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I would be glad to be of as much help as possible.
I assume you are a descendant. Do you know through which ancestor, that is, which child of Toliver and Mary's you descend?
I will begin with Toliver's story. I apologize if you already have this information.
There has been much confusion and controversy over the many years regarding Jane Craig and her son Toliver. There is the tale that she was actually Jane Taliaferro widowed shortly after marrying John Craig in Italy and then she traveled with her brothers to America.
There is also the lively tale of a poor seaman named Toliver Craig who was swept overboard his ship durng a storm and drowned at sea. The next morning the passengers and crew of the ship found a baby boy abandoned and laying on the deck of the ship and noone would claim him. The crew of the ship took pity and collectively adopted the tike, named him Toliver Craig in memory of the recently drowned seaman, and raised him to manhood.
The truth of the matter, and it is a matter of record by means of documented and preserved letters between Toliver Craig's grandsons Lewis Sanders and Rev. Francis Craig that Jane Craig was a single woman from the eastern shores of Scotland. Jane had an affair with a sea captain named Ricardo Taliaferro who brought her to America. Though Jane became pregnant Taliaferro did not marry her, he was already married. Jane named her son Toliver Craig.
Jane Craig was the headwaters in America of a spirited, independent minded, hardworking and occasionally controversial line of Craigs. She never married and after her affair with Taliaferro, according to her grandsons, she led a proper and respectable life. It has not been found that Jane either published or denied her situation but, her progeny over the centuries have gone to great lengths to cover up the truth. Though her grandsons considered their grandmother's experience a "delicate subject", Toliver never denied his status and I would conjecture that were the facts different he would not have made up such a story.
Toliver was born in 1704 and died 02/05/2795. I haven't found whether he was born at sea or in Virginia. In about 1730 he married a gal named Mary "Polly" Hawkins (of Bryan Station Siege fame). Mary Polly was born in Virginia on 09/19/1916 and died 01/16/1804 in Woodford, Kentucky. Mary's parents were John Hawkins born about 1680 in Slapton, England and died before 10/07/40. He immigrated to America about 1705. He married before 1707 in Botetourt, Virginia a Mary Long born about 1680. Mary and John had 6 chldren: Joseph, William, Philemon (after John's brother), Elizabeth, Phoebe and Mary Polly. There is strong opinion that this Hawkins line is descended from one that can be traced through lines of nobility and royalty in Europe. I personally find enough descrepency in the birth and death dates of John Hawkins, Mary's father and the John Hawkins proposed to be the grandfather. In my personal opinion I'd just as soon that not be the case as in the Hawkins up-line is Sir John Hawkins who, during a jaunt to Sierre Leone, thought it would be a jolly skipper idea to capture a few African natives and engage in the brokering of human flesh. He is unaffectionately called the "father of slavery".
Anyway, Toliver and Mary Polly Hawkins Craig had John, Joyce (aka Jossie or Rejoyce), Jane, Toliver Jr., Lewis, Elijah (my ancestor), Joseph, Sarah, Jeremiah and Elizabeth. They settled on a parcel of land that Mary had inherited and became tobacco farmers. Toliver and his children had very little education and were escentially illiterate though far from stupid. Toliver was generous and a shrewd business man. The Craigs were Separatist Baptist and his sons Lewis and Elijah became outspoken and unrestrainable preachers. They were frequently thrown in the pokey for "preaching without a license" as well as preaching doctrinal controversys (translation: doctrine contrary to the Episcopal Church which was the church of the state). They were known to draw crowds by their preaching through the bars of their jail cells. They drew the attention of Patrick Henry and on at least one occasion Elijah preached to a crowd, through his jail cell window, where a young boy named James Madison was listening.
Toliver and Mary Polly followed their sons and their families to Kentucky where they help to carve out a place in the wilderness and begin establishing settlements. Mary Polly made her display of Hawkins/Craig grit when she was at the Bryan Station during a siege by the Indians and Redcoats in 1782, the incident which lead to the last battle of the Revolution. During the siege it was discovered that the water sources were dangerously low. The fort had been designed and built with the water source outside rather than inside the fort so someone had to go for water. The women had become disgruntled with the men so they decided they would go for water and none of the men offered to stop them. Mary Polly was sitting in her chair when she said "well, all I'm doin' sitting here is getting older." She got up, got her buckets, organized the women who agreed to go with her (including some young girls) and off they went single file to the spring where they filled their buckets with water and returned safely to the fort. In spike of their act of bravery none of the women are on the DAR or SAR list of Patriots for the Revolution. The DAR though has placed a plaque with all the women's names at the station in comemoration of the event.
I hope I have at lest gotten you started on your quest.
If you Google Mary Polly Hawkins you can find a picture of her. Also, try Goggeling Craig Family Genealogy.
If you have any more questions I can be contacted most easily at jdefrees@kc.rr.com.
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