Descendants of Richard Crouch
of Goochland County, Va.
To: Index Contact:
Joe
Crouch
William Smith Crouch 4 (Richard 3, John 2, Richard 1) was born 7 September 1815 [1] in Virginia, died 5 Jul 1895 Todd Co., KY. with burial in the Jessup Cemetery [Findagrave] near Fairview, the son of Richard and Martha (Britt) Crouch. He moved to Todd County, KY with his father sometime between 1816-17 when he was about seven years old.
The Logan County Brides Marriage Index lists a William S. Crouch as marrying Elizabeth J. Morrow on 30 October 1842 [FamilySearch Index] [FamilySearch marriage book Vol. II, p.15, #58 (2nd down)]. If the William S. Crouch in the Logan Co., KY Brides Marriage Index is actually the William Smith Crouch in this profile, then he first married at the age of twenty-seven. The record states the groom was of age and the bride was marrying with consent, indicating she was under legal age. This suggests the William S. Crouch in this profile had a previous marriage prior to his 1852 marriage to Virginia Jesup. However there is no family tradition for this union, nor is it documented in the William Smith Crouch family bible.
William S. Crouch grew up on a farm near Daysville, Todd Co., KY, and there is a grave marker in the Morrow Cemetery at Olmstead, Logan Co., KY. for Elizabeth J. Crouch (Findagrave). The Crouch farm was approximately 6 miles away from the Morrow Cemetery.
Reviewing the Todd Co., KY tax records.shows William S. Crouch living adjacent to his father Richard Crouch on Whippoorwill Creek between 1840 and 1842, disapparing between 1843 to 1849, then reappearing in 1850 Todd Co., KY. tax list. The 1850 Todd County, KY U.S. census also shows William S. Crouch age 35, a merchant, but he's living with a McReynolds family most likely as a boarder. Hoping to find records elsewhere I looked for tax records in Logan Co., KY., Christian Co., KY, Warren Co., KY., Montgomery Co., TN. and Davidson Co., TN., but either the tax records are missing or William S. Crouch did not appear.
Williams S. Crouch is missing from the 1843 to 1849 Todd Co., KY. tax records which may further support a marriage to Elizabeth J. Morrow. Also supporting William S. Crouch having a prior marriage to his 1852 Virginia Jesup is his 1860 Todd County, KY. U.S. census record [4] which records E.A. Crouch age 12 born in KY. living in his household. That makers E.A. Crouch born abt. 1848, roughly four years before W.S. Crouch married Virginia Jesup. Assuming this union was factual, was there a divorce? In the 1700's and 1800's the United States followed English common law which granted the father custody in divorces, so E.A. Crouch living in the household of William S. Crouch followed English Common Law. In 1860 William S. Crouch was living on a farm near Fairview, KY., just inside the county line from Christian Co., KY.
Given that there is no family tradition of a 1842 marriage to Elizabeth J. Morrow, did her giving birth in 1848 lead to Postpartum psychosis, a form of mental illness, a stigma for many, which led to a divorce, thus William S. Smith being a boarder by himself in the 1860 Todd Co., KY. U.S. census? If there was a mental issue, she is not listed as a patient at the Western State Hospital in Hopkinsville, KY, but they did not open until 1854 for patients.
There is a 19 April 1866 Christian Co., KY. marriage record for an Elizabeth A. Crouch who married John H. Mapie (sp.? Massie). Is this Elizabeth A. Crouch born abt. 1848, the E.A. Crouch in the 1860 Todd Co., KY. U.S. census as a child of William Smith Crouch?
On 10 March 1852 at the age of thirty-six William Smith Crouch married Virginia Jessup, born 13 March 1828 [1]; died 16 Dec. 1911 at the Western Kentucky Asylum, Christian Co., KY with burial in the Jessup Cemetery (Findagrave) of Fairview, Todd County, KY the daughter of Col. Samuel B. and Catherine (Sydner) Jessup [3]. He died on 4 July 1895 from injuries received when his buggy wrecked due to a runaway horse on the road between Hopkinsville and Elkton, and Virginia (Jesup) Crouch died on 16 December 1911.
He was a school teacher for a few years, he later operated a merchandise store on the southwest side of the public square in Elkton. He made trips to Philadelphia each year to purchase merchandise for his store. On one of these trips he brought back a bell that he had been authorized to buy for the Christian Church in Elkton.[2] His selection was made by Alexander Campbell, an early leader in the Disciples of Christ movement.
In 1860, William Smith Crouch's business partner in the merchandise business took all available company business funds and started on the annual trip to New Orleans to purchase merchandise for the following year. On a river boat between Memphis and New Orleans, he unfortunately, became involved in a gambling game and lost all of the money. William S. Crouch immediately dissolved the partnership upon learning what had happened. To compound the troubles, that night when the business partner returned to Elkton, the store building burned to the ground with a loss of the remaining merchandise, none of which was covered by insurance.
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Mr. Crouch was forced to move to his farm about six miles west of Elkton. He moved into an existing house on the north side of old Highway 68 from the family cemetery. The log house was originally built by Jacob Kershener and was the 2nd oldest house in Todd County. In 1993 the house was dismantled and moved to near Nashville, TN.
Their children were as follows:
1. Caterin "Katie" D. Crouch 5, born 11 February 1853 [1] ; died December 9, 1886 [1] ; married J.S. Wood December 16, 1884 in Todd County, KY.2. Samuel Richard Crouch 5, born 21 September 1855 [1] ; died 2 October 1915; married Mary J. Hurt 16 January 1895; She died on 9 March 1899 at age 36 years, 11 months, 7 days. Married his second wife Belle White on March 15, 1900.
3. William Hickman Crouch 5, born 7 April 1858; died 15 July 1930 [1] ; married Louisa Edna Taylor (born 6 December 1881) on 15 April 1901. Continued to live at the W.S. Crouch home place between Fairview and Elkton. Buried in the Jesup Cemetery between Fairview and Elkton, Todd County, KY. with Edna at his side who died in October 1980.
4. Virginia Jesup Crouch 5, born 9 October 1860. (Lived 24 days.) Died 9 December 1860 [1] . Buried in the Jessup Cemetery between Elkton and Fairview, Todd County, KY.
5. James Thomas Crouch 5, born 7 December 1861; died 5 December 1933 [1] ; married Martha Artemisia Mobley, born 4 Nov 1865, died 22 Jan. 1940) on 16 February 1886.
6. George Davis Crouch 5, born 5 January 1864; died 20 July 1929 [1] ; married Nannie Oneal, on 5 January 1892. George served several terms as mayor of Clarksville, TN. George and Clarence Tilden. operated a hardware store there until 1929.
7. Mollie Wickliffe Crouch 5, born 24 June 1866; died 3 June 1904 [1] , buried in the Jessup Cemetary between Fairview and Elkton, Todd County, Ky.; married James Urile Lockett on 3 June 1888. "Mollie" was a nickname for "Mary". Was her given name actually "Mary"?
8. Rodman Vinson Crouch 5, born 14 December 1869; died 9 December 1914 [1] ; married Lucy Belle Cannon, on 29 December 1904. Farmed near Fairview.[5] [6]
9. Margaret C. Crouch 5, born 24 March 1872 [1] ; married D. Andrew Hurt on 24 December 1894. Lived to be 97 years old. Son Robert Hurt( ) daughter Mabel Hurt Warner (Hopkinsville, granddaughter Marjorie Warner Showhn, Murray, Kentucky.
10. Clarence Tilden Crouch 5, born 24 December 1876 [1], died 10 February 1964. (Named after Samuel Jones Tilden, an 1876 presidential candidate); died at age 87 at Clarksville, Tennessee nursing home. Retired Real Estate Agent , had lived in Clarksville for the past 70 years. Married Hester Watts on 17 January 1906.
Source of material:
[1] William Smith Crouch's 1856 family bible (Births and Deaths - Marriages) in the possession of the webmaster; along with a second bible dated 1868 belonging to one of William Smith Crouch's son's who migrated away from Todd County, KY.
[2] The Christian, a publication of the Disciples of Christ, (The church bell story.)
[3] The book 'Edward Jesup and his Descendants'
[4] 1860 Census - Elkton, Todd County, Kentucky
...........................................................................................REAL.....PERSONAL....NAME.............AGE...SEX......RACE........TRADE..................ESTATE..... ESTATE......BORN
W.S. Crouch....... .45 ......Male ......../ .............Farmer ..........................................300 .........Virginia
Virginia Crouch ...32 ......Female ........................................................................2,000 ..........Kentucky
E.A. Crouch .........12 ......Female ...........................................................................................Kentucky
C.M. Crouch ..........6 ......Female............................................................................................Kentucky
S.R. Crouch ....... ....5 ......Male ...............................................................................................Kentucky
W.H. Crouch .... .....2 ......Male ...............................................................................................Kentucky
[5] 1900 FEDERAL CENSUS - Clarksville District, Montgomery County, Tennessee July 6, 1900 enumeration
====================================================================================================================LN HN FN ...LAST FIRST .....RELATION-..............BIRTH DATE...........MAR..YRS...# OF.........#.....YOUR......FATHERS..MOTHERS
.................NAME.NAME.....SHIP....RACE..SEX MONTH YEAR AGE..STAT..MAR. CHILD..LIVING...BIRTHPL..BIRTHPL ..BIRTHPL....OCCUP.
=====================================================================================================================
33.311.60...Crouch, George.....Head....W.......M....Jan...1864....36......M.....7.............................Kentucky.....(census record illegdable)
34.............Crouch, Nannie P...Wife....W.......F......May.1864....36......M.....7........3..........3........Tennessee....(census record illegdable)
35.............Crouch, Rodney V. Brother W.......M.....Aug.1867.....33......S.....................................Kentucky.....(census record illegdable)
[6] 1910 FEDERAL CENSUS - Fairview Precint - Todd County, Ky. April 30, 1910 enumeration
====================================================================================================================LN HN FN .LAST FIRST ...RELATION-.....................MAR..YRS...# OF.........#.....YOUR....FATHERS..MOTHERS
.................NAME.NAME...SHIP...SEX RACE AGE..STAT..MAR. CHILD..LIVING..BIRTHPL.BIRTHPL ..BIRTHPL....OCCUP.
=====================================================================================================================
92.151.152 Crouch, R.V.....Head....M....W.....40.....M.......4..........................Kentucky....Kentucky....Kentucky...Farmer
93..............Crouch, Lucy B. Wife...F......W.....37.....M.......4.......0........0.......Kentucky....Kentucky....Kentucky
[7] Logan County Bible & Cemetery Records:
Elizabeth Crouch born 22 October 1826; died 28 April 1848 Page 27
Buried in Old McElwain Cemetery on Road #1007 about halfway between Daysville & Allensville. Probable 1st wife of William Smith Crouch.
If you are a descendant of the Goochland County, Virginia Crouch's, have information different, or in addition to what's shown above (birth information, baptistery info, marriage bonds/certificates, wills, obituaries, deeds, court records, etc..) please feel free to forward to or contact Joe Crouch who maintains this site.