Person:Christopher Crow (2)

Probate

On 11 Dec 1680, an order was issued to establish the estate of Christopher Crow, as both he and his wife had left the colony, leaving 3 children "in a suffering state." Josiah Clark was named administrator.

"In 1684, administration was granted on his estate to Josiah Clark, administrator, who had £73, besides some property in the hands of Samuel Burr, and an axe and gun in Samuel Crow's possession, and was ordered to distribute £10 of the personal estate to the relict and her heirs, and one-third of the real estate for her life. To the eldest son £16; to her other children £8 each, to the sons at 21 years of age, and to the daughters at 18 years. Inventory dated March 6, 1683; amount of inventory, £109 10s. 6d." ^S1

The reason for the second probate being ordered is unclear from Hinman. It may, however, indicate that word had been received that Christopher has died or that three years had expired without word and Christopher was "deemed" deceased.

Mary (Burr) Crow apparently returned soon and married the said Josiah Clark since they married and had a son Josiah in January 1682. Both living 6 March 1684 as Clark was appointed administrator of Crow's estate, and provision is made for the relict [now Clark's wife].

The Estate of Christopher Crow

"Probate Records. Vol. IV, 1677 to 1687 - Page 70.

Crow, Christopher, at his farme at Greenfield, in Windsor Bounds. Invt. £109-16-06. Taken 13 December, 1680, by Nicholas Olmsted, John Baker. Children: Samuel, age 21 - Jan., 1683; Mary, 18 - Oct., 1683; Hanna, 15 - Feb., 1683; Martha, 14 - May, 1684; Benoni, 12 - Jan., 1683; Margaret, 11 - April, 1684; Thomas, 5 - May, 1684.

Court Record, Page 33 - 11 December, 1680: Crow had left out of the Colony, and later his wife went, leaving the children and debts. This Court appoint Samuel Burr and Thomas Burr to take an Invt. of the Estate and to dispose of the Children that they may be comfortably provided for.

Page 40 - 20 April, 1681: Invt. Exhibited. Samuel Burr appointed Adms.

Page 87 - 6 March, 1684: Adms. of Estate to Josiah Clarke, who appeared to have in hand in Land and other things £73, With something in the hands of Samuel Burr, to Distribute: To the Relict, £10; to The Eldest son £16; to each of the other Children £8 as they come of age."^[3]

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Christopher Crow, in Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   1:479.

   Christopher (Crow), Windsor, freem. of Conn. 1658, m. 15 Jan. 1657, Mary, d. of Benjamin Burr; d. 1680, leav. Samuel, Benoni, Thomas, and four ds. Hinman, 127, says he d. 1681, and gives the ages of the ch. Samuel, 21 yrs.; Mary, 18; Hannah, 15; Martha, 14; Benoni, 12; Margaret, 11; and Thomas, 5. His wid. m. Josiah Clark of W. and Mary m. John Clark, br. of Josiah.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Christopher Crow, in Hinman, Royal Ralph (1785-1868). A Catalogue of the Names of the First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut.

   Crow, Christopher, first came to Hartford, not as early as some others; he remained a few years and then removed to Windsor. He m. Mary Burr, dau'r of Benjamin, of Hartford, Jan. 15, 1656.
   He had two tracts of land recorded in Hartford, one " where his house standeth, in 1652, and a piece of wood land he purchased of Wm. "Heirs" (Ayres,) in 1659. He was made a freeman. May,
   1656. Christopher Crow, remained many years in the Conn. Colony at Hartford and Windsor. His farm where he last resided in Connecticut, was at Greenfield, in Windsor.
   
   For some cause Christopher left the Colony, and afterward, about 1680, his wife also left, and left behind her three young children in a suffering state; in mercy to the children an order was made Dec. 11, 1680, to preserve the estate the parents had left, to pay his debts, and Samuel and Thomas Burr, were appointed by the court to take an inventory of the estate and dispose of the children the best way they could, and pay the debts, &c. An inventory was returned to the Court in Hartford, in 1681.

3. ↑ Crow, Christopher, in Manwaring, Charles W. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. (Hartford, Conn.: R. S. Peck & Co., 1904-06)
   1:296.
4. ↑ Date of death unknown. It is not clear from the probate abstracts whether he had been confirmed as deceased or simply gone missing.