Page 2 - The CRAIG family

The Craig Ancestry
The Craigs are a very old family of the eastern portion of Scotland where the Picts (a Pict is a member of people of the North of Scotland) are considered to be among the most ancient of the founding races of Scotland.
Among the oldest Chiefs of Clan Craig to be researched is William Craig of Craigfintray, County Ab- erdeen, who was most likely born around 1450. Next came Alexander Craig (1480) of Craigfintray; then William Craig (1501) of Craigfintray (later Craigston) County Aberdeen. William had four sons, the oldest being Thomas Craig (b. 1568; d.1608), who married Helen Heriot. He moved to London with the Scottish king James IV when James became King of England, and he is still considered a great writer of Scottish feudal law – his work Jus Feudale is still referred to by lawyers today.
Sir Thomas Craig had three children; a daughter Margaret (1575), and two sons, Louis (1568), who married Breatix Chirnside, and James (1573). In 1610 Sir James of Craig Castle in Craigston of County Aberdeen, was chosen to be one of the Scottish undertakers of the Ulster Plantation in Northern Ireland, Louis’ oldest son was also named Sir Thomas Craig (b March 16, 1601); and his youngest son Louis would father William Craig, whose children (William, Daniel, Thomas, James, Margaret, Jane and Sarah) would leave Ireland for America. (our Craig line is descended from one of these Craig men).
The Scotch — Irish immigrants who came to America in the 1720’s moved north of the older Mary- land settlements, and entered Pennsylvania which had been granted to William Penn in 1681 by Charles II.
According to The Craig Family – 1956: Between 1721 and 1732 the sons and daughters of William Craig emigrated from Ulster in North Ireland, and the most detailed accounts claim the Craig’s landed in Philadelphia, Wayland’s Virginia Valley Records stated that the Craig’s crossed in 1732, but Boogher’s Gleanings of Virginia pushed it back to 1721 or 1722 and American Ancestry Vol 11 pinpointed 1721. While records of the crossing are not found, early deeds and records place the Craig’s in America well before 1728, and early documented movements verify Philadelphia.