MINERVA PRIEST AND ADAM CRUM

Minerva Elizabeth was born in 1854. The picture below is of Minerva and her daughter Allifair probably in the early 1990s.

When her Father died Minerva was the only child still living at home, and it was Minerva who was still living on the family farm and provided the information about her siblings to the special investigator in 1898. According to her granddaughter Garnet Crider Ewing, Minerva would get most excited about the Civil War. She did not like the South. Apparently the southern soldiers raided their home and took chickens and food from them. Minerva never married, however in 1886 she had a daughter Allifair by Adam Crum. The Crum’s are also an old Floyd County family. Garnet said her grandmother’s family did not want to to marry Adam Crum. I find it interesting they would rather see her have an illegitimate child. Anyway Adam Crum went on to make a lot of money in timber and sent Allifair away to school to become a teacher. She met Sam Crider from another old Floyd County family during her first teaching job in Pike County. They married and Adam bought her a farm in Greenup County north of Floyd County. Sam didn’t like Greenup County so Adam bought them another farm in Boyd County. In the 1910 census Minerva is living with Sam and Allifair. Minerva loved to read and Allifair must have taught her since in the 1880 census it says she couldn’t read. She lived with them until she died in 1939. Sam and Allifair had three children Bill, Garnet and Samuel McCelland “Mack” before Sam died of heat stoke around 1924.

Bill went on to run the farm and had prize winning dairy cows. The picture to the left is of Bill with his uncle Grant Priest (in the hat) at the Kentucky State Fair with one of his prize heifers.

To the right is a picture from 1975 of Bill Crider, Garnet Crider Ewing, Mack Crider and Abner Priest (George W. Priest’s grandson).

Garnet Crider Ewing is wonderful. She has been a wealth of information and remembers her Mother as the most wonderful mother anyone could have had. It is interesting she knew nothing about her grandmother’s brothers and sisters, of the part of the family that moved to Arkansas, or the the connection to the James family. Although after her Father died her Mother took all the kids to visit “Mont” in Arkansas. Sharing information with her has been extremely rewarding.

Garnet Crider Ewing with her Mother Allifair Priest Crider shortly before her death in 1951. On the back Garnet has written “She was the best friend I ever had.”

To the right is a picture of Garnet and me taken this summer when I was lucky enough to have lunch and visit with her and her daughter Robin. What wonderful people.