Capt. Henry - Creeches, supposedly killer by Indians in James City. Help, oh, help.

Interesting discussion. I am really curious about where all the stories of Richard Creech come from. Documentation is lacking. I cannot find David Bethune of Creech having a son David. A son Robert supposably died about 20 years old. Possible he had. falling out and left home changing his name. But no evidence of that. Richard Crouch that JM Creech mentions is listed in a census after 1622 attack as born about 1586, a carpenter, and from shire in England. So doesn't seem to be right. The 1635 Richard Creech fits better. Carter name is with his.

Cont. (Meant David not having a son Richard of course, he did have a David. Also should typed Crich not Creech. Doing this on my phone late at night) Can't find a ship Journeyman. Though historians admit we don't have all passenger lists for the period. So its possible their is another Richard Crich or whatever the name was Another concern is Mary Frances Beale is supposed to be English. In a time of limited travel. How did an English commoner meet and marry a Scottish nobleman's son in Scotland. More likely if he left home that he had gone to England and met and married her there. There are very few women on the passenger lists or census making it unlikely, though not impossible they met and married in Jamestown shortly after his arrival as some have said either Last question. Where does the story of the family being killed by Indians come from? Is there any historical source? I don't doubt it I just want to be accurate. Lords and Indians make an amazing genealogy but only if true. Perhaps J M Creech and others have non public sources. I know a lot of families had meticulous family histories written down in old family bibles. Perhaps they had access to some of them. If anyone has information that can give us a firm footing for our family story I would love to hear it. I will enjoy following your discussion. I think we are all curious. Thank you all for sharing my interest in our heritage.

If Richard was from Creich Parish (Noble or commoner he possible could have taken the parish name as a surname. Bethune seems to be the Family name for the Lord. Creich was the place of his authority. I read somewhere that there is no record of Creich surname that early in Scotland. I have wondered the same thing about the boys Supposably in school north. In 1600s Virginia where would that be? Jamestown was probably about it. If Henry and Nicholas were about 9 and 11 I doubt they are in a university in England. Especially if Richard is living on a guards pay. The first story I read about the massacre said the boys were out in the fields when the Indians attacked the house. Thus they were able to hide.

You are right about it all being sketchy. My understanding is that the British burned most of the records from that period during the War of 1812. Alot of census records and legal documents went up in smoke. Things are really sketchy about Richard's wife too that's for sure. Like you I wonder what we can be sure of before Henry I don't think we even know when or where he was born

I will have to do some digging. I thought it was in James Milton Creech's history of the Creech's But it was early in my research and I didn't copy or take notes as I didn't know at that time I was going to run into so many contradictions about that period.

Thanks Erica for your valuable insights.

Re: Henry and Nicholas being in the fields during the Indian attack that killed their parents. My source is the Creech Family History by James Milton Creech which is on the web. I believe it was the revised version (1980) I don't know his source. But there is no source that I know of for the "at school" story we see on the web.

Haven't invested money in paid subscriptions. Have a family tree that my nephew got from Ancestry.com. It has errors. A lot of people in the family have the same first name. I started tracing it backwards and it was wrong. Not going to pay for sloppy work Last couple days have read a couple Beale family histories trying to get a hold on Henry's parents. Find that both histories say Beale, Beal, and Bell are the same family in Virginia. Also remember Richard Crich arrived 1635 as a servant of Mr. Carter. Well John Bell/Beale arrived in 1638 also paid for by the same Carter. So that could connect Richard and John I was thinking if Richard was the son of a noble (uncertain for sure) he would have been trained in weapons growing up. So the possibility does exist for the story he forsook the family and ended up indentured as a guard in Virginia. Definitely uncertain. Now another twist. I was reading a Beal/Bell family history. It said that Frances Beale Creech was great granddaughter of Sir George Bell. That she arrived in Virginia in 1623. Was killed in an Indian attack in 1630 with her husband Richard Creech and daughter. Her sons Nicholas and Henry survived and were sent back to England where they were raised by uncle John, Frances's brother. Some years later they returned to Virginia. If that is so then Richard Crich 1635 would not be Henry's father. The Beale/Bell story may be borrowed from a Creech history. There is no documentation. So the roots are as twisted and knotted as ever. Let me know if you learn anymore.

Erica thank you. There are a couple interesting books on Google books on Beale,Beal and Bell family history. I have looked at them free. It is interesting that your last name is Howton. Richard Crouch on the 1623 survivors census is listed as being from Howton, England. What a coincidence if he was if he married a Beale. Anyway you are correct who knows what is fact and what is stretch to make an interesting genealogy. The Creech family history claims Richard came on the ship Journeyman in 1622 or 23. I have read exactly the same thing on the Crouch family history about Richard Crouch. But Creech history says he was from Scotland born in 1600. According to the 1623 records Richard Crouch was from Howton (now Houghton) England and born in 1586. I think it is quite possible James Milton Creech made a stretch (possibly intentionally or on poor information) to combine the two. Crouch name could have become Creech Shakespeare had 5 or six variations. Beal, Beale and Bell But this is two different people not name spellings or pronunciations. Perhaps Richard Creech 1635 was. Henry's father. Perhaps the massacre story belongs to the Crouches. Or perhaps Henry's father is an English carpenter from Howton,, not the son of a Scottish nobleman. Creech is listed as a variation of both Crouch and Crich.
Perhaps we will never know who was Henry's father. For it may not be any of the above. But we do know there are contradictions in the traditional family story. . There are other Crouches who arrived in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. I find no other Crich arrivals. But for that matter I don't finds Ship Journeyman either. Records are incomplete. History is in a fog. Perhaps a jigsaw puzzle that an never be completed. Some are happy to fill in facts with tales. Perhaps they are the lucky ones for they take pleasure in completed story. Myself I yearn for truth. Perhaps I will scour the records racking my brain and tossing and turning on bed at night haunted by this puzzle till my dying breath. Much I have said before. I have only tried to pull it all together. Good luck and success in your searches.