Possible Grandchildren of Jeremiah Crews: Laeticia Nelson

Laeticia Nelson was born to James Nelson and Susannah Crews, and Susannah was probably the daughter of Jeremiah Crews and Elizabeth Harland as explained here. Laeticia, therefore, would have been a granddaughter of Jeremiah Crews and a great-granddaughter of David Crews and Annie Magee of Madison County, Kentucky. 

Laeticia was born in Kentucky in 1827 (7, 8, 9) prior to her parents' move from there to Indiana where they joined the families of Crews, Nelson, and others in Vigo County by 1830. She is probably the free white female under the age of five in James Nelson's household in the 1830 Vigo County, Indiana census. In the 1840 Vigo County census, she was probably one of two white females aged 10-14 in James' household. Both the 1830 and 1840 census records show the Nelsons living in Honey Creek Township.

About 1854, Laeticia married Willis Milam (1). While the marriage record states Willis' father to be James, the 1860 Vigo County, Indiana census enumerates 68 year old John Milam as living in Willis' household. Willis and Laeticia subsequently lived in the Honey Creek Township in Vigo County, Indiana. By the time the 1860 census was taken, Laeticia had borne four children - Mary Milam, born 1855, Susanna Milam, born 1856, James Milam, born 1858, and perhaps LettiAnn or Laeticia Milam, who was only three months old at the time the census was taken in June of 1860. Willis was a carpenter, and it appears from the census that he was perhaps born in Kentucky, although the writing is not clear.

Sometime about 1863, Willis must have died, and on 8 November 1865 Laeticia married a second time to Henry Loveall in Vigo County, Indiana (3).

Henry had been born in March of 1819 in Kentucky (8). He had first married in Henry County, Indiana, on 10 August 1847. The marriage record gives her name as Judy Hays (4) but the 1860 census record, as well as notes from genealogists on Ancestry.com, indicate her name to have been Anna. I am not certain at this time if they were the same person, or if Judy died early in the marriage and Henry married a second time to Anna. 

By 1860, Henry and Anna had moved to Lost Creek Township in Vigo County, Indiana, where Anna died about 1865. At the time of her death, she was survived by not only Henry, but children Susanna Loveall, born 1848, America Loveall, born 1850, Mary E. Loveall, born 1851, James Loveall, born 1853, Naomi Loveall, born 1856, and Amanda Loveall, born 1859 (5). Another child, Noah Loveall, was born in 1862 prior to Anna's death (6).

The combined household of Henry and Laeticia (Nelson Milam) Loveall in the 1870 Vigo County, Indiana census boasted of nine children, with only James' older two daughters, Susanna and America, being absent. The only child of the nine shared by Henry and Laeticia was two year old Alice Loveall, and she would be the only child Henry and Laeticia would share in common (7). Also living with  the Lovealls that year was 73 year old James Nelson, who was probably Leticia's father.

Laeticia is last seen in the 1880 census record. When the 1900 census was taken, Henry was living in Honey Creek Township in Vigo County, Indiana as a boarder with John and Lillian Jordan's household. 

Nothing further is know of Laeticia nor Henry.

(1) Ancestry.com. Indiana, Select Marriages Index, 1748-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Although, date is based on birth of first child, as the database offers none.
(2) Date based on birth of first child named in 1850 census.
(3) Vigo County, Indiana; Index to Marriage Record 1840-1920 Inclusive Volum, W. P. A. Original Record Located: County Clerk's O; Book: 4; Page: 106.
(4) Dodd, Jordan. Indiana Marriages to 1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.
(5) 1860 Vigo Co IN census, Henry Loveall's household. 
(6) 1870 Vigo Co IN census, Henry Loveall's household.
(7) 1880 Vigo Co IN census, Henry Loveall's household. It shows no other surviving children beyond Alice's birth.
(8) 1900 Vigo Co IN census, John Jordan's household, giver birthmonth and birthyear. All census records, it should be noted, support Kentucky as the birthstate. 
(9) 1850 Vigo Co IN census, James Nelson's household.

Jeremiah Crews, Possible Children, Part Two

Another possible child for Jeremiah Cruse (Crews) is a daughter by the name of Susannah. The website www.findagrave.com shows a burial for a Susannah Crews Nelson in Hull Cemetery in Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana. She was born in 1795, so if she was the daughter of Jeremiah she would have been born in Madison County, Kentucky, before her father's removal from there about 1799. Her deathdate is given as 1865, the last year of the Civil War. There is no picture of a headstone, so I am uncertain if one exists. She was, according to the page, the wife of James Nelson, and he does have a headstone in the same cemetery, although it is crude and the engraving is wearing away. James was born in 1796, and he died in 1871.  

Susannah married James Nelson on 15 Feb 1820 in Daviess County, Kentucky (record is found on Ancestry.com). It has long been conjectured, again without proof, that a Cruse male found in the U. S. Federal Census for 1820 Daviess County, Kentucky is Jeremiah son of David of Madison County, Kentucky. This census records one male under the age of 10, 1 male aged 10 to 15, 1 male aged 16 to 25, 1 male 45 and/or older, 1 female aged 10-15, and 1 female aged 26-45. Clearly, Jeremiah and his wife, Elizabeth Harland (provided she had not died and this was a second wife) would be the older male and female. One of the irksome things about census records before 1850, of course, is that they do not give the other names of individuals in the household. It is worthy of note that Jeremiah, in the U. S. Federal Census for 1830 Vigo County, Indiana, ten years later, is living close to the household of John J. Nelson. There may or may not be a connection with this Nelson to Susannah's marriage. If there is, then the Nelsons and the Cruses obviously migrated from Daviess County, Kentucky, to Vigo County, Indiana, between the years 1820 and 1830.

In regards to Susannah's birth, proof does come in the U. S. Federal Census for 1850 Vigo County, Indiana, for the Honey Creek Township. James Nelson, aged 54, is the head of the household. He is enumerated with a birthplace of South Carolina. Wife Susannah's birthplace is given as Kentucky. This is more than likely the same J. Nelson that owned a joint survey with David Cruse on the map found here in last week's posting. 

The 1860 Vigo County census is changed little except for an aging of ten years for both James and Susannah. Their birthplaces are still given as South Carolina and Kentucky. 

Again, as I stated in my previous blog posting, more work will need to be done at the county level in order to find proof on the relationship of all these individuals. If anyone has more information they would like me to add to this blog on Susannah Cruse Nelson, or who would like to contact the researcher who is currently working on this line, free to contact me.