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Section 37 : Crean Brush; 1725-1788

Chapter 37.A

One of the most famous of those carrying the BRUSH name was Crane or Crean [IRxx]. A character in the history of the formation of the United States, though he was a loyalist opposing the revolutionary forces. Sometimes described as infamous. His Irish origins are considered in section 17.D. His birth date is commmonly said to be 1725 although there seems to be no primary source for this date. There is little about his early life, a great deal about the last few years.

For the most part the BRUSH families of the USA are outside the scope of this work as many of them are covered elsewhere in The Descendants of Thomas and Richard Brush of Huntington, as discussed in Section 11 " The American Mystery" . I have made an exception for Crean since he is quite unconnected to the Long Island family, has an exceptionally rich documented history and was born in the British Isles - as was his only known child.

The earliest, secondary, source of information about Crean Brush appears to be Benjamin H. Hall’s 1858 “History of Eastern Vermont”. He draws heavily on contemporary official documents for Crean's life in Vermont from 1771 onwards but, according to Duffy and Coyle, "his version of Brush came in good part from oral traditions communicated to him distant in time from that era". Hall acknowledges that "several of the facts relative to [Crean Brush] ... have been obtained...[from his grandson] Mr. Henry M. Norman, who resides at Caldwell."

There is also a section about Crean in Biographical sketches of loyalists of the American revolution, by Lorenzo Sabine published in 1864.

Another early secondary source is the 'Records of the Governer and Council of the State of Vermont' published by J & J M Poland in 1873. The information about Crean in this comes mostly from a footnote, presumably by editor Eliakim Persons Walton. Wikipedia refers to the source as 'Poland' though for the footnotes I think it is better to refer to 'Walton' as the editor. Walton's footnote cites Benjamin H. Hall’s 1858 “History of Eastern Vermont” as a (the?) source.

?Also uses Sabine? https://archive.org/details/biographicalske00sabigoog/page/270/mode/2up?q=brush

He was also the subject of Crean Brush, loyalist and his descendants by Jane Norman Smith, a 60 page book privatly published in 1938.

Hall and Walton clearly used by Smith for some information.

A more recent telling of the story is in an article by Duffy & Coyle. Crean Brush vs Ethan Allen: A Winner's Tale published in the Summer/Fall 2002 issue of Vermont History, the journal of the Vermont Historical Society.

Hall says Crean "was born in Dublin, Ireland, about the year 1725". Sabine and Smith both give Crean's birthdate as 1725 and his birthplace as Dublin. Walton says "about 1725". Duffy and Coyle give 1727 as Crean's year of birth and say that he was originally, while in Ireland, known as Crane, only adopting the variant spelling Crean after moving to America. They also describe him as "of Darkmany in Omagh" rather than of Dublin.

From his will (1777) we know he had a sister Rebecca (who would later marry Reverend Doctor Clarke of the county of Down, and cousins John Brush, merchant and planter, of the island of Tobago, and Richard Brush, merchant, of the island of Madeira.

Whose son was Crean? There seems little doubt that he was a grandson of Crean[IR12] but Crean had three sons - John [IR13], James [IR14] and Crean [IR15].

Hall says Crean "was educated to the profession of the law". Sabine says he was "bred to the law", Smith simply that he was "educated in the profession of the law" and Walton that he was "educated to the the bar" .

A portrait engraving of Crean Brush, which appears at the head of Hall's section on Crean. He states it had "for many years been preserved in the family of Mr. Henry [Molesworth] Norman, who resides at Caldwell". Henry Norman was Crean's eldest grandson.

Hall says "While at home, [Crean] bore some military commission, as the style of dress indicated by his portrait — which is still extant, and which was painted before he removed to this country evinces.  Of his military rank, except that he was familiarly called "Colonel", and of the time and occasion of his service, nothing is known." Walton also records that he "held a military office previous to his coming to America". Duffy & Coyle refer in passing to him as an 'Irish soldier' and say that "Hall mentions Brush’s military experience in Ireland as the basis for his rank of colonel in New York. Dublin city electoral polls list a Major Crane Brush for 1760".

I am not at all convinced this is a military uniform. The lack of epaulettes, the casual form of the collar and the apparent absence of a facing on the lapels suggest to me that this was simply the costume of a mid 18th century gentleman. The Major in Dublin 1860 may be somebody else.

Three illustrations of officers' uniforms from around this period.

In multiple quotes from Vermont documents he is just referred to as Mr or Esquire while other participants are accorded their military ranks.  In his communications with senior English military figures he does not appear to be within the army structure.  'Colonel' seems likely to have been no more than an affection.

There is a reference from 1739 {where?} of a marriage licence bond in the Clogher diocese relating to Faith Brown als Metlin and Crean Brush. Given the early date this seems likely to have been another Crean.

Smith says that he married a "Miss Cushing, a resident of Dublin, who died in 1758, shortly after the birth of their only child Elizabeth Martha".

Duffy and Coyle's version of events is that: "Between 1757 and 1760 he married and became a father in Ireland. After his wife died in childbirth he placed his daughter Elizabeth Martha with his brother-in-law John Cushing in Dublin."

Sabine says Crean "emigrated to America, probably in 1762". Walton says "about 1762" Smith says he sailed for America "previous to or during ...1762....leaving his daughter in the care of his sister Rebecca". This seems to draw directly on Hall's 1858 text:

"At the age of thirty or thirty-one, [Crean] married a Miss Cushing, a resident of the city where he dwelt. By her he had one child, Elizabeth Martha, who was born probably in the year 1758. The mother did not long survive the birth of her daughter, and Mr. Brush being left a widower, placed the little infant in the care of some of his relatives, and came to America a short time previous to, or during, the year 1762."

Duffy & Coyle's description of John Cushing as Crean's brother in law is ambiguous. Cushing could have been the husband of Crean's sister (which fits with Smith's version of events) or the brother of his deceased wife ( which fit's with Hall's naming of Crean's first wife as Miss Cushing.

According to Sabine "In New York, he was admitted to practice, and had employment in the office of the Provincial Secretary." Smith is more specific saying he was "first employed as assistant by the Deputy Secretary of the Province of New York, Mr Goldsbrow Banyar, and in 1764 he was licensed by Lieutenant-Governer Cadwallader Colden to practice as an attorney in all of the Kings Courts in the Province". Smith's wording is lifted direct from Walton's footnote, which in turn is almost verbatim from Hall. Hall gives a couple of extra details. The date of his law licence was 27th January 1764 and its terms 'to practise as an attorney at law, " in all his Majesty's Courts of Record," within the province'. Hall says it "is probable that his law partner was John Kelly, an Irishman of ability and standing". Later sources seem to weaken the link from partner to 'associated with'

While in New York, according to Smith, Crean "married Margaret Montresor, widow of Captain Montresor, a French officer of the British Army" and "had one child by her first marriage, Frances or 'Fanny'." No date is given by Smith for this marriage and it may not in fact have happened. The identification of Montresor as French also seems incorrect. In his 1777 will, Crean includes provision for his step-daughter Fanny and there are various alternative theories.

A similar, and earlier, version appears in Walton's 1873 footnote to the Vermont Records. He says that in New York City Crean "married his second wife, Margaret Montuzan, who was a widow of a colonel in the British army, and mother of the second wife of Ethan Allen." Hall refers to Margaret Montuzan simply as "a widow lady,and by her former marriage the mother of a daughter named Frances."

Hall adds a footnote to his text about Crean's marraige to Margaret:

There is a tradition that Brush was not legally married to his second wife. The story goes, that she, in her maiden days, had been much admired by Brush, who had paid her his addresses, but without success. She married, in preference, a colonel in the British service, who was the father of her child Frances. He was killed in the old French war, or in some of the battles immediately subseqiient to the year 1755. The widow and the widower having met, they agreed to live together as husband and wife, and did so, but the connection was not lawfully established. Resort was had to this alliance in order that Mrs. Brush might be enabled to draw the pension due her as the widow of an officer, which right she forfeited in the event of a second marriage.

According to Wikipedia "Frances Montresor was born April 4, 1760 in New York City, the illegitimate daughter of captain John Montresor, a British army engineer.  Her mother, Anna Schoolcraft, died in 1762 or 1766 in childbirth. Anna was the daughter of James Calcraft....After Anna's death, her sister, Margaret, became [Frances]'s new mother.  Margaret married Colonel Crean Brush of the British army, and they had one child.  [Frances] became Brush's step-daughter."  Notes to that article add that "there are alternate accounts regarding her name at birth and her father's name. In 1913, The Vermonter wrote that Dr. Samuel Theobald of Baltimore, a great-grandson of Penniman, discovered through church records in Scoharie, New York that her name at birth was Frances Montesque, and that her father was a Monte Montesque. The father's name has alternately been referred to as Montezuma or Montuzan or Montresor" and that her "grandfather, James Calcraft, changed the surname at some time to Schoolcraft. One of the sources for this entry is the 2003 Vermont Encyclopeadia (edited by Duffy and others).

The name Montesque also appears in the title given to a portrait of Margaret Schoolcraft attrubuted to Copley

According to the "Netherlands Marriage Index" Crean Brush married Margaret Colecraft at "Ndg" on 10 August 1765. The source for this is given as the 'trouwboek' ( marriage register?) of the Collegiate Church of New York which is apparently in the Nationaal Archief at Den Haag in the Netherlands. A note suggests that this is the date of banns registration rather than the marriage itself and that the records are those of the Reformed Dutch Church in New York (which had formerly benn New Amsterdam).

However, in other sources her name is given as Margaret or Margaretha SCHOOLCRAFT (born 7 November 1734) the daughter of Jaems (Schimms) Schoolcraft and Anna Christine Kramer. The Wikitree entry for father James Jacobus Schoolcraft identifies him as a Lancastrian and mother Anna Christine

Hall: "Mr. Brush removed to Westminster during the year 1771, and on the 25th of February, 1772, was appointed clerk of Cumberland county,! vice John Chandler, removed. He was made surrogate of the county on the lltli of the following April, and at the same time, he and two others received a commission to administer oaths to all officers, both civil and military, within their jurisdiction."

In a short commentary on Hall's history , Tyler Resch comments that "... the book has a thesis to present. It strongly reflects the pro-New York attitude that was prevalent in eighteenth-century ....Cumberland County". This lack of impartiality seems to come out in this "On becoming a resident of Westminster, Mr. Brush was feasted by the inhabitants from house to house. The display which he affected in his dress, contrasted strongly with the simple garb of the villagers, and for some time pomp and parade availed to conceal the defects of character. But as vulgarity of mind became apparent, and novelty of appearance ceased to attract attention, Mr. Brush found, in spite of his boasted attainments as a man of large information, and his pre- tensions to gentility, that his only friends were a few hightoned and arrogant loyalists. Notwithstanding the prevalence of such sentiments as these in the minds of the people of Westminster, Mr. Brush wielded an extensive political influence in the county, on account of his intimate connection with many of the principal government officers. The house in which he lived was situated north of the meeting-house, and was the only building in the town whose four sides faced the cardinal points. It was originally built for the Rev. Mr. Goodell, supposed to be the first minister of the town. It was subsequently owned by a citizen of "Walpole, New Hampshire, who sold it to Mr. Brush. In later years it became the residence of Dr. Elkanah Day. One of the reasons which induced Mr. Brush to settle in this quiet village, was the opportunity which was thereby afforded him, to sell his lands, which were scattered throughout the northern parts of New York and the interior portions of the New Hampshire Grants, and included many broad acres along the banks of the Connecticut, in the town and neighborhood of Westminster. He also hoped to rise in political distinction, an end which he could not accomplish among the learned and aristocratic in the more southern towns of New York. His business, on account of his knowledge of legal forms, was multifarious, and to assist him in it, he kept a clerk, Abraham Mills by name, who, as far as disagreeable traits of character were concerned, was a copy in miniature of his master."

"In 1771, he removed to the 'Grants' " (apparently the 'New Hampshire Grants') "and was soon appointed Clerk and Surrogate of Cumberland County. In the troubles which existed on the 'Grants' as Vermont was then called, he took the side of New York ; and, elected to the Assembly of that Colony, he became a man of considerable note and influence. In 1775, he delivered a set-speech against electing delegates to the second Continental Congress, which the Whig leaders, Clinton, Schuyler, and Woodhull, answered. Trumbull, in McFingal, refers to him thus: —

Had I the poet's brazen lungs,
As sound-board to his hundred tongues,
I could not half the scribblers muster
That swarmed round Rivington in cluster;
Assemblies, councilmcn, forsooth :
Brushy Cooper, Wilkins, Chandler, Booth:
Yet all their arguments and sap'ence
You did not value at three half-pence."

In 1774 the infamous Crean Brush resigned as clerk of the Court, and he [Samuel Gale] was ap pointed to the place. From the entry on Gale) During the difficu The 1770s were, of course, the period of the American war of Indepencdece or the American Revolution ( depending on which side you were on !) Crean Brush was a staunch loyalist and Hall's history ( written from a squarly independent American's standpoint) provides a huge amount of detail about "the infamous" Crean Brush's activities. UNCH LOYALSTAND At Boston, January, 1776, he proposed to Sir William Howe to raise a body of volunteers, not less than three hun- dred, on the same terms, as to pay and gratuity, as the Royal Fencible Americans, a corps just organized. The result is to be inferred from the fact, that on the 10th of March, he was ordered by Sir William to take possession of the goods of cer- tain described persons, and put them on board of the ship MU nerva^ or the brigantine Elizabeth. Under this commission. Brush, at the head of parties of Tories, broke open stores and dwelKng-houses, stripped them, and conveyed his plun- der to the ships. Lawless bands of men from the fleet and army, followed his example ; and Boston, for the last few days of the siege, was given to violence and pillage. As for Brush, he was captured after the evacuation, on board of the brigan- tine above mentioned. The property on board the Ulizabeth'yv2LS worth quite one hundred thousand dollars ; difficulties arose between the claim- ants and the captors, which were expensive and vexatious, but which I have no room to relate. The robber. Brush, was rightly enough put in close jail in Boston, and denied privi- leges, which, to an educated man, are invaluable ; but he endeavored to lesson his woes by intemperance. Early in 1777 he was joined by his wife. The term of his imprison- ment was more than nineteen months. Later in the autumn of the year last mentioned, Mrs. Brush provided him with money and a horse, preparatory to his escape ; and on the night of the 5th of November, he passed the turnkey, dis- guised in her garments, and fled to New York. We hear of the miscreant next in Vermont, where he went to look after his lands. But his career was nearly at an end. The Whigs sequestered his estate ; and the British Commander- in-Chief, to whom he applied to redress his personal wrongs and compensate his losses, not only refused, but told him that his " conduct merited them, and more." His cup was full. " Goaded by the scorpion whip of remorse, too proud to strive to redeem the errors of his past life by an honorable future," in May, 1778, he put a pistol to his head, and was found dead, '^ his brains besmearing the walls of the apart- ment." Such, rapidly traced, was the life of Crean Brush. He was ambitious to be a man of consideration, to be pro- prietor of a vast domain. He became an outcast ; and, of nearly fifty tiiousand acres of the soil of New York, and the " New Hampshire Grants," which he owned, his heirs recovered possession of a small part only. His step-daughter, Frances, was wife of no less a character than Ethan Allen. She was a widow, dashing, and imperious; and though fascinating and accomplished, sometimes spoke in tones as rough and unseemly as the summoner of Ticonderoga himself. His only child, Elizabeth Martha, married Thomas Norman, of Ireland. Of her it is said that she was a lady of refined manners, of dignified deportment, and in every other re- spect an ornament to her sex. From Hall: By the will of Mr. Brush, which was dated "in Boston Gaol," the "Eighteenth Day of October in the year of our Lord, 1777, and in the eighteenth year of his Majesty's Reign," his whole property, after the payment of his debts, was given to his wife during her widowhood. In case of her re-marriage, she was to receive one-third of the estate, and the remaining two-thirds were to be divided equally between his daughter, Elizabeth Martha, and his step-daughter, Frances. On the death of Mrs. Brush, her share was to descend to the first named daughter. Provision was made for other contingencies, and in the event of the death of his wife and daughters, his whole estate was to be divided between his "sister Rebecca, the wife of the Reverend Doctor Clarke of the county of Down in the Kingdom of Ireland," and his cousins John Brush, merchant and planter, of the island of Tobago, and Richard Brush, merchant, of the island of Madeira. HAll: After her second bereavement, it is not known how long Mrs. Brush remained a widow. In 1783 she was the wife of * Vermont Council Records. Vt. Laws, February, 1779, p. 72. Slade's Vt. State Papers, pp. 355, 356. j- Various MS. Memoranda in office Sec. State N, Y. MES. BRUSH. 629 Patrick "Wall,* and, with her husband, resided in Isew York city. They afterwards removed to Westminster, at which place she s]3ent the remainder of her life. In the will of Crean Brush, his step-daughter, Frjinces, is referred to as the wife of Caj^taiu Buchanan. On the marriage of her mother with Patrick Wall, one-third of the estate of her step-father came into her possession, by vii'tue of the will, whose main provisions have been already cited. When Mrs. Wall came to reside at "W estniiuster, Mrs. Buchanan, then a widow, accompanied her. She was a dashing woman, and early attracted the attention of the quiet town's-people, to whom a bearing as imperious as that which she exhibited M'as wholly new. During some one of his frequent visits to Westminster, Gen. Etha HALL: Elizabeth Martlia, tlie only child of Crean Brush, was about nineteen years old at the time of her father's death. At the age of twenty-two, she married Thomas ITorman of Drogheda, Ire- land, by whom she had four children, Henry M., Eliza, John E., and Forbes. By the will of her father she was heir to onethird part of his estate. Having purchased of Mrs. Penniman and of Mrs. Wall their respective thirds, and taken from them quitclaim deeds duly executed and acknowledged, she became enti- tled to the whole property. In tlie year 1795 her husband, who resided with her in Ireland, constituted her his attorney, and with this power she soon after came to America, and immediately took measures to recover the property to which she had become entitled. At "Westminster, where she had fixed her abode, she was afterwards joined by her husband, and at that place they lived until the time of their removal to Caldwell, at the south end of Lake George, where Mr. Norman died in the year 1814. Mrs. Norman was a lady of fine manners, dignified deportment, and was, in every respect, an ornament to her sex. She enjoyed in early life the advantages of a good education, and never failed to receive that regard and attention to which her merits entitled her. To what extent she succeeded in obtaining possession of the estate left by her father, is not known. In addition to the lands which he had held in New York and Vermont, he had owned also farms in Walpole, Westmoreland, Hinsdale, and Winchester ; but according to John Kelly, Mrs. Norman's lawyer, she was prevented by " the manoeuvres of the Burt family of Walpole " from obtaining full possession of her landed property in these New Hampshire towns. By a letter from Mr. Kelly to Mrs. Norman, dated the 9th of June, 1T95, it appears that all the lands which Mr. Brush had held in Vermont, under the New York title, were at that time deemed, as they afterwards proved to be, "irrecoverably lost." Mr. Kelly also stated that, in many instances, the citizens of Yermont had possessed themselves of Mr. Brush's lands during the war, and had since " held them by main force and strength ;" that some of his farms in that state had been sold as confiscated ; but that " the resolution of the Governor and Council of Yermont, under which they were so sold," did not pass until two years after Mr. Brush's death. Referring in another place to this resolution, he con- demned it in the plainest terms, declaring " the attempt to confiscate a dead man's estate" as an act " superlatively wicked." THOMAS CHANDLER. 633 It is believed that Mr. Brush's property, situated in the state of New York proper, was never confiscated. Even if this M'cre so, it does not appear that Mrs. Norman ever realized h«r ex- pectations in the estate of her father. When on the 23d of April, 1799, the sum of $30,000 which Vermont had paid to New York, was divided among the claimants who had held lands on the " Grants," under charters from the latter state, Mrs. Norman made application for her portion, but obtained $713.60 only, a sum which bore no proportion to the real value of the possessions of her father in Vermont. https://genealogy.nationalarchives.ie/

Crean's only child Elizabeth Martha married a Mr Norman. Their descendants are detailed in tables within the 1938 book by Smith.

Next Sections
Chapter 29C: The younger children of Samuel and Sarah and
Chapter 29D: The children of John and Mary and