Heartland Genealogy

Do you ever find yourself retracing your research steps because you learn about a new family connection? Yep, that's me. I'm going back thru the early tax lists for Madison County, KY. I wrote about my journey with suspected CRAWFORD family members in my January 2019 post, Tax Man Cometh . At the time, I mentioned finding Edward Crawford in a different taxing district from the other Crawfords. I didn't pursue Edward for several reasons. Since he wasn't shown as a land owner, I wouldn't find any deeds for him. I also didn't have any information tying Edward to any of the other Crawfords in those early tax records. Now, I have yDNA evidence showing a relationship to Edward Crawford of Overton, Tennessee. From what I've been able to learn about this Edward Crawford, his birthplace is thought to be Pennsylvania or Virginia. I have NO evidence that the Edward Crawford in the Madison County tax lists is the same Edward Crawford who died in Overton County, Te...

Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to visit the Family History Center in Topeka, Kansas. During this visit, I was able to access digitized images from Botetourt County, Virginia. I was thankful these records were available at the family history center since they were locked at affiliate libraries. Botetourt County, Virginia List of Tithables, 1770-1789 FS Film 9106467 DGS 7856374 Looking for Crawford, Douglass, Maxwell 1770 Image 9 Anderson, Lemuel - 1 Crawford, James - 1 Dooley Kenery - 1

Have you ever seen a name in a deed or court document and thought to yourself, 'Hey, I've seen that name before?' Well that was my situation when I was looking at tax records for Barren County, Kentucky. Since I found James Crawford with 200 acres of land on the Marrowbone listed on the 1800 tax list for Barren County, KY , I started looking for other people owning land on the Marrowbone. That's when I found Moses Dooly Junr also owning 200 acres of land on the Marrowbone. Not only was Moses Dooly Junr in Barren County, but so was his father and brothers.

Well, I'm chasing those Crawfords thru another set of Kentucky tax lists. This time, I'm looking in Pulaski County, Kentucky. Another Crawford researcher told me that the William Crawford found in the Madison County, Kentucky tax lists moved to Pulaski County prior to moving to Missouri. On the off chance that I would find some of the other Crawford families in Pulaski County, I read the 1799-1822 tax lists. In addition to William Crawford,  I found an Alexander Crawford who may be the same Alexander Crawford on the 1792 Madison County, Kentucky tax list. The information I found regarding William Crawford shows that he paid taxes in Pulaski county for 1799-1802. William also owned 400 acres of land in Pulaski County. Since William does not appear on the Garrard County, KY tax lists after 1797, the Pulaski County information fills in the gaps between Garrard County and his arrival in Ste. Genevieve. However, I need to locate additional records to confirm this is the same Wil...

Do you find little clues in tax records? When I reviewed the Lincoln County Kentucky tax records, I made some discoveries that are helping my CRAWFORD research in the area. Discovered John Crawford -- who owned 913 acres of land Sellers families listed beginning in 1787 Rebekah Crawford (widow) listed in 1787-1791 James Crawford owning 114 acres of land  on Sugar Creek (same description as land owned by Rebekah Crawford) in 1794 Douglas families listed  beginning in 1789 1795 Mystery William Crafort - 500 acres Richland Creek 1799 Mysteries: James Crawford -- 100 acres on Rolling Forks Robert Crawford -- 200 acres

Have you ever re-looked at some tax records and discovered that you can now figure out who these people might be when before they were just a list of names found in that county? Well, that has been my experience as I'm going back thru some of my Crawford Kentucky research in hopes that it leads me back another generation. I've recently re-looked at Madison, Lincoln and Garrard county tax lists and combined with land records, I have a much better understanding of who the various Crawfords listed in these tax roles are. Since I have deeds indicating James Crawford (husband of Martha Knight) lived in Barren County, Kentucky, I decided to re-look at those tax records. I first searched the Barren County KY tax lists some time ago. Based on the "V20-0014" notation on my notes, I'm guessing I used the American Genealogical Lending Library to research these records at home.

Have you ever 'lost' an ancestor for a period of time? That's my situation with my ancestor, James Crawford. James and Sally Duggins are married in Garrard County, Kentucky in 1799. In 1813, there is a land record where James Crawford has made full payment for the NW 1/4 of Section 14, Township 7, Range 2. Thus, I'm trying to figure out where James and Sally were living shortly after their marriage. The county history suggests that James was living in Preble county by 1810. Unfortunately, there are TWO James Crawfords living near each other. This makes it difficult to determine which James Crawford is being referenced. Since Kentucky tax lists have been helping me figure out who was living where in Lincoln, Garrard and Madison counties. Unfortunately, the Preble County, Ohio tax lists do not begin until 1816. However, these tax lists contain two clues that I overlooked the first time I used them. James Crawford owning the NORTHWEST quarter of Section 14, Tow...

Do you have same name issues in your genealogy research? Or, do you have 'mystery men' of the same surname in the same location as your ancestor? That's what happened when I looked at the Lincoln County, Kentucky tax lists for 1787-1805. I had found Lincoln County KY marriage bonds where Rebekah Crawford gave permission for Mary Crawford to marry James Sellers and Sarah Crawford to marry William David Sellers. Another marriage bond secured by Nathan Douglas and James Crawford for the marriage of James Crawford and Martha Knight was found in Lincoln County, KY records. Thus, I was expecting to find the following: Sellers family Rebekah Crawford George Douglass -- who sold land to Rebekah Crawford and may be her brother Nathan Douglass -- who signed the bond for James Crawford James Crawford -- who is believed to have turned 21 in 1792 I was not expecting to find: John Crofford Alexander Crofford William Crafort on Richland Creek James Crawford on Rollin...

Have you used city directories to help locate a person between census years? Although I'm not finding as much detail in tax lists, I am finding that they help track migration in the early 1800s. I've been doing FAN club research in early Kentucky. So far, I've been concentrating on the area that became Garrard County. Because of changing county boundaries, I've searched tax lists for Madison, Garrard and Lincoln counties. Tax Man Cometh - Madison County, KY 1787-1796 Garrard County Tax - 1797-1806 Lincoln County Taxes   Since I've identified the Crawford land holdings during this time period. I'm now searching the Garrard County tax lists from 1807 to 1824 to identify the time period when the various families moved away. Families that could potentially be in Garrard County between 1807 and 1824 Rebekah Crawford - owned land between Sugar Creek and Boone's Mill Creek James Crawford, husband of Martha Knight and likely son of Rebekah Crawford...

Have you ever tried to figure out who is who in a community when there are multiple people of the same name? Well, that's where I am with the Garrard County tax records from 1797-1806. I have four Crawford families that potentially live in Garrard County during that time period. James Crawford husband of Rebecca Anderson who purchased land from Thomas Kennedy. James ' sons were Isaac (?-?), William (1784-1864) and James (1790-1856) William Crawford who claimed to have purchased land from J Kennedy. His sons would not have been old enough to be listed on the tax lists while William Crawford was living in Garrard County.  James Crawford who married Martha Knight in 1793 in Lincoln County, Kentucky. James is thought to be the son of Rebecca Crawford . Rebecca purchased land from George Douglas. James Crawford who married Sally Duggins in 1799 in Garrard County, Kentucky. James is thought to be the son of Mary Crawford who married Alexander Moore.

Have you ever tried to track someone thru the census and just have them disappear? I have and it is frustrating! I'm trying to figure out my Crawford family in Kentucky on the tax lists. Once I sat down to analyze the data, it was fairly easy to use land records to figure out the Madison County, Kentucky records prior to 1800. (See Tax Man Cometh ) However, the Lincoln County, Kentucky tax lists are proving to be a bit more difficult. There is a Rebekah Crawford who receives land from George Douglas in 1786. (See Rebekah's Land ) Rebekah appears on the Lincoln County tax list in 1787. She alos appears in  1789 and 1791. I have not found her after 1791.

I've been trying to learn more about my ancestor, John Thompson (1797-1857) in hopes of identifying his parents. He married Sarah Iglehart in 1820 in Ohio County, Kentucky. Thus, I wanted to learn more about any Thompsons in Ohio County, Kentucky around the time of this marriage. Fortunately, the Ohio County, Kentucky Tax Books, 1799-1875 are available for viewing on Family Search. Even though these images aren't indexed, it was fairly easy to find the images for the 'T' portion of the alphabet. (Note: I also recorded information for the Igleharts while viewing this resource.) I found a John Thompson listed in 1820. This John Thompson was over 21 and owned a horse.