Children of Elijah Harris Crabtree and Priscilla Sutton Sharp
The following was shared by Cal Bivens.
Joseph Sutton Crabtree (1818 - ? )
Joseph was born in October 1818 (baptized on September 16, 1821) at Hampstead/Westfield in Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada. Joseph Crabb married Sarah Ann Giggey July 13, 1846 in St. John, New Brunswick. Both individuals were from Portland Parish, St. John. Sarah was born about 1828 in St. John County, New Brunswick. She was reportedly the daughter of John Giggey and presumably a niece of Joseph’s aunt Mary Giggey Crabtree.
Joseph was a farmer. Joseph and William probably came to the United States with their uncle, Richard A. Crabtree, his sons Arnold, and George, daughter Amy Beecham and her husband, Thomas in 1848. There may have been a stop in Portland, Maine. Elijah, the father of Joseph and William lived there and is documented there from 1850 through 1859.
In 1850 Joseph, his wife and child shared a house with Billy and Margaret. After this I lost track of Joseph and Sarah. He seems to have sold his place to his brother, William, and returned to Canada between 1850 and 1855.
In the 1881 census for Canada, Joseph and his family were enumerated in Wilmot, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. Joseph, age 48, was a farmer and a Free Will Baptist. Sarah was also a Free Will Baptist as was their son, James.
Joseph came back to the United States in 1891, sometime after Sarah died (?). He bought a place in Lafayette County, Mississippi near Oxford. He was a truck farmer there. In 1900 Billy and his wife lived there with him. I see nothing yet that tells when they settled in Mississippi. Joseph later went to Illinois.
By 1910 Joseph was in Illinois. He was living with his niece, Laura Gill and her family in Grant Township, Lake County, Illinois. Since he was 91 years old at this time I think it is likely that he died at this place, however I can find no evidence of a death certificate for him in Illinois.
Sons of Joseph and Sarah Giggey Crabtree:
James Crabtree (1849 - ?)
James was born in Carleton, New Brunswick, Canada about 1849. He came with his parents to the US in 1850 and returned with them to Canada a short time later. On June 7, 1885, James married Sarah A. McNielly, of Newcastle, Nova Scotia in Middleton, Nova Scotia.
John Crabtree (1823 - ?)
The records of the Westfield Parish Anglican Church show that he was baptized there, in April 1823, but there is as yet no other information on him and he likely died young.
Rachel Crabtree (1823-1908)
Rachel was born January 28, 1823 at Hampstead / Westfield in Kings County, New Brunswick. She was baptized in July of that year at the Westfield Parish Anglican Church. On May 31, 1847 when Rachel was 22, she married Richard Arnold Basset Crabtree, son of Richard Arnold Crabb/Crabtree & Mary Giggey, in St. John County, New Brunswick, Canada. Arnold was born on March 26, 1826 in Canada, New Brunswick. He died in Milford Township, Story County, Iowa on March 27, 1872 at age 46. She died November 22, 1908 at age 85.
They had the following children:
Amy (Emma) Jane (1849-1855)
Charles William (1850-1857)
Arnold Jerome (1852-1883)
Arthur Elijah (1853-1875)
John George Lewis (1855-1927)
Truman Orlando (1857-1875)
Charles William Henry (1859-1872)
Rachel Lilly (1862-1896)
Hiram Oakley (1864-1889)
Haskell (1867-1867)
Amanda Antonia (Anna) (1869-1891)
Sarah Miranda Crabtree (1833–1930)
Sarah’s family will be featured in another post.
William Henry Crabtree (1825 - ? )
“Uncle Billy” as William was called was born Hampstead/Westfield in Kings County, New Brunswick in January 1825. He was married about 1849 to Margaret Giggey who was born about 1819 in New Brunswick. Margaret appears to be a sister of Sarah Ann. Just where William and Margaret were married I do not yet know.
William and Margaret came to the United States in 1849–1850 and settled in Kane County, Illinois. In 1850 William and Margaret shared a house at Lodi with Joseph and Sarah and their one year-old son, James. Joseph and William farmed and William went into Chicago during the off season and worked as a shingle maker. Their cousins, Arnold, George, and James Crabtree did the same.
Joseph does not appear in the 1855 state census and may have returned to Canada. Joseph seems to have sold his interest in the homestead to his brother, William.
William does appear in the 1855 state census for Kane County and there is an extra person in his household, a male between the ages of 70 and 80. The ages are not exactly pinpoint in this census but the elderly male is difficult to account for. It was almost certainly a relative.
William H. Crabtree at Geneva, Illinois, was naturalized February 18, 1858, in the Kane County Circuit Court. He had been a citizen of Great Britain and Ireland. Witnesses for the event were Milton Thornton, a friend and neighbor, and Otho Read, an in-law.
By 1860 William and Margaret had a house of their own, valued at $200. He had personal property assessed at $140. William continued to farm. Between 1850 and the 1860 censuses Margaret had given birth to four daughters: Elizabeth (1852), Amanda Paulina (Lina, 1853), Rachel Amelia (October 1857), and Lillie Emma (October 1858).
There will be more on “Uncle Billy” in another post.
Jonathan Crabtree (1839–1863) was written about earlier.