James Crumley

1. JAMES¹ CRUMLEY was born Bet. 1706 - 1712 in Yorkshire County, England or County Monoghan, Ireland, and died September 1764 in Frederick County, Virginia. He married CATHERINE GILKEY 1732 in Chester County, Pennsylvannia, daughter of DAVID GILKEY and BARBARA. She was born Bet. 1695 - 1720 in Yorkshire, England, and died 1816 in Berkley County, Virginia.  The  following information comes from Paul Nichols.  Footnotes can be found here: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/o/w/Patricia-D-Howard/GENE17-0001.html

The name Crumley is thought to be derived from the (Irish Cromlaoich) , which would translate literally to "descendant of bent hero" [1] Very few Crumleys (or variants Crumly, Cromley, Crumbley) were in the United States before 1800. [2] James Crumley was among the Quakers who settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the early eighteenth century. A Valentine Crumley came to Philadelphia in 1749 from Germany and settled in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The Crumleys in Sullivan County, Tennessee, were descended from another German immigrant, George Crumley (who may have been related to Valentine Crumley). [3] The ancestry of most of the 20 or so Crumley families in the United States at the time of the first census in 1790 can be traced to one of these immigrants. Two hundred years later, the number of American Crumleys has grown to about 5000-6000. [4]

James Crumley, ancestor of this branch of the family, was the first Crumley known in the United States. Several of his descendents have researched their family history, and their findings are summarized in published books, [5] manuscripts, [6] a genealogy compendium, [7] and a comprehensive manuscript in preparation. [8] Two Crumley discussion groups are active on the Internet. [9] There is also information on the Crumleys and allied families in a recent Frederick County, Virginia, history. [10] 

East Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania

James first settled in East Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania, but his place of birth has not been determined. Some accounts suggest he came from County Monaghan, Ireland. [11] and others say Yorkshire, England. [12] He could have been among the many Quakers who left England in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, settled for some time in Northern Ireland, and then came to America. [13] The only records of James Crumley that have been found in Chester County were tax rolls, where he was listed between 1732, when he must have been at least 21 years old, and 1740. [14] He was probably at least a nominal quaker and followed the migration of other East Nottingham Quakers to the frontiers of Frederick County, Virginia. The first record of his purchasing land there was on 04 June 1745, when he acquired a 250 acre tract at the head of Yorkshireman's Creek from Giles and Sarah Chapman. [15] The Chapmans were among the 70 original Quaker families that settled in the Shenandoah Valley and organized the Hopewell Friends Meeting. [16] 

James Crumley eventually obtained much more land, including a large grant of 742 acres on Mill Creek (mostly in Berkeley County, now part of West Virginia) from Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax in 1752. [17] His "home plantation" was on the Apple Pie ridge, about a mile south of White Hall. [18] The ridge is said to have been named for the delicious apple pies baked by the Quakers, and it is still covered with orchards 250 years later. [19] There James conducted his business as a "cordwainer," dealing in Spanish leather goods. He purchased this land in 1748 from David and Barbara Gilkey. [20] Very old family records from Richard Griffith, a prominent Frederick County genealogist, indicate that the Gilkeys may have been the parents of his wife Catharine, but no marriage documentation has been found. [21]

In a 1932 letter, Richard Griffith wrote, "James Crumley was a man of Considerable wealth for his day and time, and his position an important one. He was the friend of Lord Fairfax, and there is evidence to show that he was a visitor at Greenway Court, and was entertained there at least twice, probably oftener." [22] Greenway Court, the manor home of Lord Fairfax, was the seat of government of all of the Northern Neck of Virginia. [23] 

James was one of three Quakers elected to the Vestry of Frederick Parish in 1752, indicating that he was considered a "most able and discreet person" as provided by the law. [24] Although the Vestry was actually under the jurisdiction of the official Episcopal Church, it had political functions as well, and it was not unusual for Quakers to be members. The previous vestry had been dissolved amid charges of persecution of Quakers and failure to build a church with money provided by the House of Burgesses. Along with William Roberts, James Crumley was selected "church warden" in 1755 and 1756. He received 5 shillings, 4 1/2 pence reimbursement on 14 September 1758 for furnishing provisions to the colonial militia. [25] 

Cunningham Chapel Parish grew out of Frederick Parish which was created concurrently with Frederick County in 1738 by an act of the colonial General Assembly of Virginia as an ecclesiastical unit of the church of England.  This is the first of three chapels of the parish constructed probably in 1747.  (From the Chunningham Chapel Parish website.)

Although the evidence suggests that James Crumley was indeed a man of wealth and position, a 1758 court record indicates that he did have a brush with the law. There was a legal proceeding against Barbara (Gilkey) Hagen, thought by some to be James Crumley's mother-in-law. The record immediately prior to this one stated simply that it was "ordered that the Sheriff take James Cromley into custody for behaving indecently before the court." [26] In a 1936 letter, J. W. Baker, another Frederick County genealogist interpreted this behavior as evidence of some kind of family row. [27] 

Old Frederick County Courthouse

James Crumley's will was filed in 1757; it names five children-- John, William, Mary, Henry, and Samuel, a granddaughter Ruth Doster, a brother Thomas, and, written in between the lines, a sister Joan. He died shortly before the will was proved 09 August 1764. [28] The appraised value of his personal property was just over $500 [29] He was a slaveholder, as shown by his property inventory. One Negro man was valued at $65, a Negro woman and child at $55, and a Negro girl at $25. His widow Catharine was listed on county tax rolls in 1782 and 1787, [30] and an 1816 entry in the county deed book indicates she may have been living as late as 1799. [31] 

George Washington

James Crumley was a resident of Frederick County when George Washington won his first elective office as a Frederick County delegate to the Virginia House of Burgesses in July, 1758, so it is possible that the two may have had some contact. Washington, however, did not actually live in Frederick County and did very little campaigning there, other than to buy plenty of liquor for the voters. [32] There is at least a record of his writing James Crumley's name in his diary. After Washington received the Frederick County polling results, he made an alphabetic list of all the voters and their (public) choices. James Crumley and his sons John and William voted for Hugh West. One could vote for two candidates, and John and William also voted for Colonel Washington, but James cast only the one vote. [33]