Astien Schoolcraft (bef. 1720 - abt. 1780)

Born before 2 Apr 1720 in Schenectady, Albany County, New York [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Catherine Countryman — married 12 Aug 1743 in Schoharie, Schoharie, New York, British Colony

Descendants

Died about 1780 after about age 59 in Harrison Magisterial District, Charles City County, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Charles Owens [send private message]

Biography

Astien Schoolcraft, son of Jacob Schoolcraft and Magdalena Schoolcraft, was baptized at Schenectady, New York on 2 April 1720, with witnesses Philip Schuyler and Grietie Vroman.^[1] He probably was born earlier in 1720.

He married Catherine Countryman in the Schoharie, New York, area. The baptisms of two children are recorded at Schoharie; James in 1743^[2][3] and Matthias in 1745.

Astien and Catharine left Schoharie after 1745. In 1749, the baptism of their daughter, Catherine Lisabetha, is recorded at Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Astien's presence is recorded in Augusta County VA in 1760 and the family was residing in what is now Highland County VA in 1766. Astien and his sons, John and Matthias, all claimed land on the south Branch of the Potomac River in that year. Their names also appear on the delinquent tax rolls for 1766, suggesting that they may have encountered financial problems.

They never received titles for their land and certificates issued by the Commissioners in Clarksburg, VA (WV) in 1781 indicate that the family had come to what is now Upshur and Lewis Counties in VA in 1774.

Although it is not known whether the Schoolcrafts were in the Battle of Point Pleasant in September of 1774 during Lord Dunmore's War, John, James, Matthias and Matthew were all on the rolls of the militia companies during the period, so they must have played some part in the campaign.

Astien was killed by Indians in 1780 in the area of present day Buckhannon, West Virginia.

2.CHRISTIAN SCHOOLCRAFT 1.JAMES SCHOOLCRAFT

Little is known of Christian Schoolcraft, except that he remained loyal to the crown during the American revolution and had three sons who served the crown in that conflict. This branch of the family allegedly fled to Canada after the Colonial victory.

Perhaps this is a good point to insert a letter concerning the Schoolcrafts. This letter was written by Margaret Bush and was postmarked April 1, 1868 at 33 Courtlandt Street, NY and was addressed to J.M. Bennett, Buckhannon, Upshur County, WV.

The letter reads as follows:

"To the best of my recollection of the famous Schoolcraft family on this 24th day of March in the year of our Lord 1868, I, Margaret Bush, sworn and subscribe this is written in my own hand."

"William and Austead Schoolcraft were brothers, William had a son Matthew, don't know no more of this line. Austead had 2 sons, James 1737 who had son James II 1775 who married Mary Carpenter and second wife was Catharine Bush whom he married when he was 50 years old on June 18, 1825, performed by Rev. John Mitchell. Catharine was borne October 1805 and is the daughter of Adam and Margaret Bush, my namesake."

"Austead second son was John 1745 whose wife was killed by Indians in September 1779.

Their children were:

John 1761,

Jacob 1762, who married Mary Ann Parsons, Leonard 1763,

Lucy 1764, Matthias 1765,

Mary 1766,

Martha 1766,

Simon 1768,

Michael 1769,

Austin 1770,

Sarah1772,

Polly 1773,

Nancy 1774 and

Charity 1774.

When Indians killed Mrs. Schoolcraft eight of her small babies was killed to, Lucy, Mary,

Martha, Austin, Sarah, Polly, Nancy and Charity. Matthias, Simon and Michael was captured by Indians in 1781 on Pigeon Roost of Stonecoal, Matthias was killed and Simon and Michael remained with the Indians. Jacob escaped. Leonard was 16 when he was captured in 1779 and made to run the gauntlet and was recognized many times while making raids on the whiteman. Jacob had these children, Aaron, James, Mary, Ann, John and Permilia."

Margaret Bush cannot be positively identified, but she is believed to be either Margaret Bush born 1833, daughter of William and Mary (Wallace) Bush or Margaret Bush, born 1834, daughter of Paulcer and Elizabeth (Heckert) Bush.

If Margaret is the daughter of William and Mary Bush, the Margaret (Hagle) Bush she refers to as "my namesake", was her great aunt. If she is the daughter of Paulcer and Elizabeth (heckert) Bush, Margaret (Hagle) Bush was her grandmother.

In either case, we can assume that Margaret's information is generally correct, because her family was connected with the Schoolcrafts by marriage.

There are discrepancies between her letter and other information. She identifies Astien's brother as William, while other sources list him as Christian. Also, Margaret's dates of birth for Astien's children are at variance with recorded ages and she records Jacob Schoolcraft as having married Mary Ann Parsons, when records report that Mary Ann Parsons married Thomas Cottrell Jr. and Rebecca Parsons married Jacob Schoolcraft.

These variations do not detract from the value of Margaret's record; she was probably working from memories of stories told by her parents and grandparents about events that happened years before her birth.

Killed by Indians in 1779 at Hacker's Creek in Northern Virginia per an account in the book Chronicles of Border Warfare or a History of the Settlement of the Whites, of Northern Virginia, and of the Indian Wars and Massacres in that section of the State by Alexander Scott Withers, copyright,1895. His niece was also taken prisoner by the Indians.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptisms at the Dutch Reformed Church in Schenectady, 1719-1721, transcribed by Betty Fink. published at BettyFinkGenealogy.com
2. ↑ Holland Society of New York; New York, New York; Church Records of Niskayuna and Schoharie, Book 36. Image of handwritten transcript of church records, accessed in Ancestry.com database U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989, at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6961/images/42037_2421401696_0496-00048
3. ↑ "New York Births and Christenings, 1640-1962", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2CQ-C32 : 20 January 2020), James Schoelkrafft, 1743.

• Hacker's Creek Journal

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Schoolcraft-47 created through the import of Adam Delaney.ged on Apr 15, 2012 by Adam Delaney. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Adam and others.