Share Bookmark
Benjamin Crow

Benjamin Crow

Male 1756 - 1834  (78 years)    Has 6 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    All

  • Name Benjamin Crow 
    Birth 1756  New Castle County, Delaware, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 1834  Clark Co., Arkansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Burial 1834  Highway 26 and Christian Camp Ground Road, Clark Co., Arkansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Siblings 8 Siblings 
    Person ID I366521  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 5 Sep 2020 

    Father Walter Crow,   b. 23 Aug 1717, Sassafras, Cecil, Maryland, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 26 Sep 1789, Will Probated Mercer, Kentucky, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 72 years) 
    Mother Anne Miller,   b. 31 Mar 1720, Christ Church, Middlesex, VA or England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 May 1811, Mercer, Mercer, Kentucky, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 91 years) 
    Marriage 1740  Middlesex, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F145190  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Ann Gragg,   b. 1759, Augusta Co., Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. May 1835, Clark Co., Arkansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 76 years) 
    Marriage 1781  Augusta Co., Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Mary Crow,   b. 1786, Greene County, Tennessee, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1872, Nash, Bowie Co. TX Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 86 years)
     2. Benjamin Crow, Jr.,   b. Between 1777 and 1803   d. Yes, date unknown
     3. Anna Crow,   b. Between 1777 and 1803   d. Yes, date unknown
     4. James R. Crow,   b. Between 1777 and 1803   d. Yes, date unknown
     5. Betsy Crow,   b. 1782   d. Yes, date unknown
     6. Walter Crow,   b. 1783   d. Yes, date unknown
     7. John Finley Crow,   b. 16 Jun 1787   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F145189  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 26 Jan 2002 

  • Notes 
    • later moving to Augusta Co. VA
    • Benjamin Crow

      I don't know what I could say that hasn't already been published and said about Benjamin Crow, our pioneering Grandsire who was born in Delaware, went on to VA, TN, Missouri Territory and finally to reside until death in Clark Co. AR. This man was a mover and shaker, fighting in the American Revolutionary war, clearing land, claiming land grants and raising a family, taking them with him where ever he went. Tough frontiersman he was!

      Ben was born about 1756 in the county of New Castle, Delaware to Walter and Ann Miller Crow. He was a middle child in a family of eight. There is no family bible, diary or journal to tell us of this family, only documents showing their area of residence. Understanding the historical setting helps us to understand their lives. There are only his military pay slips for service in the Revolutionary War. He enlisted on Dec. 26, 1776 in Captain David Stephensen's Co. of the 8th Virginia Regiment of Foot. He served under the Command by Colonel Abraham Bowman for three years. He received pay of seven and 1/3 dollars per month. He was promoted to Corporal on Aug. 5, 1777, then to Sergeant March 1, 1778. Pay increased to $8.00 per month. These dated pay slips show that he received pay for November and December 1777, January through June 1778 at Valley Forge, part of this time he was listed as sick. He later became part of Captain John Steed's Company of the 3rd and 4th VA Regiment of Foot, Commanded by John Nevill and his pay was raised to $10.00 per month in VA Currency. As of August 1779 he received his pay at Camp Ramapoo, and the very last pay slip dated Dec. 9, 1779 showed him at Camp near Morriston. His discharge date with the service was Dec. 26, 1779.

      He married Ann Gragg, just around the time he was discharged from the Militia. Ann was the daughter of Robert Gragg/Gregg and Lydia Harrison Gragg, neighbors to Walter Crow, his father, in Augusta Co. VA.

      On Sept. 19, 1780, Benjamin purchased part of 400 acres in Augusta Co. Witnessed by Robert Gragg. Two years later on Sept. 28, 1782, Benjamin and his wife, Ann, sold this property. Witnesses of sale were Robert and Samuel Gragg.

      Around Aug. 18, 1782, Benjamin made a claim in Court to be compensated for a rifle that was lost while serving in the Rev. War. He was allowed 7 pounds 10- shilling for said gun, powder horn, shot pouch and knife and the Same is Ordered to be Certified.

      Shortly after sale of his land Benjamin moved his family to the Holston River Valley in SW VA which extended into what was then NC and later to become Greene Co. TN. This valley lay between the Appalachian Mts. on the East and the Clinch Mts. on the west. In this raw untamed wilderness Benjamin began to clear land and build cabins. He built with the cabins facing each other and a stockade fence with a gate at the ends. These gates were to be closed in case of an Indian attack. This was the home that he prepared for his family. In spite of the fact that one-time tax records "as insolvent and delinquent, as he had gone to the Holston." moving his family and working hard to re-establish himself must have paid off.

      In the book of NC Land Grants recorded for Greene Co. TN, "For 10 pounds per 100 acres - to Benjamin Crowe 300 acres in Greene Co. on south side of Nolichucky River on both sides of Meadow Creek to watery fork of Meadow Creek. s/Richard Caswell, Governor at Kinston, NC; Sept. 20, 1787.

      Deed book 3, Benjamin Crow, 200 acres. Consideration of 10 pounds. s/Alexander Martin, Governor at Newbern, NC, dated Dec. 26, 1792.

      Deed Book 3: Oct. 3, 1799, Benjamin Crow, Greene Co. TN to Thomas Pate for $728.00, 440 acres in Greene Co. Witnesses William and Sally Rankin; Registered Jan. 24, 1801.

      Thomas Pate then conveyed this property back to Benjamin Crow. Then Benjamin Crow conveyed this 440 acres to John Neash on Nov. 25, 1801.

      Benjamin Crow was very active in public and civic affairs. In record of Greene Co. TN Court of Common Pleas there are numerous entries for Benjamin Crow to serve as a jurist, to lay out a road, to act as a witness or to help settle an estate or other legal problems. Benjamin was appointed a Colonel in the local Militia to defend against the Indians. He was on committee that offered its help to General George Washington in fighting the French. He also posted bond for several women when they got married.

      In early 1802 Benjamin Crow with extended family left TN for LA territory which at that time belonged to Spain who invited settlers to move West of the Mississippi River. The three oldest children were married and went along with their spouses with Benjamin and Ann.

      Ben's land was located near or on the banks of the Nolichucky River and it was a quick and easy means of transporting a large family group to the wilderness by way of raft or houseboat. During this move on the river, the first grandchild was born. Ben's son, Walter Crow and his wife Margaret's baby daughter was born and they named her Elizabeth Waters Crow.

      When they arrived in the LA Territory they came to a beautiful valley called Bellevue, where they chose land, erected homes and established farms. Benjamin received a Spanish Land Grant of approximately 1055 acres. His son, Walter received at least 385 acres. In 1803 this land was purchased by the US from France and it is known as the "Louisiana Purchase". In 1805 the area known as Missouri became a part of the Territory of Louisiana and remained so until 1812 when it was divided off and became MO Territory. In 1813 WA Co. was created. August 10, 1821, Missouri became the 24th State of the Union. Their first census was taken in 1830.

      Few records remain regarding the time of the Crow family emigrated to MO. Among those are minutes of the Board of Land Commissioners, which includes a list of the men in the District of LA in Dec. 1805. This roster is the next thing to a census and represents the entire population of the area south from St. Charles to New Madrid.

      On Dec. 16, 1811 citizens of New Madrid were awakened by a violent earthquake. Log cabins sat at the epicenter of the quake in which shocks lasted for thirteen months and created unbelievable havoc. It was described thus: "The Earth was observed to roll in waves a few feet high, with visible depressions in between. By and by these swells burst, throwing up large volumes of water, sand and coal. When the swells burst, fissures were left running in a northern and southern direction, and parallel for miles. Some were five miles long, four and one-half feet deep and ten feet wide."

      The graveyard slide into the Mississippi River. Swift rapids and waterfalls were formed in the river. Two lakes were formed, Reelfoot Lake on the KY-TN line, and Lake Francis. Few people were killed as there were but a few people living there at this time. The next year in 1812 there was a great religious fervor and spiritual awakening, some believed due to this great cosmic catastrophe.

      Many disputes and conflicts over land claims started in 1806. You can read about these in the Volumes of "Citizens of Missouri Territory" from 1787 - 1835. Around 1819 Benjamin and son, Walter removed themselves to the AR. Territory, settling in Clark Co. Benjamin is on the 1823 and 1829 tax lists for AR. He applied for a pension from the United States Government based on his Rev. War Duty. His application was denied. These letters provide evidence that by this time Benjamin was old, ill and poor. He lived in Antoine, AR and was a member of the Methodist Church. The last record of Benjamin is the 1830 Census of AR, Antoine Township. Census records 1 male, 70 - 80; one female, 70 - 80; and one female 20 - 30.

      On Aug. 17, 1977, 145 years after his death, the SAR placed a marker at the intersection of HWY 26 and Christian Camp Ground Road near Arkadelphia in Clark Co. AR. This site was known as the place of his grave. I have been there and taken pictures. There are flowers and a flag there, and I have heard someone makes sure they are always there.

      In "Clark County Arkansas - Past and Present" on page439 is a story about Benjamin Crow and his family. Here he was said to have been born in Augusta Co. VA. Clark Co. Cemetery Record Book, Copyright 1983 and published by Committee for Extension Homemakers Council shows:
      Crow, Benjamin
      Virginia Sgt. 4 VA Regt.
      Rev. War (no dates)

      In John Finley Crow's "Memoirs" he has this to say about Benjamin:
      "In a few years after the death of Robert Gregg, Benjamin's father-in-law, Benjamin, and my father moved to Missouri which seemed to be a signal for the breaking up of the neighborhood and the posterity of Robert Gregg were scattered over some half dozen of the Western and Southwestern States. The old homestead (Gregg) is still held by a grandson, Marshall Gregg.

      I now return to the history of my father whom, after having served four years in the army of the Revolution, married Ann, the eldest daughter of Robert Gregg of Augusta Co. VA. His first settlement was made near to his father-in-law, but after the birth of their second child, my parents mingled with the tide of immigration that was beginning to flow Westward.

      My father purchased 500 hundred acres of land on Meadow Creek south of Nolichucky, a tributary of Brench Broad and settled on it in 1783. Shortly afterward, a war broke out with the Cherokee Indians and a station was formed at my father's called "Crow's Station." I will explain what is meant by a station. All the families of a neighborhood collected on a convenient spot, built as many cabins as were necessary for their accommodation and enclosed the whole by a stockade which was entered by two strong gates. From these stations, the men went out in companies to cultivate their farms, a part laboring and a part standing as continually as guards.

      On this farm my father lived until 1802 when he moved to what was then called the District of St. Genevieve, Upper Louisiana, now Washington Co. MO.

      I had four brothers and six sisters. Elizabeth and Walter were born in VA. Ann, myself, Mary, Lydia, Robert, Benjamin, Nancy and James Rankin were born in TN and Rachel in MO.

      When my father moved to MO they all went with him and settled in the same neighborhood, a beautiful cove, called Bellevue. There my sister Mary married a man by the name of Curtis Morris. (See Curtis Lafayette Morris).

      In 1818 my father moved to Arkansas."
      Note: A good resource is the web site:
      http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~crow2000jfcrowmemoirs.htm


      Letter to Crow Researcher, January 1, 2002
      Tracey:
      In the Clark County Arkansas Past and Present family book I found this by Penny Breedlove:

      Benjamin Crow was born ca 1756 in Augusta County, VA and died after 1830 in Clark County. He was the son of Walter and Ann Miller Crow, who first settled in Newcastle, DE, where he was proprietor of the One Tun Tavern. He moved to Augusta Co. VA and then on to Danville, KY . Benjamin married Ann Gragg the daughter of Robert and Lydia Harrison Gregg. He moved to Greene Co. TN about 1783, and then to Iron and Washington Counties in MO about 1802, floating down the TN River on a flatboat. He moved to Clark Co. AR in 1819. His request for a Rev. War. pension was denied, as there were no records of such in WA or VA. He said he was a private in Captain David Stinson Co., Eighth Regiment of the VA Line. He was a LT. Col. in the TN militia.

      Benjamin and Ann's children were:
      1) Polly (Mary) Crow, born 1787 in TN, died in Bowie Co. TX. She married Curtis Morris. (This is the line that I descend from, their son George B- Morris who married Annette Epperson.) 2) John Finely Crow, born June 16,1781 in TN, died Jan. 17,1860 in Hanover, IN; married Esther Alexander, moved to Shelby Co. KY to live with his uncle William Crow and study for the ministry;
      was a Presbyterian minister and founded Hanover College in Hanover, IN .
      3) James Rankin Crow, born ca 1800 in TN; wife unknown, lived in Arkansas between the 1830 and 1840 censuses; in 1850 he and two sons lived in Sacramento Co. CA with brother Robert, also listed with one of the CA sons and the remainder of his family in Henry Co. MO; returned with family to CA about 1853, described in Hempstead County court records as about forty-five years old, six feet high, speaks deliberately and has an honest countenance, and blue eyes and dressed in a coat and pantaloons of course homespun jeans of a walnut color.
      4) William, Possibly son of Benjamin and Ann, lived in Cape Girardeau, MO in 1833.
      5) Betsy, born 1782 in VA married Thomas McLaughlin on Dec. 8 1799 in Greene Co. TN.
      6) Anna, married James L. McLaughlin on June 10, 1801.
      7) Rachel, born 1802 in TN married Samuel Gibbins ca 1830 in Clark Co. AR after Samuel's disappearance the family went to CA. after 1850 to be near her brothers James and Robert.
      8) Nancy, born 1797 died Feb. 8,1861 in Bates Co. MO., married Thomas, son of Thomas Gragg.
      9) Robert, born June 221794, died May 29, 1876 in Long Valley, CA married Elizabeth Brown on Sept. 5, 1817, moved to Perry Co IL ca. 1818; was an early pioneer in Utah, his picture hangs in the Morman Ubrary in Salt Lake City, moved to California.
      10) Benjamin, died Lafayette Co. AR., estate probated 1826, married Nancy Daniels, one son.
      11) Lydia, born in MO., died soon after coming to Clark Co. AR.
      12) Walter Crow, born 1783.


      Gloria Rice West



Home Page |  What's New |  Most Wanted |  Surnames |  Photos |  Histories |  Documents |  Cemeteries |  Places |  Dates |  Reports |  Sources