Crabtree said some of the documents include information on the Cook and Robinson families in Danville and that will be added later. Also, information on the Boyle County Crawford and Irvin families is among the research.
"I picked out the oldest generation and followed the family down, but did not do allied families," Crabtree said. She hopes some of the mystery of the three John Crows has been unraveled and can be straightened out by the research.
Balden spent many years gathering data about early Danville, its stations and families who settled the town. She also worked with the Daughters of the American Revolution to get markers placed on many of the graves of those who served in the Revolutionary War, then settled in frontier Kentucky.
Walter Crow appears to be the first of that family to move from Sassafras Parish, Cecil County, Md. He died August 1789 in Mercer County (now Boyle). He and his wife, Ann Miller, were parents to sons, John and Charles. Walter and his wife are buried at Old Union Cemetery, west of Perryville.
From Danville, the Crows spread across the United States.
The local Caldwell family originated in Scotland and Ireland. The book reveals John Caldwell came to America in 1713, owned property along Cub Creek in Virginia and was an elder in the Philadelphia Synod in 1739.
The Caldwells came to Kentucky in the 1700s. Margaret Caldwell was born in 1712 in Ireland and died in 1791 in Mercer County.
The Caldwells are descendants of Alexander Caldwell, born 1558 in Ayreshire, Scotland.
James Brumfield appears to be the first of that family to leave England in the late 1600s and arrive in Virginia. He married Peshee Sutton in 1676 in Virginia and their six children were born there.
His grandson, Robert, was born about 1724 in Kentucky. Robert is the son of James Brumfield Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Francis Watson, of Virginia. Robert received a land grant for serving in the Revolutionary War.
The Crows, Caldwells and Brumfields are connected through marriages. They have descendants still living in the Danville area, and others who migrated to the midwest and west.
Information in the three books has been documented and indexed. Pages also show family lineages.
If you want to buy the books:
The books are available through the Forkland Community Center and soon will be sold in local bookstores. They also can be purchased from Carolyn Crabtree and Shirley Sheperson. Proceeds will go to the Forkland Community Center. The books can be bought individually or in a discount package. The cost is $40 for the Crow book, $20 for the Caldwell one, and $15 for the Brumfield book. The CDs, which have photographs, documents and deeds cost $15. As a package, the price is $75.
