Crockett and Emery Families

The Crockett ancestors came to America in 1632 from County Devon in England's southern part. They were David, Thomas, and one that went to Canada. Thomas was the ancestor of the Henry County families.

George Crockett lived in Seneca County, Ohio in 1847. He came to Henry County in 1847 and Judson Emery came with him.

Judson Emery was the eldest of Levi Emery's ten children, of which all but three came to Ohio and settled in the Grelton area. Judson bought land, one half section from the U.S. Government at Defiance, Ohio, for $1.00 per acre. Judson had the land known as the Murrey Place and George Crockett had what was known as the Fred and Charley Kelly farms. When they bought the land along South Turkey- foot Creek there were no roads or improvements. Judson by 1849 had a house and had married Lucinda Mead of Grand Rapids. This home is now on Road M-4 and was purchased from Cecelia Gorsuch by James Adams in 1977.

Judson sent for his sister Harriet to come from Maine, planning that she would marry George Crockett, but Harriett knew nothing of the arrangement. Harriett was the middle child of Levi Emery's ten children. She came by canal boat to Grand Rapids and was met and taken to Judson's home. She did marry George Crockett, and having taught three terms of school in Maine, she began to teach in Ohio. Her sister, Anna Emery, later called Sisty, kept house for George and Harriett. After five years of teaching, Harriett earned enough so they could build a barn. A son, Malcolm Crockett, was born in 1852. They had three more children, Ollie, Dr. Ernest Crockett, and Knott Crockett.

Many early settlers came to the area in the 1860's and were met and made welcome, and even found shelter in a few cabins built by Judson Emery until their cabins could be erected. Judson was a warm hearted man and befriended the needy.

George Crockett died in 1871 of typhoid fever as rats had gotten into the drinking water. Malcolm Crockett was then nineteen years old and took over the farming of the family farm. A few years later he built the brick house one mile north of Grelton. Malcolm married Mary Wheaton, a classmate of his sister, Ollie, at Oberlin College. They had six children: Alice Kinsey, Edith Krohn Overhuls, Anna Emery, Flora Quattrochi, and sons, George and Pliny Crockett.

The home place was sold in the 1880's and Malcolm purchased one hundred sixty acres one half mile west of Grelton. He built a house on the land. The farm is now the property of Alfred and Dorothea Lanzer.

Edith had two daughters, Marjorie, now Mrs. Richard Wilt, of Woodville, Ohio, and Lois, now Mrs. Benny Ingle, of Bryan, Ohio.

Anna had a son, Austin. George married Laura Krohn and had sons, Charles and Robert of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Paul who lives in California. Pliny married Tillie Yackee. They had one son, Milo who lives near Defiance. Flora lives in New York City.

Malcolm Crockett was very industrious and active in community affairs. He was influential in bringing lyceum entertainment to Grelton. His wife, Mary, and daughters, Alice and Edith, were graduates of Oberlin College. Flora lives in New York and Edith lives with her daughter, Marjorie, in Woodville, Ohio.

Anna Crocket Emery's son, Austin Emery, was born on December 15, 1925 at Green Springs. His father, Orrin Emery, died in Florida when Austin was three years old and his mother, Annie Crockett Emery, died when he was six years old. At her request, he lived with his uncle, George Crockett, at Grelton, Ohio, until he finished high school. Then Austin went into the Navy at Great Lakes Training School. From there he went to Terre Haute, Indiana and was sent to a technical college. He graduated from there and met and married Margaret Johnson, a graduate of Wellsley, and then he had one or two years at Harvard majoring in civil engineering. Austin was sent to California. At the outbreak of the Korean War he went to the Pentagon and then to upstate New York, all the time being in the Naval Reserve. From there he went from the least populated New York area to the greatest population density as area director of transportation for Long Island where he has an office. A limousine gets him and takes him home each night. He has been there for eighteen years. He has a sloop that he uses to spend time on family vacations. In 1977, they went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Maine. Austin and Margaret have no children of their own but have adopted three. James, the oldest, is in college at Wheaton, Illinois. Austin can trace his ancestry back on his mother's side to Ezeckial Cheever who came to Boston Latin School, the first school of higher learning in the New England States.

Harriet Emery Crockett's sister, Ellen Emery, married Asa Senter. Asa was the first secretary and treasurer of the Henry County Mutual Insurance Association. The Senter farm was on County Road N and now owned by Fred Yocum.

Alden Emery, the next to the youngest child of Levi Emery, married Carolyn Senter and they had a son, Vernon Emery. After the death of Carolyn, Alden married Cynthia Peck of Wakeman, Ohio. Their farm adjoined the Senter farm on the East and is now the home of Harley Heckler.

Benton Emery, the youngest brother, had a farm south of Grelton that is now the home of William Kinsel. Benton married Cynthia Shively. They lived many years on the northwest corner of Grelton in Harrison Township. Their home is now the home of Virgie Gallgher. Benton's daughter, Eva Emery, had a millinery store at Grelton. She later married John Albert Wright and lived in Liberty Center.

Willard Emery, another brother of Harriet, had a son, Elthon Emery who lived on County road M-4. Elthon's children were Orlo, Vaugh, Laura and Jesse Ray Emery.

After high school, Orlo went to Detroit and studied law. He married a German lady. Orlo enlisted in the military and retired a full colonel. His knowledge of German and law helped him to assist in the Nuremburg Trials, a high point of his life.

Alden and Carolyn Emery's son, Vernon Emery, was a Congregational minister. He married Caroline Hayes of Painesville, Ohio, and they had one son, Alden Hayes Emery, who graduated from Oberlin College, then took two years of chemistry at Ohio State University. Alden went to Washington, D.C. where he worked in the Bureau of Mines and became secretary of the American Chemical Society and served in that capacity the rest of his lifetime.

Submitted by: Edith Crockett Overhuls