by
\nLarry Pearce
\n1\/9\/09<\/p>\n
OUR CRAWFORDS<\/span><\/a> \u2013 SURNAME ORIGINS<\/span><\/a> \u2013 FAMOUS CRAWFORDS<\/span><\/a> – TALE OF THE GRAVESTONES<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n The Scots are known as rugged, independent people, and anyone who\u2019s ever seen the barren, often harsh, landscape of the homeland will understand how they could be that way. This character trait became a matter of survival. Most of our ancestors had been transplanted to Northern Ireland. The Ulster Scots, as they were called, originated in a place that is a \u201cwee bit\u201d more forgiving, with lush greenery and warmer winds. But still, the common folks were pushed together in a relatively small space with little chance for advancement. So, it\u2019s no wonder our Scots-Irish probably arrived in Western Pennsylvania with an \u201cattitude,\u201d clinging to their religious faith and highly skeptical of government. Throw in some honest Celtic superstitions, and you have a certain \u201chard-headedness\u201d that may still be found in our family today. We should say at the outset that many of the names from all these places mentioned are so similar, through marriage and tradition, and especially the Crawfords and Campbells, that being absolutely certain of who\u2019s who can be difficult. So, in the following lines we\u2019ll do the best we can with what we have, and if there\u2019s a question, we\u2019ll point that out and ask you to wait for future research and the next revision. This article, then, is about the opportunities and the obstacles the Crawfords faced in the hills above Pittsburgh. After a brief look at the origins of the family and their surname we\u2019ll consider several rather extraordinary tales of our Crawfords.<\/p>\n But<\/a> first, who were the Crawfords and how did they fit into our family, you ask? Let\u2019s begin with my great great great grandmother, the bride of one young Thomas Campbell<\/a>, the lassie Mary Crawford (1799-1886). Her parents, according to family tradition, were Wilson and Sarah Crawford. Since there\u2019s little on Wilson, some now ask whether \u201cWilson\u201d should be interpreted as \u201cWilliam\u201d on the crumbling gravestone at the Pine Creek Presbyterian church cemetery. Also, and even more ironically, we think she died in 1824, but we don\u2019t even know her maiden name. Future research may reveal this and much more. Various sources say that Wilson\u2019s parents, James (1764-1829) and Sarah Campbell Crawford (1759-1837), first lived in nearby Indiana County, Pennsylvania, before heading west to Allegheny. Not only did we have two generations with the same first name, Sarah, but Mary\u2019s grandmother was also a Campbell. Family tradition suggests that our Campbells came from County Derry<\/a> in Northern Ireland, part of the island very close to Argylle, Scotland<\/a>, the home of the numerous and powerful Clan Campbell. But the county is home to many Crawfords too, and it\u2019s probable that the families knew each other back in the old country. Not incidentally, genealogists caution us that the Port of Londonderry saw the emigration of more Ulster Scots than any other and should not be confused with a family\u2019s county of birth. A personal desire is to commission a study of the origins of all our families who are believed to have exited there: Crawfords, Campbells, Grays, Andersons, Rosses, Norrises, etc.<\/p>\n The<\/a> surname Crawford was first assumed by Reginald, the baron of Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1150 the simple Old English rendering would have been \u201cCrauford,\u201d suggesting a place to cross a stream near a colony of crows. Ancestors.com<\/a> provides another theory, suggesting that \u201ccru\u201d was Gaelic for \u201cbloody,\u201d with the implication that this large barony was established from land originally \u201ccommemorative of some sanguinary conflict between the Aborigines and the Roman invaders.\u201d Another source forwards the possible source as \u201ccrodh port\u201d (pronounced \u201ccrofort\u201d), a sheltering place for cattle.\u201d<\/p>\n C. Joanne Crawford of the Clan Crawford Association<\/a> provides a lengthy and detailed account of this noble Scottish family through the Electric Scotland<\/a> webpage. She believes the family has French origins as the site of the present day ruins of Crawford castle is still called \u201cNorman\u201d and early family names are \u201cpure Norman.\u201d Dominus Galfridus de Crawford witnessed charters (deeds and contracts) of King William (1170). Later, the above mentioned Reginald, \u201cone of 1,000 Norman knights,\u201d was granted a large estate in Clydesdale, Scotland, by King David I. Tradition holds many tales of heroism. In fact, the mother of national patriarch William Wallace, Margaret, was the daughter of Sir Hugh Crawford, Sheriff of Ayr. On down the line, another Reginald (Raynauld or Ronald) was among the first to join Robert the Bruce<\/a>, liberator of Scotland. In 1306, Sir Reginald accompanied the brothers of Bruce, Thomas and Alexander, and 700 men in the attack on Galloway. The three leaders were seriously wounded and imprisoned. After they had been executed, their heads were impaled on the gates at Loch Ryan, as was the British custom of the victor in a war involving \u201ctreason.\u201d<\/p>\n The Crawford Association historian recounts a thousand years of descendancy, battles won, and lands ruled. For example, in 1575, King James VI (later James I of England) commended Hew Craufuird of Kilbirnie (language and spelling as it was) in a letter for the capture of Edinburgh castle and the end of the civil war: In an old north country ballad entitled \u201cEarl Crawford,\u201d supposedly based on the reputation of one Crawford nobleman, the wife makes \u201cmerry jest\u201d as to the father of her child, but the husband takes her seriously and sues for divorce. One of their sons later gained a similar reputation and was tagged \u201cProdigal Earl.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunately<\/a>, not all our ancestors were so infamous. Our later famous Crawfords include:<\/p>\n Returning<\/a> to our personal Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Crawfords who married into our Campbells in the 1834, we present several mysteries and controversies. First, it is accepted that both families were staunch Presbyterians, and of the dozens of congregations near their settlements North of Pittsburgh, two are closest and figure into our story: Pine Creek<\/a>, Fox Chapel Boro (not to be confused with the old Convenanter Pine Creek church along Rt. 8 in Hampton Township now occupied by the Depreciation Lands Museum were other Campbells lie in the cemetery there), and Sharpsburg<\/a>, in the valley along the Allegheny River. (The beautiful building still stands, but the congregation merged with the nearby Aspinwall Presbyterian, and the cemetery was emptied in the 1800\u2019s, which we\u2019ll discuss laster.) Thanks to local historian Diane Nichols and the internet, we have much information on these churches and their cemeteries. For example, the 1863 membership roll of the Pine Creek church contains a number of Crawfords and Campbells, and the church cemetery holds \u201cSarah Crawford: consort (spouse) of Wilson, who departed this life Dec. 20 (year illegible), aged32 years. Diane\u2019s notes indicate that the missing date is 1824. The only problem is that family tradition indicates that Mary Crawford Campbell, wife of Thomas, was born in 1799, so this Sarah couldn\u2019t have been Mary\u2019s mother. Furthermore, there is no record or marker for Wilson.<\/p>\n The second mystery involves at least a dozen Crawfords \u201cremoved\u201d from the Pine Creek Cemetery in 1908, including James and Sarah Campbell Crawford, whom we believe to be the parents of Wilson Crawford, who died in 1764, and his wife Sarah, who died in 1837. The parents were re-interred in the newer Greenwood Cemetery, only a mile away. This information is from Nancy Sterling, and she calls the Crawford lot (Section 4), \u201cThe nicest section of the cemetery.\u201d Diane Nichols indicates that moving graves was a common practice in those days and gives six possible reasons:<\/p>\n So, the Greenwood Cemetery<\/a>, incorporated in 1874, today holds the remains of Thomas and Mary Crawford Campbell, removed from Pine Creek in 1904, James and Sarah Campbell Crawford, removed from Pine Creek in 1908, and many other close family members. Some of the re-interred had been in the ground for over 70 years. The excavation and reburial process must have been gruesome. Why weren\u2019t Wilson and Sarah re-interred? How many may have come from Sharpsburg? We don\u2019t know the answers to these and other questions yet. From church records, we know that several of the Campbells moved their membership from Pine Creek, but neither family is represented in the 1879 annual report of the Sharpsburg church, even though it was noted that \u201cremovals from the cemetery totalled $700, plus interest,\u201d that year.<\/p>\n One final mystery concerning our Crawfords, which we\u2019ll call the case of the inheritence. Diane Nichols writes that James Crawford first settled in Indiana County from County Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1784, at the age of 20. Another source records a William Crawford (1763-1834) who had moved there from Chester County, PA. His father was John (1733-1804), who died in adjacent Westmoreland County. Yet another Indiana County pioneer is remembered as William Crawford (1846-1929), who married a Helena Jane Campbell (1880-1945). This William\u2019s father was Major James Crawford (c.1825-1879). So, we know that there were other Crawford families already in that part of Western Pennsylvania, their connection to ours, we don\u2019t know. Diane says that our James and Sarah conceived six children before moving to the hills above Pittsburgh in 1809. Unfortunately, only one son, Matthew (1788-1868), lived to maturity. He was elected an elder at Pine Creek in 1815 when the first log building was constructed and was buried there after he died. Matthew and wife Catherine had five children, three of whom survived to inherit the Crawford farm that had been in the family for as many generations. According to the book, The History of Allegheny County, their son Matthew C. Crawford, Jr., his maiden sister, and a married sister, a \u201cMrs. James Campbell,\u201d were awarded title to the property. Should it read, \u201cMrs. Thomas Crawford Campbell?\u201d Or did yet another Crawford marry another Campbell? Or, was one of Matthew\u2019s heirs really a man, a nephew let\u2019s say, named Wilson, as in the father of our Mary Crawford Campbell? The dates don\u2019t match up, so further investigation is required. Finally, there is a William Crawford on that 1839 membership of the Pine Creek church. Should our family history read William instead of Wilson?<\/p>\n What began as a simple written introduction to an ancient and proud part of our family became a weeks-long research project involving telephone calls, e-mails, and lots of re-reading family records. We answered a few questions, but with each stone over turned, several new puzzles emerged: Can we be sure of whom the ancestors of Mary Crawford Campbell are? Why were those family members re-interred? Our investigation is just starting. No doubt each new discovery will lead to even more questions about the connections of our 18th century Scots-Irish of Allegheny County. One thing is sure: Our Crawfords were an independent lot, but it was that \u201cattitude\u201d that kept our country free\/ With a millennium of documented Scottish and Irish history behind us, the least we can do is continue the study of our American ancestors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Larry Pearce 1\/9\/09 OUR CRAWFORDS \u2013 SURNAME ORIGINS \u2013 FAMOUS CRAWFORDS – TALE OF THE GRAVESTONES The Scots are known as rugged, independent people, and anyone who\u2019s ever seen the barren, often harsh, landscape of the homeland will understand … Continue reading
\nCaptain Crawford, I have heard of your guid service done to me from the beginning of the warrs against my onfriends, as I shall sum day remember the sam, God willing, to your greit contentment; in the mean quhyle be of guid comfort, and reserve you to that time with patince being assured of my favour. Farewell. Your guid friend, James Rex.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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