The Creel Families of
Copyright © 2003, James D. Ball
Preliminary Discussion
By taking a fresh look at
the Creel families in Fauquier new light is shed on a complicated family. These
Creels appear in Leeds Manor in the early 1790s and their first known tax
assessments were in 1796. There is no concrete evidence they were in Fauquier much
prior to this, though it seems likely they came from Prince William.
A William, David and
George Creel were on the 1782 Prince William tax roll indicating all were born
about 1766 or earlier. With the exception of George, it is believed these were
the same individuals as later found in Leeds Manor.
Many researchers have
associated these Leeds Manor Creels directly with the Creel and Dodson families
of the
In taking a critical look
at the first three generations of Creels in Fauquier it becomes apparent they likely
descend from a single progenitor, an early William Creel. There is no evidence
this William Creel himself ever resided in Fauquier.
Analysis of known
information indicates eight identifiable children can be assigned to this early
William Creel:
William married
Rachel Griffith
David married
possibly to Mary ___
George married
Mary Ball
John “Jr”
married Sally Cunningham
Wormley, no
further information
Judith married Baldwin Lunsford
Harriet married
John Cunningham
With the exception of William,
Wormley and David, there is evidence tying each back to William the father. In
the case of
Arguments can be made
against some of this rational. Never-the-less, these associations make sense in
defining these relationships.
Each of these individuals
are of the same generation and their birth dates range from the early 1760s for
William, to the mid 1780s for
Identification of
subsequent generations is simplified for the most part due to George’s family
identified by descendant Toby Williams; and, to
Son William appears to be
the senior sibling. His wife’s family at that time resided on the west side of
Carter’s Run, above the
Many researchers have
assumed the 1800 lessee, William Creel and wife Martha, to be the progenitors
of this family. This 1800 document is the only known instance of a wife named
“Martha”. In as much as William, the father, would have been quite elderly at
the time of the original signing, it seems incongruous this is the elder
William and is unsubstantiated by tax records. Instead, it seems Rachel is
misstated as “Martha” in the document, possibly due to the name being very
common to the
Wormley Creel witnessed
William Creel’s 1800 lease. This is the only known evidence of his existence.
He may not have even lived in Fauquier and may not even be a son of William.
However, Judith (Creel) Lunsford named a son “Wormley”, possibly to honor a
brother. This given name is not found in the Lunsford family prior to this.
John Creel was living on land
adjacent to and north of the land William leased. This land had formerly been
owned by Thomas Stone and was adjacent to the land Benjamin Ball had purchased
in 1761. That land too had originally been Stone’s land.
Son John apparently was
called John “Jr”, not as a generational descriptor, but rather to distinguish
him from another John Creel living in the area. One secondary reference
indicates John to be the son of John, while another gives William as the
father. It is believed the later is correct as the John Creel of Culpeper had
no children and was actually of the same generation as “Jr ”, and Rev. John
Creel had long removed from the county with his family.
John seems to have died
early as his son Morris chose a guardian 1817. This Morris Creel is incorrectly
attributed to another in an often cited reference. The existence of other
children is undetermined and unlikely. In all probability John’s widow is the
Sally Creel who married George Pursley in 1809.
Little is known of son George
other than he was a farmer, fathered nine children, and died in Fauquier. His
widow and several children removed to
Little is also known of
David other than information learned from tabular census data. Although they
cannot be assigned as sons of David at this point, two probabilities exist: (1)
Thomas Creel who married Lucretia Nalls and who had living with him in 1850 a
Mary Creel who was the right age to be his mother. (2) David Creel who married
Hannah Ball.
Fortunately,
While these families all
had their Fauquier beginnings in the Manor lands along the lower Carter’s Run,
later generations are found to have moved into The Plains area in NE Fauquier.
This path and timing is common to not only the Creels, but also the Lunsfords,
The family of William and
Elizabeth Creel is presented in the following pages, along with appropriate
documentation and source material. Following this are the unassigned individual
families belonging mostly to the third generation.
Caveats
The family of William and
Elizabeth Creel as presented here is not fully cast in stone. Much more needs
done in defining these families through wills and estate divisions, and possibly
deed analysis of
This researcher welcomes
any additions or corrections to this material.
James D. Ball
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