Crobarger Surname

Unknown Crobarger was born circa 1774, in Pennsylvania or Virginia. He died before 1830 in Tennessee.

The earliest provable Crobarger in our family was a man whose name is not known. In fact we know nothing about him or his family until 1830, when his widow Catherine appears as head of household in Jefferson Co., Tennessee. He was probably born during the 1770's, either in Pennsylvania or Virginia. Some researchers have proposed that his given name was George (or even George Washington). If that is true, he may have been the Johann Georg Croberger, son of George Michael Croberger and Eva Barbara Lauderbach, who was baptized on Dec. 4, 1774 at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Given German customs, this child would probably have used his middle name "George". Scrutinization of land records reveal that the above George Michael Croberger was probably the same person as Michael Crobarger who is known to have been the brother of George Crobarger who died probably in 1839 in Hawkins Co., Tennessee leaving a wife Mary and daughter Esther "Hetty" (Crobarger) Seaver. Our Crobargers are probably connected to these. Esther's brother-in-law John Seaver is supposed to have been married to a Susannah Crobarger. Also, Esther's sister-in-law Elizabeth Leaver was the mother of Ann Lamar, eventually the wife of Francis Asbury Crobarger. The connection to this family is highly likely given the very uncommon surname and the Virginia-to-Tennessee migration in the same time period.

Our Mr. Crobarger was probably married to Catherine (last name unknown) not long after 1800, either in Virginia or Pennsylvania. Only the identities of four children are known, yet it is probable that there were others that died young and perhaps even older children that have not yet been identified. While in Virginia, the Crobargers were probably living in or near Scott County, or somewhere else in southwestern Virginia. The Crobargers did not remain in Virginia for long and moved on to Tennessee. The date of the move is unclear, partially because of an absence of the family in the 1810 or 1820 censuses and also because the birthplaces of their children are not consistent. They may have moved over the state line as early as 1808-1809. They settled in eastern Tennessee. They probably lived either in Hawkins or Grainger Co., TN (where other Crobarger relatives lived) or in Jefferson Co., TN (where Catherine Crobarger was head of household in 1830). In Jefferson County, they may have been in the northern part of the county that was split off and became Hamblen County in 1870 (this county borders Hawkins County.) Mr. Crobarger died sometime between 1816 (when his youngest known child was conceived) and 1830 (when his widow was head of the household). In the late 1830's, Mrs. Catherine Crobarger moved her family to Missouri and in 1846, she moved again with her youngest daughter to Oregon where she died in 1875.

He married Catherine circa 1805 in Virginia. She was born on December 16, 1777 in Pennsylvania 4. She died on March 4, 1875 near Galesville, Douglas Co., Oregon 4. One researcher has proposed that her maiden name was McCreedy, yet that appears to be based on no logical evidence. The only clue to her origins (besides the census records which reveal her birth in Pennsylvania) is the 1870 census, when she indicated that both of her parents were foreign born. I would guess that she was of German origin. Catherine married Mr. Crobarger before 1808, probably in Virginia or Pennsylvania. They lived in Virginia and also in eastern Tennessee. She was head of household in Jefferson Co., Tennessee in 1830. During the mid 1830's, Catherine probably moved with her children to the state of Indiana, where they only lived there briefly (until about 1837). In about that time, they moved to Platte Co., Missouri. In 1840, she was living there with her two sons. In 1846, she moved over the Oregon Trail with youngest daughter Harriet and family. They lived in at least 4 different locations in Oregon before settling in the tiny "town" of Galesville, in southern Douglas Co., Oregon in about 1863. Catherine remained there until her death in 1875, at the age of 97. Scrutinization of known burial records so far have come up empty. She was either buried in an unmarked grave on the family estate or in an unmarked grave in the Glendale Cemetery (even though their earliest known burial was in 1883).

1	George Washington Crobarger was born on May 22, 1808 in Virginia 5. He died on March 25, 1875 in Platte Co., Missouri 5. He married first to Elizabeth Young Cooper on February 2, 1843 in Platte Co., Missouri 3. They had the following children: John R. Crobarger (1844-aft. 1860) Mary Catherine Crobarger (1844-1928) md. Lewis C. Magers George Washington Crobarger (1847-1931) md. Armilda Anderson Robert Hall Crobarger (1848-1925) He married second Elizabeth Remington, widow of Mr. Horr, on June 7, 1855 in Platte Co., Missouri. They had one child: Eugene S. Crobarger (1858-1934)
2	Susannah Crobarger was born on August 29, 1809 in Virginia or Tennessee 5. She died on December 23, 1882 in Lookingglass, Douglas Co., Oregon 5. She is buried in the Lookingglass Cemetery, Lookingglass, Douglas Co., Oregon. She married Samuel Creswell Braden on January 28, 1834 in Jefferson Co., Tennessee 5. (He was born on October 11, 1811 in Claiborne Co., Tennessee and died on August 11, 1895 in Myrtle Point, Coos Co., Oregon. He is buried in the Lookingglass Cemetery, Lookingglass, Douglas Co., Oregon.) They had the following children: Francis Asbury Braden (1835-1894) md. Sarah G. Buell Rebecca Catherine Braden (1837-aft. 1880) md. Phillip A. Decker America Agnes Braden (1841-1878) md. Daniel Giles Alice Braden (c. 1845-1913) md. J. Livingston Virginia Susannah Braden (1847-1925) md. Franklin Cyrus Buell Margaret Missouri Braden (c. 1849-c. 1875) md. Thomas Jefferson Rowley John Jacob Astor Braden (1851-1929) md. Dora Maria Eagan Susannah and her family moved from Tennessee to Indiana soon after their marriage. In about 1837/1838, they moved again to the newly opened up territory at Platte Co., Missouri. Sometime during the 1850's, Susannah and her family moved out west to Oregon, probably in the example of younger sister Harriet and their mother Catherine, who had gone in 1846. They first lived at Roseburg, Douglas Co., Oregon before moving out to the coast near what is now Coos Bay, Coos Co., Oregon.
3	Francis Asbury Crobarger was born on November 20, 1815 in Tennessee 5. He died on November 9, 1881 in Nortonville, Jefferson Co., Kansas 5. He married Ann Lamar on January 7, 1845 in Platte Co., Missouri 3. (She was born on February 17, 1809 in Jefferson Co., Tennessee and died on November 3, 1893 in Nortonville, Jefferson Co., Kansas. She was buried in the Thomas Lamar Cemetery, Jefferson Co., Kansas.) They had one child: John Marcus Crobarger (1848-1908) Francis moved with his family from Missouri in to Kansas in 1855. He was against slavery in that state.
4	Harriet Catherine Crobarger

Harriet Catherine Crobarger was born on about November 15, 1816 ⁶ probably in Hawkins, Grainger or Jefferson County, Tennessee, or in Virginia. She died on March 8, 1884 in Galesville, Douglas Co., Oregon ^2,6.

Father: Unknown Crobarger
Mother: Catherine

Sources are not consistent in whether Harriet was born in Virginia or Tennessee. The census records she appears on are equally split, while in the censuses of her children, her daughters believed she was born in Virginia while her sons believed she was born in Tennessee. I would posit that she was actually born in Tennessee, not long after her parents had moved over the line from Virginia. It is possible that they lived somewhere near the border between Scott Co., Virginia and Hawkins Co., Tennessee and may have gone back and forth during the period that they were having and raising children. Harriet was raised in eastern Tennessee. Her father died in her childhood and her mother never remarried. In 1830, they were living in Jefferson Co., Tennessee. There is a strong possibility that Harriet lived with her family somewhere in Indiana for a brief period of time (about 2 or 3 years) in the mid 1830's. Then in about 1837 or 1838, the family moved out west and settled in Platte County, Missouri. Shortly after moving there, Harriet formed a relationship with a prominent young man named William Martin, whose family were among the earliest white settlers of the county. They were married in 1839 in Martinsville (now Platte City), Missouri. Together, Harriet and Martin had 7 children: Catherine, Josephine, Frances, Hardin, Joseph, George, and Emma.

Harriet lived in Missouri until 1846, when she moved with her family in a wagon train to the Oregon Territory. They lived near Lafayette, in Yamhill County, Oregon, where her husband was a farmer, politician, and general store owner. They stayed there until 1851, when they moved to Douglas County, in southern Oregon and claimed a 640-acre farm near the town of Winchester. While living there her husband was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the army during the Rogue River Indian War, was Indian Service Agent and also Receiver of the Land Office. In 1859, Harriet and her family moved to the growing city of Roseburg, in Douglas County, Oregon. In that same year, Harriet signed an affidavit stating that she had property separate from her husband. What this is referring to is unknown. Her husband appears to have been of a squandering nature and this move appears to have been a precaution in case William's financial problems caused the family to lose their land. In about 1862, the family moved to nearby Myrtle Creek, Oregon, but did not remain there long. In about 1863, they moved permanently to a farm near the tiny town of Galesville, Douglas County, Oregon. At this location William kept a farm and also ran a hotel. Harriet remained on this farm for the rest of her life where she died from paralysis on March 8, 1884. She was 67 years of age. Her burial place has not been found. She is probably buried in an unmarked grave on the family estate at Galesville or in the Glendale Cemetery.

For more information on her children, see his page.

1. Assorted US Federal Census Records
2. Obituary of William J. Martin, Roseburg Plaindealer, April 29, 1901
3. Missouri Marriages to 1850, Ancestry.com
4. Death Notice of Catherine Crobarger, Jacksonville Democratic Times, April 23, 1875
5. Online gedcom family files
6. Death Notice of Harriet C. Martin, The Douglas Independent, Mar. 22, 1884