Nathaniel Chapman Crenshaw

Son of John Crenshaw and Elizabeth Austin

Twin Brother: Edmund Bacon/Austin Crenshaw

Born: 20 Jul 1791
Died: 22 May 1866

Marriages: NCC had four wives
1.: Deborah Darby Crew on 11 Jun 1819.
          (b. 25 Nov 1794, d. May 1820)
          (da. of Micajah and Margaret Ladd Crew of Hanover Co.
           They were Friends.)
     One son: John Bacon (b. 2 May 1820, d. 10 May 1889)
2.Married: Mary Younghusband Couch on 6 Aug 1825
          (b. 1802, or 1798?, d. 4 Nov 1826 or 1827?, in Richmond City, Virginia)
NOTE: date on FIND-A-Grave stone is wrong; should be 1927)
     One son: Edmund Austin (b. 4 Feb 1827, d. 27 Feb 1894)
3.Married: Ann Copeland Denson Pretlow on 24 Aug 1828
          (d. 3 Jun 1844),
          widow of Joshua Pretlow of Southampton Co.
Children:
     Elizabeth Ann (b. 21 May 1830, d. 18 Jan 1866);
           m. Gilbert Arnold Congdon in 1856.
          One son: G. A., Jr., (b. 1857, d. 26 Sep 1884);
          who m. Elizabeth Abbott of Philadelphia; no issue
     Mary Jane (b. 5 Jul 1833, d. 19 Feb 1912);
          m. 1867 Jordan Denson Pretlow of "Beechwood," Southampton Co.
          Their three chilren died in infancy.
4.Married: Eliza Hopkins from Baltimore, on 15 Nov 1846.
          (b. 19 May 1797, d. 1 Aug 1875)
          Father: Samuel Hopkins 1759-1814, mother: Hannah Janney Hopkins 1774-1846,
          Brother: Johns Hopkins 1795-1873. See inscription on gravestone.
          There were no children.

Notes on Nathaniel Chapman Crenshaw: (From Margaret E. Crenshaw notes)

His father was a Presbyterian and his mother an Episcopalian. He was christened in the Episcopal Church but did not join either church.

In 1812 he joined the army as a volunteer, but never saw active service.

Deborah Darby Crew was a Friend, and after she married Nathaniel, she was disowned 14 Aug 1819 (for marrying a non-Friend).

She died two weeks after their son John Bacon was born. Her sister Margaret Crew, went to live with Nathaniel and care for the boy.("She was a woman of deep piety who early led him to Christ as his Saviour. She was his first teacher and instilled in him a love for the Bible and for such other books as would improve his mind.")

Nathaniel was then living at Rocouncie about six miles from Richmond. This farm was purchased by Izard Bacon from the heirs of Col. William Lewis and was called Rocouncie from the Indian name Round Chouncie, which meant "surrounded by water."

After the death of his first wife, and under the influence of her sister Margaret Crew, Nathaniel joined the Society of Friends. On 12 Jul 1825 at Weynoke Monthly Meeting, Nathaniel and Mary Y. Couch declared their intentions of marriage. Other friends and a parson were appointed to attend the marriage and on 5 Nov 1825, they reported the marriage as orderly.

During the life of Ann Pretlow Crenshaw, Nathaniel built the house we know as Shrubbery Hill, the land that was originally the property of Charles Crenshaw, Jr., who never married.

One of the wives convinced Nathaniel to sell his slaves. "She persuaded her husband to join the Quaker meeting. He became convinced of the evils of slavery and set all his slaves free, which created quite a rumpus there. But they stayed around Richmond. A lot of the slaves adopted the name Crenshaw, because, of course, they didn't have any surnames. The slaves were Bill and Joe and one thing and another. They all adopted [the Crenshaw] name." (EAC-III Interview with NCWP)