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                                                                                                                                                                  Dale Millard Crawford
 
 
 

In an earlier work, I introduced my large Crawford family of seven brothers -- James, John, Gideon, Thomas, Ruebin, Ezekiel, and William --  and three or four sisters  -- Lucretia, Civility, Martha, and another daughter whose probable existence can only be inferred.  These children were born in Effingham County, Georgia, from about 1790 until 1807, to John and Priscilla Crawford.  Most of the ten or eleven children of this family left Effingham County and settled in Lowndes, Ware, Pierce, Brantley, and Charlton counties in Georgia, and in Baker County, Florida.  One of the unanswered questions concerning this Crawford family was the family name of their mother.

In identifying the mother of this large family, there are two questions that must be addressed.  The reported name for the mother of these children is Marcilla, Mercilla, and Micilla.  These names are unusual and cannot be connected through any primary evidence with John Crawford, which gives rise to the question, what is her given name?  The other pressing question is the name of her parents, particularly her father’s and her mother’s family names.  The question of her given name can be answered with confidence, since evidence exists.  Strong conclusions can be reached about the family name of her father and the given name of her mother, and a tentative conclusion can be reached about the given name of her father.  These conclusions and their supporting evidence follow.  For the sake of clarity and completeness, I will repeat here the discussion concerning the given name of the mother of this large Crawford family.
 

About Marcilla, Mercilla, Micella or Priscilla

The mother of the seven brothers and their sisters has been reported as Marcilla , and her name has been rendered elsewhere as Micilla  and Mercilla , all unusual names.  While the original list of winners of the 1820 lottery  is "nearly" a primary source -- presumably, it was compiled and copied from original lists in various counties -- some potential for error or inaccuracy exists due to the transcription.  Her identification is further complicated because, other than the three secondary references given, no mention can be found in any primary records of any Crawford with one of those given names.  This lack of any corroborating identification in primary sources was particularly troubling.  Priscilla is the given name most similar to Marcilla, Micilla, or Mercilla that has been discovered in primary records.  Priscilla was the wife of John Crawford of Effingham County.  Fortunately, this Priscilla Crawford lived in Effingham County and is of the appropriate generation and chronology to be the mother of the seven brothers.

In the course of a review of Crawford deeds, a clue was found as to the source of this discrepancy concerning the name of the mother of this Crawford family.  In one of the deeds  in which Priscilla Crawford appears, her name is written in the flowing handwriting of the time such that its first letter appears at first glance as an "M".  However, careful review of an enlargement of the name reveals that the script that appears as the letter "M" is actually the two letters "Pr".  Imagine a flowing, cursive capital P written leaning to the right, with a small cursive r tucked closely under the upper loop of the capital P.  Examination of another document  in which the name Priscilla occurs yields the same conclusion that the first few letters of the name can be easily misread.  Therefore, I believe that the correct version of the name is Priscilla, and that its other forms are incorrect readings of the original transcriptions.
 

About the family of origin of Priscilla Crawford

In 1792, Priscilla Moladay deeded  some personal property, for "love, good will, and affection", to Priscilla Crawford for her to hold in trust for her heirs.  Less than a month later, Priscilla Moladay made another deed  giving similar property to her "daughter, Chloe Howard".  In both of these deeds, Priscilla Moladay signed with her mark, which indicates that she could not read and write, which in turn suggests that she probably did not know how to spell her surname.  While Priscilla Moladay did not identify the relationship between her and Priscilla Crawford, as she did in her deed to Chloe Howard, they did have the same given name, which would not be unusual in a mother and daughter.  Priscilla Moladay left cattle and household items directly to Chloe Howard, and she left the same type of items to the heirs of Priscilla Moladay’s body.  The reason that Priscilla Moladay deeded property to her daughters at this time is not known, although a possible reason can be inferred from the evidence.  This reason will be discussed below.

It would be more reassuring if Priscilla Moladay had referred to Priscilla Crawford as her daughter, as she did in Chloe’s case, and left the items directly to Priscilla Crawford as she did to Chloe Howard.  But it is still a reasonable hypothesis that Priscilla Moladay was the mother of both Priscilla Crawford and Chloe Howard .  This reasoning is as follows.  Priscilla Crawford and Priscilla Moladay had the same given name.  Priscilla Moladay made her gift to Priscilla Crawford before she made a similar gift to Chloe Howard.  Priscilla Moladay made the gift to the heirs of Priscilla Crawford’s body, which suggests that she wanted the gifts to go only to someone of blood relationship to Priscilla Crawford; such a provision implies direct kinship between Priscilla Moladay and Priscilla Crawford.  Perhaps the reason for the different form of gift was that Chloe Howard had no children yet, or Priscilla Crawford was step-mother to some children of her husband.  Perhaps in the intervening few weeks between the deeds, Priscilla Moladay decided that she preferred the altered form of the gift of deed.  While none of this reasoning offers the "smoking gun" we all hope to find concerning proof of an hypothesis, it seems reasonable to conclude that Priscilla Crawford was the daughter of Priscilla Moladay.
 

 The Moladay or Mullady name

Moladay is a very unusual family name.  No other occurrence of this name with this spelling could be found in references to historical English names ,  or current American  names, other than the previously mentioned references to Priscilla Moladay.  The name cannot be found in references on Scottish  or German  names.  Given this evidence, a reasonable question is, What is the likely origin of Priscilla Moladay?

One obvious candidate name for the name perhaps mistakenly rendered as Moladay is the name, Holiday.  At least one researcher  has made this connection, but offers no proof nor any justification for the connection.  However, I think that it is unlikely that the initial sound of the name was misheard twice by the transcriber of two different deeds a month apart.  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, the occurrence of the name, Mullady, in the geographic area considerably reduces, if not entirely eliminates, the likelihood that the name, Molliday, is actually Holiday.  These occurrences of the Mullady name are discussed in detail below.

There are two French family names that offer some similarity to Molliday -- Molydieux and Mallette.  The first name, Molydieux, is close in sound to Molliday, but no record of the name, Molydieux, can be found in nearby settlements of French speakers, such as the French Huguenots who settled in Purysburg, South Carolina, or in Effingham or nearby counties.  The second name, Mallette, does appear in Effingham County, has members named Gideon and Priscilla, and has connections with at least one person that may be connected to this Crawford family.

This candidate family is the Mallette family  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, which also appear in the Crawford family during this period, and there is a documented connection ,  with a Jones family, including a David Jones.  This Jones family may be the Jones family connected with the Crawfords through various land transactions .  On the other hand, the Mallette family name is today spelled Mallett, and pronounced as a two syllable word.  The French pronunciation of the name, Mallette, is also with two syllables; the descendants of French Mallettes in Georgia now spell their name, Mallett.  This observation does not necessarily provide any evidence of how the name was pronounced in Georgia and South Carolina in the late 1700's.  However, taken together, this evidence only tenuously, at best, supports a connection between the names, Mallette and Molliday.  However, the name must have three syllables to be able to sound similar to Molliday. This reasoning suggests that concluding that the Molliday name was actually Mallette is based on weak evidence.
 

 Robert Mullady in Effingham and Chatham counties

There is evidence, discussed below, of a Mullady or a Robert Mullady (or a reasonable variant thereof) appearing in Chatham and Effingham counties from 1787 until 1805. The appearance of this very similar name, Mullady, in the vicinity during the same period of time certainly removes any doubt about the existence of a name in the area that sounded to some ears as Moladay.  The name, Mullady, is similar to some of the variant spellings of the Irish  name, Meleady, such as Melledy or Mulleady , with the actual spelling varying considerably from speller to speller.  It should be noted that Irish immigration into Georgia prior to 1800 is unusual, although such immigration did occur.

The earliest record of a Mullady so far discovered is a mention in a list  of tax defaulters in 1787 in Captain Lanier’s district.  The entry reads: "By information of Mr. Robert Mulladay, 150 acres pine land, the property of Aaron Fryar, absentee."  The list was publish by Joseph Jackson, the Tax Receiver.  The county location of Captain Lanier’s district was not specified.  Aaron Fryer received a grant of 300 acres from the State of Georgia in St. Matthew Parish in 1772 .  St. Matthew Parish later became Effingham County.  Aaron Fryar owned land next to David McCall , and David McCall owned land next to William Crawford .  While it is not certain that the two parcels of land owned by David McCall were next to each other, it seems reasonable that the two parcels were in reasonable proximity to each other.  These deeds suggest that Aaron Fryar lived in the vicinity of William Crawford.  This William Crawford is believed  to be a brother of John Crawford, husband of Priscilla Crawford.  It seems reasonable to conclude that Robert Mullady probably was close enough geographically to have had contact with members of my Crawford family.

While no record exists identifying the tax receiver for Effingham County in 1787, Joseph Jackson was Coroner for Effingham County in 1793 and Register of Probate in Screven County in 1796 .  Since Screven County was formed out of Effingham County, it seems reasonable to conclude from this evidence that Aaron Fryar’s land was located in Effingham County, perhaps that part that was later cut into Screven County.

The next mention so far discovered of the Mullady name occurred in 1790.  The name, "Robt. Mullady", is found  in the tax digest of 1790 for Chatham County, Georgia, which is immediately adjacent to and southeast of Effingham County.  In 1792, Robert Mullido is shown in a list  of Chatham County tax defaulters in Little Ogeechee District who made no return of their taxable property in 1791. In 1793, Robert Mullady is shown in a list  of Chatham County tax defaulters for Cherokee Hill District who made no return of their taxable property in 1793.

In 1794, Robert Mullady, "overseer", of Great Ogeechee made an affidavit  in which he stated that he saw John Cannon, Innkeeper of Baltimore, Maryland, sign a manumission for a "wench" named Kate Blake, who was now in Savannah.  The manumission was signed in 1792 in Baltimore, at which time Mullady was a boarder at John Cannon’s inn.  The affidavit was signed, Robert Mullady, with no indication  that this signature was not his.  The nature of Robert Mullady’s business in Baltimore is not known at this time.  Perhaps he was traveling on behalf of his employer, if he was an overseer  in 1792; perhaps he was visiting family.  Further research in Baltimore and elsewhere may eliminate the need to speculate about his motives.

In 1801, the surname Mulladay, with no given name or title, appears in a list of letters  left at the Post Office in Savannah.  Robert Mullady died of old age on 4 November 1805 at the age of 65 in Savannah ; he was identified as an old soldier, born in Ireland, and was "buried from Mr. L. Driscols, Yamacraw, by the public".  From examination of other entries, there appear to be a number of other single men buried from Driscol’s, so I assume that it was some kind of boarding house for men, perhaps invalid men.

It is very intriguing to me that Robert Mullady is listed as an old soldier in his death certificate.  He was not listed as a planter, although he had owned land, or as an overseer, two of the obvious occupations that he could have been identified with based on his more recent history.  Since the United States of the time did not have a standing army of any size, why was his status as a soldier so noteworthy?  He was of an age to be a Revolutionary War soldier, but he is not so identified.  One hypothesis that could explain his identification as a soldier and his presence in Georgia in a time when the Irish were not common in Georgia is that he may have been a British soldier who chose to stay in this country after his enlistment was up.  Irish youth often enlisted in the British Army during this period, and these enlistments were usually of a longer period of time than is characteristic of today.  Such a lengthy period of time as a regular soldier in the British Army would explain his later identification as a soldier.  Conversely, records of the American Army should be checked to see if a Robert Mulady was ever a soldier, either during the Revolutionary War or later.
 

 Other Mulladys in Georgia

Instances of other Mulladys (or variants thereof) are scarce in Georgia in the early 1800’s and before.  Only two such occurrences have been found.  These cases are important because such families may be related to Robert and Priscilla Mullady.

In his will, Thomas Muludy  mentions his wife, Elizabeth, and child by her, if any; three nephews, Patrick, Thomas, and James Turley; his sister, Eleanor; his brother-in-law, Turley, "now in Ireland"; and the Roman Catholic Church at Locust Grove.  The will was dated 5 October 1826 and proved on 1 January 1827.  Some of the property that he willed was in Sumter County, South Carolina.

Ann E. Mullady, a widow, won land in the 1832 Gold Lottery .  She was a resident of Columbia County at the time that she registered for the lottery.  She may be the widow of the Thomas Muludy mentioned in the previous paragraph, since she gives her middle initial as an E, which could stand for Elizabeth, the name of Thomas’ wife.

The existence of these Mulladys a hundred or so miles to the northwest of Effingham County and twenty or so years later suggests that there could be another Mullady family in the Georgia or South Carolina area.  This family could be connected with a Mullady family that also included Robert Mullady.  Additional research should be undertaken to investigate this idea.
 

 Robert Mullady and Priscilla Moladay

In 1792, Priscilla Moladay deeded items to her two daughters.  A reasonable question is, why did she deed these items at that time?  Had she anticipated death, it would seem more reasonable for her to have provided for her daughters through a will.  Some change in her status could have caused her to act at this time.  One such change in her status that could have prompted her to dispose of some  of her property is a pending marriage.  Assuming she was indeed married, she would have to be either divorced or widowed to remarry; however, if the marriage was only common-law, such a formality would not be required.  Perhaps even a divorce could be dispensed with if the husband had deserted the wife some time before, or if he had otherwise provided clear evidence of having ended the marriage.  Georgia did not grant divorces before 1793 , so there may have been some need to ignore this convention.

Priscilla Brewer begins appearing in deeds with her husband, James, Sr., in 1794 .  James Brewer, Sr., is a close associate  of my Crawford family, having been their minister and a frequent participant in transactions with them.  Perhaps Priscilla Brewer was Priscilla Moladay prior to her marriage to James Brewer.  More research may eliminate the need to speculate about her.

Coincidentally in time, Robert Mullady may have been going through some financial difficulties, as is evidenced by his defaulting on registering some of his land for taxes.  In 1792, he was in Baltimore, where he witnessed the manumission of Kate Blake, a female slave.  Kate Blake was in Savannah in 1794, and was in contact with Robert Mullady then, since he attested in Savannah in 1794 to her manumission.  These facts suggest an on-going relationship between Robert Mullady and Kate Blake.

It is tempting to paint a picture of Robert Mullady as an adventurous, long-time soldier, not the "marrying kind", who nevertheless settled down with Priscilla Moladay long enough to sire at least two daughters before moving on.  There is some circumstantial evidence that can be interpreted as supporting such an hypothesis; however, this conclusion, while plausible, is not verifiable at this time.

Priscilla Molliday may have died shortly after August, 1792 (when she deeded property to her daughters Chloe and Priscilla).  If so, and if he had been Priscilla Molliday’s husband, then Robert Mullady might be considered single, as was indicated on his death certificate in 1805.  Of course, his being buried at public expense suggests he may not have had a close relationship with his daughters, if they were, indeed, his daughters.  If he did desert his family in the early 1790’s, such a strained relationship is plausible.

There is one other possible relationship between Priscilla Moladay and Robert Mullady.  They could have been sister and brother, and Priscilla Moladay may have been an unmarried mother.  This relationship would remove some of the problems associated with the lack of a divorce between Robert and Priscilla Mullady.  On the other hand, the problem of the divorce exists only if Priscilla Mullady actually remarried, or for that matter, only if Robert and Priscilla Mullady were ever formally married.
 

Conclusions

I believe that several conclusions can be reached from the data discussed thus far:

1. Priscilla Crawford was the wife of John Crawford and the mother of the ten or eleven Crawford children.
2. The Moladay name is most probably  a variant spelling of the Irish name, Meleady; since Priscilla Moladay was not literate, the spellings of her surname as appeared on her two deeds of gift are not significant.
3. Priscilla Crawford was the daughter of Priscilla Moladay and the sister of Chloe Howard.
4. One Irishman in the vicinity with a surname that was another variant spelling of Meleady was Robert Mullady.  Evidence of any other male Mullady or variant thereof in the vicinity has not yet been found.
5. Robert Mullady owned land in the vicinity, was an overseer in the vicinity, and had some connection with a neighbor of one of John Crawford’s brothers; all of these points suggest that he is a reasonable candidate for the husband of Priscilla Moladay and father of Priscilla Crawford and Chloe Howard.
6. I am reluctant to form a conclusion that Robert Mullady is the husband and father simply because I can locate no other Mullady male in the vicinity; however, there is circumstantial evidence to suggest the breakup of Priscilla Crawford’s marriage prior to her possible remarriage in 1792, and that Robert Mullady was engaged in activity that could well form the justification for such a breakup.
7. Therefore, I conclude that Priscilla Crawford was probably the daughter of Priscilla and Robert Mullady.
8. Further research on Robert Mullady and his origins is needed.