BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN CRAYTON

John  Crayton was one of the original settlers and a founder of Caldwell County, Texas, which was created and organized in 1848 from Gonzales and Bastrop Counties.

Originally from Franklin Co., Tenn., John Crayton emigrated to the Republic of Texas from Marion Co., Ala. with his son James Lasater Crayton and the Spruill family.  Born Jan. 6, 1790 in a region which had been French Territory until England defeated France in 1763 in the French and Indian Wars, John Crayton was well suited for the frontier of Texas.  This region was not settled until pioneers from North Carolina settled on the Watauga River and formed the Watauga agreement as a form of government.  After the American Revolution, the region became lawless and the settlers suffered great hardship.  They formed the "State of Franklin" in order to have some form of government.  In 1790, the year John Crayton was born, North Carolina, which claimed the area, ceded the region to the new United States government.  On June 1796, six years after John Crayton's birth, Tennessee was admitted to the Union.

On December 3, 1807 the locality of John Crayton's birth became Franklin Co., Tenn. whence so many founders of Texas emigrated.

John Crayton married Rebecca Lasater in Franklin Co., Tenn. in 1812.  She was the daughter of Elizabeth Copeland and Hezekiah Lasater, Sr.

The Copelands and the Lasaters were descended from the founders of the Isle of Wight Co., Virginia Colony.   The Copelands were descended from Thomas Taberer who arrived in the Isle of Wight County prior to 1652 from Derby, England.  His daughter Elizabeth Taberer married a Copeland .  Thomas Taberer and his wife were prominent Quakers in the Isle of Wight County and he owned much tobacco and properties.

Hezekiah and Elizabeth Copeland Lasater were the parents of five sons and four daughters.  In the year 1809, Hezekiah and Elizabeth Lasater were members of the Boiling Fork Baptist Church in Lincoln Co., Tenn.

The Tax List of 1812 for Franklin Co., Tenn. has John Crayton, his father-in-law and his brothers-in-law Abner and William Lasater listed as taxpayers.  John Crayton served in the War of 1812 from January 1814 to May of 1814 in Co. M Infantry under Capt. Solomon George from Franklin Co., Tenn.   He served as a Corporal in the Second Regt. East Tenn. Vol. Militia Infantry. under Col.William Lillard and Capt. Thomas Sharpe.

John and Rebecca Crayton moved "footprints" away to Marion Co., Ala. shortly after their marriage.  There their three children were born:  daughter Margaret,   born in 1815,  son James Lasater,  born in 1818 and daughter Elizabeth  born  in 1820.  It is from Elizabeth that so many Texans are descended.  Today, many of these descendants are living in Caldwell Co. and the surrounding counties.

Rebecca Lasater Crayton died in Marion Co., Ala. in 1824.  The three children were reared in Franklin Co., Tenn. by their maternal grandparents, the Hezekiah Lasaters.  There the girls married and made their homes.  James Lasater Crayton emigrated to the Republic of Texas with his father where he died in the Mexican War in 1847.

On Oct. 29, 1832 John Crayton was the purchaser of land in Township 12 of Marion Co., Ala.  Luke Spruill was the purchaser of land in Township 12 of Marion Co., Ala. on Feb. 2, 1835 and Mary Dutton on April 23, 1842 in the same locale.Mary Dutton is on the 1860 Caldwell Co. census with the Spruills and John Crayton.

In 1839, John Crayton, his son James Lasater Crayton and their slaves emigrated to the Republic of Texas, settling on the bank of the San Marcos River in the area that is now Martindale, Caldwell County.  This date is recorded in Vol. 15, page 893, Cattle Claim, Petition No. 115 in the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi.  The Spruill family arrived in Martindale after 1850 and prior to January, 1856.

The next earliest recorded date in Texas, which I have found regarding John Crayton, is Feb. 1842.  It is deed C-599 of the General Land Office of the Republic of Texas. This deed is on file in the Travis Co., Courthouse in Austin.  On January 8, 1852 John Crayton sold one thousand acres of land to George Martindale for four thousand dollars. (Vol. B pge. 341 Caldwell Co. Deed Book)

John Crayton and Mahala Spruill married in Caldwell Co. on his birthday Jan 6, 1856.  They remained married until his death.  Luke Spruill married Mrs. Isabella Jennings, widow of Randolph Jennings, on Aug. 6, 1857 in Caldwell Co.

According to Reese Harrison, whom I met at a Delhi Homecoming in the early 1990's, John Crayton owned forty slaves.  Reese Harrison is directly descended from John Crayton through his granddaughter Martha "Mattie" Jones Harrison.  Martha Jones was the wife of Peter Leonard Harrison.  Reese Harrison bought the headstone for Elizabeth Crayton Jones White in 1985.  She is buried in the Delhi Cemetery.

The widely held belief that John Crayton went into shock, had a stroke and died when told of the defeat of the Confederacy is without foundation.  The Civil War ended in 1865 and John Crayton died December 2, 1873 having led a very active life of buying, selling and even donating land during the years 1865 to 1873.  He died a wealthy and influential man.

He was a plaintiff in lawsuits in August and September of 1866 (Hays Co. Vol. E pages 38 & 39) The court found in his favor, awarding him $305.51 in one case and $195.01 in the other.

On September 13, 1870 Crayton was paid $132.50 in gold coin for the lease of land to Mssrs. Jennings, O'Banion and William Adair until May 5, 1873  (Hays Co. Vol. F page 608-609).

On July 29, 1871 John Crayton donated land to the San Marcos Missionary Baptist Church to be used as a cemetery for whites and blacks.   His brother-in-law W.W. Spruill was already buried on this land.  A stipulation was made that the church would always keep the portion of the land southwards from W.W. Spruill's grave "to the mouth of the ravine emptying into the San Marcos River as a burial ground for colored persons" (Vol. M page 409 Hays Co. Deed Book).

The 1870 Census of Caldwell Co., Tex. lists twenty nine black people plus Nancy Spruill (sister of Mahala) living with John and Mahala Crayton.  Living with Elizabeth Crayton Jones White were five black people and her step-grandson George Short.  Among the former slaves living with the John Craytons were:

Cornelius Muse- mulatto-age 43, born in Tenn.

Jane Muse-wife of Cornelius-age 30, born in Tenn.

Margaret Crayton-mulatto-age 18, born in Tex.

James Crayton-mulatto-age 16, born in Tex.

Abraham Crayton-age 9, born in Tex.

Esther Crayton-age 8, born in Tex.

The James Crayton listed on the census is the son of John Crayton and Riley Kimble, a  Cherokee Indian slave owned by John Crayton.   She was from Oklahoma.

James Crayton was born 16 April 1854 in Martindale.  His father was 64 years old and a widower for thirty years.  He was acknowledged by John Crayton and given his inheritance, making him the owner of his own ranch, cattle and horses.  He was a cowboy, specializing in breaking wild horses and went on cattle drives to Kansas.  On 14 June 1872  in Caldwell  Co. at the age of 18, he married Jane Bell Spruill..  She was born 8 March 1857 in Caldwell Co., the daughter of Sarah Allen and Ben Spruill.  They had eighteen children----nine boys and nine girls. Only eleven children survived their father.  It is interesting that several of the children were given Crayton family names. Jane Bell Spruill was Indian and African American.  Her mother was one of the Cherokee Indian slaves bought by John Crayton.

James "Jim" Crayton was like his father in being a successful businessman.  On Nov. 22, 1892 he bought a hundred acres in Guadalupe Co.for fifteen hundred dollars.  On Jan 1, 1895 he sold the same tract of land for two thousand eight hundred dollars.  Both transactions in Guadalupe Co. Deed Book Vol. 5 page 507, 508 & 509.  On 16 Aug. 1887 he leased a hundred acres of land from the heirs of Asa J.L. Sowell for six years.  For payment he was to enclose the hundred acres with a fence of post and wire. 30 acres were to be cleared and cultivated.  A dwelling house consisting of two rooms and a gallery covered with shingles and made of pine lumber was to be built on a location of his choosing.  Recorded in Guadalupe Co.

Jim Crayton believed in hard work.  He taught his sons to ranch, break wild horses and to farm.  His wife did not work outside their home.  (His sons Bruce and Baylor were noted cowboys). They lived first in Caldwell Co, then Guadalupe Co. and at his death were living in Hays Co. on land inherited from John Crayton.  Jim Crayton died 1 June 1916 leaving a sizeable estate.  He is buried in the Crayton Cemetery in Guadalupe Co. in the Staples-York Creek area on Lehman Rd.

There was a strong bond between John Crayton and his son James.  James "Jim" Crayton was with his father when he died.  His sons Bruce and Baylor Crayton spoke of their grandfather with pride and respect.  In 1976, Bruce and Baylor Crayton still owned and lived on land inherited from their father and grandfather.  According to Bruce and Baylor, their "grandfather did not own slaves.  All his slaves were free."

Before Freedom, the Crayton slaves were habitually builders of the first roads in Caldwell, Gonzales and Hays Counties, connecting San Marcos to Lockhart, Lockhart to New Braunfels, & Lockhart to Gonzales, etc.  John Crayton toiled along side his "hands" in building these roads. .The minutes of the Caldwell County Commissioners Court of that period records much of the activities of the Road Builders.

John Crayton and his son James Lasater enlisted June 2, 1846 into the United States Army to fight in the Mexican War.  They served in Co. K under Capt. John Grumbles. At that time the military law of the United States only permitted a man to serve three months. The soldier of that day circumvented this rule by promptly re-enlisting upon his discharge. The Craytons were discharged Sept. 22, 1846.  John Crayton did not re-enlist but his son did.  James Lasater died in Laredo, Texas on January 4, 1847.  The cause of his death, whether from wounds or disease is unknown.  His burial site is unknown.

John Crayton died in Martindale, Caldwell Co., Texas . on December 2, 1873 .  He is buried  in the cemetery he donated to the San Marcos Missionary Baptist Church.  His wife Mahala Spruill Crayton died July 24, 1884 in Martindale and is buried beside him.  This cemetery is located on the C.E. Spragins homestead in Martindale on the banks of the San Marcos River on County Rd. 103 across the street from an abandoned school building.

This history researched and written by:

Velma Fogle--Great-great-great grand daughter of John Crayton

Great-great grand daughter of Elizabeth Crayton Jones White

Great grand daughter of Mary Elizabeth Jones White

Grand daughter of William Leonard White, Jr.

Daughter of Mattie White Fogle

September, 1999

Additions and corrections January, 2004