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Wife of Joseph CRAWFORD (b c1790)

The wife of Joseph Crawford is my maternal great-great-great-grandmother.

I do not know the name of Nancy Crawford's mother. The Margaret [Duffey] who appears in the Census records of Joseph Crawford's family in 1850 and 1860 is not Nancy's mother. In fact, it seems that this Margaret was born in 1814, the year of Nancy Crawford's birth. This Margaret is surely at least a second wife for Joseph Crawford.

Joseph Crawford first appears in the censuses of Union County, South Carolina in 1820. In that decade he was included in the age bracket 26-44. The eldest female in the household is also in the same age category. If we presume this is Joseph's wife, that suggesst she was born between 1778 and 1794. She was probably about Joseph's age. I think we could reasonably assign a birth year of about 1790. It looks to me like she was no longer in the household in 1830 which would suggest that she died in the prior decade or even as late as early 1830. In 1840 there are no females in the household at all, so Joseph has apparently not yet married Margaret Duffey.

There are family trees on Ancestry that name Joseph Crawford's wife as Margaret Shawkerk and provide a date of birth as c1794. I have yet to find anything that would support this theory but it is clearly a possibility.

Sources and Notes:

1820 US Census, household of Joseph Crawford: Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Union County, SC; Page 134; NARA Roll: M33_121; Image 244. The census, conducted on 15 Jan 1821, shows the household of Joseph Crawford comprised of 1 male under 10 [presumably son Benjamin], 1 male age 26-44 [presumably Joseph Crawford], 3 females under 10 [presumably Nancy, Jane, and ?another daughter who did not live to marry?], 1 female 10-15 [possibly Louisa], 1 female 16-25 [?a daughter who died before 1868 without issue?], 1 female 26-44 [presumably Joseph's wife Margaret] and 2 slaves.

1830 US Census, household of Joseph Crofford: Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Union, South Carolina; Series: M19; Roll 171; Page 159; Family History Library Film: 0022505. The 1830 US Census of Union County, SC (enumeration date 01 Jun 1830) shows the household of Joseph Crofford [Crawford] consisting of 1 male <5, 2 males 15-19, 1 male 30-39 [presumably Joseph Crawford], 3 females 10-14 , 1 female 20-29. There are also 2 slaves in the household. Note: The composition of this household is confusing. Son Benjamin would be 13 in 1830 and could account for one of the males. Joseph himself would be 41 and is surely the elder male in the household. Joseph's three daughters should be 20, 16, and 10. One possibility was that the census enumerator was lazy and lumped the three daughters into a single age group and the one female age 20-29 would be Joseph's wife. She could not possibly be that young. She should be nearing 40. So, I think the more likely explanation is that there are extra people in the household, male and one female, each in their teens and one male under 5, the female age 20-29 is daughter Louisa, and Joseph's wife and the mother of his four children has died in the prior decade.

1840 US Census, household of Joseph Crawford: Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Union, South Carolina; Series: Roll 516; Page 174; Family History Library Film: 0022511. The census, enumerated officially on 01 Jun 1840, shows the household of Joseph Crawford comprised of 1 male 10-14 [presumably son Benjamin], 2 males 30-39 [would include Joseph's brother William who was disabled], and 1 male 50-59 [presumably Joseph]. There are no free white females in the household. The household includes five slaves.