James Craig was born circa 1724
New Castle Co., DE. He was the son of
James Craig (Creage) and
(?) Unknown. James Craig married
Jane Wetherow on 7 April 1759 at
Old Sweeds Church, Wilmington, New Castle, Co., DE.
1 There is an Indenture in
New Castle Co., DE, on 27 April 1771 where James and Jane Craig sold 100 acres to Joshua Jackson. The land had been purchased from David Cloyd on 2 April 1733 by James Craig, weaver, deceased, father of James Craig. The Indenture for this sale includes the survey description from the Indenture when James's father bought the property thirty eight years earlier noting that Richard McDonald's land is on the south side and David Cloyd's land is on the north side (David Cloyd and his wife Margaret had sold the rest of their property in 1749 and Margaret was killed in 1764 as previously noted). The Indenture was witnessed by Evan Rice and Lydia Rice and was proven in the November term of the New Castle Court by Evan Rice and signed by Judge/Clerk Theodore Maurice.
2 A copy of this Indenture is contained in Appendix B. After selling this property in Delaware, records of James and Jane are next found in Virginia.
James bought two tracks of land from Joseph West in Loudoun Co., Virginia 15 November 1771. This transaction was done in the common lease and release practice used in those times. There is an Indenture Loudoun Co., VA, on 16 Nov 1771 where Joseph West and wife, Jane West, signed a release for two tracts of land paid for by James Craig. These tracts were 315 acres for 162 pounds and 100 acres for 160 pounds current money of Virginia. Leases for the same tracts of land are recorded on the previous day. This land had been granted to William Dodd by patent, 10 Dec 1742, and he had purchased an adjacent tract of land from William Dodd (See Figure 1). The 100 acre tract of this land was described as being on the west side of the NW Fork of Goose Creek.
Son William, the eldest of James's children, who was 2 when mentioned in his grandfather's will, has now reached 12 years of age. He would have had about four brothers and sisters by this time.
3 He is listed in the DAR Patriot Index - Centennial Edition, pg. 692. James Craig is listed in the tax records in 1787 at
in Loudoun Co., VA. He has no male children between the ages of 17 and 20. His son Robert, who is over 20 years old is living with the family. He has one slave under age 16 and one over age 17. He has seven horses, or similar animals, and 14 cattle.
There is a deed (bill of sale) at
in Loudoun Co., VA, on 26 December 1794 where Jonathan Craig sold his father, James Craig, personal goods for ten pounds of good and lawful money of Virginia. This property consisted of one three year old black cow, two platters, six plates, three basins, two chairs, one chest and one bed with bedding. The bill of sale was dated December 26, 1794 and on April 13, 1795 the bill of sale was acknowledged by Jonathan Craig and recorded at a Court held for Loudoun County.
4 There is an Indenture at
in Loudoun Co., VA, on 13 September 1806 where James Craig and his wife, Jane Craig, sell John Purcell 13 3/4 acres of land for and in consideration of the sum of forty pounds.
5 James Craig left a will on 29 March 1808 at
in Loudoun Co., VA, which named his son-in-law's Edward Cavens and John Combs; daughters Agnes Redman and Isabel Huddleston; grandsons Isaac and James, sons of William, deceased; sons James and Samuel; and daughter-in-law Rebecca, wife of James. The will was witnessed by Israel Janney, John Brown and James Brown. The will was probated 13 Jan 1812. The only children not mentioned by name are daughters Margaret (wife of Edward Cavens) and Ann (wife of John Combs), both of which are presumed to have died earlier although no records have been located. There is no reason to believe that other children of James and Jane Craig existed and were not named in this will. James apparently went to great length to name husbands and descendents of the children who were already deceased and until evidence to the contrary is found, the assumption that other children existed is disputed. Specifically, we find no justification to include the names of Absalom and Eleanor as has been done in some records.
James Craig appeared on the census of 1810 in
in Loudoun Co., VA, which includes the following information: living alone, over age 45. He died circa 1812
in Loudoun Co., VA. There is an Indenture in
in Loudoun Co., VA, on 9 May 1814 where the lands inherited by James and Samuel Craig from their father are partitioned. See Appendix A, Virginia for a transcription of this Indenture. Research of the property James purchased in 1771 leaves many unresolved questions. First of all, the exact location cannot be identified by comparing plots of the property purchased with plots of land owned by Joseph West. At the time of the transaction, Joseph West owned two adjacent tracts of land as shown in Figure 6 which was obtained from the work done by Netti Schreiner-Yantis
6 who plotted all of the original land patents in Loudoun County. The survey information from the 1771 Indentures has been plotted and is shown in Figure 7 and there is no obvious match with the land owned by Joseph West. To further confuse the issue, the land had apparently shrunk by the time it was partitioned after James died. According to the 1771 Indentures, James purchased a total of 415 acres in two tracts. James and Jane sold 40 acres to Samuel Massey in 1791, 13.75 acres to John Purcell in 1806, and a couple of other tracts of about 2 acres. When the remaining property was partitioned in 1814, James Jr. received two tracts, one of 119 acres and 28 perches and the other of 24 acres. Samuel received 179.75 acres and 7 perches for a total of about 380 acres. Loss of about 35 acres represents a lot of shrinkage. A plot of the property at the time it was partitioned is shown in Figure 8. The most that can be said about the location of the property James owned is that it was probably located between North Fork and Telegraph Springs somewhere within the two tracts of property shown in Figure 1.