John Crosse (abt. 1670 - 1736)

Ancestors

Husband of Katherine (Childermas) Crosse — married about 1687 in Jamaica [uncertain]

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Harold Cross [send private message]

Biography

John was born about 1670.

He worked as a Deputy Collector for Naval Port.

He served in the military as Captain of a sloop on 3 Oct 1698 in Jamaica.

"Information of a French surgeon of a vessel captured in one of the bays to north of Port au Prince. I and twenty-five men had a sloop, under Captain John Cross, who had a commission from the Governor of Petit Guavos. They escaped, and I was left. We had captured a sloop on the coast of Jamaica. Several sloops have gone from Petit Guavos privateering to the Indies, including one John Bear, who had been in the service of Spain, but had joined that of France, and there was great collecting of stores, for it was said that forty ships were coming out to attack Jamaica and Barbados."

He resided: Bef 1709, Warwick Co., , VA.

On November 3, 1714, Capt. John Croft witnessed the signing of a legal paper in S.C.

In 1717, he resided in Charleston, Charleston Co., SC.

"In 1717 John Croft of Charleston, SC gave a power of attorney to his wife, Catherine, to adm. the estate of James Burtell in behalf of his two children, Childermas and Abraham."

On June 7, 1717 he was granted 300 acres of land in Granville County, S.C.

He owned land on 8 Aug 1717 in Beaufort, SC

He was an Assistant Judge and member of a Commission to try pirates in 1719.

Research Notes

He was a Charles Town merchant and landowner. The S.C. Historical Society Magazine, vol. 74, pg. 81 (Wigg Family) shows Richard Wigg marrying Sarah, daughter of Captain John Croft and wife Katherine Childermas. This article goes on to state, " there is evidence that John Croft came to South Carolina from Virginia after his correspondence with William Rhett of Charlestown. Katherine Childermas, wife of John Croft, was daughter of John Childermas who died in Jamaica in 1697 leaving a large estate on the island. One of the sons of Captain John Croft, Childermas Croft, was Commissioner of Indian Affairs in South Carolina. Another son, Edward, was a prosperous merchant in Charlestown."

On November 3, 1714, Capt. John Croft witnessed the signing of a legal paper in S.C.

On June 7, 1717 he was granted 300 acres of land in Granville County, S.C. He was an Assistant Judge and member of a Commission to try pirates in 1719. He died July 19, 1736.

"There is evidence that John Croft came to SC from V A after his correspondence with William Rhett of Charles Town. [William and Mary College Quarterly. series 1,5:180] Katherine Childermas,his wife, was the dau. of John Childermas, who d. in Jamaica in 1697, leaving a large estate on that island. [Will of Hill Croft, Records of the Probate Court, 3 (1731-33), 25, Charlestown Co. Courthouse. William and Mary College Quarterly. Series 1,5:181: "Members of the Croft family were residents of Parishes adj. Denbeigh in Warwick Co., V A ...in the Reg. of New Pocosin, York Co.'Died, John Crofts, merchant of London 23 Jul 1709' In 1709 John Crofts was deputy to George Luke, Esq. Naval Collector. In 1717 John Croft of Charleston, SC gave a power of attorney to his wife, Catherine, to adm. the estate of James Burtell in behalf of his two children, Childermas and Abraham. The will of James Burtell of Hampton leaves his house and lot to Childermas, 3rd son of Madame Katherine Croft or to his brother Abraham, should he survive him... To Ambraham, youngest child of Katherine Croft his wharf at Hampton and land appertaining. Residue of property betwe. the two lads... Prob. 25 7ber, 1716] John Croft was on the list of grantees for the first lots in Beaufort Town 8 Aug 1717 (along with Richard Wigg and William Hazzard) " This information is from Ancestry World Tree Project submitted by Michael J. on 28 Jan 2005.

Research Notes on the Croft (Crosse) families Of Virginia and South Carolina

Before leaving on a sea voyage, John Crosse of Charleston, SC, wrote a will in 1685. He left most of his estate to his wife Mary Crosse and his son-in-law William Bailey. His widow Mary Crosse was apparently very wealthy when she wrote her will in 1698. She owned several lots adjacent to the marketplace in Charleston and a Warf among numerous other possessions including land in Bermuda. She received some of the first lots awarded in Charlestown. Apparently one of the lots was on the waterfront and included a Warf. One of the lots (Lot# 15) adjacent to one of the lots that Mary Crosse owned was later owned by in 1716 by Edward Croft (likely the merchant son of Capt. John Croft). (A.S. Salley, Jr., ed, Warrants for Lands in South Carolina 1672-1711 (Columbia, S.C., Univ. of South Carolina Press, (unknown date)), and Clara A. Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772 South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772 (Publisher Unknown). Childermas Croft, another son of Capt. John Croft, witnessed numerous documents in Charleston, SC for the widow Mary Crosse (Clara A. Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772 (Publisher Unknown)). One of the witnesses to the will of John Crosse of Charles Town, SC was John Gwin. He is likely related to the John Gwin who left a will dated Nov 25, 1684 in James City, Virginia. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Index of Will Registers, 1384-1858). Note that James City, VA is near Lancaster, VA where a John Croft lived. I think John Croft was most likely the son of John Crosse who wrote the will in Charleston, SC.

“Died, John Crofts, Merchant of London, July 23, 1709.” (William and Mary College Quarterly. Series 1, 5:181). This John Croft of Lancaster, VA had a daughter, Susannah who was the first wife of Sir William Cole. They were married prior to 1674 according to Encyclopedia Virginia (https://encyclopediavirginia.org). Sir William Cole was a wealthy landowner in Warwick, VA and a member of the governor’s Council and served as secretary of the Virginia Colony. He also served as customs collector in the late 1680’s until 1692 which was apparently a very lucrative position. He was named in the charter for the College of William and Mary and was a founding trustee. He had a daughter Susannah with his first wife who married Dudley Digges who was also a member of the Virginia Council. After Sir William Cole’s first wife died, he married Ann Digges, the sister of Dudley Diggs and daughter of Edward Digges, the Governor of the Virginia in 1655 and 1656.

John Crofts, the merchant of London and Lancaster, VA, had a son Capt. John Croft (Cross) who married Catherine, the youngest daughter of John Childermas. She married Capt. John Croft immediately following her father’s death in 1697 in Jamaica (Gerald Elvey and Lewis Kirby, The Wigg family (n.p., 1989)). This is highly likely the Capt. John Cross who was Captain of a sloop in Jamaica in 1698 charged with capturing pirates. (J. W. Fortescue, editor, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies, 15 May 1696 - 31 Oct 1697 (London, England: Mackie and Co., LD, 1904)). In another record he is listed as Capt. John Croft the father-in-law of Richard Wigg who wrote a will in South Carolina in 1727. The S.C. Historical Society Magazine (vol. 74, p. 81) in an article about the Wigg family states that Capt. John Croft had been in Virginia before he came to South Carolina, and that Katherine Childermas, wife of John Croft was the daughter of John Childermas who died in Jamaica in 1697 leaving a large estate. In 1717 John Croft of Charleston, SC gave power of attorney to his wife Katherine, to administer the estate of James Burtell on behalf of his two children, Childermas and Abraham Croft. In the William and Mary Quarterly Virginia Pedigree of Digges, Vol 1, 1893, there is the following statement “James Burtell of Elizabeth City Co. left his property in 1716 to Edward, John, Childermas and Abraham, sons of Madam Katherine Croft.” The will mentions that Childermas was the third son and Abraham was the youngest son of Katherine (Childermas) Croft. Perhaps James Bartell was married to another daughter of Capt. John Croft, but this is not yet confirmed. The will of Hill Croft establishes him as the fifth known son of Capt. John Croft. John witnessed a legal paper on November 3, 1714 in SC. In 1717 he was granted 300 acres of land in Granville County, SC. Captain John Croft was an Assistant Judge and member of a Commission to try pirates in 1719 in South Carolina. He died Jul 19, 1736.

Childermas Croft, son of Captain Croft and Katherine was Commissioner of Indian Affairs in South Carolina. Another son, Edward, was a prosperous merchant in Charleston.

Hill Croft, son of Capt. John Croft, left a will in 1731 in SC. (Caroline T. Moore and Agatha Aimar Simmons, comp, Abstracts of the Wills of the State of South Carolina 1670 - 1740 (Columbia, SC: R. L. Bryan Co., 1960)). He owned land in Jamaica left to him by his aunt, Sarah Austine, the daughter of John Childermas. He states that his father was John Croft, and mentions his brother Edward Croft, a Charleston merchant. He had a son John, under 21. He named John Laurens, a Charleston saddler, guardian for his son and named John Lauren’s two daughters as heirs in his will. Perhaps John Lauren was his son-in-law.

Abraham Croft the youngest son of Capt. John Croft married Anna Maria Marston 23 Jul 1731 in St. Phillips Par, Charleston, SC. (IGI). As mentioned above he inherited a Warf from James Burtell of Elizabeth City Co., VA in 1731.

Edward Croft, who was also called Capt. Edward Croft was first married to Susannah. He had two sons and a daughter by her." He owned land on 8 Aug 1717 in Beaufort, SC. (A. S. Salley Jr., editor, The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume 1 (Charleston, SC: The Walker, Evans & Cogswell Co., 1900), Vol. 8.: 152 and 217.) He worked as an appraiser for the first Insurance Company in the Colonies in Jan 1736 in Charleston, SC. He may have been the Edward Cross who owned land in Dinwiddie Co., VA before 10 Nov 1764. "Dinwiddie County, Virginia Data 1752-1865" compiled by Thomas P. Hughes Jr. and self-published in 1975 in Memphis, TN).

I have copies of handwritten wills that John Crosse and his widow Mary Crosse wrote in Charleston, SC in 1685 and 1698, respectively. In the handwriting of that period, it is extremely easy to confuse “Crosse” and “Croft” due to the symbol that was used when “ss” occurred in a word. That symbol resembles a script “f”. Some Crosse researchers have referred to an “old style “spelling of Crosse. I do not know if some members of this branch of the Crosse family adopted “Croft” as their surname or if this is a confused reading the hand-written records. It seems very improbable that there was a Capt. John “Cross” in Jamaica at the same time that Capt. John “Croft” married Katherine Childermas. What is the probability that Edward Cross was collector for the Port of Yorktown while an Edward Croft was collector?

Sources

• Robert William Croft, A Southern Legacy: the house of Croft (N.p.: n.p., 1981).

• J. W. Fortescue, editor, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies, 15 May, 1696 - 31 Oct, 1697 (London, England: Mackie and Co., LD, 1904).