SEARCHING FOR JOHN CRAWFORD
By Kay Dunlap Boyd
Recently I received a research request stating:
“I am researching my family. My great grandfather was born and died in Manor, Texas. I would like to find out where he and my great grandmother are buried. His name was John Crawford and his wife was Fannie Black (Crawford) who lived in Manor.” I usually don’t take on broad research requests like “I am looking for my family” but instead prefer to answer specific questions. But, I began looking to see what I could find, knowing that the old country cemeteries are not well maintained and have no burial records. I had reservations that I could even find anything. I started with the death certificates on the website familysearch.org and then visited findagrave.com. There, I found a name that matched in Evergreen Cemetery, an African-
American burial ground located in Austin, Texas on East 12th Street. The inventory listing was posted from the burial information done by Austin Genealogical Society (AGS) member Robert Sage. It stated the burial date only with no tombstone. By going back to Robert’s work, I located other family members buried with John Crawford in lot A-247. Listed here were his wife Fannie, and daughters; Mable, Beatrice and May Bell. These records were confirmed with parents and dates by the death certificates on familysearch.org.
Not only was I able to identify their children, but the Austin City Directories on HeritageQuest, also gave their addresses. The census on this site listed the birth month, year, occupations and who lived in the home. I also found a woman who I believe from existing information was John’s mother, Manda, whom he lived with in 1880.
John Crawford was born 24 April 1855/1858, in Texas and died 18 December 1944, in Austin, Travis County, Texas. John’s mother, Manda Crofford [Crawford], was born in Alabama in about 1832. John married Fannie Black on 18 December 1877. Fannie was born on 4 January 1860/1866, in Virginia, the daughter of Sam Black and Mary Jane. She died 14 April 1929, in Austin, Travis County, Texas. They are both buried in Evergreen Cemetery. The 1900 United States Census states Fannie had 12 children. There are three children/infants in the Oakwood Cemetery (also located in Austin, Texas) database who could be children of John and Fannie but hasn’t been proved. I also found a black female who was born in Alabama named Amanda Crawford, who died of consumption and was buried on 28 July 1894. This might be John’s mother as she is not found in the 1900 census and is not listed in the city directory after 1893.
Photo from Library of Congress
Children of JOHN CRAWFORD and FANNIE BLACK are:
· Samuel, born 1879 in Travis County, Texas.
· Kate, born February 1880, Travis County, Texas; died 29 February 1940, Austin, Travis County, Texas, (married Green).
· Louis Crawford, born 14 August 1885, Travis County, Texas; died 26 December 1953, Los Angeles, California.
· Beatrice Crawford, born 7 June 1891, Travis County, Texas; died 14 May 1968, Austin, Travis County, Texas, (married Collins).
· Maude Crawford, born 22 November 1893; died 22 February 1976, Austin, Travis County, Texas, (married Ollie Wilson by 1920).
· John William Crawford Jr., born 25 November 1896, Austin, Travis County, Texas; died 29 November 1976, Los Angeles, California.
· Mabel Crawford, born June 1899, Travis County, Texas; died 1 February 1944, Austin, Travis County, Texas, (married Williams after 1930).
· May Bell Crawford, born 1904, Austin, Travis County, Texas; died 2 October 1942, Austin, Travis County, Texas, (married Mishael Hayden).
Digging further, I found a photo of John along with his slave narrative (as told by John Crawford himself) which gave his mother’s name, his life and where he lived in the Manor area.
John Crawford, 81, was born a slave on Judge Thomason Rector's plantation at Manor, Texas. After emancipation, John was a share-cropper. He lived in Travis County and is now cared for by a daughter (sic) at Austin.
"John Crawford am me. It am eighty-one years since I's borned and dat's on de old Rector plantation where Manor am now. It wasn't dere den. I knowed the man it was named after.
"Ma's name was Viney Rector and the old judge brung her from Alabama. She milked all the cows two times a day and I had to turn out all de calves. Sometimes dey'd git purty roughand go right to dere mammies. "Pap's name was Tom Townes, 'cause he 'longed on de Townes place. He was my step-pap and when I's growed I tooken my own pap's name, what was Crawford. I never seed him, though, and didn't know nothin' much 'bout him. He's sold away 'fore I's borned.
"Pap Townes could make most everythin'. He made turnin' plows and hossshoe nails and a good lot of furniture. He was purty good to me, 'siderin' he wasn't my own pap. I didn't have no hard time, noway. I had plenty bacon and side-meat and 'lasses. Every Sunday mornin' the jedge give us our rations for de week. He wasn't short with dem, neither. "Many was de time Injuns come to Jedge Rector's place. Dem Injuns beg for somethin' and the jedge allus give dem somethin'. They wasn't mean Injuns, jes' allus beggin'. "I can't read and write to this day. Nobody ever larnt me my A B C's and I didn't git no chance at school.
"On Christmas mornin' Massa Rector come out and give each man and woman a big, red pocket handkerchief and a bottle of liquor. He buyed dat liquor by de barrel and liked it hisself. Dat why he allus had it on de place.
"One mornin' the jedge done send word down by de cook for nobody to go to de fields dat day. We all want up to de big house and de jedge git up to make de speech, but am too choke up to talk. He hated to lose he slaves, I reckon. So his son-in-law has to say, 'You folks am now free and can go where you wants to go. You can stay here and pick cotton and git fifty cents de hunerd.' But only two families stayed. De rest pulled out. "After freedom we rented land on de halves. Some niggers soon got ahead and rented on de third or fourth. When you rent that-a-way you git three bales and de boss git one. But you has to buy you own teams and seed and all on dat plan. "Its a fac' we was told we'd git forty acres and a mule. Dat de talk den, but we never did git it.