Person:Elizabeth Cresap (1)

MYTH BUSTED

Myth #1 - The DAR profile for Col. Thomas Cresap shows his daughter Elizabeth married Isaac Collier; as well as the profile A211734 for Isaac Collier himself. Neither mention Jonathan Prater / Prather. An 1866 book reprinted an 1826 Biographical Sketch of the life of the late Captain Michael Cresap, youngest son of Col Thomas Cresap states his sister Elizabeth Cresap married Isaac Collier. It's repeated in the 1937 book "The History of the Cresaps" that Elizabeth Cresap married Isaac Collier. And finally on page 9 (PDF page 11) of a 1851 letter by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Thomas Scott wrote a letter outlining his children's ancestry wherein he stated that his father's sister Elizabeth Scott of Oldtown, MD married Nathaniel Parker of Patterson Creek, Hampshire Co., VA. and then listed his Parker 1st cousins. Then he stated his 1st cousin Elizabeth Parker married Michael Collier and 1st cousin John Parker married Sally Collier, grandchildren of Col Thomas Cresap. Several of the children for these two Parker/Collier marriages have given/middle names with Cresap in them.

John J. Jacob, the March 10, 1826 author of the original 'Biographical Sketch of the Life of the Late Captain Michael Cresap' started working for Capt. Michael Cresap at the age of 15, several years before 1774 and after Captain Cresap's death married his widow with whom he lived 40 years. As such he had intimate knowledge of the Cresap family.

Per Jacob, Col. Thomas Creasap only had 2 daughters Sarah & Elizabeth. We have a reprint of an 1826 document that gives as close to a first hand account of who the children of Col., Thomas Cresap were and who they married as you can get. When Jacob wrote about Captain Michael Cresap's older sister Sarah, he listed her two marriages, 1st to Colonel Enoch Innis and 2nd to Mr. John Foster. IF the Michael Cresap's sister Elizabeth had been married more than once, then one can assume Jacob would have listed both marriages also, but he only listed Elizabeth Cresap's marriage to Mr. Isaac Collier of Pennsylvania. Using the Search function in the digitized 1866 book searching for Prater / Prater results in zero instances found. Searching for Jonathan results in only 1 found, a Jonathan Zane in a footnote.

Observations of the Ancestry records (Marriage and Birth} that link Jonathan Prater to Elizabeth Cresap seem to be based upon information from peoples trees submitted to a DNA firm, imputed into a database, then exported as a genealogical record and sold to Ancestry. See Source Information on each records. They're modern day creations, not, historical documents. And the Findagrave record for Elizabeth Prater is a virtual cemetery record, not from an actual cemetery, and the text HAD ? marks in front of ?Thomas Cresap and ?Hannah Johnson. Neither the Ancestry records, or the Findagrave records could be used to apply for a DAR membership. Based upon documentation presented to Findagrave's editors, the parent information for the Elizabeth Prater profile has been removed.

WikiTree has a profile for the Jonathan Prather who died in 1772 Bedford County, VA. It includes his transcribed will, wherein it states his wife's name was Catherine, not Elizabeth.

Giving the 1826 John Jacob biography of Capt Michael Cresap, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Thomas Scott's 1851 letter, the DAR profiles for Col. Thomas Cresap and Isaac Collier and the Ancestry / Findagrave information, did the Jonathan Prater who died in 1772 Bedford Co., VA. really marry Elizabeth Cresap, daughter of Col. Thomas Cresap and Hannah Johnson?

See also: The Parker Collier Cresap Connection

Myth #2 - The Elizabeth (Cresap) Collier in this profile DID NOT migrate to Shelby Co., KY. Tax records in Shelby Co., KY from 1802 to 1819 consistently show Isaac and Elizabeth (Cresap) Collier's son Michael Collier in Shelby Co., KY. with significantly more assets than the Isaac Collier listed adjacent to him. That Isaac Collier starts out being listed as over 21, but with no assets. Michael Collier's son Isaac Collier was born in 1780, so the Isaac Collier listed has to be the grandson of the Elizabeth (Cresap) Collier in this profile.

Isaac and Elizabeth (Cresap) Collier's last proven location was in that portion of Frederick County, MD that became Washington County, MD. in 1776 and in 1789 became Oldtown, Allegany Co., MD.

Biography

1.   Cresap/Bruce Family. Papers of the Cresap/Bruce Family, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries.. (Collection number:2003-141).

   Thomas Cresap was born in Skipton, Yorkshire, England. The date of his birth could have been 1692 or 1702 as derived from depositions given by him in 1732 and 1758. In 1931 the Cresap Society placed a tablet in Skipton listing his birth as 1694.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source).

   https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/11953588/person/868089966/facts

3.   A Biograhical Sketch of the Life of the Late Captain Michael Cresap.

   The 1866 book is a reprint of an 1826 book. John J. Jacob, the March 10, 1826 author of the original 'Biographical Sketch of the Life of the Late Captain Michael Cresap' started working for Capt. Micahel Cresap at the age of 15, several years before 1774 and after Captain Cresap's death married his widow with whom he lived 40 years. As such he had intimate knowledge of the Cresap family.