It's Your Day Thursday Patrick Cragun 1745 – 1812

Today is the deceased Michael Lindsay Craguns Birthday. We miss you son.

One of the great things about reading other blogs is that you can get some great ideas for posting. I am adding my own title to a great idea, calling it "Your Day Thursday". In my case I will try and regularly post on Thursday a story or snippet from an ancestor'a life.

I post a fan chart from FamilySearch Family Tree to identify how I am related. Today I write about the fabled Patrick Cragun. I am a descendant of him and his son, Elisha.

There are stories that were passed on to Eva Heiner which are published in her book. (Patrick Cragun, Descendants in America). These stories having him running away from Ireland as a young boy. They say he was a participant in the Boston Tea Party.There are records of Patrick as an adult; his documented trail picks up in Tennessee. We know a little more of his children. Elisha is my second great grandfather.

Patrick is a road block or dead end in our families research. Supposedly his father was Caleb. We aren't even certain of his wife's name. Any who can break this dead end will become the beloved researcher in our family.

Gaylynne Heiner Hone, granddaughter of Eva Heiner, is an excellent researcher. In her book about the Osborne line (Elisha Craguns wife is an Osborne descendant) she brings in some information and sound speculation regarding Patrick.

I recommend the book, buy it here at a discount:

 http://www.lulu.com/shop/gaylynne-heiner-hone/descendants-of-caleb-james-osborne-patrick-cragun/paperback/product-21054241.html

From Gaylynne's book:
"A very interesting this to note is that a lot of Patrick Cragun's neighbors and possibly Patrick lived in Pennsylvania after migrating to America and did he possibly live there for awhile before coming to Tennessee."

In speaking with Gaylynne she reminds me that people traveled in groups for safety reasons. It is logical to her that if all of Patricks neighbors can be documented as coming from Pennsylvania, Patrick living among them, it is a possibility he migrated with them.

The spelling of Cragun is a challenge. Some suggest it was Craughn. Ireland has about 100 spellings, none I find the way we spell it C R A G U N.

In her book Gaylynne describes what it might have been like for Patrick and his family in a trek to Tennessee:
"They would have traveled in hopes of finding good land on which to settle. They probably moved westward in the usual pioneer manner - the men walking with their rifles on their shoulders, the oldest children driving the cows, and the women and young children riding on horses already burdened with household goods and farming implements. Arriving at  Watauga (Long Island) country, the group separated. Each family cleared a piece of ground for themselves and then built a cabin around Indian Creek and the Holston River.

He probably crossed the mountains with his wife but that is unknown. Patrick Cragun with friends and family arrived in Sullivan County, Tennessee about the same time: and received property next to each other. Patrick probably would have traveled with his reliable horse and rifle for protection, like most frontiersman, the family probably lived on game and whatever they were able to shoot and grow when they first arrived. He was probably a grimy and tired traveler, weary from his possible long and difficult journey across the mountains. They probably rested on the banks of the Holston river in Eastern Tennessee.

Gaylynne's book gives an interesting scenario of what it was like for those traveling in those days. She also came across a 1795 court order appointing Patrick and others to view and lay off a great road. She copies the text into her book.

Patrick, whatever your trail was, you have a great posterity. We are many as depicted in the Puzzilla chart below. Help us find your ancestors. Was Caleb your father? Where really did you live; Ireland, England, or Scotland? What is your wife's name? We need your help from the place you now abide.

We your grandchildren are grateful for our heritage. We would love to know more about our Irish roots.

We know so little, but it is your day Thursday. Thanks for your life, your DNA flows in our genes.

If you are unaware of the chart above it is from a Family Search partner, Puzzilla.org. The data in family tree is the data that creates the descendants chart. Each dot is person. Patrick shows 4 daughters (red dots) and 6 sons (blue dots) You can see where research needs to be done, in his case 5 of his children showing no children. In this photo this is a four generation chart. Some are recently deceased. Only deceased people are public in Family Tree.Yellow blocks by the person indicate that they died before age 16. 

As you see, this shows almost 40 grandchildren and I count about 175 great grandchildren. I leave it up to you to count the great greats.  

Patrick Cragun: No Results On This Trail: Pennsylvania FamilySearch Historical Records: updated

There are a lot of Craguns interested in family history. Some spell their name Cragan. Some even in a strange to me way Craughan. However you spell it cousin, lets work together. I will post my research trail on Patrick Cragun and  and William Whitaker Jr; supposedly making us descendants of Elisha Cragun direct descendants of Lord and Lady Lisle. I know, every one of us want to be related to this great lady. But how about lets prove it.

Family Search Historical Records have 16 collections. Not a lot. Some had millions of records.

I found no sign of our boy Patrick within these: All different spellings searched in the family search unindexed portion of histgorical records. These records are found on line, some searchable, some only viewable. There are billions of non digitized records.

FamilySearch states that at the rate we are publishing digitized records (over one million a day) that it will take 300 years to index what we have, let alone what we will gather.

For example: the church has over 250 missionary couples out over the world photographing church and municiple records.

A true case for our giving back by indexing.

Pennsylvania, Births and Christenings, 1709-1950	951,480	05 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950	2,246,248	21 Feb 2014
Pennsylvania, Eastern District Naturalization Indexes, 1795-1952	231,641	24 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Eastern District Petitions for Naturalization, 1795-1931	Browse Images	24 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Marriages, 1709-1940	476,245	05 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Case Files of Chinese Immigrants, 1900-1923	Browse Images	24 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Births, 1860-1906	1,022,168	24 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915	2,442,468	24 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Indexes, 1885-1951	1,830,468	24 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger List Index Cards, 1883-1948	1,153,207	24 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists Index, 1800-1906	Browse Images	31 Jan 2014
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1882	489,494	24 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1883-1945	971,459	24 Dec 2013
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Seamen's Proofs of Citizenship, 1791-1861	Browse Images	07 Feb 2014
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh City Deaths, 1870-1905	164,487	*04 Mar 2014
Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994	Browse Images	23 Dec 2013

Theory: Patrick Cragun lived in Pennsylvania For A Time: Could be Spelled Craughn

I am following the trail by Gylynne Heiner Hone that Patrick once lived in Pennsylvania and from Nancy Day that he might have used the spelling Craughn.  This is a later than Patricks time wedding found in family search historical records. Could Elizabeth be related to Patrick?

Let's coordinate if you feel like searching these historical records so we don't duplicate. There is a lot to go through.

"Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KHFQ-C35 : accessed 15 Mar 2014), Elizabeth Craughn in entry for Edward Paul O'Connor and Margaret Helen Higgins, 18 Jun 1936; citing , Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States; FHL microfilm 2224602.

Name:	Edward Paul O'Connor
Titles and Terms:
Event Type:	Marriage
Event Date:	18 Jun 1936
Event Place:	, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States
Age:	31
Birth Year (Estimated):	1905
Father's Name:	Edward T
Father's Titles and Terms:
Mother's Name:	Elizabeth Craughn
Mother's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Name:	Margaret Helen Higgins
Spouse's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated):	1911
Spouse's Father's Name:	James W
Spouse's Father's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Mother's Name:	Mary Mcnamara
Spouse's Mother's Titles and Terms:
Reference ID:
GS Film Number:	2224602
Digital Folder Number:	004833150
Image Number:	00379

Did Patrick Cragun Live In Pennsylvania

We find records of Patrick Cragun in Indiana. Did he come with an Irish group that settled in Pennsylvania?

Ireland the beautiful:

Or was Patrick Scottish?

I see little suggesting that we should research Pennsylvania for Patrick. However, Cragun researcher extraordinaire Gaylynne Heinger Hone thinks it worth some time. In researching for her awesome book on the Osborne's she found evidence that his Indiana neighbors came in a group from Pennsylvania. People traveled in groups for safety reasons. Perhaps Patrick was part of one of the Pennsylvania folk. Perhaps one of his neighbors had a daughter he married.

Family Search Wiki recently posted the below paragraphs about the Irish and Pennsylvania. The time period in history is right. Perhaps this will tell us more about the fabled Patrick.

Scots-Irish started coming in large numbers after 1718. They settled first in the Cumberland Valley area and later pushed into the western Pennsylvania counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington, Greene, and Allegheny. Many Scotch-Irish eventually moved into southern states such as Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Kentucky. French Huguenot and Swiss families mingled with the Germans. Some Huguenots from New York migrated to Pennsylvania and settled in Berks and Lancaster counties. Swiss Mennonites began to settle in Lancaster county about 1710.

• Dunaway, Wayland F. The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania. Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1944. Free digital version at PA's Past: Digital Bookshelf at Penn State. Includes chapters on their Ulster background in Ireland, immigration, places of settlement in Pennsylvania, military involvement, economic, social, religious, educational, and cultural contributions.

Irish Quakers came to Pennsylvania as early as the 17th Century. An outstanding historical study with brief biographies and names of extended family members remaining in Ireland, and which provides a summary of Irish Quaker emigration and migration to the state, is: Immigration of Irish Quakers to Pennsylvania, 1682-1750 .

O K You Patrick Cragun Researchers: Let's Figure This Out!

So much is claimed so little is documented about our fearless Patrick Cragun, the legend. Some people are convinced the legend is true: He jumped ship from Ireland as a young boy, he was in the Boston Tea Party, he was arrested by the Kings Soldiers for Civil Disobedience. Was he from Ireland? Is his father really Caleb? Where did that name come from? Who was his mother? Did Caleb live in England? If so why would Patrick be in Ireland, especially in the mid 1700's when a famine similar to the Potato famine took place? Didn't only the Kings favorites go from England to Ireland at that time? Why would his family be so poor to place him with a boot maker as an indentured servant? Why is his name spelled Cragun? I find no such spelling in Irish history. I find 100 other versions; such as McCreagan, Chreagan, and possible even Craig and McCragg.

Some say he had one wife, another said he was married twice. Was his wife Rose Hannah Abbey, Rose Alley, Hannah Alley, Rose Hannah Alley, Hannah Elsey, Elizabeth, Sarah Alley, Rose, Rose Mary Abbey, or are their two woman wrapped up in this potpourri of names?

Shall we decide to source our conclusions? I was recently sent to Patricks findagrave.com memorial as the source for their being two wives. This shortened link will take you there: http://bit.ly/1egUIZr

Here is a clip from the memorial: "They were our guests for several days and related many interesting things to us. J.O.Q CRAGUN was well informed on Mormonism. He said that his father had been a devout Latter Day Saint, having died at Nauvoo on the treck to Utah. His mother never joined the Church but went north after his father's death. This accounts for the indifference of most of that family. "It is from this distant relative that I am able to give the following account of our g.g.grandfather, PATRICK CRAGUN." "CALEB CRAGUN is the first ancestor that we have any knowledge of and he was born in Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England, near the home of OLIVER CROMWELL, about 1700. He moved to Ireland, marrying an Irish lady. Their son Patrick, born 1745 or 1746 had a most interesting life and was closely connected with our American government in its making. I should like to give you a brief sketch of his life as it was told to me by J.O.Q.C.
"Patrick Cragun had a great desire to come to America, so he, with 40 other Irishmen obtained a sailing vessel and provisions sufficient and more than enough to last the journey through."

Some quote the legend stating Patrick was 12 years old at this time. Pretty brave I would say.

Cool, great story, the kind of stories legends are made of. Two good women wrote books based on their research. Fine, where is the sourcing? Word of mouth beats no word, but my word, doesn't word of mouth become suspect? Let us take it from here and add some facts. England resources are becoming more plentiful. If Mrs Patrick Cragun was born in England, let us go find her, and her family. Wouldn't this be a brick wall a pleasure to break? Let's find Caleb, or whatever his name is.


My sister Nancy Day, a devout researcher sent me this email: Found this on ancestry -

 

Patrick Cragun  (father of Isaac & John) b.ca. 1743/45 in Ireland. Had a second wife in his later years, named Hannah. Records of Alma Beatrice Cragun of St. Joseph, Missouri, 93 years old, give further proof.





She kept a faithful record until her death in Nov. 1968, which states: "WILLIAN was well known in Indiana up to 1862, and his brother LUCIUS CRAGUN went east to New York, had two sons who became prominent physicians, changing the spelling of the name Cragun to "CRAGIN."  Was William the youngest child (by 2d wife) of Patrick Cragun?

Can anyone find the records or Alma Beatrice Cragun? Please do, one of you.

FamilySearch Family tree, at this time, has one wife, Rose Hannah Alley. It is possible that it is Rose Abbey. This search in family search could be a lead: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JMGG-F6X It is a 1758 birth record of a Rose Abby; not indexed but available to view at the Family History Libraries - my next stop.

I think this is an article that I will update as I would like to focus more on this marriage. Please leave a comment as you see appropriate.

How Exciting For The Cragun Family History

If you are a Cragun you are likely to know about the Eva Cragun Heiner Cragun Family History book. It covers Cragun and Ellis family history until about 1969. Some of the information is questionable, but generally it's fairly accurate.

Well now comes a new book by Eva's granddaughter, Gaylynne Heiner Hone. I call her a family history research monster. Gaylynne is a graduate of BYU and getting her certifications in order. She has done so much research on the Cragun line, and counts on sources and documentation. She once told me, "if only grandma had sources."

The good news is two fold. 1- Five of us her loving cousins are dividing up the 15 CD's full of research, photos, stories, life sketches, and documents and are attaching them to Family Tree. Wow, what fun it is. I can hardly put her work down. It's a good thing I am retired. The tree is getting cleaner, more accurate in our lines (in family tree)now, thanks to this research. I am finding  new people which is always a joy.

2- Is the book I show the cover of below. Gaylynne has just published a book on the Osbornes and Patrick Cragun available on Lulu.com. It's a Cragun library must. It's full of facts and sources. It's interesting, explaining more than facts, what it was like to live back then.

She has a temporary discount on it at the time. I truly hope every Cragun bookshelf has one. It will give you facts and sources, get you moving, give you empathy, and make you proud.


Here is the link for the book:  It is 350 pages and well written.

Patrick Cragon In America

Patrick cragon and forebears from Larry Cragun

> This report on Patrick has been researched and provided by Gaylynne Heiner Hone.

Jackpot!

After posting  366 articles, having some great interaction with unknown relatives I really hit the Jackpot last night.

I had been found on Google by a serious researcher relative. She forwarded me 55 pages of documents on just the person I was focused on and his father. Elisha and Patrick Cragun. Her grandmother had written the most credible and complete book on our Cragun ancestors in America, Eva Heiner.

Her message was simple:
I am enclosing some info that I have done - At this time I am not
going to do more research on the Cragun line but I am going to do some
research on the Osborn line

I am sending you some of the reports that I have put together

Gaylynne

Whoopee. Back to a principle that guides the new FamilySearch Family Tree: Why should we have to duplicate the research efforts of another? Gaylynne is now moving on to another line I am related to, Osborn. I can be more effective on my research and provide my children stories and information- that is new to them.

Gaylynne sent me 55 pages. On the  phone  she said it is only 1/10 of the research she has.

Jackpot. Thanks Gaylynne for your work and for contacting me. Larry

She also gave me knowledge of Nathans Porters journal and where it is. He was the missionary that converted Elisha to the Mormon Church. He is also a relative.

Patrick Cragun and His Son Elisha Cragun

Where Oh Where Was Our Patrick Born, Oh Where Oh Where Was He Born?

Patrick Cragun (Cragon, Creaghan, Creegin, ???) is a tough genealogy research project. Was he really born in Ireland? If so, what County? Knowing the County of an Irishman persons birth, marriage, or death is a big big help. We don't know what County do we? We don't know how his name was spelled, not C R A G U N we are sure. His parents names are uncertain to us, Caleb and Mrs. won't do. He was supposedly in the Boston Tea Party, but the names we are sure of aren't his, boo hoo.

I have spent numerous days at the FamilySearch Salt Lake City Family History Library searching forf Patrick. Finally felt I should move my efforts down to his son, my 2nd great grandfather Elisha Cragun.

We know more about Elisha. I and others are attaching sources, stories and documents to Elisha in the FamilySearch Family Tree. At the current time there are 9 attached including a link out to an online book with much about Elisha and his wife Mary Polly Osborne. I encourage you to go to Family Tree and see what is already attached to your ancestor, be it Elisha or another.

The FamilySearch Family Tree is not officially launched to the world, but I think you can get it by registering with FamilySearch: follow these instructions.

1. Go to http://www.familysearch.org/invite/familytree_tab.

2. Enter the required information in the fields provided.
Important: When you enter your user name and password, enter the same user name and password that you use on familysearch.org and new.familysearch.org. This lets you see your FamilySearch Family Tree and all of your changes as they appear in new.familysearch.org in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

3. Click Register.
The FamilySearch FamilySearch Family Tree appears. You are in the main position on the screen.
To get to the FamilySearch Family Tree from now on, go to www.familysearch.org, and sign in. The link to the Family Tree appears in the upper-left corner of the screen, next to the FamilySearch logo.

Day 6 - Research - Attach - Write The Story

Hopefully you have been inspired about a particular ancestor. It is now time to execute a plan to find things about him or her, attach those items to the tree, and extract information into a story to share. You might have followed day 1 advice in gathering information you might already have and from relatives. Additionally, we will use the web and the FamilySearch family history library resources.

It turns out this is not Elisha, but his nephew from St George

 

To help illustrate the process we will use my 3rd great grandfather Patrick Cragun

 

In the previous 5 days you likely found information on your selected ancestor. It is important that you attached those findings to your ancestor on Family Tree, thus you made it possible for others to see your work and move on to finding different information. You began the process of collaboration. You now made it possible for your children to not have to duplicate your work. Very noble of you.

 

I found this photo of Elisha by doing a Google Image Search. Did you find anything by searching Google or Google Images?

 

 

I made up a simple form in Microsoft Word so that I could copy and paste from the internet to a new document. After copying from 9 sources I then edited it from 4 pages with some duplicates down to 2 pages that I am anxious for my children to read. What I have collected already means a lot to me.

 

This word document that I use is simple and likely to be expanded upon as I go. The format is just an outline of the types of information I am looking for. I am sure there are better ones to be found. This does work however.

  

Also on a Google Search I found a story on Ben Cragun's site and a civil war index card.

 

On Family Search.org I found him in 3 census.

 

On FindAGrave.com I found a memorial and information about his death.

 

I found birth and death information on Ancestry.com  

By the way - your day 7 assignment will be to go to your nearest FamilySearch Family History Library. Be thinking about that. 

 In ancestry.com I found more information on  his civil war duty.

 

Best of all, in the Source Box in the Tree someone else had placed a link to a book that told many things about Elisha, His wife, and his wifes family.

 

Here is a link to the story. I will likely update it. click here

 



Ireland Is A Beautiful Country

These photographs from Flickr give you a sense for how beautiful Ireland is.  However there was a famine about the time Partrick Cragun (probably spelled differently) was born. WikiPedia puts it this way: The Irish Famine of 1740–1741 (Irish: Bliain an Áir, meaning the Year of Slaughter) in the Kingdom of Ireland was perhaps of similar magnitude to the better-known Great Famine of 1845–1852.

I am positing my research on Patrick, as are others, on http://familySearch.org Family Tree section.  http://cragunfamilyresearchblog.blogspot.com/

Important Settlement Of America Dates

1565: The Spanish created the first permanent Settlement at St Augustine, Florida

King Phillip II of Spain named Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spain's most experienced admiral, Governor of Florida, and instructed him to explore and to colonize the territory. When Menendez arrived off the coast of Florida, it was August 28, 1565, the Feast Day of St. Augustine. Eleven days later, he and his 600 soldiers and settlers came ashore at the site of the Timucuan Indian village of Seloy with banners flying and trumpets sounding. He hastily fortified the fledgling village and named it St. Augustine.
Utilizing brilliant military maneuvers, Menendez destroyed the French garrison on the St. Johns River and, with the help of a hurricane, also defeated the French fleet. With the coast of Florida firmly in Spanish hands, he then set to work building the town, establishing missions to the Indians for the Church, and exploring the land.
Thus, St. Augustine was founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts - making it the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent

1607:  Jamestown, Virginia -- First English permanent settlement.In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River. They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but managed to endure, earning the distinction of being America's first permanent English colony.

1619:  First Slaves from Africa brought to America

1620:  Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts settlement - Pilgrims

1623:  New Netherlands (New York) - Dutch settlement

1630: 10 year migration to New England - The Great Migration many from England and Ireland

1820:  Records of arrivals began: There were passenger lists created prior to 1820 by some State and local authorities. Some are available on line in Ancestry.com.  Some records are not there and can be found in books. Not so convenient, I know. This might help those of us that are researching Patrick Cragun. He did jump ship in Boston Harbor, but there may be a local or state record not yet found.

1892:  Ellis Island opens as main immigrant processing station

Do You Want To Have An Interesting Cragun Research Challenge?

Hey there Cragun's, to many of us our ancestor Patrick Cragun is a folk hero. We read about his coming to America without his family at age 15. We read he was in the Boston Tea Party.

He is a fascinating figure with much we don't know. Most of his life is undocmunted. There is likely many more interesting facts which we don't know about.

I invite you to make this a hobby, or encourage your parents to jump in to learn more through different facets of research on this historic figure.

I post here a middle portion of an article on Cragun Cragun Family Genealogy Research Blog Click here for the full article.

I believe if we all put a little time together, we can solve this puzzle and more.

The quote:

I have a form that says, "I want to know", "I already know", and "I conclude that" Here is one of the questions in my "I want to know column". You are welcome to help.

Did he serve in the revolutionary war? Here are reasons I would love to have this answer: Patrick is about 35 years old when he shows up in Sullivan County, Tn. Sullivan County is named after the Revolutionary War hero General John Sullivan. General Sullivan ended his career with his battle against the Iriquos in that area of Tennessee. Patrick would have been about 22 when the Boston Tea Party. If he participated in that, where was he between that Boston event and age 35 in Tennessee? Is it possible that as Sullivan served part of the war in Boston that Patrick was one of his soldiers, and followed him to fight in Tennessee, liked the beautiful area and returned to live out his adult life?

General John Sullivan: From Wikipedia:
John Sullivan (February 17, 1740 – January 23, 1795) was a American General in the Revolutionary War, a delegate in the Continental Congress and a United States federal judge.
Sullivan, the third son of Irish settlers, served as a major general in the Continental Army and as Governor (or "President") of New Hampshire. He commanded the Sullivan Expedition in 1779, a scorched earth campaign against the Iroquois towns that had taken up arms against the American revolutionaries. As a member of Congress, Sullivan worked closely with the French Ambassador the Chevalier de la Luzerne
After the British evacuated Boston in the spring of 1776, Washington sent General Sullivan north to replace the fallen John Thomas as commander in Quebec. He took command of the sick and faltering invasion force, sent some of those forces on an unsuccessful counterattack against the British at Trois-Rivières, and withdrew the survivors to Crown Point. This led to the first of several controversies between Congress and General Sullivan, as they sought a scapegoat for the failed invasion of Canada. He was exonerated and promoted to major general on August 9, 1776.

Long Island

Sullivan rejoined Washington and was placed in command of the troops on Long Island to defend against British General Howe's forces about to envelop New York City. But then, on August 23, Washington split the command between Sullivan and General Israel Putnam. Confusion about the distribution of command contributed to the American defeat at the Battle of Long Island four days later. Sullivan's personal bravery was unquestioned, as he engaged the Hessian attackers with a pistol in each hand; however, he was captured.

Expedition against Iroquoia

Main article: Sullivan Expedition

James Clinton and John Sullivan

In the summer of 1779, Sullivan led the Sullivan Expedition, a massive campaign against the Iroquois in western New York. During this campaign, troops destroyed a very large Cayuga settlement, called Coreorgonel, on what is now the southwest side of Ithaca, New York. To reach the enemy homeland, Sullivan's army took a southerly route to western New York through northeast Pennsylvania, which required creating a new road through lightly inhabited areas of the Pocono Mountains, which still exists and is known as Sullivan's Trail.
He pushed his troops so hard that their horses became unusable, and killed them on this campaign, creating the namesake for Horseheads, New York. The lukewarm response of the Congress was more than he could accept. Broken, tired and again opposed by Congress, he retired from the army in 1779 and returned to New Hampshire

Counties in New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Missouri were all named for him, as was Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan

Time Line Charts Help The Confused

Yesterday I spent hours researching for Patrick Cragun in Virginia as new family search had some of his children born there.

Today I found in Cindy's list an excel template for a genealogy timeline. By inserting the facts as presented, about Patricks family in America, it became obvious these children were either not his, or were born in Indiana.

I conclude, timeline charts help the confused. Here is how mine looks now.

Porter Family Migration To America

Some information on the Porters is here in a continuing research story by William Arthur Porter Sr. It is an example of what it took to cross the Pond.

A Cragun grandfather, Patrick Cragun is said to have been a 17 year old runaway from Ireland, traveling at a similar age. He too was in danger of capture into servitude by the ships Captain. He too had issues on the sea. His was different in that his ship was a sailing ship and went 40 days with no wind. They ran out of food and water.

It appears the Porters had a lot in common one family to another, the thirst for freedom being one, the spiritual inclination being another.

I have found no connection to Sanford Porter and Peter Porter, but with some extra research may just find a common ancestor. More effort on that later, or you can do that. If you find the common ancestor, please report back.

From Mr Arthur Porter Sr.:

Many Porters immigrated to America before the revolutionary war. The U S Government census report of 1790 gives the first names of 575 heads of Porter families. Moreover, since several volumes of this census were destroyed by the British in the War of 1812, there are many names missing. No doubt there were many more than 575 Porter families in America by 1790.

Today there are tens of thousands of Porters in America. Many descended from the families that were here in 1790; many from those that have since come from England. The lives as led in the early day by those by those Porters were very similar: I have gathered data about the life of the First Porter immigrant. I refer tot he life data of Peter Porter, the family's first American Immigrant. 

Peter Porter landed in Virginia in January, 1622. He was an English youth and, at the time, was just turning seventeen years of age. Peter had left England on September 21st, 1621, and so, had spent four months on the voyage. The trip across the ocean had been made in a small 40 ton vessel name "Tiger". On board the "Tiger" were 40 persons including several maidens for wives: the boat was in the charge of Captain Nicholas Elford.

His voyage across the ocean "was rough and beset with many dangers." As stated above, the "Tiger" had left England in  September. She sailed in consort with a larger ship named "Warwick", a vessel with 160 ton capacity.

Copeland says, "the Tiger" became separated from the Warick and was driven by ill weather so far as the North Cape, fell into the hands of the Turks on her way, who took most of her supplies, and ll of her serviceable sails, out of their power, so as she escaped that danger, and arrived safely in Virginia with all of her people, two English boys excepted,for which the Turks g  ave them two others, a French youth and an Irish. Copeland goes on to say, "Was not here the presence of God printed, as it were, in Folio, on Royale Crowne paper, and in Capital Letter? She arrived in January prior to the departure of "George". I have never been able to find out the nature of the strange accident that delivered them from the hands of the Turks.

Mocavo Genealogy Search Engine Found By Attending A Webinar

Everyone Likes To Share

Mocavo was recommended to me yesterday. http://www.mocavo.com/

This is a search engine, like Google, except it is focused on filtering out the non genealogy sites.

You do have to register your email address and name, no big deal.

Here is a testimony they placed on their website. Dick Eastman

"All my future genealogy searches will start on Mocavo.com. I've been using the site for a while during its testing and have been very impressed. I suspect you will always have better luck searching for your own surnames of interest on Mocavo.com than on any other search engine."

I did a search on Mocavo for Patrick Cragun and found it only pulled up results that were directly related to Patrick. Pretty cool. 

For me, it was one of the many jewels that came out of a webinar. It is truly fabulous how many people are willing to share tips and information.

There are many webinars coming up and I can't imagine you not finding one that you can benefit from.

The process is easy, register, and you will get an email with the link to login and watch the webinar.

You will need to turn your volume up on your computer or phone into a number you will be provided.

I go to the website you will find linked on the right side of this blog: http://blog.geneawebinars.com/p/calendar.html Here is a pretty good directory of upcoming webinars.

For example if you have an Ancestry.com account you might benefit from this webinar:

Wednesday, May 23 8:00pm

Your Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com: Tips, Hints and Hacks for Finding Your Ancestors

Always double check the time zones:

I think this is the next one I will attend: Wednesday, June 20 2:00pm

 Marriages and Anniversaries. Mining newspapers for engagements, marriages, anniversaries.

What would be cool is if someone could hold a webinar on one of my ancestor lines: Cragun, Porter, Bingham, or Salinas.

Hey Cragun Family - Let's Collaborate on Patrick

If you are a Cragun, you probably can trace your family tree back to Patrick Cragun. We hear he was born in Dublin Ireland in  1745. It seems he had 14 children with one wife. This map depicts areas we think he lived and had children, mostly in Tennessee. What would be cool is to either verify his life or find new information. Perhaps you can help.

His life history is mostly gathered by verbal stories that have been written down by others. He seems to have been a colorful patriot. We hear he was in the Boston Tea Party and was arrested 4 times for civil disobedience. I guess he thought the British weren't the civil ones.

Lets go beyond the two accounts we have of Patrick. Dig out  you mommas journals. Let's share with each other about our immigrant grandfather and his many capers.

Patrick died in Whitestown, Boone County, Indiana, United Stats.

As I research Patrick I will post new things I find to this post. If you have things to add, leave a comment or email me at larry@cragun.net and I will let you share your great knowledge with the world. Let's not let each other duplicate each others work.

We have a couple of versions of his wife's name: Rose Hannah Alley and Rose Mary Alley.

I'd also be interested in if you find documents that show how Cragun was spelled in his area of the world.

Click here for the story that much the Patrick Cragun folk lore comes from.

PS: It may be true, lets find out.

Patrick Cragun - He's Your Grandpa? - Here's The Questions

The stories that are published about Patrick Cragun are stories told by our ancestors. Two sources lead to all of the stories I can find.

I am trying to take research to another level. I want to have more facts as I prepare something our Cragun children can enjoy and be proud of. It seems our Patrick was the brave sort. Here is a link to the story as we have it so far - just click:

Do you know? Did Patrick really run away from being an indentured servant and catch a ship like the one I post here?  Was Patrick Cragun really in the Boston Tea Party? Do you know if he was really born in Dublin, Ireland? Who were his grandparents? What was his mothers name? And are we sure about his wifes name, Rose Hannah Alley? What about her family, are there details you might have? Do you know more about his life in America? Do you live near Boone County, Indiana where we he died? Let's collaberate.

PS: This is my 100th article since starting this blog on February 8th. It's been fun. Google searches are finding me. I encourage you to do this too. Let me know if you do so I can link to your blog. As we find each other on line, as we build a network of similar interests or relationships, we provide efficiency in finding new facts as we provide time for others to join us in our family history research.

Is It TIme To Blog For Family History Purposes?

Please not as you read this article that I invite you to have me link to your blog, or to write an article as a contributor on this blog.

The era of wasting time duplicating each others research is, thankfully, coming to and end. 

So is that interesting story being lost in your file cabinet a sad fact that can change.

Sure you can be the proud finder of information and keep it secret if you want, but I believe you will be persuaded that COLLABORATION is a winning concept.

Time and effort is a valuable resource. By collaborating we give ourselves the gift of each others time and effort. It's a win win concept.

There are going to be numerous vehicles for those of us, especially for those who have limited time to spend doing research.

One of those I wrote about a few days ago, is SharingTime
I wrote about this concept in the article inspired at the RootsTech conference: Click Here

Now I introduce another vehicle: Your Blog About Your Family.

To illustrate, three of my four grandparents were Mormon pioneer families: Cragun, Porter, and Bingham. Jointly they have thousands of descendants. You might think there are stories and facts easily found on line, provided by their loving descendants. Nope, if you do a google search for information on these 3 lines you find a dominance of commercial sites with a narrow slice of duplicate information and information of limited value.

However if you are searching for Patrick Cragun, for example, besides duplicate information you now find on page 1, near the top, this blog - my blog. I will explain at the end of the article why I have attained this type of search results so quickly. One reason is that it is a Google blog. Also, almost every result out there is a website, not a blog. Search engines like blogs better than websites. More on that later.

If you blogged, your site can be found by Google and other search engines. There are many benefits to that. One being unknown cousins can find you.

As important as being found is the content posted. You will care more about the content than a business will. You can post more depth of stories. You can post documents. These documents can link to the new FamilyTree that will be awesome and free. You can update and publish your research instantly. It is likely that your content is important and relevant. Search engines analyze this. Every time you update your blog with new content you automatically tell the search engines to come to your blog and copy (index) the information you just added.

The article, the photo clip above, which Google has already delivered to page 1 was an article I posted yesterday. No other sites on page 1 have fresh information on them. Most of them have far less information about Cragun. Because my content is fresh, and because I am posting several times a week I am getting priority in the searching process. The more I publish the stronger this blog will get.

In the spirit of collaboration, every that site I find that posts family history information relating to my ancestors will get exposure from my blog. I will at least provide a link to your blog, and perhaps an article. We can be a reference point to each other, at least from me to other sites. As more and more people do this with their names, the more positive results they will have.

Patrick Cragun was an immigrant. Every Cragun in the United States is likely a descendant of his. He had 9 children. Some live in the midwest nearer where he died than I do, making it more convenient for them to check out some local sources. If we are all posting our research live and cooperating or collaborating greater depth will happen in discovering our ancestors.

I am thinking of the depth of discovery the popular show, "Who Do You Think You Are" garners. Of course they have resources we don't have. Correction, they have the resources we don't have as individuals. But if all the Craguns, the Binghams, the Porters, or  your ancestors were collaborating, we too could accomplish amazing things as do they.

Writing a blog such as this is not difficult. It does have a small learning curve. Setting it up only takes minutes. For some of you this is all you need to know. For others I will soon write an article on how to set up and publish a Google blog.

Final point. I hate to say this, but I know most of you won't do a blog. You could, you should, but you won't.

So here is my offer to those of you who have common ancestors to me that won't do what I propose. You can post and get author credit for posting on this blog.

My blog can become our blog. That makes it easy. Contact me if that interests you and we can discuss the details. larry@cragun.net Check my tree out by clicking here. We just might have common ancestors. Lets make more progress by collaborating.

A few reasons what I propose brings you up to the top on Google and other search engines:
Google makes sure it captures all new information on its own blog network. That's why a Google blog.

• Blogs have technology that signals the search engines to come and get the new posts.
• Blogs are easy for the search engine to analyze as to the what the content of the blog really is about.
• There are things you can do to an article to make search engines give it priority on the results.
• Blogs are so simple to setup, write on, and to customize.
• By writing multiple articles on a topic or certain topics, such as your family names you improve your results. These are done naturally and creating what is called natural search engine optimization without any gimmicks.

PS: Please let me know if this inspires you to get going. I was inspired to do this by another genealogist.

Patrick Cragun A Tea Party Kind of Guy

Cragun, Patrick Story

Patrick Cragun Biography as told by J.O.Q. Cragun and retold by Eva Cragun Heiner

 Story on Patricks son Elisha is here:

Request for more info on Patrick is here:

Late one November evening in 1931, an elderly gentleman and his son knocked at my door, and introduced themselves as distant relatives from Minneapolis Minn. Th e older man was Johnathan O. Q. Cragun a Professor of Phrenology, and his son Leland Cragun. They were on their way to California to spend the winter and were visiting relatives along the way.

We soon discovered that they were very interesting and that Johnathan, at the age of 78 years, had a very keen mind. They were our guests for several days and related many interesting events to us.

Johnathan was well informed on Mormonism. He said that his father had been a devout Latter-Day Saint, having died in Nauvoo on the trek to Utah. His mother never joined the church but went north after his father is death and settled with her family in Minnesota. This probably accounts for the indifference of that family toward the church.

It is from this distant relative 's account that I am able to give the follow­ing history of our great-great grandfather, Patrick Cragun, who was the first of our direct line to come to America.

His father, Caleb Cragun, born about 1700-1720, is the very first ancestor that we have any knowledge of. At one time he lived either in Oxford or Hunting-don, Huntingdonshire, England, near the hone of Oliver Cromwell. He moved to Ireland where it is believed that he married an Irish lady.

They had a son, Patrick Cragun, born about 1745 or 1746, who had a most interesting life and was closely connected with our American Government in it is making. He had a great desire in his early life to come to America, so when an opportunity came he joined a company of 40 Irishmen who obtained a sailing vessel and provisions sufficient to last the journey through. They set sail and all went well until in mid-ocean a current, together with the trade winds, sent their ship sailing to the calms around Cuba. The peculiarity of these calms is that not a breeze stirs for weeks at a time. Here their ship floated and they waited. They were careful of the provisions, but no breeze came to carry them on and they were not prepared for any such happenings.

Gradually the food and water supply was gone and they resorted to eating candles, boiled ropes and anything at all. Some of the men became prostrated others with their tongues hanging out of their mouths, became savage.

One day, when hope was despaired of, someone saw a ship in the distance and made feeble attempts to attract attention, which proved successful. It was an English ship on its way to America. The crew came aboard the ill-fated vessel, bound the men with strong cord and carried them onto their elm ship, keeping then Wand, nursing them and gradually increasing their diet until they became well. Great wisdom was shown in this treatment.

They arrived in America about the time that England was demanding a tax on everything. Patrick became a citizen of the United States by choice and, naturally, he became concerned with the treatment of England toward these colonies. Many meetings were held in Old Faneiul Hall in Boston to discuss the tax problem. In March 1770, after the King of England’s troops had been in town for nearly a year, there occurred a scrimmage in which several. English soldiers fired into a crowd of townspeople, killing five and wounding several others.

Many other incidents occurred and England insisted upon the colonies paying taxes, but they continued to refuse to pay. Finally ships laden with tea were sent from England in the autumn of 1775 to Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charlestown, and consignees were appointed to receive the tea. This was purely a political trick of King George III. A way of saying "What are you going to do about it?"

In the other cities they were forced to accept the tea but not in Boston, for under Samuel Adams, who knew that he was backed by public opinion at the whole continent, they did not accept the tea. Patrick Cragun was in the midst of this excitement, and with a small party of men, some of the best of the towns 'folk, disguised as Indians, they ripped open the tea chests and spilled their contents into the ocean. This was a formal defiance to the King and was so accepted.

Patrick married during this time or about 1780. There are many different ideas about wife’s name. She has been called Rose Alley, Elizabeth, Hannah but in her son Elisha’s Patriarchal Blessing, his mother is called Elsy. Their children were first twins Joshua and Caleb, Elisha, John, Tyresha, Lydia, Tabitha Hannah, Isaac, Elizabeth and Syren.

Of these eleven children, Joshua was killed in the Mexican war fighting under General Scott at Vera Cruez. Caleb lived in North Indies. Elisha, my great grandfather, joined the L. D. S. Church and began the trek west with the saints but died and was buried in 1847 in Pleasant View, Indiana. His wife, Mary Osborne, and daughter, Abigai1, died also and were buried there the following spring. The fourth son, John, lived in New York and had two sons, both eminent physicians. The rest of the family became scattered.
Elisha Cragun and Mary namely : Rebecca, James, Hyrum, Mary, Enoch, Abigail, Tyresha, Simeon, Tabitha and Sarah Jane. Of these children we knew that James, Simeon and Tyresha kept the faith and came to Utah.

James Cragun married Leaner Lana in 1836 in Harrison County, Indiana. He fought in the civil war under General Lott Smith and was later called to settle St. Gorge Country in southern Utah.
Simeon Cragun, who is my grandfather, married Susan Mower in Kanesville Iowa in 1847 where their first child, Mary Wahalia, was born in 1848 and died in 1850 while crossing the plains. The second child William Henry was born on the banks of the Platte River. The company of saints waited over me one day and then the mother, Susan, cared for her infant on from then on.

They traveled in Captain Terry’s Company of 50, arriving in Salt Lake City 25 September 1350. In l850 they moved to Cold Springs near Willard, Utah and the following spring of 1852 they were the first to settle what is now Pleasant View, Weber County, Utah.

Little William Henry died here at the age of 3 years. Wilford Elisha, my father, was born the first white child in Pleasant View, Weber County, Utah on 4 December 1853. The other children born to this couple were: Willard Uriah, born 7 November 1854, Wilson Elijah, born 14 October 1856, Wilbert Simeon, born 13 October 1858, and Wiley Gidoni, born 6 October 1860. Susan wanted her sons to be named with the first name beginning with “W”, and so it was