the death date was given as between 1920 and 1930. I'm sure this was due to not finding Eliza in records.

The other Eliza had a death date of 1943 listed. Knowing that Eliza had been married several times, I suspected that a different surname was contributing to the difficulty in finding records. When I searched Newspapers.com for the term Eliza in 1943 in St. Joseph, Missouri, I found a notice of her death.

Duplicate or Different?

Do you ever check out someone else's tree to see if they have something that disagrees with what you have? I know I'm usually looking for confirmation, but I appreciate seeing conflicting information. That conflicting information makes me re-look at what I have and to look harder for additional sources to support what I have.

That's likely one of the reasons I work with the tree on FamilySearch. On this tree, I can look at the changes made to an individual. If those changes differ from information I have compiled, I can message the user making the changes and/or post a discussion about the change.

Thus, I utilize the 'watch' button to mark individuals I'm researching. Not only have I marked my ancestors to 'watch' but I've also marked other individuals in my research that I'm having trouble finding sources. Each week, I get notified of changes to those 'watched' individuals.

This morning's notification list included Eliza Honor Van Valkenburg, the second wife of my ancestor, Albert J Hutchinson. That's when I discovered that there are TWO of them in the Family Search tree.

Since I haven't found birth or death information for her, I have no idea which  Honor Van Valkenburg is the correct one. However, I do believe that these are the same women and that they are the same person I have in my database as Eliza Honor Van Valkenberg.

William Crawford

1.     William Crawford was born on 28 Apr 1784 in Kentucky, United States.^1–2 He was the child of James and Rebecca (Anderson) Crawford .³

On 14 Oct 1811 in Jefferson, Indiana, United States.⁴ William and Isaac Crawford, assignee of James Crawford, made full payment for the North East quarter of section twenty of Township four in Range 10 East as tenants in common on 15 Apr 1815 in Jeffersonville, Clark, Indiana, United States.⁵ He lived in Jefferson, Indiana, United States in 1820.⁶

In 1843–1850 he was a Justice of the Peace in St. Francois, Missouri, United States.^7–9 William lived at District 80 in St. Francois, Missouri Territory on 7 Oct 1850.¹⁰

He died on 3 Apr 1864 at the age of 79.¹ William was buried in Andersonville National Cemetery, Macon County, Georgia.¹

William Crawford and Elizabeth Davis were married on 28 Apr 1804 in Garrard, Kentucky, United States.^11–13 Elizabeth Davis¹⁴ was born about 1785 in Virginia, United States.¹⁴ She lived in St. Francois, Missouri Territory in 1850.¹⁵ William Crawford and Elizabeth Davis had the following children:

Finding the Daughters

Have you ever tried to piece a family together without the aide of a document identifying children. That's what I'm trying to do with William E. Crawford, son of James and Rebecca (Anderson) Crawford.

I'm using public member trees on Ancestry and the family on the FamilySearch tree as clues. Then I'm trying to find records to support the relationships.

Based on these trees, I think William E. and Elizabeth (Davis) Crawford had three daughters: Milly Crawford, Ann B. Crawford and Elizabeth Jane Crawford.

I believe I have found marriage records that may be for these three daughters.

Milly Crawford married John Douglas on 23 April 1830 in Decatur County, Indiana.

Film #004170593 (Decatur County, Indiana Marriage Records vol. B 1829-1834)
image 138
page 26

I do certify that I joined together n the holy
state of matrimony John Douglas and Milly
Crawford given under my hand this 23 of April
1830
David Douglas Elder Church of Christ

Crawford Marriages

St. Francois County, Missouri
Marriage license record

Marriage license records, vol. -2 1836-1876
FamilySearch Film 914393 DGS 7578667

Indexed
Search for Crawford

LC Crawford - James J Short — 11 March 1866
Lucy E Crawford - Ira Howe - 10 APril 1865
James Crawford - Isabella Carter - 30 Sept 1847 - page 97
Isaac Crawford - Manervia Ross - 9 October 1850 - page 130
Isaac Crawford - Mary Ann Calihan - 18 Sept 1867
Synthia A. Crawford - Hu Lovsom - 14 APril 1871
John M Crawford - Lucy Ann Needham - 17 June 1869 - page 51
William E. Crawford - Emeline Sullins - 23 March 1854
Eliza Crawford - William Lowery - 28 March 1872
Anderson Crawford - Nancy Ann Cartee - 24 Jul 1845 - page 74
Irene B. Crawford - William Thompson McFarland - 25 June 1866
Mary Elizabeth Crawford - Henry Singleton - 7 October 1851
Ann Crawford - James Cartee - 2 Dec 1841
James A Crawford - Sarah J Porter - 26 Mar 1874
John S Crawford - Rebecca L Farmer - 28 Jan 1869
James A Crawford - Rachel C Wawn - 7 March 1867
Eliza Jane Crawford - Moses Cartee - 4 Jan 1843
Rachael Crawford - Francis M Sego - 2 January 1876
William E Crawford - Perlieza C. Murry - 7 APril 1861

Volume 1
Crawford James 97
Crawford Isaac 130
Crawford Anderson - page 74
Crawford John M - 51

Image 50 - page 51

George W. Crawford

Have you ever just stumbled across something that others may seem minor when it provides major clues. That's what happened yesterday when I did a simple Google search for 'Isaac Crawford Nancy Miller'.

That search led to a biography of George W. Crawford of Gentry County, Missouri in the book, The History of Gentry and Worth Counties, Missouri on page 421.

George W. Crawford

Aristippus Brown

As part of my CRAWFORD research, I'm trying to determine whether the Isaac Crawford of Jefferson County, Indiana is the same Isaac Crawford who married Nancy Miller in Garrard County, Kentucky. Thus, I'm trying to locate information on potential children. One of those potential children is Elizabeth Crawford who married Aristippus Brown in Clinton County, Missouri.

Unfortunately, I'm having trouble locating much information on Aristippus Brown. What I've been able to locate is a marriage record, land records and mentions in county histories.

Aristippus Brown was married to Elizabeth Crawford in Clinton County, Missouri on 3 August 1836.

According to the History of Davies and Gentry Counties, MIssouri, Aristippus Brown was from Kentucky and lived near Genntryville in 1839. The history indicates that Aristippus Brown moved to California.

In May of 1840, Aristippus Brown and Elizabeth Brown his wife, sold land in Garrard County, Kentucky. This deed identifies Elizabeth as Elizabeth Crawford, daughter of Isaac Crawford and granddaughter of Jacob Miller.

Garrard County Kentucky
Land and Property

Deeds, Vols. N-O 1838-1843
FamilySearch Film 183247 DGS 8568105

Page 396