"Reminiscences" written by Crockett's grandnephew, George Rogers Robinson, published in 1906 in an Albia newspaper, seem to have been the base point for further investigation and speculation about Crockett and the disposition of his remains. The removal of what were alleged to be Crockett's remains from an abandoned cemetery south of Albia to Oak View occurred during 1926 and the current monument there was dedicated in 1927.
The Betty Zane chapter was organized during 1910 and Mr. Crockett became one of the organization's principal projects. The following chapter report was published in The Albia Union of Nov. 6, 1914:
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"We have just recently located the grave of Capt. William Crockett, Revolutionary soldier. Capt. Crockett was born in Virginia in 1755 and served in a few campaigns during the revolutionary struggle and shared with Col. Boone the hardships of early Kentucky settlement. In 1794, he fought with Gen. Wayne in the Indian wars. He was one of the one hundred who made a victory of the 'Battle of the Fallen Timbers.' He did active service in the war of 1812, thus making him a three war veteran. In the autumn of 1849, Capt. Crockett and his two elderly daughters came to Monroe county. The following spring he died and was buried about two and one-half miles south of Albia. This grave has been sadly neglected. Just recently, within the last month, we located this grave and expect to properly mark it this coming year."
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So far as anyone knows, no marker every was erected near what was thought to be the original grave and eventually the Daughters and others concluded that it would be a good idea to try to locate Mr. Crockett's bones and move them into Albia. The big move came during 1926.
The Daughters were relying heavily on George Rogers Robinson's 1906 report, quoting it in fact, when they compiled the 1914 report. But they also were attempting to track down Revolutionary War records that would affirm the family stories that Robinson had shared.
I found the typed note at left, dated Dec. 23, 1915, and addressed to Mrs. L.B. Fuller, Betty Zane historian, among the papers in Crockett's Kentucky service file.
The Daughters also forged alliances with Judge Daniel M. Anderson Jr., of Albia, and Edgar R. Harlan, a Van Buren County native who served as curator of what then was known as the Iowa Historical Department from 1909 until 1937.
The following paragraph, published as part of a longer report in The Des Moines Tribune on July 4, 1928, two years after the remains had been moved, gives some idea of the challenges faced by the amateur archaeologists, armed with shovels, when they entered the graveyard during August 1926:
"When Mr. (Edgar R.) Harlan was taken by Judge D.M. Anderson of Albia to this grave in July 1926, he was led through a field of corn to where the site was poorly marked by a few stones gathered at the roots of a large crabapple tree blown down and growing again in its prone state."
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The actual transfer of the remains took place on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1926, and was reported upon as follows in The Albia Union-Republican of Thursday, Aug. 19, under the headline, "Revolutionary War Veteran Is Now buried in Oak View" ---
The remains of William Crockett, the only Revolutionary War veteran buried in Monroe county, are now resting in Oak View Cemetery under an appropriate marker. The transfer of the remains was made yesterday from the unmarked cemetery on the Collins farm about two miles south of Albia.
Crockett was buried in the small cemetery in 1849. For many years the location of his grave was unknown but through the efforts of Judge D.M. Anderson and the local chapter of the D.A.R. the grave was located and with the consent of the relatives the grave was opened and the the remaining evidences of the war veteran were transferred to a place of prominence in Oak View.
The new grave is located just west of the entrance to the cemetery on the north side of the drive. Two hard maple trees provided suitable shade about the historic grave. A large boulder found in the southwest part of the county is the marker. A copper plate, upon which the history of this pioneer will be engraved, is to be mounted on the boulder.
The copper box in which the remains were buried contains a history of the life of Crockett, which was written by Judge Anderson from the Revolutionary War records secured through the state historical department.
The cemetery in which Crockett was originally buried was a private burying ground on the farm originally owned by David Rowles. The cemetery was not platted nor dedicated to the public and when the farm was sold no reservations concerning the cementery were mentioned in the deed. Successive owners of the farm have made no particular attempt to preserve the cemetery and today it is surrounded by a corn field.
Crockett came to Monroe county in 1844 with John Massey and David Rowles. He lived with John Massey until his death in 1849. The date of his birth is somewhat in doubt but Crockett was some place between 90 and 100 years old at his death.
Crockett enlisted as a private fourth class in the fourth battalion of Captain Philip Mathias' company in October 1777, according to the war records. This company was recruited as a part of the Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, militia. After serving in the Revolutionary War, Crockett was also enlisted in two Indian wars. He served as a sergeant in Captain David Kennedy's company of volunteers. He enlisted in this outfit September 23, 1793, and was discharged November 19, 1793.
He again enlisted on July 8, 1794, as a private in Captain John Arnold's company of Price's battalion of mounted Kentucky Volunteers, serving in this company 112 days. Descendants of Crockett also think that he serve in the :War of 1812 and these records are now being looked up.
William Crockett was a cousin of Davey Crockett of Alamo fame.
No ceremonies were held yesterday as the new grave was made, but the Betty Zane chapter of the D.A.W. will conduct appropriate ceremonies at the grave on next Memorial Day.
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By the time of the 1926 transfer, George Rogers Robinson, original source of the Crockett legend, had been dead for seven years. He died Feb. 10, 1919, at the age of 86 and was buried in the Arnold Cemetery near the Monroe-Appanoose County line southeast of Albia.
The stories surrounding Mr. Crockett also had gone slightly adrift from Mr. Robinson's original narrative. The year 1849 now was given (inaccurately) as the date of death and interest had shifted from the old soldier's Robinson kinfolk to David Rowles, on whose farm he had been buried, and Rowles' son-in-law, John Massey. Somewhere along the line someone had concluded that Crockett accompanied Rowles and Massey to Monroe County during 1844 and that the aged veteran was living with Massey when he died. None of this seems to be true.
When "descendants" are mentioned in these later accounts, the references apparently are to Robinson nieces and nephews --- William Crockett's actual descendants were in Decatur County and elsewhere at the time. Although one of the Robinsons apparently signed the paperwork needed to authorize an exhumation, the family as a whole has almost been eliminated from the narrative.
No Virginia-related or Kentucky-related Revolutionary War records could be found for a William Crockett. Records were, however, located for a William Crockett who served with a Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, militia unit. Despite the geographical challenges involved, these records then were attributed to the gentleman now commemorated in Albia. No record of any sort for War of 1812 service has turned up.
As the Crockett legend evolved in Monroe County it probably was inevitable that a conjectural cousinship to the legendary Davy Crockett would develop. While this relationship is entirely possible, it has never been established.
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The monument in Oak View Cemetery was indeed dedicated on Memorial Day, 1927, with suitable ceremony. By this time, the bronze plaque was in place.
Many years later, Grace Billings of the Monroe County Genealogical Society, writing on behalf of the society in a regular Monroe County News column entitled "Touches of the Past," cited a first-hand account of the 1926 exhumation, published on July 8, 1986.
According to Billings, "George D. Miller of Mexico City, Mexico, and his younger sister, Grace Miller Hartzell of St. Louis, Mo., as 6- and 5-year-old youngsters participated in this event Their father, George Doe Miller Sr., a member of the S.A.R., and some friends who were interested in preserving an American Revolutionary Soldier's burial place proceeded to dig up the remains. He recalled that they didn't expect too much when digging. His father requested that he get down in the grave and dig a couple of shovels of dirt so that he could say he had taken part in this historical event. About all that remained was fragments of wood and metal buttons. George remembers that they put the remains in a nice copper box about 18x10x5 inches."
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That's about it so far as the stories involving William Crockett, of Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Lucas and Monroe counties, Iowa, are concerned. The goal hasn't been to diminish Mr. Crockett's status; just to point out some of the backstory involved in his transition from obscurity to modest prominence. And I suppose, too, the unlikelihood that any of his remains actually rest under that big rock in Albia.
One more installment is likely --- about the Crockett family in Decatur County and potential kinfolk elsewhere. Stay tuned.
One more installment is likely --- about the Crockett family in Decatur County and potential kinfolk elsewhere. Stay tuned.
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