Memorials › John Crutchfield

John Crutchfield

1830 – 5 Sep 1875

Birth1830
Death5 Sep 1875
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/137321043

Bio

*********************************************************** Revised 14 July 2017 According to the 1850 and the 1870 US Census records of Pulaski County Georgia, John Crutchfield was born in Georgia in about 1830. It is believed that he was the 5th of the following 7 children born to Ulysses Crutchfield and Mary Ann Simpson and was their 3rd son: 1. Martin Crutchfield (1822-1876) 2. Delia Crutchfield (1824- ) 3. Mary Ann Crutchfield (1826-1851) - FAGM# 42284339 4. Jasper Joab Crutchfield (1827-1902) - FAGM# 59530343 5. John Crutchfield (1830-1875) - FAGM# 137321043 6. Liddy Crutchfield (1834- ) 7. Arcadia Crutchfield (1838-1895) - FAGM# 38720702 According to their marriage record in 1819 as well as the 1820 through the 1850 US Census records, John's parents resided in Pulaski County, Georgia during all those years. Therefore, it is assumed that John and all of his siblings were born there. A handwritten inscription on the back of a photo of Martin Crutchfield (John's oldest brother), indicates that Martin moved to Angelina County, Texas in about 1854 or 1855. It is assumed a close relative, with first hand knowledge of the indicated events, wrote the inscription. Most likely, Martin's wife Cecelia Bryant came to Texas with her husband as they were married Dec. 17, 1846 in Georgia (Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978). It is assumed that John (about 25 then) moved to Angelina County with his brother's family. Some of John and Martin's other siblings probably moved with them. Except for his parents and his sister Mary Ann, who died in Georgia in 1851, it appears that 3 of John's other siblings moved to Angelina County, Texas in about that same time frame, including Martin, Jasper Joab and Arcadia. Jasper Joab eventually relocated to Grimes County. No records have been found to determine the location and the fate of his remaining siblings, Lydia and Delia Crutchfield. The 1869 Voter Registration in the Angelina County shows John Crutchfield 3 lines below his brother Jasper J. Crutchfield. That record indicates the brothers had been in the state 14 years and in the county 13 years, which confirms they had been in Texas since 1855. A few years later, John must have acquired land in Angelina County because county tax records show he paid his taxes in that county in 1860. On February 26, 1861, John married Lyddy T. Bryant in Angelina County, Texas (Texas, Select County Marriage Index, 1837-1965). Lyddy is believed to have been the younger sister of Cecelia Bryant. On December 11, 1861, 9 months and a few weeks after the wedding, Lyddy gave birth to their son John Martin, Jr. Eight months after the birth of his son John enlisted in the Confederate Cavalry on August 10, 1862, which is confirmed by a Texas Confederate Soldier Widow's Pension Application. That record also confirms that during the war he was a Private in Company D, 7th Regiment of the Texas Cavalry (7th Mounted Volunteers), which was part of Green's Brigade, conducting campaigns in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. The record also indicates he surrendered his enlistment in 1865 at the end of the war. John returned home to his young family at war's end. However, sometime after the birth of their son and before 1870, it is assumed that his wife Lyddy died. The exact date, location and cause of her death are not known. On September 1, 1870 John married Joanna C. Herring in Cherokee County, Texas (Texas, County Marriages, 1817-1965) and they had two daughters, Mary Jane "Mollie" born on 1872 and Malinda Georgia Anna "Annie" born in 1874. According to the US Census of 1880 in Precinct 3, Angelina, Texas and their Death Certificates, both girls were born in Homer, Angelina County, Texas. Except for the war years, it is assumed John made his living farming, as he indicated on the 1870 US Census. He was also a property owner because he appeared on the tax record in Angelina County, every year from 1860 until his death. As confirmed by the above-described Pension Application, John died on September 5, 1875 at the age of 45, almost 17 months after the birth of his youngest daughter Annie. The causes of his death as well as the location of his burial site are not known. Most likely he was buried on his farm. In 1880, Joanna Herring Crutchfield reported for the US Census with her 2 daughters while still in Angelina County. Her stepson John Martin was 18 and reported separately for the census that year living in Medina County, Texas while working as a laborer on a farm owned by a family with the last name of Moore. In the mid 1880s, it is assumed that Joanna joined with other Crutchfield relatives in Angelina and Grimes Counties to move their families to Devine in Medina County, Texas, to reunite with her stepson John Martin. At that time, Joanna's family consisted only of herself and her 2 daughters Mary Jane "Mollie" and Georgia Anna "Annie." Years later both girls married and started their own families in Devine. John Martin also married and raised a family in Devine. Joanna never remarried and lived another 50 years after the death of her husband. At the age of 24 she lost her husband after only 5 years of marriage. In later years she lived with both daughters and with a few of their children. According to her Mortuary Warrant for her Pension Application, she died in 1925 at the age of 79 in the home of her grandson, Early Howard Rackley, in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Devine, TX. According to the Texas State Historical Association website "one of the worst droughts in Texas history occurred in 1884–86, causing most of the farmers to fail…" It is assumed the Crutchfield relocation was prompted by considerable economic stress and suffering caused by that drought as well as the prospect of getting good cheap land in South Texas. ********************************************** John's 2nd wife, Joanna C. Herring Crutchfield, submitted the above described Pension Application in July of 1910. It was disapproved shortly after because of the following statement in an archived letter, stamped Oct 6, 1910, from E. A. Bolmes, Texas Commissioner of Pensions to Judge H. E. Haass in Hondo, Medina Co., TX: "The records show that John Crutchfield, private, Company D, 7th Texas Cavalry, C.S.A., enlisted August 10, 1862. On the company roll for January and February 1864, he was reported "Absent - left the command without leave Aug. 12, 1863." No later record of him has been found." A handwritten note at the bottom and off to the right side of the same archived letter states "Retrieved Letters from J.C Crutchfield show that he rejoined his command. Last date March 22, 1865." It is assumed the commission accepted this as proof that his absence was "excused," because they approved Joanna's pension on Nov. 30, 1910. It has been suggested that John may have "left the command" to go to the aid of his ailing wife, Lyddy and son John Martin. Lyddy may have died or was on her deathbed. It is believed that Lyddy died between 1862 & 1870 - actual date and cause of death are unknown, as previously stated. Since the above-described letters were in Joanna's possession, they may well have been personal correspondence between Joanna and John. In which case, Lyddy probably died before the date shown on the last letter (March 1865) or possibly some time before August of 1863, when John left his regiment. ********************************************** Father: Ulysses Crutchfield Born: 1795; North Carolina Died: Before 1870; Pulaski County, Georgia Mother: Mary Ann Simpson Born: 1800; North Carolina Died: Before 1870; Pulaski County, Georgia Parents Married: 25 April 1819; Pulaski County, Georgia John Martin Crutchfield's Marriages: 1st Wife: Lyddy T. Bryant on 26 Feb 1861 in Angelina County, Texas 2nd Wife: Joanna C. Herring on 1 Sep 1870 in Cherokee County, Texas Written by Don Herring - Great Grandson of John Martin Crutchfield, Sr. ************************************************************** Please feel free to notify Don Herring at https://www.findagrave.com/user/profile/48531255, if you dispute any of the information in this bio or if you have additional or more up to date information regarding persons described in this memorial.

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