Rebecca's Land

Have you ever found you have attributed a record to the wrong person? Unfortunately, with same name research that can happen too easily.

As I was transcribing deeds that I thought were for James and Rebecca (Anderson) Crawford of Garrard County, Kentucky, I began to question whether these deeds were for this James and Rebecca (Anderson) Crawford.

There were some clues in the deeds that should have led me to a different James Crawford.

The first clue was the signatures. Rebecca's name was above James'.

Garrard County Tax

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.

Paying Forward

Do you have data sitting in your genealogy files that isn't of help to you but might help others tie siblings together?

That's what I've found by researching land transactions for John Crawford in Lincoln County, Kentucky. I've found three deeds naming a Power of Attorney for heirs of John Crawford.

Page 420 of Lincoln County Deed, KY,  DeedBook R identifies the following heirs in 1842

• Rebecca Ellis
• Esther Ellis
• Ruhama McCoy
• Frederick Sponseller
• Harriet Sponseller

John Crawford Heirs

In trying to figure out who John Crawford is, I turned to deeds for some help. The Lincoln County Kentucky deed index from 1780 to 1870 [Family Search film 192237] had four entries with John Crawford listed as a grantor.

Image 47:
1795: Crawford, John grantor James Feland grantee - 264 1/2 acres vol C page 13
1795: Crawford, John grantor James Logan - 42 acres Book C page 23
1798: Crawford John Grantor Wm Gooch 130 acres Hfork book D page 26

Image 52
1842: Crawford John Hrs grantor Bashford Jon C P of A S31+29 book R page 420

Crawford Land Patent

I recently found the land records for John Crawford of Lincoln County, Kentucky. He owned 913 acres of land on Hanging Fork of Dick's River.

Land-Office Treasury Warrant, No. 2690

To the principal Surveyor of any County within the Commonwealth of Virginia
This shall be your WARRANT to survey and lay off
in one or more surveys, for John Crawford
his heirs and assigns the Quantity of One thousand
acres of land, due unto the said John Crawford in
right of pre-emption as a certificate form the Supreme Court of the
Kentucky District
In consideration of the sum of five pounds thirteen shillings
current money paid into the Public Treasury the
payment whereof the Treasurer hath been duly certified by the Auditors of public
accounts, and their certificate received into the Land-Office.
Given under my hand, and the seal of the said office, this 29th
day of September in the year one thousand seven hundred and 86.

Test
Samuel M Craw Clk
John Harvie Be S O N

Creating Buddy Files

What's in your genealogy tool cabinet? Do you ever experiment with various software tools until you find one that fits your needs or thinking process?

Well, I have experimented with various tools. One of those tools I'm experimenting with right now is Tony Proctor's program to create what he calls a 'Buddy File'. This is being discussed in Dear Myrtle's Facebook group. My Buddy File post describes my learning process.

At least one of the comments discussed whether the time involved in creating the text file was worth it. I have to admit that was my initial thought as Tony made his presentation last week. 

Since I want to use the 'buddy file' for transcriptions, it dawned on me this morning that I likely already have the information to put in a buddy file. I just need to copy/paste into Notepad and save the file.