Thank you all for your contributions of time, research, donations, support and feedback.

Many thanks to the good folks at Bassett Historical Center for their input and assistance.

Thank you for visiting our heritage and history.
Please consider making a contribution (any amount is appreciated) to help offset the expense, and help us continually improve the quality and quantity of information.

We Gratefully Accept Yout Old/Odd Bitcoin, and Bit Cents at:
14Q2Cm1pRmUrSGTfn1a66Qe9YbAmdD8Dez

  First Name:  Last Name:
Log In
Surnames
What's New
Statistics

Terms of Use & Privacy
Contact Us
Join Our Community

IMMIGRANT Captain James Crew/Crews/Crewes[1, 2, 3]

Male Abt 1630 - 1677  (~ 47 years)


Personal Information    |    Media    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name James Crew/Crews/Crewes 
    Title IMMIGRANT 
    Prefix Captain 
    Born Abt 1630  England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 26 Jan 1677  Jamestown, Virginia Colony Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Person ID I1665  My Reynolds Line | Descendants of Richard 'Gunsmith' Carter
    Last Modified 23 Apr 2020 

    DNA Tests  1 person has linked a DNA test to IMMIGRANT Captain James Crew/Crews/Crewes 

    Family Consort of James Crew/Crews,   b. Abt 1640, Prob. Virginia Colony Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Hannah Crew/Crews/Crewes,   b. Est 1655, Turkey Island, Henrico Co., Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1702, Varina, Henrico, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 47 years)
    Last Modified 11 Jun 2014 
    Family ID F540  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    1666 Map of Virgiia
    1666 Map of Virgiia
    map1666Virginia.jpg

    Documents
    THE VIRGINIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY Volume 4 For the Year Ending June 1897 Captain James Crews, of Turkey Island, Henrico County; Will Bequests to Various member of the Giles Carter Family.  Henry Isham, Sr. Notes.
    THE VIRGINIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY Volume 4 For the Year Ending June 1897 Captain James Crews, of Turkey Island, Henrico County; Will Bequests to Various member of the Giles Carter Family. Henry Isham, Sr. Notes.
    VaMagazine-jun-1997.pdf
    Colonial Wills of Henrico Co., VA Part One 1654-1737 Abstracted and Compiled by Benjamin B. Weisiger, III; Page 107 Wm. Sewell 1725
    Colonial Wills of Henrico Co., VA Part One 1654-1737 Abstracted and Compiled by Benjamin B. Weisiger, III; Page 107 Wm. Sewell 1725
    Colonial_Henrico_Wills002.pdf

  • Notes 
    • http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36410/36410-h/36410-h.htm

      As early as 1624 the Virginia Assembly had declared that the Governor (for all he was his Majesty's representative) could not levy taxes against the will of the Burgesses, which, since the Burgesses were supposed to represent the people, was as much as to say against the will of the people. Governor Berkeley's Burgesses, [21]however, did not represent the people. The Assembly chosen in 1862, and composed almost entirely of sympathizers with the Governor, was so much to the old man's mind that, saying that "men were more valuable in any calling, in proportion to their experience," he refused to permit a new election, and the consequence was that in the thirteen years before our story opens, during which this Assembly sat under Sir William's influence, he had brought it up to his hand, as it were, and it had ceased to represent anything but its own and the Governor's interests.

      With such a legislature to support him, Sir William could bid defiance to the restrictions upon the Governor's power to lay taxes, and the poor "tithable polls" (all males above sixteen years of age) were called upon to pay the expenses of any measures which were deemed proper in carrying on the government; for the unrighteous taxes were imposed always per capita?never upon property, though by act passed in 1670 only landholders could vote.

      [22]It was by this system of poll-tax that the ample salaries of the Burgesses were paid and also that the sundry perquisites attached to the office of a Burgess were provided?such as the maintenance of a manservant and two horses apiece, and fees for clerks to serve committees, and liquors for the committees to drink their own and each other's good health. Doubtless many stately compliments were exchanged when the Burgesses, in an outburst of generosity, were pleased to present the Governor and others of high degree with "great gifts," but the grace and charm of the act were not perceptible to the eyes of the people who, enjoying neither the gifts nor the applause of presenting them, were taxed to pay the piper.

      The "poorer sort" complained that they were "in the hardest condition?who having nothing but their labor to maintain themselves, wives and children, pay as deeply to the public as he that hath 20,000 acres." Their complaints were just, but not likely to find a hearing, for the spirit of the age demanded that, in order that the [23]wealthy might keep up the appearance of wealth and maintain the dignity of their position, those who had no wealth to be retained and no dignity to be maintained must keep the wolf from the door as best they might while the fruits of their daily toil were "engrossed" by their so-called representatives. In the mean time, these representatives, their pockets thus swelled, found public life too comfortable to feel any desire to return to agricultural pursuits, or to be content with the uncertain income afforded by the capricious crop.

  • Sources 
    1. [S72] GenForum, http://genforum.genealogy.com/carter/messages/19379.html.
      From the combined work and analysis of Bill Husler and Shawn Potter, there is no longer any doubt Hannah was the (unlawful) daughter of Capt. James Crew / Crews / Cruse, Merchant. Separately, there is enough evidence to say that Giles Carter of Henrico was married twice:

      An unknown manuscript on Josiah Carter of Virginia [now known to be from "Josiah Carter and His Forbearers" by Malone], Grandson of Thomas Carter Sr. appears to answer the confusion over Hannah. After his presumed indenture with William Fry who was on the northern border of Henrico County, Giles would have been eligible for marriage circa 1660 at age twenty-five:

      "It is likely that as a young man Giles Carter was married to a daughter of John Rowen, since in a 1662 will he left the use of his house and land on a plantation to Giles for a year. Shortly thereafter Giles was well established in the eastern end of Henrico Co. near the Charles City Co. border. By 1676 he was married to Hannah Crewes, daughter of James Crewes". etc.

      Hello Richard;
      Thank-you very much for sending me the post-em you've created. I will certainly cull through the information you sent me. Some of it I have in my narratives on this family line which I'm attaching to the correspondence.
      1 Jun 1686 Payments to Giles CARTER as his legacy from the estate of James CREWES, dec'd p 146 (Henrico Co. Colonial Records [D&W] 1677-1692, Vol 1, p 369) ***
      Fred - silrem@comcast.net

      From the outstanding RootsWeb of Bill Husler:

      December 1, 1652. James Crewes, merchant, now residing at ye house of one Mr. Pratley, a (?) cooper, in Rudolph Lane near little Eastchipp, London, aged 29 years or thereabouts, being produced as a witness on ye part and behalf of ye complainant in this case was showed in person to Mr. Martyn in Mr. Hale's office being ye clerk that deals for ye defendant in this case by
      William Bamfort one of ye sworn clerks of my office who hath also left a note of ye name, title, and place of abode of ye said deponent which ye said Mr. Martyn and. Afterward ye same day and year aforesaid, ye said deponent being sworn and examined deposes and saith:
      1. That he about twice had seen ye complainant Mr. Martyn but has no acquaintance with him and does not know any of ye places named in ye title of ye (?) for debts in this case, but saith that he did know and was acquainted with Francis Gyles the reputed son of Mary Gyles, of Boughton Aluph in ye County of Kent in this (?) inquired of, was acquainted and did know him for ye span of a year or thereabouts before he died.
      2. That he does very well know that ye said Francis Gyles did live sometime before he died (to whit) for ye span of one year and upwards in Virginia, and that ye said Francis Gyles did about ye month of August or September 1651 die in a place called Jordan's in Virginia [i.e., Jordan's Journey, Charles City County, Virginia] aforesaid and more deposes not.
      James Crewes. (Chancery Records-Town Deposition, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Survey Report Number 10005, Virginia State Library)
      [This deposition demonstrates that James Crewes was present in Charles City County, Virginia, before the approximate year of Hannah's birth--1652.] December 17, 1655. The whole difference between Capt. David Peibils and James Crewes is referred to the award and final determination of Col. Edward Hill, Esq., Capt. Henry Perry, Esq., Mr. Thomas Drewe, and Mr. Anthony Wyatt, or an umpire by them or the major part of them elected, and to be done the 20th day of January next. (Charles City County, Virginia, Order Book, p. 25)
      [James Crewes was a merchant who traded between Native Americans, Virginia colonists, and the markets of London.] The presumption from the will of John Crewe is that Hannah was his unlawful daughter:
      "[When James Crewes wrote his will, he was a leader in Bacon's Rebellion and must have known his life was in danger. Although he did not state his relationship with the Carters, he provided for them in a manner traditionally reserved for children and grandchildren. This will is one piece of the whole body of evidence, which points to an
      unconventional father-daughter relationship between James Crewes and Hannah.]"
      Marriage 1 Hannah Crewe b: 1638 ???
      Theodrick Carter b: 1676
      Suzanna Carter b: ABT 1650
      Giles Carter b: 1672
      Mary Carter
      Ann Carter
      2 Feb 1701/2 Hannah CARTER was granted probate of the will of her husband, Giles CARTER.
      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Excellent presentation:
      Giles Carter's Wife, Hannah, b. 1652, VA
      Posted by: Shawn Potter Date: July 08, 2000 at 17:30:56 of 17434 on Carter GenForum
      I invite any and all to review and comment on my conclusions concerning the identity of Hannah (born about 1652), the wife of Giles Carter of Turkey Island, Henrico County, Virginia. Hannah married Giles in about 1670; and their children were: Theodorick (born about 1672), Susannah (born about 1674), Mary (born about 1676), Ann (born about 1678), and Giles Jr. (born after September 14, 1681).
      __________________
      My Conclusions:
      Although no official record has been found which explicitly identifies Hannah's parents, circumstances indicate she was a daughter of James Crews and an unidentified Native American woman. This conclusion is supported by the following:
      1. James Crews devoted most of his will to the family of Giles and Hannah Carter, naming and providing for each family member separately. Although he did not state his relationship to the Carters, he provided for them in a manner traditionally reserved for children and grandchildren. Later, when the Carters sold land inherited from James Crews, they both signed a deed which states that James Crews gave the land to "Giles and Hannah Carter." (*** Further details above) This additional information, that James Crews gave the land to Hannah as well as to Giles, considered in the context of an era of limited female property rights, highlights Hannah as the likely child of James Crews. James Crews' reluctance to clearly state that Hannah was his daughter, indicates an unusual aspect to their relationship--which is better understood in light of additional information.
      2. James Crews may have married Margaret Llewellyn after August 10, 1654, when Margaret witnessed a deed signing her maiden name, and before February 6, 1664, when Margaret's father wrote his will, leaving his daughter, "Margaret Cruse," and "her husband" money to buy memorial rings. If so, Margaret must have died before James wrote his will on July 23, 1676.
      3. The attorney for the executor of James Crews' estate testified that James Crews "left no widow or lawful child." The attorney's inclusion of the word "lawful" implies that James Crews left an "unlawful" child--one who was born outside of wedlock. This, in part, explains why James Crews was reluctant to clearly state in his will that Hannah was his daughter. The other part of the explanation comes from general information about white/non-white relations in Colonial Virginia as well as specific information about James Crews' associations.
      4. The social consequences in Colonial Virginia for a white man having a child outside of wedlock depended upon the mother's heritage. Fines and corporal punishment for free white men and white women--whether servant or free, who had a child together outside of wedlock were clearly defined and strictly enforced. In contrast, fines and punishment for free white men and non-white women, who had a child together outside of wedlock were practically non-existent. So, since Hannah probably was a daughter of James Crews, who was born outside of wedlock, yet no court records document the conviction and punishment of James Crews and Hannah's mother for such a transgression, Hannah's mother probably was non-white.
      5. Since James Crews willed a "negro maid" to Hannah, it is unlikely that Hannah's mother was African American.
      6. Since James Crews "kept an Indian," Hannah's mother could have been Native American. With other alternatives eliminated, this mere possibility becomes a virtual certainty.
      7. In summary, circumstances indicate that:
      (a) Hannah's father probably was James Crews (from his will and the Carter's deed), and (b) James Crews may have married Margaret Llewellyn (from Daniel Llewellyn's will), and (c) Hannah probably was born out of wedlock (from the attorney's testimony that James Crews left no "lawful" child), and (d) Hannah's mother probably was non-white (from strict Virginia statutes and enforcement yet no conviction and punishment), and
      (e) Hannah's mother probably was not African American (from James Crews' gift to Hannah of a "negro maid"), and (f) Hannah's mother could have been Native American (from James Crews' permit to "keep an Indian").
      Taken as a whole, these circumstances indicate that Hannah's parents were James Crews and an unidentified Native American woman.
      __________________
      I will post the evidence in a separate message. If anyone wishes to e-mail me directly, my e-mail address is shpxlcp@home.com

      Additional Proof of James Crewes as Father of Hannah December 10, 1677. Thomas Forehand and Dermot Enroughty depose that the will exhibited in court by Giles Carter is the same of Capt. James Crewes, deceased, that they were witness to. (Henrico County, Virginia, Wills and Administrations, part i, p. 1)
      [Bill Husler: Giles Carter's possession and exhibition of the will--traditional responsibilities of the next-of-kin--indicate a unique relationship between James Crewes and the Carters. This record strengthens the case that Hannah was James Crewes' daughter.]
      August 24, 1684. William Randolph, of Varina Parish, Henrico County, Gent., from Giles Carter and Hannah x, his wife, of Parish and county aforesaid, 20 pound sterling for 60 acres, which was by the last will and testament of Capt. James Crewes given unto said Giles and Hannah Carter, being part of ye dividend of land or plantation at Turkey Island of which said Crewes died seized, which tract of land or plantation is since purchased by said William Randolph of ye heir and executor of said Crewes, deceased, as by conveyance. Recorded April 1, 1685. (Valentine Papers, vol. iii, Randolph Family, p. 1392)
      [Note of Bill Husler supports the identical logic from Shawn Potter in his posting of 8 July 2002 -
      where Shawn skillfully shows us that the attorney only said there were no lawful heirs and concludes that Hannah was illegitimate!]
      "This deed confirms that James Crewes gave the plantation to both Giles and Hannah. Hannah's inclusion as joint recipient of the land, considered in the context of an era of limited
      female property rights, supports the conclusion that Hannah was the daughter of James Crewes".]

    2. [S140] Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.
      THE VIRGINIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY Published Quarterly by The Virginia Historical Society Volume IV, Page 122

      Captain James Crews, of Turkey Island, Henrico County, was a near neighbor of Nathaniel Bacon and was one of his most active adherents during the rebellion. His Will, dated 23 Jul 1676, was proved in Henrico, December 10, 1677. He bequeaths to Mary, wife of Giles Carter, 4,000 lbs of tobacco and certain household goods; to Susan, daughter of Giles Carter, 1000 lbs of tobacco; gives his man his freedom; gives Hannah, wife of Giles Carter, his negro maid, Kate; to Daniel Price, his best suit and coat; to Giles Carter all that he (Carter) owed him, and gives him for life the plantation he has 'let' him; all the remainder of his estate to his cousin, Matthew Crews, and makes him executor.

    3. [S80] Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1312660163.
      Shawnee Heritage [See Documents]

    4. [S82] Wikitree, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Crewes-3.

      James Crewes
      Born before 7 Dec 1623 in London, Middlesex, Englandmap
      Son of Robert Crewes and Elizabeth (Tempest) Crewes
      Brother of Thomas Crewes, Robert Crewes Jr., Elizabeth (Crewes) Craddock, William Crewes, John Crewes, Julian (Crewes) Mayo, Anne Crewes, Edward Crewes, Frauncis Crewes, Mary Crewes, Steven Crewes and Sara Crewes
      Husband of Margaret Elisabeth (Llewellyn) Crewes ? married [date unknown] [location unknown]
      Husband of Moriah Bland ? married [date unknown] [location unknown]
      Descendants descendants
      Father of Hannah (Crewes) Carter
      Died 26 Jan 1677 in Jamestown, Virginia Colony