Craft Family – Page 2 – Digging Up Your Family

Thomas Craft UPDATED

*I have updated this post to remove the Civil War records for Thomas Craft. Through a cousin I found that these records are actually for his son Thomas Craft! I am very thankful to Ann for pointing this out to me and being so helpful! I will not be changing all of the information in the post, but I will be writing another supplemental post for him with further and corrected information, which I will link to after it is written.

My relationship to Thomas Craft:

Virginia Marie Stalls (my mom)

Ruth May Craft (my grandmother)

Henry Corbett Craft (my great-grandfather)

John Craft (my 2nd great-grandfather)

Thomas Craft (my 3rd great-grandfather)

Thomas Craft is the furthest Craft ancestor I can trace back to with confidence, though I am still stuck on finding some records for him. I can only post what I have on him.

Thomas Craft was born about 1810 in North Carolina. I’m not sure who his parents are, and it seems that no one is positive. The thought is that a man named Prestley (Presley)/Ezekiel Craft is his father due to a certain appointment record for the estate of a Hendrix man, but it has not yet been proven. I have seen some reports that Thomas was married prior to 1839 to an unknown woman and fathered several children with this woman, but I haven’t found a record for this marriage yet, therefore I do not know her name nor the date. Thomas did marry Dicey Hendrix (Hendricks) sometime around 1840, though I can’t find the record for this marriage either, and therefore cannot provide an exact date.

In 1850 Thomas and family can be found on the census living in Humphreys County, Tennessee. Thomas, a farmer, is 39 years of age and Dicey is shown as 26 years of age. The children living with them are: William (age 17 years), Lucinda (age 14 years), Martha (age 12 years), Sarah (age 10 years), Thomas (age 7 years), Rebecca (age 3 years) and Mary (age 1 year). I’m not sure if Sarah is from Thomas’ first marriage or from his marriage to Dicey. Also listed on this page of the census are the families of HP Craft (born in North Carolina, age 35 years) and Presley Craft (born in North Carolina, age 66 years)-possibly Thomas’ brother and father.

The 1860 census once again has the family living in Humphreys County, Tennessee. Thomas, now shown as 52 years of age (man, how did he gain three extra years?) is still a farmer. His wife Dicey is now shown as 38 years of age (gaining two extra years!). The older children have now moved out of the house and the children living with the family on this census are: Rebecca (age 13 years), Mary (age 11 years), Arrena (Irene or Irena, age 9 years), Susan (age 6 years) and George (age 4 years). Living next door to them is the family of Thomas’ oldest son William.

In 1870 the family is still living in Humphreys County, Tennessee. Thomas, now listed as a framer and 60 years of age, and Dicey, now 48 years of age, have the following children living with them: Rebecca (age 23 years), Irena (age 19 years), Susan (age 16 years), George W (farm laborer, age 14 years), John (farm laborer, age 11 years), James (age 8 years), and Ester P (age 2 years). Also living with the family is John Johnson (farm laborer, age 24 years), Mary E Johnson (age 20 years) and William T Johnson (age 8 months). I think Mary E Johnson may be Thomas’ daughter Mary, but I can’t find a marriage record for Mary Craft having married John Johnson (yet).

The 1880 census is the last census where Thomas Craft can be found. His age is listed as 70 years on this census and is still farming away. Dicey is now listed as 58 years of age and keeping house. The children living with them are: Susan (without occupation, age 26 years), John (works on farm, age 18 years), James (works on farm, age 16 years) and CA (at home, age 13 years). I do not have a clue who CA is, unless she’s Ester P (from the 1870 census). Living next door to the family is the family of George W Craft, Thomas’ son.

Thomas Craft died sometime after this census. I would imagine he died in Humphreys County, Tennessee. I saw some people have him listed as having died in Canada, though I don’t have the foggiest why he would have just gone up there away from his family and died. Stranger things have happened, though.

I’m going to keep looking for records on Thomas Craft, particularly who his parents were. I would like to go further back in my Craft line.

Bring Out The (figurative) Bloodhounds

Trying to track the maternal line of a family is pretty difficult (unless you are royalty, in which case you probably aren’t making your family tree since it’s been recorded throughout the years anyway). Pretty much women weren’t as important to keep up with back in the day. Really, up until 1850 when everyone in the household was required to be listed by name on the census records, the only place you could find a woman’s name was in a family Bible, marriage and divorce records and/or possibly wills. So, in an effort to keep the maternal lines of my parents fresh in your mind, I decided to list them along with the information I have (and the information I don’t have yet). Enjoy!

My direct maternal line (beginning with my grandmother):

Ruth May Craft

b. August 9, 1925 Gibson County, Tennessee

d. January 14, 2007 Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee

Katie Clady Cathey

b. December 18, 1897 Indian Bayou, Lonoke County, Arkansas

d. November 25, 1935 Trenton, Gibson County, Tennessee

Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers

b. March 15, 1870 Tennessee

d. October 20, 1952 Martin, Weakley County, Tennessee

Amanda Summers

b. abt 1852 Tennessee

d. abt 1889 Tennessee

Emily Jane Duffel

b. abt 1822 Tennessee

d. aft 1880 Tennessee

Susan McCarroll

b. abt 1800 North Carolina

d. aft 1860 Tennessee

Susan Currey

b. abt 1770 Rockingham County, North Carolina

d. aft 1830 Williamson County, Tennessee

Elizabeth Brownlee

b. ?

d. aft 1790 Rockingham County, North Carolina

(note: I have spelled Currey as Currie in other posts and on the sidebar. It has come to light that it may actually be Currey. Also, Elizabeth Brownlee’s last name might have actually been Brownlees. I am awaiting confirmation before I change them, though. Another important note to add concerns Emily Jane Duffel. Though she seems to be listed everywhere on the internet as Susan McCarroll’s daughter, I haven’t actually seen any confirmation on it. I mean, I pretty much assumed since the census records for Susan’s husband, Allen Duffel, list an extra female-older than the rest of the children-that the Houston County, Tennessee: History and Families (Turner Publishing Company, 1995) failed to list (which isn’t surprising, considering the book is trying to tell me that Emily Jane Duffel and Basil Pinkney Summers married in 1830, which would mean Emily was about 8 years old…in reality they married about 1839). Also, there wasn’t another Duffel family in the area that I have found.)

My father, Roger Dale Ray (Robert Jewell Vincent)’s, direct maternal line, beginning with his mother, my grandmother:

Louise Rose

b. March 20, 1923 Muhlenberg County, Kentucky

d. January 9, 2004 Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky

Nellie Lillian Claxton

b. abt 1893 Kentucky

d. abt 1962 Indiana

Willie Melton

b. abt 1873 Kentucky

d. aft 1920 Kentucky?

Hepseba Powell

b. abt 1848 Indiana

d. ? Kentucky?

Alice Bean

b. abt 1824 Virginia

d. aft 1880 Indiana?

(note: as you can see, I don’t have much information on this line at all. I haven’t found the death records of Lilly Claxton or Willie Melton yet, mainly because I haven’t figured out what mix of first, middle and married names might be on the records. I haven’t found Hepsy on a census after 1880 yet.)

Henry Corbett Craft

Henry Corbett (or Corbit) Craft was the son of John Craft and Epanetes Willhite. He was born on May 4, 1895 in Hickman County, Tennessee. Most everyone called him CC throughout his life, but his second wife, Maudie, called him Corb.

In 1900 CC was living in Hickman County, Tennessee with his parents and siblings. The family’s last name was misspelled as Croft. An odd thing about the 1900 census is that it has his father, John, as “in school” and “farm laborer”. It also says that his mother, Epanetes, is “in school”. I think that the enumerator may have been mistaken (I mean, surely they weren’t in their 30s and in school, right?). His siblings listed (and I can’t say that these names are correct) are: Ivey A (age 16 years), James (age 14 years), Caha L (age 11 years), Alley (age 8 years), Katey P (age 6 years) and William (age 3 years). CC is listed as Henry C (age 4 years).

In 1910 the family was still living in Hickman County, Tennessee. His father is listed as John and his mother is listed as Epsey. This time the family’s last name is correct as Craft. The siblings he lived with at the time were (again, I don’t know which names are correct): Santford (age 23 years), Pearl (age 16 years), Willie (age 12 years) and Robert (age 9 years). The census does list his name as Henry, but the transcriber entered in as Hemroy (which makes me giggle very unprofessionally).

Henry Corbett Craft married Katie Clady Cathey on July 18, 1915 in Humphreys County, Tennessee.

In 1920 the family is living in Gibson County, Tennessee. The family’s last name, once again, is misspelled as Croft. On this census record Henry is listed quite clearly as Aubrey, though I cannot figure out why. Katie’s name is misspelled as Katty. They have two children: Nettie Sue (age 2 years 10 months) and Louise (age 1 month). CC was, at this time, a laborer in a cotton mill. Though the census record just has Katie as “at home” I think that she worked the cotton fields.

Over the course of the next 10 years CC and Katie had four more children, one, a daughter, which was stillborn.

On the 1930 census the family is living in Gibson County, Tennessee. The census transcriber had put Eraft as their last name, and I will admit it is kind of difficult to make it out. The children listed on this census are : Nettie S (age 13 years), Louise (age 10 years), Maggie N (age 8 years), Ruthie May (misspelled as Reathi, Rarthi-depending on whether you look at Family Search or Ancestry, age 4 years 7 months) and Jessie P (age 1 year and 1 month).

After 1930 CC and Katie had three more children: Mary Katherine (born 1931) and twins, John and Unnamed (born 1935). The Unnamed was a stillborn that had apparently quit developing long before John was born since it was small enough to have been buried in a kitchen matchbox. Katie passed away within a couple days of the twins’ birth in 1935.

In 1936 CC married Maudie Berkley. They did not have children together (that are known), but CC did get a stepson from Maudie’s previous marriage.

Henry Corbett Craft died on December 27, 1971 at Butler Nursing Home in Milan, Gibson County, Tennessee where he had been under care for about 3 months. He is buried in Double Springs Cemetery near Milan, Gibson County, Tennessee.

It was understood that he had been a sharecropper in his earlier years. Later in life CC owned a shop where he repaired shoes and made brooms and mops to sell. My mother said “he’d have a mouthful of tacks that he spit out onto the shoe (quite accurately, I might add) and then tap, tap, tap it into the shoe sole”.

CC was a religious man later in life. As a young man he had been a heavy drinker. One night after drinking quite a bit an angel appeared to him on his way home and grabbed the reigns of the horse (or mule, perhaps). This apparently changed his life. He had prophetic dreams throughout his life, including one concerning the death of his son John’s twin.

He said very long prayers at meals and would end the prayers with a long, drawn out “Aaaaameeeeeen” and look up with tears in his eyes.

At one point he was a member of a Church of God congregation that was further into the country and in an old house with creaking wood floors. Because the members of the church would dance around speaking in tongues, the state of the floors really concerned my mother (I guess she imagined the floors just giving way one day!).

Wordless Wednesday: Ruthie May Craft and Martha

My Grandmother, Ruthie May Craft, and my aunt, Martha Lynn Hardwick.

Katie Clady Cathey

Katie Clady Cathey was born on December 18, 1897 in Indian Bayou, Lonoke County, Arkansas to parents William Glenn Cathey (1861-1906) and Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers (1870-1952). She was the only child of her family that was not born in Tennessee.

On the 1900 census Katie is living in Indian Bayou with her parents and three older brothers: Riley, Acra Archie and George Arlee. She is listed as two years old. The occupation of her father is, if I am reading this correctly, “tipping blocks”. I’m not really sure what that means. Under occupation for her brother Riley it says “play only”, which is pretty amusing. This census also says that Katie was born in December of 1887.

By 1910 Katie’s father had passed away. When the census was enumerated that year she was living in Humphreys County, Tennessee with her widowed mother; older brothers Acra Archie (listed as “Alvy”) and George Arlee, both of who were employed as farm laborers; and younger siblings Ludie Mae (listed as “Lorine”), William Richard and Maggie.

(note about Maggie: on the 1910 census it has Maggie Cathey age 2 1/2 years. on the 1920 census, after Lizzie remarried to Bill Smith, there is a Maggie Smith age 9 years. I am not sure at this point if they are the same Maggie or two different Maggies. some sources have said that Lizzie married Bill in 1909, yet he is not living with her and her last name is still Cathey on the 1910 census. Maggie on this census may still be his and they may be the same person.)

Katie Clady Cathey married Henry Corbett Craft on July 18, 1915 in Humphreys County, Tennessee.

It took a while to find the family on the 1920 census. One reason, though not the most obvious for location difficulty, is that their name is written in as “Croft”. Their first names made the search take longer, though. Henry Corbett is named as “Aubrey”, though the reason behind that is not apparent to me right now. Katie is listed as “Katty”. That’s not terribly different, so I think the Aubrey threw off the search. On this census Katie and Corb are living in Gibson County, Tennessee with two daughters, Nettie Sue (2 years and 10 months) and Louise (one month).

On October 25, 1923 we know that Katie gave birth to a stillborn daughter. The cause of death was due to strangulation. This child, who was not named, was buried in Bethel Cemetery in Gibson County, Tennessee.

I think the 1930 census is by far the most fun to deal with. Family Search has the last name correct as Craft. Ancestry has it as “Eraft”. I can see, kind of, where the transcriber would see the C as an E, though. The family is living in Madison County, Tennessee. Katie’s name on the census is listed as “Kati”. Her children living with them are Nettie S (age 13), Louise (age 10), Maggie N (age 8), my grandmother Ruthie M (age 4 years and 7 months, listed as “Raethi” on Family Search and “Rarthi” on Ancestry) and Jessie P (age 1 1/2 years).

Katie Clady Cathey passed away November 25, 1935 in Trenton, Gibson County, Tennessee from peritonitis due to a ruptured appendix. She was buried in Double Springs Cemetery in Gibson County, Tennessee. As far as I know there is no headstone for Katie.

Katie and Corb had at least three more children after 1930: Mary Katherine in 1931 and twins, one named John, in 1934. John’s twin, as we understand it, was a stillborn calcified fetus, not very large. Katie or my grandmother apparently buried the twin in a kitchen matchbox.

We are not really sure how many other stillborn children Katie may have had. The doctor had told her that she should not get pregnant anymore because it could kill her, but she did anyway.

Katie worked in fields and picked cotton. My grandmother, who adored her mother, was always with her “fast on her heels”. Katie was a dog lover, too. Katie was a religious woman who once said “damn” and fell to her knees begging my grandmother and God for forgiveness.

Louise Craft

Louise Craft was the daughter of Henry Corbett Craft and Katie Clady Cathey. She was born on December 12, 1919 in Gibson County, Tennessee. Louise only lived to the age of 26 years, so I don’t really have any stories about her.

Louise can be found on the 1920 census in Gibson County, Tennessee. It has her listed as a month old. Her sister, Nettie Sue, is also on the census, listed age 2 years and 10 months. Her parents are listed as “Katty” and “Aubrey”. The family’s surname is misspelled as “Croft”. I have no idea why Henry Corbett is listed as “Aubrey”.

In 1930 Louise is on the District 3, Madison County, Tennessee census. She’s 10 years old and living with her father, listed as Henry C Craft; her mother, listed as Katie Craft; and her siblings: Nettie S (age 13), Maggie N (age 8), Raethi M (misspelled or misread, actually Ruthie M, age 4) and Jessie P (age 1). (Ancestry has them listed as surname “Eraft”)

Louise married AG Harris (born in Gibson County, Tennessee 1915/1916-possibly 2010). Together they had a daughter, Wretha Jane Harris, on January 26, 1939 in Gibson County, Tennessee. At age one month and eleven days, on March 7, 1939, Wretha Jane died in Gibson County, Tennessee of streptococcus endocarditis.

Louise was admitted into John Gaston Hospital, the Memphis City “charity” hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee on December 29, 1945. Four days later, on January 2, 1946 at 8:30pm, Louise passed away from toxemia (“type and cause undetermined”) due to lung abscesses and basilar meningitis.

Louise Craft is buried in Double Springs Cemetery in Gibson County, Tennessee. Also buried in Double Springs is her daughter, Wretha, and her parents, Henry Corbett Craft and Katie Clady Cathey.

The Craft Family and the Melungeons

Several years ago a descendant of the the Craft family presented to my mother in an email the theory that the Craft line extended back to the Melungeons that originated in the Southeastern part of the United States: North Carolina and South Carolina into Tennessee and parts of Virginia, Kentucky and so on. If you don’t know about the Melungeons there is a website with a ton of information that I found through the Lost Colony/Melungeon Lore DNA Project, Melungeon Heritage Association.

There are several theories on the origin of the Melungeons, one being that the members of the Lost Colony of Roanoke may have travelled to Croatan Island and blended with the Native inhabitants. Another theory, of course, is that the colonists were attacked and murdered by the Natives.

In general it is thought that the Melungeons are a grab-bag mix of Native Americans, freed black slaves, Portuguese and white European settlers. DNA tests show that the genomes of known Melungeon descendants correlate with all of these groups.

Census records show us that these families all had appearances that did not allow them to be categorized into mainstream society. They were usually listed as black, Indian or mulatto. In general they may have had European features, but with darker skin. Or some of their features may have been more African than European. There are photos that can be found online of known Melungeons. Some I see and I think that I never would have noticed a difference. Some I see and, though the features are clearly European, their skin is very dark. I have even seen photos of people with blonde hair and very dark skin. As time went on and the Melungeons mingled and married those with predominately European ancestry their successors slowly became accepted as “white”.

So when my mother introduced me with this family theory, I decided to check it out. Because my autosomal DNA matches so many different world populations I am comparing it to different people of known Melungeon origins. This, of course, takes more research, but it’s pretty intriguing. This may explain why members of my direct Craft family get so dark in the sun so quickly. And though we know there is Native American blood, there may also be Melungeon.

A woman in the Lost Colony/Melungeon Lore DNA Project also has Crafts in her family. If I can find if and how her Crafts are from the same line I may be able to say unquestionably that, yes, our Crafts are descended from Melungeons.

I am still researching them, but here’s what I have so far (that I am certain of), following my direct line (this in no way represents all of the offspring from each couple, only my direct line):

Thomas Craft (abt 1810-?)

Dicey Unknown (abt 1822-?)

According to census records Thomas was born in North Carolina. Both his mother and father were born in South Carolina. Dicey was born in Tennessee and both her mother and father were born in South Carolina.

John Craft (1867-1931)

Epanetes (Eppy) Willhite (1869-?)

John Craft was born in Tennessee. Census records state that his father was born in Tennessee, so either the census taker or John himself made a mistake.

Henry Corbett Craft (1895-1971)

Katie Clady Cathey

Corb was born in Hickman County, Tennessee. Katie was born in Indian Bayou, Lonoke, Arkansas.

Ruthie May Craft (1925-2007)

James Paul Stalls, Jr (1917-1987)

Both Ruth and Paul were born in Tennessee.

I have read on websites many different surnames for Dicey. I have also seen many different fathers listed for Thomas, with the most promising being a Charles Craft from South Carolina. Until I have confirmation on these names, however, I cannot actually add them.

On an interesting side note, I read on Wikipedia that an anti-illegal immigration group is using Virginia Dare, the child of , more or less, illegal immigrants (the Native Americans sure didn’t want them on their land) as the namesake and symbol of their group.

Jesse Porter Craft

My grandmother, Ruth May Craft, adored her brother Porter. Jesse Porter Craft was born March 11, 1929 in Tennessee, more than likely Gibson County, to Henry Corbett Craft (1895-1971) and Katie Clady Cathey (1898-1935).

I am, as of this posting, unable to find him on the 1930 census, nor have I located his parents on that census.

My grandmother told a story about how her and Porter used to go and dig up Mayapples to sell. One day when they were spreading them out on the barn roof to dry she accused Porter of stealing some of the Mayapples she had dug up. They got into a scuffle and he knocked her off of the barn!

Jesse Porter Craft died at 1pm on April 27, 1941 in Waverly, Humphreys County, Tennessee at the age of 12. His cause of death was bronco pneumonia, which he had for three days, due to having had the measles for 12 days.

His stepmother, Maudie Berkley, had said that an angel was standing next to his bed when he passed, ready to take him home. She told my mother that after his death they found a feather death crown in his pillow. Maudie still had it and showed it to my mother. Lore has it that feather death crowns form when the soul leaves the body destined for Heaven and that only the very good, pure and holy leave them behind.

I would love more stories of Jesse Porter Craft and of feather crowns!

Category: Craft Family