Class A evidence - as reliable and dependable as possible. Examples:
         Court records, deed records, wills, and other legal or government documents
         Information obtained from professional certified genealogists when such information is based on official records
         Obviously reliable sources, e.g. DAR Patriot Index

Class B evidence – probably reliable, but not conclusive. Examples:
         Strong circumstantial evidence
         Information obtained by professional certified genealogists when not based on Class A evidence or is not known

Class C evidence it may or may not be reliable
         Internet entries, e.g. from ancestry .com and rootsweb.com
         Genealogy books and commercial CD’s unless Class A evidence is given Family Bibles

         In the DAR library I found a book entitled “The DAR Patriot Index”, published in 2003. On p. 628 two James Crabtree’s are listed as patriots of the American Revolution (Class A evidence). One is James Crabtree, born about 1750 in MD, married to Rhoda, was a captain in the army and died after July 15, 1823 in VA. I am labeling him as James Crabtree #1. The other James Crabtree listed as a patriot was born on Feb 20,1762, served as a private in the army and died after March 4, 1834. I am labeling him as James Crabtree #2. This is key information as will become apparent in subsequent paragraphs.

James Crabtree #1
         With regard to the parentage of James Crabtree #1, information is available from Class C sources with one exception. According to the following references he was a son of William Crabtree III and Hannah Whitaker (William III was a son of William II and Mary Pyke): 1) A book entitled “Leaving a Trail” published in 1987 by Norma Jane Crabtree who is a descendent of William III 2) The detailed writings of Paul Buchanan including his booklet entitled “The Crabtrees of Colonial Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina: Another Look”, published in 1996 plus a smaller paper and an ancestry chart 3)”The Crabtrees of Southwest Virginia” by Fritz and McProud, 1965, p 266. I will abbreviate this book as CSWVA. 4) Internet entries including one whose reference is the Mormon Family History Library in Salt Lake City. These sources indicate that James #1 was born in 1750 and died in 1823. They differ among themselves regarding whether he died in Washington County, VA, or Washington County, IL, but as I will show later, the evidence clearly indicates that he died in VA.
         Paul Buchanan’s paper on James Crabtree #1 and his ancestry chart, not contained in his booklet, are filed in the genealogy library in Abingdon, VA. These sources state that James was born in Harford County, MD (Baltimore County in those days) in 1750, that his parents were William Crabtree III and Hannah Whitaker, and that James was a member of the militia in Bedford County, and then in 1776 he was captain of the militia in Washington County. Based upon evidence contained in CSWVA and his pension papers, he came into Washington County, VA, in 1772 and died there in 1823. Paul Buchanan surmises that his wife’s maiden name was Benton.
         The one Class A source of information regarding James Crabtree #1 is the DAR Patriot Index, Volume 1 in which is lists James Crabtree from Virginia, born about 1750 and died July, 15, 1823, captain in the army, wife’s name Rhoda (no last name mentioned).
         James #1 settled on the North Fork of the Holston River on a branch of Beaver Creek in Washington County (now Smyth County) near Saltville according to the book entitled “Pioneers of the Virginia Bluegrass” by George Gose, published in 1987. He bought 150 acres of land at the Salt Lick in 1789 and together with his wife, Rhoda, sold it in 1795. A copy of this land transfer is contained in CSWVA on p 109-112. His will which is recorded in Washington County Will book #8 and in CSWVA, p 109-112, lists the names of his offspring, but does not include the name of a Joseph. There is no evidence that he lived outside of the state of VA.
         Based upon the above considerations plus the fact that the James Crabtree who was the father of my Joseph is known to have died in Robertson County, TN (vide infra), it is evident that James Crabtree #1 was not the father of my ancestor, Joseph Crabtree.

James Crabtree #2
         In addition to the information obtained from the DAR Patriot index about James Crabtree #2, I have a copy of his pension application and the form that was used to make the application, both of which I obtained form the National Archives (Class A evidence). This application states that he was born on Feb 2, 1762, in New London, Bedford County, VA, served as a private in the revolutionary Army under CPT Robert Trimble and CPT William Bowen, resided at the Big Lick (presently near Saltville) and in 1785 moved to TN about 25 miles north of Nashville, and in 1809 moved to Washington County, IL, where he made the pension application on June 3, 1833. It should be noted that in 1785, the area where he settled in was at that time in Davidson County, NC, as TN did not become a state until 1796 at which time the name of his location became Robertson County, TN until 1801 when that portion of Robertson County became Jackson County.
         The identity of the parentage of James Crabtree #2 is a subject of considerable controversy. As previously mentioned, much Class C evidence indicates that James Crabtree #1, born in 1750, was a son of William Crabtree III and Hannah Whitaker, but there is also a considerable amount of Class C evidence that James Crabtree #2 was the son of the same William III and Hannah who were residents of Baltimore County, MD, then Bedford County, VA, and finally Washington County, VA. These references state that James #2 was born on Feb 2, 1762 in Bedford County, VA, and died in Washington County, IL in 1833/34. Thus, there are two distinct James Crabtree’s with different birth dates and identities who are identified as a son of William III and Hannah, an example of the problem of conflicting data that is sometimes encountered in Class C sources. Another source of evidence that speaks against James Crabtree #2 as the father of my ancestor, Joseph, is a list of children provided to me by Jerry Wilson, obtained from Jerry Crabtree who is a descendent of this James Crabtree. This list includes the names of William, Whitaker, Webster, James,Jr., and possibly Samuel, but no Joseph. I also have other independent internet sources who identify this James Crabtree as having children by the same names and no mention of a Joseph.
         Based upon the information in the preceding discussion together with the fact that James, the father of Joseph, died in 1819/20 in Robertson County, TN, and not in Washington County, IL, it is evident that James Crabtree #2 was not the father of my ancestor Joseph Crabtree.

James Crabtree #3
         Evidence from a variety of sources indicates that among the children of William Crabtree II and Mary Pyke of Baltimore County, MD, were William III (vide supra), born in1726, and a son John, born in 1732. In about 1756-1759 the two brothers together with their sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, James Poteet, moved to Bedford County, VA, which at that time was the western frontier of the Colony of Virginia. Because of the rapid influx of settlers into this area and because of their need for more land, in 1772 both William III and his brother John moved to southwest VA in what is now the Saltville area in Washington and Smyth Counties. William III was a prosperous landowner and died there in 1777. We have already discussed the conflicting data regarding the date of birth and identity of his son James.
         John settled on the North Fork of the Holston River at the headsprings of the Elk Creek Branch, a few miles east of Saltville. I purchased an 1899 topographical map of Smyth County, VA, and have been able to locate this area. In 1774 he had military service in Lord Dunmore’s War. During his lifetime John was very prolific as a reproducer, having fathered nine children by his first wife, Hannah Butcher, who then died, and another nine children by his second wife, Jemima Cook. Prior to his death in 1802, John left a will in Washington County, VA, the contents of which are recorded in Washington County Will Book #2 and are reproduced on p. 90-92 in CSWVA. In his will, the first nine children received one dollar each and the second nine received equal portions of the remaining assets. The first offspring mentioned in his will was James, his oldest child.
         James Crabtree, born in 1756, was the first child of John Crabtree and Hannah Butcher and I have labeled him as James Crabtree #3. He thus would have been a first cousin of the James Crabtree who was the son of William Crabtree III, a relationship that may provide the basis for confusion when performing genealogy research. There is some indication that he was born in MD, before his parents’ move to Bedford County, VA, but it is also possible that he was born in Bedford County, after the move. It is reasonable to believe that he moved with his parents to Washington County, VA, in 1772, thus establishing the presence of a third contemporaneous James Crabtree in the region. His wife’s first name was Elizabeth as recorded in his will, but her last name is unknown although there is a high probability that it was Payne.
         James #3 owned two pieces of land in Rich Valley near Saltville, VA, that he acquired on patents on June 20, 1785, and Sept, 20, 1785 (Class A evidence as recorded in CSWVA, p. 101-102). By the time he sold these tracts of land on Sept 15, 1788, he had already relocated in Davidson County, NC, as mentioned in the land transfer documents on page 101-102. One was a tract of land of 220 acres that he sold to Robert Worsham and the other was 362 acres that he sold to Nicholas Reagan. A detailed description of the location of these tracts of land is described in CSWVA on p 103-105. The fact that the deed book identifies this James Crabtree as “of Davidson County, NC” distinguishes him from James Crabtree #1 whose land transfers of 1789-1802 are also listed in deed books and in CSWVA, and it also documents the move of James Crabtree #3 from Washington County, VA to Davidson County, NC. The deed books also indicate that the wife of James Crabtree #3, Elizabeth, relinquished her dower rights to these two tracts of land when they were sold in 1788.
         The timing of James #3’s move to Davidson County, NC, is not known, but presumably he was there at least by 1788 when he sold the two tracts of land in Virginia as noted above. A professional genealogist who I hired found that James #3 was there at least by 1786 and that he was very likely the James Crabtree who served on juries in Davidson County in 1786, 1788, and 1792 and that he was appointed justice of he peace in 1796 in Robertson County. The records clearly indicate that he was a landowner in Robertson County and court records sometimes identify him as James Crabtree, Senior, probably to distinguish him from James Crabtree, Junior, who most likely was the younger James Crabtree #2. This information is significant because it establishes the fact that a landowning James Crabtree from Washington County, VA moved to Robertson County, TN, where he was not only a landowner, but a person of considerable importance and respect.
         James Crabtree#3 had a will which is recorded in Robertson County Will Book #3, dated January 1819, and in the will he identifies only two individuals, his wife, Elizabeth, and a son, Jobe, and unfortunately for subsequent genealogy seekers, he only refers to his other children as previously portioned without actually mentioning them by name. He died in 1819/20. A variety of Class C evidence sources indicates that his other children included Wesley, Benjamine, William, Joseph, and Susan. The genealogist was able to identify only one Joseph Crabtree in the Robertson County area in the late 18th century, class B evidence that supports a father-son relationship between James #3 and Joseph.
         In his will of 1819, James stated that all of his land would pass to his wife and then after her death to his son, Jobe, except for a 150 acre portion that was bonded to Robert Hays. With reference to this and other land transfer information, the genealogist stated that “we can be certain that the James Crabtree who died in 1819/20 in Robertson County was possessed of land in Robertson County, and, because of the late (1813) deed made by James Crabtree to his sons William and Joseph - and these lands were in Wilson County bounding Drakes’s Lick, we know that this has to be the same man as the James who died testate in Robertson County ca 1819/20.” Thus the notion that William and Joseph were the sons of the James Crabtree whose 1819 Robertson County will identified only one child, i. e. Jobe, but mentions the existence of other children, is a strong piece of Class B evidence that William and Joseph were among these children and that James Crabtree #3 was therefore the father of my ancestor, Joseph.
         In a very thorough search of the Robertson-Sumner-Jackson County records, the genealogist identified two landowning James Crabtrees. The genealogist also identified a possible third James Crabtree in middle TN at that time, but he was not a landowner and cannot be given serious consideration in the present genealogical search.

Summary
          The records identify the presence of three separate and contemporaneous James Crabtree’s in the Washington County, VA, area in the late 18th century on the basis of three locations and dates of death plus other corroborating evidence. James Crabtree #1 can be eliminated from consideration as the father of my Joseph because of his death and will in Washington, County, VA. James Crabtree #2 can also be eliminated from consideration because he made out his pension application and died in IL. This leaves James Crabtree #3 as the most likely man to have been Joseph Crabtree’s father, not only on the basis of the process of elimination, but also because of the availability of other very compelling evidence. I am also convinced that James Crabtree #3 was the son of John Crabtree and Hannah Butcher, although additional confirmatory Class A evidence that would support this conclusion would be desirable.
         To anyone who reads this report, I would like to invite you to send me your comments, questions, criticisms, and suggestions should be in completing this investigation. Thus, if you are aware of any more information that may shed light on this topic, I would be most deeply appreciative if you would send it to me at jedcam@aol.com. More work needs to be done, and I am especially interested in your opinions on what the next move should be in completing this investigation. If I become aware of any significant additions or any changes that need to be made, I will send it to you.

Historical information regarding the formation of counties in VA and TN:

Virginia
         1770 - Botecourt County was formed from a portion of Augusta County
         1773 - A portion of Botecourt County became Fincastle County
         1777 - Fincastle County was subdivided to form Washington, Montgomery, and Kentucky Counties and Fincastle County became extinct
         1832 - Smyth County was formed from Washington and Wythe Counties
Tennessee
         1783 - Davidson County was formed by the Act of North Carolina
         1786 - Sumner County was formed from Davidson County
         1788 - Tennessee County was formed from Davidson County
         1796 - Tennessee separated from North Carolina and became a state
         1796 - Robertson County was formed from Tennessee and Sumner Counties
         1799 - Wilson and Smith Counties were formed from Sumner County
         1802 - Jackson County was formed from Smith County

James E. Davia, August 23, 2008, Updated September 19, 2008