My Corner Online

 

Pearl & Manna Kent | Andrew & Nancy Kent | Thadeus and Sarah Kent |

John & Melissa Weekley (Nancy's parents) | John & Mary Crain (Melissa's parents) | John & Susannah Crain |

THIS IS MY WORKING GENEALOGY BIOGRAPHIES, PLEASE DO NOT COPY AS FACT. Some photos are personal and should not be copied and republished; other images are okay. Documentation I collected as proof to support facts (i.e. dates, relationships, etc.) are available for your use. I share freely, but please do not abuse copyright or perpetuate any information without supporting facts that may or may not be in error. I try to mark in red my questions or documents I need to look for, so your assistance in making this a complete collection is always appreciated.

 

John Crain and Susannah Scott

 

From the following excerpt, the family have an Island named after them called "Crain's Island." Crain is often misspelled as "Crane," but on today's map it is spelled Crain's Island. The son, John, lived on this island for many years. Prior to his living on the island, he lived with his family at four miles above along the Mary's River. With the help of avid researchers, it has been determined that the father's name is incorrect. Benjamin should also be "John Crain." It would seem that when John Crain died, his oldest son, Benjamin, would have become the head of the household, hence the confusion.

In the Book "The History of Randolph County Illinois Including Old Kaskaskia Island" by E J Montague in 1859, and copied in 1948, on page 46, we read that between 1800 and 1802, a Benjamin Crane, with 7 sons, came to Illinois and settled on Mary's river, about four miles above the mouth. "These were men of decided character, and soon became known in all of the other settlements. Their traits of chracter were well adpated to a pioneer country, and their influence in advancing the new region in which they had decided to live, was successfully exerted. They were the leading men in settling the country around the mouth of Mary's river, and the Island opposite, which bears the name of Crane's Island. John lived upon this Island for many years, and died there in 1850. Joel died the same year. The other brothers, except Lewis, who now lives in California, died several years previous. James Harvey and Nelson R. Crane, residents of Chester, are sons of John Crane."

 

The Luthy family and Randy Crain have been giving credit for clearing up the errors and doing vital research on this family. William D. Luthy has extensive information and research sources on genealogy.com; it is a good read.

Here is an email from Peg Crain Luthy sent to the Rootsweb list explaining that the book "Five Links" by Harold Crain is incorrect and that he has written to correct the information.

There is a book Robert E. Johnson's book Scattered Leaves, which mentions Mildred Walton that married John Crain.

There is a book called Perry County Illinois, Volume 2 which can be found on Google Books with a limited viewing and Page 119 carries the errors.