Friday Find

A Handwritten Note about the “Other” James Crawford

Do you have handwritten notes tucked away in your genealogy files that lack any documentation? Perhaps they were passed along by another researcher, copied years ago, or slipped into a folder with the intention of “looking into that later.”

Today’s Friday Find is exactly that sort of document.

At first glance, one might assume this handwritten note refers to my ancestor, James Crawford. After all, it mentions a James Crawford connected to the same general time and place as my research.

But that assumption would be wrong.

This note actually refers to the other James Crawford—the one who has long complicated my Crawford research.

For those unfamiliar with my Crawford brick wall, multiple men named James Crawford were living in Kentucky at roughly the same time. My ancestor, James Crawford who married Sally Smith Duggins, lived in Garrard County, Kentucky prior to 1800. Another James Crawford, the man discussed in this note, married Martha Knight.

To make matters even more confusing, these two James Crawfords appear to have traveled in overlapping circles. Both were associated with Garrard County, Kentucky. Both may have spent time in Barren County, Kentucky. Both later migrated to Preble County, Ohio, where records suggest they owned adjoining land. It’s easy to see how records, notes, and online trees can merge the two men into one.

The clue that immediately identifies this note as belonging to the other James Crawford is the wife’s name: Martha Knight. My James Crawford’s wife was Sally Smith Duggins Crawford.

Here is the transcription of the note:

James Crawford
born in Virginia 1770
Married Martha Knight
born in Kentucky.
Came to Warren County
Indiana from eastern Preble
County Ohio in 1828.

You can copy his will at
the court house. File 17. 1834
He mentions land owned
by him. No 24 – R 8 W. Tp 21

They had ten children
all mentioned in the will.
You are interested in Betsy
Bible records say, Elizabeth
She married in 1816 in Ohio
Moses Lincoln

Both died in 1866 and are
buried in old W. Leb cemetery

James and his wife are
buried on the farm they
owned and where they lived.

This little note raises several interesting questions.

Who wrote it? Was it correspondence from another researcher? A courthouse lookup? A note copied from a conversation? Unfortunately, there is no attribution, date, or explanation.

Even so, the note contains useful clues:

• James Crawford was reportedly born in Virginia in 1770
• He married Martha Knight
• The family moved from eastern Preble County, Ohio, to Warren County, Indiana, in 1828
• His probate file was supposedly filed in 1834
• The note references land ownership
• “Betsy” is identified as Elizabeth, with a marriage in Ohio in 1816 to Moses Lincoln
• Burial information is provided for James, Martha, and Elizabeth

Of course, as genealogists, we know that undocumented notes are clues—not evidence.

Still, this is exactly the sort of discovery I enjoy in a Friday Find. A single handwritten page preserved in an old file can serve as a roadmap for future research, even when every claim must be verified against original records.

And in this case, it serves as a reminder of just how messy same-name research can become when two men named James Crawford lived in the same region at the same time.

Do you keep undocumented research notes in your files? Have any of them led to valuable discoveries?