R509
Husband: Nathan Crawford
Father: William Crawford [R510]
Mother: Rebecca (Bratten) Crawford [R510]
(1996) My only knowledge of Nathan Crawford the younger comes from an interesting letter to Mr William C. Burger / Bath Ct Virginia / Millborough Springs, Postmarked CRAWFORDSVILLE Ind., JAN 2 [S026]:
“Montgomery Ct Ind Dec 30th 1854
“Dear cousin after my best respects to you and family I will inform you that we are all well and I hope these few lines may find you enjoying the same blessing I will first inform you that the letter you wrote to mother has come to hand and I was much gratified while reading your letter seeing you manifested so much kindness towards your friends here in this distant land I in like manner cannot refrain from telling you that similar feelings exists within my breast and I hope ever shall as long as life lasts although several hundred miles intervenes between you and myself yet my wandering thoughts and affections is with you and all the rest of my old friends in that country I hope that the day may yet arrive that I shall have the pleasure of taking you all by the hand at least once more before we depart. such is my sincere desire but the will of providence in this matter is unknown to us for we know not what A day may bring forth you particularly requeste when writing your letter that we should answer it I should have done so sooner but delayed it till I could ascertain what the minds of my brother and sister were in regard to sending for that money which you say will likely be ready this winter I have seen them and they are not disposed to send for it this winter it is probable by the time the second payment becomes due that there may be A caul for it or if some friend would advance the money of the second payment A few months before it becomes due by us paying the interest on the same it would be A great accomidation to us so that we might be enabled to make the trip and return home before winter sets in this last is A suggestion of my own and should any of the friends be disposed to come in next fall we can write more hereafter on that subject I suppose you have heard of the death of brother Andrew which took place on the 13th of September last it has been questioned by some here whether his widow and heirs would be entitled to A share in the proceeds of the sale of that land if such should be the case I should be glad you would write to me on the subject my own impression is that they will be entitled to A share with the other legatees If I am wright about this matter the next inquiry will be by what authority shall their part be obtained shall it be [?] by the authority of the administrator or by A legally appointed guardian for the children these are matters on which I should like to be informed on this subject I believe I am done for the present I shall therefore endeavor to make a brief statement in regard to the passing events of our country I will first state that we are living sumptuously on hog and homeny we have these two articles in great abundance this season pork has been unusually high it is now selling at four dollars and 25 cts per hundred and their is families in this county that has sold hogs to the amount of fifteen hundred dollars we raise the right kind of grunters here such as will weigh from 5 to 700 lbs each we have had an uncommon pretty fawl and winter so far with the exception of about one week of extremely cold weather it is said to have been colder than has been for ten years past before I close I shall ask the favor of you to give my respects to your father and mother and tell them that I have at times thought that they have forgotten me as I believe I have within the last year written two letters to them and have received no answer I should be glad to hear from them more frequent I shall add no more but subscribe myself your friend and well wisher untill death
“Nathan Crawford
“excuse all mistakes and bad writing as these few lines has been written in great haste
Evidently this wing of the Crawford family settled Indiana in a big way―today Crawfordsville is a good-sized town in that state. The further history and multiplication of Crawfords in Indiana has been researched in detail by Jean T. Gillett [S047].
