Table 5
Associates of the Crawfords in Effingham County

Name [Years of Recorded Association]

Six occurrences:
James Brewer [1790,1791,1794,1800,1804,1806]

Three occurrences:
Nathan Brewer [1804,1806,1810], Richard Touchstone [1798,1804,1806]

Two occurrences:
Christopher Bailey [1807,1808], William Beal [1807,1812], James Brewer, Jr. [1804,1806], Joseph Brewer [1804,1806], Priscilla Brewer [1804,1806], Henry Cook [1811,1813], Robert Hughes [1795,1798], Clement Lanier, JIC [1804,1806], Thomas Morgan [1811,1812]

One occurrence:
Aaron Bennet [1793], William Brannen [1810], Robert Donaldson [1811], Matthew Driggers [1794], William Edwards [1811], Thomas Gill [1810], ______ Goldwire [1785], John Hodges [1800], Mary Hurst [1793], William Jenkins [1800], David Jones [1800], ______ Jones [1793], Thomas Lane [1793], John Martin [1794], ______ Mizong [1785], William Morgan [1807], Samuel Parish [1800], Hannah Stirk [1807], ______ Walder [1791], Shadrach Wheeler [1811]
Among the remaining associates of the Crawfords listed in Table 5, only David Jones appears to be worth consideration for possible further links with the Crawfords. David Jones is a name that comes up in relation to the Mallette family [23]. This family may be the family of Priscilla Molliday, who may be the paternal grandmother of the seven Crawford brothers [these possibilities are discussed in more detail below]. Furthermore, if the Jones individual shown in Table 3 and Table 5 without a given name is assumed to be David Jones or his family, a relatively long association between this Jones family and the Crawfords can be inferred. The 1793 survey of Charles Crawford's land in Effingham County was witnessed by a John Crawford [70, p. 245]. This John Crawford may be the John Crawford of interest, or he may be unrelated. Also, this Charles Crawford may be the Charles Crawford from Richmond and Columbia Counties in Georgia who was granted land in Effingham County in 1793. The Crawford family of Richmond and Columbia counties is a well-documented family [19] that were and are prominent Presbyterians. Without further evidence that this John Crawford is the John Crawford of interest, this evidence of a link with Charles Crawford is particularly tenuous as evidence of a family relationship. On the other hand, if this John Crawford is the John Crawford of interest, than Charles Crawford becomes a figure worth further study.

Other John Crawfords

There were two other John Crawfords whose age and association with Effingham County make them possible candidates as a parent or relation of Gideon Crawford. One will be referred to as John Crawford, Loyalist, and the other will be referenced as John Crawford II. John Crawford, Loyalist, appears in 1782 in Effingham County, where he surrendered and paid a fine as a British loyalist [9, 22, p. 169]. He later moved to East Florida [10]. His appearance in Effingham County does not necessarily mean that he was a resident of Effingham County. Some of the loyalists who surrendered in Effingham County along with John Crawford, Loyalist, can be shown to be from outside of Effingham County. There is no other documentation tying this loyalist to Effingham County. John Crawford II registered for the 1805 Georgia Land Lottery from Screven County, Georgia. This county was formed from Effingham County in 1793. John Crawford II was married. There is evidence [29, p.126; 37, p.222] that a John Crawford of about the correct age to be this John Crawford II was a Methodist minister for thirty-three years in Screven County; this John Crawford was married to Sarah Maner [37, p. 222], and he died in 1822. While the ministerial role makes this John Crawford an attractive candidate, the differences in religion and in spouses' names seems to make a close connection unlikely.
A Possible Family of Origin for Priscilla Crawford

In 1792, Priscilla Molliday deeded some personal property, for "love, good will, and affection", to Priscilla Crawford for her to hold in trust for her heirs [60, p. 425]. Furthermore, while Priscilla Molliday did not name a relationship between her and Priscilla Crawford, they did have the same given name. A family relationship is a reasonable assumption. Less than a month later, Priscilla Molliday made another deed giving similar property to her "daughter, Chloe Howard" [60, p. 455]. A reasonable hypothesis is that Priscilla Molliday was the mother of both Priscilla Crawford and Chloe Howard. In both of these deeds, the name, Priscilla, is written in such a way that the first few letters could be misread. The name, Molliday, is a very unusual name. No other occurrence of this name, other than in conjunction with this Priscilla Molliday, could be found, in historical or current records [33, 35, 36]. A reasonable hypothesis is that the name is a phonetic spelling of some name with a different actual spelling. One obvious candidate name for the name mistakenly rendered as Molliday is the name, Holiday. However, the author thinks it is unlikely that the initial sound of the name was misheard twice. It seems more reasonable that the initial sound was rendered correctly as an "M" while the remainder of the name was spelled more or less phonetically. Furthermore, as the analysis presented earlier of interactions between Crawfords and others indicates, there is no evidence of a connection between Crawfords and Hollidays. A candidate family that may meet this second circumstance is the Mallette family [23, pp. 58-62] of Purysburg, South Carolina and Effingham County, Georgia. This family is a candidate because they appear in the region in the appropriate time period, the family uses the names Gideon and Priscilla, and there is a documented connection with a Jones family, including a David Jones [81]. This Jones family may be the Jones family connected with the Crawfords in Tables 3 and 5. None of this evidence is definitive by itself; even taken together, this evidence only tenuously supports a connection between Mallette and Molliday. However, until a more reasonable candidate appears, the name Mallette is the only candidate and cannot be simply dismissed.

A Doubt about the Brothers' Status

Up until this point, it has been accepted as fact that the seven male Crawfords were brothers born to the same parents in Effingham County, Georgia between about 1790 and 1807. However, there is an alternate hypothesis that explains a number of inconsistencies, but this alternative does not allow all seven of the male Crawfords to be brothers. Ruebin, Thomas, Ezekiel and William are certainly brothers; they were identified as orphaned brothers in the 1820 Georgia Land Lottery [84, 89]. The other three, James, John, and Gideon, may or may not be brothers to the other four identified as brothers. As discussed earlier, Priscilla was living with the seven Crawfords at the time of the 1820 Georgia census. Priscilla/Micilla drew for herself in the lottery as a widow and was almost certainly the older unmarried woman who was living with one or the other of the seven male Crawfords at the time of later censuses. However, the younger four brothers drew twice in the lottery. The only classification that would allow them to draw twice was as orphans without a living parent [90]. This inconsistency can be explained if it is assumed that Priscilla/Micilla was not the mother of the four younger Crawfords. If their mother was Priscilla/Micilla, then the four Crawfords--Ruebin, Thomas, Ezekiel, and William -- either misrepresented their status as orphans or the published rules of the lottery were not strictly enforced. Evidence does exist that suggests that the rules governing the lottery were not literally enforced [85]. The close relationship of Ruebin and Thomas with James and Gideon, evidenced by their common move to Lowndes County and their continued relationship into Pierce County, seems more important than their status in qualifying for the 1820 Land Lottery. While this evidence just outlined suggests that the seven Crawfords may not have been brothers, the author accepts as more reasonable the hypothesis that the rules of the lottery were not strictly enforced. Even if the older woman living with the seven Crawfords was not the mother of the four younger Crawfords, she still may have been the mother of one or more of the older three: James, John, and Gideon. She may have been an aunt of some or all of the seven younger Crawfords as well. In tracing the Crawford family, it is not critical to know if the parents of Gideon Crawford were James and Mary/Polly or John and Priscilla. The elder John, who married Priscilla, and James, who married Mary/Polly, were almost certainly brothers. One can be virtually certain that the parents of the seven were either James and Mary/Polly Crawford or John and Priscilla Crawford, or both couples could each be parents of some of the seven if the seven were not all brothers. However, the weight of evidence favors John and Priscilla Crawford as the parents of all seven brothers.

Land Grants based on Headrights

In 1783 through 1785, the State of Georgia passed laws granting land to individuals willing to settle on the land and cultivate at least 3 percent of it within 18 months of the grant. The size of the land grant was up to 200 acres for a single person, and an additional 50 acres for the spouse and each child [41]. An analysis of lands granted to the Crawfords of Effingham County based on their headrights provides some additional insight into these Crawfords. The headright warrants and grants and their dates are shown in Table 6. John Crawford claimed ten headrights in Effingham County between 1797 and 1809. He first applied for a grant of 200 acres in 1785 [56], indicating that he was probably single at the time. This land was never actually granted, which also suggests that he was single. His first actual grant was for 300 acres in 1797 [1], indicating that he had at least a wife and child by that time. In 1798, he was granted a warrant for 200 more acres, indicating that he had five children by 1798 [3]. He next claimed 200 acres in 1809 [5]. This pattern of claims matches well with the headright allowances that would be due John Crawford if he was the father of seven Crawford -brothers and two or three sisters.
Table 6
SOURCES
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DALE CRAWFORD
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