The
Crewey/Cruey Family
I don’t think Christiana Crewey needs any
introduction for those who have researched the Crewey/Cruey line.
I have listed Christiana Crewey as a sister of Christopher Crewey for the
simple reason they lived in the same area and they both came from Holland.
I believe I have found one of her lines that link with one of mine (John
Wimmer), and have also listed them. This is my opinion and I do feel I am
right. I do not ask that anyone
agree with me on this, but if you do not, then prove me wrong and I will delete
this family from my data base. I
think we came down from Christiana’s son, William Walters, for he lived in
Floyd County Virginia and died there, and had a son George Walters whom I think
is the line my side connects with. I
do know that Christiana’s son John Walters and his wife Nancy lived in Giles
County at one time. I feel William
Walters named his son George after his father.
My
husband, Bob, has a hand written family history of the Crewey/Cruey family
written by one of his cousins several times removed.
This information was given to her by a g-grandfather, Hamilton, and tells
that the Crewey/Cruey were of “Black Dutch” decent and from Holland.
Bob found from the Internet that the Black Dutch came from Holland, but
were from the poorer side of the country, with ties to the Jews.
This links Christopher and Christiana to Holland.
We hope to share all this information eventually, but as his cousin is
still alive, elderly and very sick, we feel it would be best not to do so at
this time.
The
Crewey/Cruey were for the most part very religious people and of the Holiness
faith, or one similar to this. A
lot of them seemed to have the “sight” and could “see” things, some of
what had happened, and some that would happen.
They seemed to form their own Churches and had a good fellowship.
Bob does a lot of research for me at our local library, and often comes in with hands full of copies. Once he came home with his usual hand full of copies and while looking at them I came across one that peeked my interest. I ask him if he knew what he had, and he replied, "No". I then told him he had copied the obituary of his great grandfather, Andrew Jackson Crewey, Sr. He had copied it only because it was a Crewey. We were very excited about this “find”.
I
also have a cut glass mug that was once owned by Andrew Jackson Crewey
and his wife Mary Cline. This is
one of a set they used for drinking their coffee in, and I have passed this on
to my daughter Kim, and it is now treasured by her.
This mug was the only thing found after the Indian Creek flooded in 1901
taking everything owned by the Crewey’s and others who lived in Indian Creek,
(now known as Cedar Bluff, Virginia), The
mug was found by Mary Cline Crewey after the river receded as she and the
children walked along the river looking for anything they may have owned. This mug was passed down from Barbara to her daughter Mary
LaVern (named for her grandmother) to me and on to my daughter.
Kim also has a daughter, Tiffany, who knows the history of this mug and
will someday own it.
Bob
and I are more familiar with his grandmother, Barbara, and her brother Andrew
Jackson (Bud) Cruey, Jr. Bud’s
father became angry with him when he married Kate Brown and Bud left home and
moved to Belfast area for sometime, changing the spelling of his last name from
Crewey to Cruey. After cooling”
down and returning to the fold, he maintained this spelling of his last name and
handed it down to his children. Bob’s
grandmother on the other hand, kept the spelling of Crewey until she died.
I use Cruey for the most part as this seems to be the choice of most
people.
Bob’s
grandmother, Barbara, was very religious and at times had her own small Church
where she taught religion to small children.
She was also knowledgeable about home remedies for any illness you had.
I remember several of them she told me to use on my children when they
were young, and they really worked.
Her
brother, Andrew Jackson (Bud) Cruey, Jr. was always the first to have “new”
inventions, often inventing them himself. He
had the first electric lights in his home by making himself a generator to
supply the power. He had the first
running water in his kitchen, and the first telephone.
He also had the first camper, built onto the back of a pick up truck, or
what we would today call a pick up truck. He
installed a coal stove in this camper to keep them warm on cool nights.
He owned the first car in Cedar
Bluff,
Virginia and how he obtained it is quiet a story. A carnival came to town and the owner had a 1910 Victor with
wooden wheels, spokes and metal rims, much like wagon wheels and a cloth top
that buckled down. The car broke
down and “Uncle Bud” (as he was called by most everyone) offered to repair
it for him. Uncle Bud had never
worked on a car before, and in fact had never seen one in person before this
time. There is no doubt he wanted
this car, another “first” for his own.
When the carnival was ready to leave town the owner couldn’t pay the
price Uncle Bud charged for repairs, so he kept the car.
Another first! ! ! I often
wonder if Uncle Bud might have known how much money the owner had; therefore
knowing how much to charge.
He
also had a monkey that he kept in a large cage because it was pretty mean due to
the teasing of children. It’s name was “Old Souse” and Bob remembers going
there and the monkey getting loose and attacking Uncle Bud, scratching and
biting him. But, he kept the monkey until it died, often hanging it on
the porch in the summer for others to enjoy.
We
do hope this genealogy is of some help, and that some of you will enjoy the
short stories. If you find mistakes, and I am sure there are some herein,
make the corrections on the copy you print out and let us know so that we may
correct it in our data base.
©2000
The Crewey Family created & updated regularly, is owned and
managed by Bob Pruett.
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