My Genealogy Hound

Sidney A. Craig is a son of James, and a grandson of Johnson Craig, whose father came directly from Ireland and settled in Orange County, N. C. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and laid large land warrants in Maury County, Tenn., near where Mount Pleasant now is. Johnson Craig, with four brothers, David, John, William and Samuel, came to Tennessee and settled on this land in the fall of 1808. Johnson Craig was born in Orange County, N. C., November 19, 1773, and married Martha Blackwood May 3, 1798, and came to Tennessee in the fall of 1808. He was a successful farmer and stock raiser; was a Whig in politics and was many times solicited to represent his county in the State Legislature, but, having no political aspirations, always declined. He was a member of the Old Presbyterian Church, and was prominently spoken of as “that noblest work of God,” an “honest man.” He died in October, 1848, in his seventy-fifth year. His wife was born in Orange County, N. C., August 10, 1781. They were married May 3, 1798, and raised fourteen children: David, Margaret, William, John, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Samuel, Johnson, Nancy, Charles, Mary, Isabell, James and Newton. Mrs. Craig was an affectionate wife and mother, and died in October, 1856, and was buried beside her husband in the Hunter Graveyard, near Mount Pleasant. Our subject’s maternal great-grandfather, Aaron Voorhies, came from North Carolina, and settled in Maury County, Tenn., where his son, John Voorhies, who was born in North Carolina, was married to Mary Chaffin. He was a soldier of the war of 1812; was a Democrat in politics, and a great admirer of Gen. Jackson, being with him at New Orleans. He was a successful farmer, and died April 24, 1865. To him were born ten children: Angeline, Robert, Rebecca, Aaron, Margaret Malissa, Jasper Newton, Martha, Mary Jane, David and John. Mrs. Voorhies died July 24, 1874. James Craig, father of our subject, was born in Maury County, Tenn., October 10, 1822, and married Margaret Malissa Voorhies July 24, 1844. Margaret M. Voorhies was born October 24, 1825. They raised ten children to be grown: John Johnson, Sidney Anderson, Emily Frances, Elizabeth Jane, Ann Washington, Martha Ella, James Millard, Joseph Leroy, William Blackwood (deceased) and Walter Peyton. Sidney A. Craig, our immediate subject, was born on Buffalo River, near Pleasant Garden, in Lawrence County, Tenn., January 5, 1847. His early days were spent on the farm, receiving only a common school education. On the 3d of January, 1871, he was married to his cousin, Miss Eliza Ann Craig, daughter of John and Nancy Craig. John Craig, third son of Johnson Craig, was born October 12, 1808, and was married to Nancy Gordon February 11, 1834, and died June 18, 1885. Nancy Craig, nee Gordon, was born May 1, 1815, was married to John Craig, and was the mother of seven children: Elizabeth A., Simeon Brantley, John Henry, Martha Ellen, Mary Isabell (deceased), Eliza Ann and Robert Newton. Eliza Ann Craig, wife of S. A. Craig, was born September 18, 1845, and was married January 3, 1871, and was the mother of four children: Ada May, Charley Ross. Nettie Pearl and Eva Campbell (deceased). Mr. Craig followed farming and school-teaching until 1872, clerked in a store during the year of 1873, and in 1874 established a mercantile store at Napier Furnace, and there continued until 1879, when he came to Centreville, and has continued very successfully in the same business. He was formerly a Democrat, but is now a member of the Greenback party. He was made a Mason in 1868, and he and his wife and two oldest children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.