1) Descendants of Lucretia Long (Yoho), daughter of Mary Bearmore, had identified Lucretia's mother as Rachel Crownover. Oral history from William Jasper Yoho (1858-1947): "Now William Henry was his son and his wife was Luceta (probably Lucretia) Long. She was born in Pennsylvania and came to Ohio with her family when she was six year old. Her father's name was James Long and his wife was Rachel Crownover." Indeed, Lucretia was the daughter of James Long and she did move from Pennsylvania to Ohio with her family before 1830 (she was born in 1823). We know that her mother was not a Crownover, as DNA evidence clearly links the Long descendants to the Bearmores. It seems likely that they simply missed a generation in the oral history.
The death certificate for Lydia (Lida) Long Crownover, according to information from her husband, identified her parents as James Long and Lucy Long.
2) The probate record for Jonathan Bearmore indicates that Lydia Crownover (presumably Lydia Predmore Crownover), was a major creditor of his estate. Apparently he had property in the amount of 11 pounds 13 shillings 1 penny that belonged to her and was sold at the auction of his estate but was not included in the list of articles sold or in the estate inventory. The entry describing the above information is crossed out, but she is listed among the creditors in the final record for the above amount. She seems receive about 1 pound 6 shillings 2 pence worth of wheat and rye grain in the sale; that sale is handwritten in after the other items, along with some leather sold to the Administrator, Benjamin South (brother of Jonathan's wife Keziah).
I have not seen any other records for this Lydia Crownover in Greene County; however, I strongly suspect that she is related to the deceased. Jonathan Bearmore came from Middlesex County, New Jersey about 1797; the Crownovers are from the same place. Most of the creditors appear to be in Greene County in 1798 tax lists, except for Joseph South, who was the father of the deceased’s wife Kezia South (and I note that he was the largest creditor, with Lydia the second largest).Lydia was not directly related to Jonathan's second wife, Keziah South.
"The notes represent a list of debts owed by Jonathan. Number 9 appears to say that he owed Lydia Crownover for the items listed below but that Jonathan sold them in 1797 before he moved from Jersey. The people that he sold them to include two Furmans – Andrew and Archable. I have researched Furmans for almost 20 years and have not seen those given names before. The name Joseph Story rings a bell but I can’t remember from where I recall it. Major South is Keziah’s brother and the debt to him is dated 11/20/1797 and is for furniture and bording? work. Elijah South (another brother) moved to Greene County around the same time that Jonathan did. I imagine they traveled together. He is owed for turnips and two days work. Jonathan also owed William Furman, my gggg grandfather, for wheat, corn, and oats. Those debts would have been accumulated after he arrived in Greene County. Joseph South apparently signed an affidavit making his claim (dated 5/6/1790) against the estate. I wonder if he was trying to retrieve the dowry provided for Keziah. It would be better that the money came back to him than to be used to pay the rest of Jonathan’s debts. The estate record includes payment to Jacob Bowman for tutoring Samuel and Lucrece Bearmore....Jonathan moved to Greene County and appears to have died within a year. It looks like he borrowed a great deal and came to Greene County on a shoestring."It seems that he might have been selling Lydia's goods after Jonathan moved to PA, perhaps the goods were a dowry from Lydia for his first wife?
3) James Long and Mary Bearmore had the following daughters:
a) Lydia (probably after Lydia Predmore, since the name does not appear among the Longs)
b) Rachel (James' sister, perhaps Mary's mother too?)
c) one or two named Mary (mother)
d) Nancy (possibly named for Nancy Covenhoven, who would have been Mary's aunt if my supposition is correct)
e) Dorcas (James' sister)
f) Lucretia (Mary's sister)
4) I presume that Jonathan Bearmore had two wives, since there's a wide gap between his first three children (George, Mary, and Lucretia, born 1780-1781) and his last two (Joseph b. 1792 and Samuel b. 1790). Also, the latter two are named in the will of Keziah's father, Joseph South as "her two sons" in 1811, while the other three are not mentioned. They would have been 21 or under at that time, so perhaps there were legal reasons for the distinction.
"1811, May 2. South, Joseph, of East Windsor Twsp., Middlesex Co.: will of. Wife, Sarah, use of plantation whereon I live, and moveable estate, for life, after which to be sold. Son, Joseph, tract (70 acres) as heretofore given him, he paying $100. Son, Elisha, $5 Son, Isaac, $120 Grandaughter, Nancy Danser. $20 Residue (after debts are paid), into 13 parts. Sons, Elija and Benjamin, each 2 shares. Interest of 1 share to daughter, Kesiah, and after her death to her two sons, Samuel and Joseph Baremore. Sons, Major and Charles, each 2 shares. Daughters, Mary Danser, Sarah Danser, each 1 share. Grandson, Gill Jewell, 2 shares. Executors---son, Charles, and Abiah Danser*. Witnesses ---Sarah Man, Jas Mershon, Allison Ely, Jr. Proved Jan. 18, 1813 1813 Jan 18. Inventory. $2,173.23; made by Andrew Rowan, Allison Ely. *Sighed by mark. File 10437 L."Estate records for Joseph mention: "Joseph Baremore for his legacy left in the hands of the deceased...." and "By cash paid to Keziah Baremore."
5) John/Jan Covenhoven's wife has not been clearly identified (see separate post), and his children are not fully identified. There is a gap between the son Thomas (abt. 1764) and daughter Jemima (abt. 1767) that would fit with the expected birth for James's presumed first wife. Ruth Crownover (married to a descendant of theirs) suggested that Rachel might be a child of John and his wife, whom she thought was Mary South. Their children generally went by the name Crownover. She had written that, "John Covenhoven 1719-1778 and Lydia Pridmore left New Jersey in the 1760s for Pennsylvania. The son settled in Huntingdon county with a large family, the father and rest of the family went to Berkeley county, VA in 1772." Note that George Bearmore (Jonathan's father) lived in Fauquier Virginia for in the late 1700s before relocating to South Carolina.
6) I have found autosomal DNA matches with descendants of John Covenhoven and Lydia Predmore; most common among these are descendants of Joseph Crownover who married Sally Prigmore, who as a relative of Lydia's (and therefore likely their descendants would carry more DNA from the John and Lydia pairing).
Combined, I believe this information supports the hypothesis, although DNA testing would be extremely useful to validate it.
