The Crow Connection

 

Ancestors

Our ancestors emigrated from Ireland to the United States during the middle to late 1700's.  They settled into one of the original thirteen colonies - "South Carolina".
     During this time, the Colonists were under British Rule.  Battles with Spanish French, Indians, and pirates occupied the settlers prior to the Revolutionary War.  A treaty in 1760 ended the Cherokee War and opened up more land for settlement.  With the offer of tax-free land for a decade, Irish immigrants and settlers from other colonies swelled into the Carolinas.  This paved the way for South Carolina to enter the Union in 1788 as the 8th state.
     James Crow and his wife Elizabeth were one of the original settlers into Spartansburg, South Carolina.  Daughters of the American Revolution records list James and his brothers as fighting in the Continental Army after the fall of Charleston.  Documents dated during the 1780's show James as being a large landowner on the Tyger River in Spartansburg - owning several hundred acres.  During this time, land was being purchased for as cheap as .25 cents per acre!  Irish-born Levi Crow, the son of James and Elizabeth, appears to be a large landowner as well.
     Levi Crow married Sarah Busey (1790-1857), daughter of Benjamin and Lucy Busey.  Around 1808, Levi moved with his father and other relatives to Buncombe County - an area we now know as Asheville, North Carolina.  Several years later, Levi and Sarah moved with her family West to Marion, Kentucky.  They owned and operated a plantation with the Busey family from 1818-1823.  It was located in an area known as Piney Fork.
     The log cabin below belonged to the Gilbert Family.  They were in-laws to Sarah Busey Crow.  She may have lived in this home at one time!

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Gilbert Home 1.jpg (228040 bytes)

     Just prior to 1824, Levi (along with Sarah and her family) moved again to McKenzie, Tennessee.  Census records show that Levi and Sarah had 5 sons and 4 daughters:

Garland T. Crow

Mary A. Crow

Benjamim Busey Crow

Zilphia Crow

Levi Crow Jr.

Ann Elizabeth Crow

Edward Crow

Louisa M. Crow

John Crow

The town of McKenzie is divided between the three counties that surround it - Carroll Weakly, and Henry.  Locating records for this town can be somewhat confusing because of it's being split up into these different counties.
     Levi Crow Sr., according to Census records, passed away between 1830 and 1840 in either Carroll or Weakly County, Tennessee.  The grave site location is unknown, but it is believed he is buried in either the Busey Cemetery or the Blooming Grove Cemetery in McKenzie.
     In the late 1840's, Sarah moved back to Marion, Kentucky where she spent the remainder of her life.  She is buried at the Crooked Creek Cemetery, one mile north of Marion.  The only markings on her tombstone are "Sarah Crow, died July 27, 1858".  (See picture below)  Levi Crow Jr. and some other Crow family members are also buried outside of Marion at the Mt. Zion Cemetery.

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Sarah Grave 4.jpg (165180 bytes)

     Edward Crow married Elizabeth Hopkins in Carroll County, Tennessee on 24 December 1842.  Edward and Elizabeth had two children - James Levi Crow and Mary A. Crow.  According to Weakly County Court records, Edward died without a will in 1848.  His brother, Garland T. Crow, helped in paying off the debts, and in assisting Garland's wife and children with their needs.  It is not known where Edward is buried, but his brother Garland is buried in the Blooming Grove Cemetery 3 miles west of McKenzie, Tennesee.

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garlandsite.jpg (197158 bytes)

 

The father to Grover Cleveland Crow was James Levi Crow and his mother was Mary Ann (Mann) Crow.  James remained with his mother until the Civil War broke out, when he enlisted on 13 May 1864.  He was in Company F, 145th Illinois Regiment (later considered with the 18th Illinois), and served until the close of the war.  His volunteer enlistment record shows him to have blue eyes, light hair, fair complexion, and he stood a robust 5' 4" tall.
     While on a boat coming from St. Louis, he fell and was disabled for a short period of time.  In September 1864, at Mozelle Bridge (near Richwoods, a few miles from St. Louis), he was wounded in the right leg by a gunshot.  This happened while General Price (Confederate) was attempting to defend the Mozelle Bridge.  Fearing an attack and pursuit, General price burned the Mozelle Bridge and then pushed rapidly toward the State Capital, followed by General Smith and his entire command.  General Price, after having burned bridges behind him and done all in his power to hinder his pursuers, arrived at Jefferson City on 7 October 1864.
     After the war in 1867, James Levi moved from Union County, Illinois to Scott County, Missouri and remained there with the exception of the few last years which he spent in Stoddard County, Missouri.

He was a large farm owner and operator (355 acres) and a very successful and intelligent businessman.  He was a Mason and a member of the I.O.O.F. and the Knights of Pythias.  His sister Mary was deceased prior to 1888 as noted in Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri.  We have no further information regarding her birth or death.
     James Levi was born on 14 December 1846 and died on 23 February 1896.  He was fighting a fire on the railroad right-of-way.  Suffering from the heat caused by the fire and by perspiring, he went home and sat in a drafty hallway to cool off.  He then developed pneumonia and subsequently died.
     His home was located on what is now known as the Ulen Land just about 1/8 mile from where his Great-Grandson Wenzil Dean Crow owns a farm and resides.  Records indicate that two farms now owned by Dean once belonged to James Levi.  County records indicate that James Levi was in some sort of partnership with a "Miller" and apparently all holdings were transferred to Miller after James' death.  Information relating to James Levi and his children by three different wives can be found on his page.

 

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