Person:William Crawford (75)

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William Crawford (2 September 1722 – 11 June 1782) was an American soldier and surveyor who worked as a western land agent for George Washington. Crawford fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. He was tortured and burned at the stake by American Indians in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre, a notorious slaughter of Indians by militia near the end of the American Revolution.

In 1742 Crawford married one Ann Stewart, who bore him one child, a daughter also named Ann, in 1743. Apparently she died in childbirth or soon after, and on 5 January 1744 he married Hannah Vance, said to have been born in Pennsylvania in 1723. She bore him a son named John (20 April 1744 – 22 September 1816; he married one Effie Grimes) and at least two daughters, Ophelia "Effie" (2 September 1747 – 1825, who married Captain William McCormick [Feb 2, 1738–August 15, 1816][4]), and Sarah (1752–10 Nov 1838, who married 1) Major William Harrison [c 1740–13 June 1782], and 2) Lt. Col Uriah Springer [18 Nov 1754–21 Sep 1826]}. There may also have been another daughter, Nancy, born in 1767, who had apparently died when he wrote his will in 1782

Notes

• From "Fort Necessity and historic shrines of the Redstone country: Washington bi-centennial issue, 1732-1932", by Sons of the American Revolution. Pennsylvania Society. Fort Necessity Chapter, Uniontown:

COLONEL WILLIAM CRAWFORD - INDIAN TRADER, PIONEER and SOLDIER ON THE FRONTIER, pg. 101

WILLIAM CRAWFORD, the Scotch-Irish Indian trader, pioneer and frontier soldier, was born in Orange Co., Virginia, in the year 1722 [corrected from 1732], son of HONORA and HUGH CRAWFORD. When he was four years old his father died. His mother soon married RICHARD STEPHENSON. WILLIAM CRAWFORD, his brother, VALENTINE CRAWFORD, and their half-brothers, JOHN, HUGH, RICHARD, JAMES, and MARQUIS STEPHENSON, were raised in the Shenandoah Valley near Winchester in what is now Frederick County, Virginia...By the time WILLIAM CRAWFORD had passed his 26th year he had traveled across the Allegheny Mountains as a Captain in the army of General Forbes, when that general found Fort Duquesne abandoned by the French and Indians in the year 1758.

(pg. 102) In the year 1767 WILLIAM CRAWFORD settled in what is now Fayette Co...

Upon the erection of Bedford Co. in 1771, CAPTAIN WILLIAM CRAWFORD was appointed a Justice of the Peace, and this office was renewed on the erection of Westmoreland Co. in 1773...(pg. 113 is a picture of Ruins of Colonel Crawford’s Spring House, West Connellsville, Pa.)

• Virginia's governor, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, traveled to Pittsburgh, which Virginia claimed as part of its territory, to appoint government officials under the Virginia charter. In 1774, the Virginia assembly separated the western portion of Augusta County's territory and formed the District of West Augusta.

• Montgomery, Thomas Lynch (editor). Pennsylvania Archives. 6th Series, Vol. 2, Page 3. Harrisburg Publishing Company, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1906.

Committee Of Observation - 16 May 1775

"At a meeting of the inhabitants of that part of Augusta County that lies on the west side of the Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania), at Pittsburgh, the 16th day of May, 1775, the following gentlemen were chosen a committee for the said district, viz.: George Croghan, John Campbell, Edward Ward, Thomas Smallman, John Canon, John McCullough, William Goe, George Vallandigham, John Gibson, Dorsey Pentecost, Edward Cook, William Crawford, Devereux Smith, John Anderson, David Rogers, Jacob Van Meter, Henry Enoch, James Ennis, George Wilson, William Vance, David Shepherd, William Elliott, Richmond Willis, Samuel Semple, John Ormsby, Richard McMaher, John Nevill, and John Swearingen." Geography: District of West Augusta included all that part of Pennsylvania east of the Allegheny and Ohio, south of the Indian boundary line at Kittanning, Pennsylvania and west of the Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania). Yohogania County included that part of District of West Augusta north of the mouth of Cross Creek and the point where Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania) crosses the south line of Pennsylvania.

• From Genforum Message Board:

Regarding Richard Stephenson's stepson William Crawford: A deed dated 06 Apr 1762 in Frederick Co. VA showed at that time his wife was named Hannah.

1. ↑ William Crawford (soldier), in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.

   Note: birthdate has been corrected to 2 September 1722 on wikipedia.

2.   Finding aid prepared by Kate Colligan, Angela Manella, and Matt Gorzalski. Ohio Company Papers, 1736-1813, DAR.1925.02: Darlington Collection, Special Collections Department, . (ULS Archives Service Center University of Pittsburgh Library System: University of Pittsburgh, January 2009).

   The Ohio Company, founded in 1747, represented the trading and land prospecting interests of a handful of Virginia planters. In 1748, company representative George Mercer secured a land grant from the British Crown for 200,000 acres in the Ohio territory, a colloquial term for what is now modern day West Virginia, much of Ohio, western Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland. The company employed frontiersman Christopher Gist to survey the area of the grant and negotiate a treaty with the Native Americans in the 1750s. Gist embarked on three separate journeys into the Ohio territory in 1750-51, 1751-52, and 1753-54. The Ohio Company’s efforts in the contested region were largely stymied by the outbreak of the French and Indian War, despite its continued existence until its formal dissolution in 1779. Members of the company included Virginians George Mason, brothers Lawrence, Augustine, and George Washington, Virginia colony Governor Robert Dinwiddie, and British merchant John Hanbury. This collection includes manuscript copies of the Case of the Ohio Company, a collection of materials compiled by George Mercer to demonstrate the progress made by the Ohio Company, and a number of debt notes related to the company’s trade in dry goods. The collection documents the involvement of John Mercer, James Mercer, George Mercer, George Mason, George Croghan, Thomas Cresap, Adam Stephen, and William Crawford in the company. Digital reproductions of the collection are available electronically by following the respective "Digitized Folder Contents" links within the finding aid.

3.   Montgomery, Thomas Lynch. Pennsylvania archives. Sixth series. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Pub. Co., state printer, 1906-1907)
   Vol. 2, Page 3.

   Committee Of Observation
   "At a meeting of the inhabitants of that part of Augusta County that lies on the west side of the Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania), at Pittsburgh, the 16th day of May, 1775, the following gentlemen were chosen a committee for the said district, viz.: George Croghan, John Campbell, Edward Ward, Thomas Smallman, John Canon, John McCullough, William Goe, George Vallandigham, John Gibson, Dorsey Pentecost, Edward Cook, William Crawford, Devereux Smith, John Anderson, David Rogers, Jacob Van Meter, Henry Enoch, James Ennis, George Wilson, William Vance, David Shepherd, William Elliott, Richmond Willis, Samuel Semple, John Ormsby, Richard McMaher, John Nevill, and John Swearingen." Geography: District of West Augusta included all that part of Pennsylvania east of the Allegheny and Ohio, south of the Indian boundary line at Kittanning, Pennsylvania and west of the Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania). Yohogania County included that part of District of West Augusta north of the mouth of Cross Creek and the point where Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania) crosses the south line of Pennsylvania.

4.   Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900: [database online] (not considered a reliable primary source). (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004).

   U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
   Name: William Crawford
   Gender: Male
   Birth Place: VA
   Birth Year: 1722
   Spouse Name: Hannah Vance
   Spouse Birth Year: 1732
   Marriage
   Year: 1744
   Marriage State: VA
   Number Pages: 1

5.   Scholl, Allen W. The brothers Crawford : Colonel William, 1722-1782 and Valentine Jr., 1724-1777. (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, c1995).

   Colonel William Crawford led the ill-fated expedition against the Sandusky Indians in June of 1782; he was defeated, captured, and burned at the stake June 12, 1782. Valentine Crawford Jr. was confidante of President Washington and left a large family that settled in Virginia and the South before migrating westward. Extensively documented.