JAMES CRAIG, one of the leading representative progressive farmers of Donegal township, is a grandson of John Craig, a native of County Donegal, Ireland, whence in an early day he immigrated to this country, taking up his residence in Fayette county, Penn. Here he married Rebecca Stevens (by whom he had some eight or ten children), and followed farming, also teaching school up to the time of his death. The widowed mother afterward came with her son John to this county, where for a few years he kept a tavern on the National pike, about two miles east of West Alexander, in Donegal township, where Joseph Sample now resides. Here John Craig married Ellen, a daughter of James Craig, and one child was born to their union, Rebecca, who died after reaching adult age This wife being called to her long home, Mr. Craig married, for his second wife, Eleanor, a daughter of Patrick Craig, of Donegal township, and the results of this union were the following children: Jane, William, John, Eleanor, Mary, Samuel, James, Roland and Margaret, all now deceased except James. After his first marriage John Craig located in West Finley township, near the State line of West Virginia, where for a short time he followed farming, and then moved to Donegal township, settling one-half mile south of Toll-gate No. 6, on the National pike, where he passed the remainder of his days, dying September 30, 1864, in his eighty-fourth year, his wife having preceded him to the grave in 1852. In politics Mr. Craig was first a Whig and afterward, from the time of its organization, a member of the Republican party. He was a successful agriculturist, and accumulated a comfortable competence by hard work and judicious economy. James Craig was born May 25, 1825, in Donegal township, Washington Co., Penn., where his boyhood and youth were passed, alternating between book lessons at school and practical lessons on his father's farm. On December 4, 1851, he was married to Elizabeth Dickey, who was born in Germantown (now a part of Philadelphia), October 7, 1827, a daughter of Nathaniel Dickey, a native of County Donegal, Ireland, who, when a young man came to America, settling near Philadelphia. There he married Elizabeth Kelter, a native of eastern Pennsylvania, and to them were born the following children: William, Mary, Tacy, Elizabeth (Mrs. Craig), Anna, Sarah J., Caroline, Susan and Martha. About 1830 they came to Donegal township, this county, where they resided until their deaths; the father dying June 11, 1852, in his sixty-second year, having been thrown from a horse and killed, and the mother in June 17, 1870, in her seventy-third year. To Mr. and Mrs. James Craig were born nine children, as follows: Mary E. (Mrs. George Brownlee, of Otoe county, Neb.), John (a carpenter, also in Otoe county), William D. (a farmer in Donegal township), James (deceased when twenty-eight years of age), Emma J., Samuel L. and Elizabeth B. (all three living with their parents), Nathaniel H. (who died at the age of seventeen years) and Carrie V. (at home with her parents). Soon after marriage Mr. Craig settled on one of his father's farms, situated three miles southeast of West Alexander, where he has resided over forty years, successfully engaged in farming and stock raising. In politics he is a Republican, and has held various township offices, to which, however, he never aspired; his wife is a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Craig and the entire family enjoy the esteem and respect of a wide circle of acquaintances and friends.
Text taken from page 1310 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed February 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project.
Published February 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]