Lewis and John Crain were step sons to my 5th gr grandfather Moses Winters.
he md Elizabeth Head widow Crain, mother to Lewis and Moses
story of their journey to TN is below......
any questions or comments let me know thanks. I have allot of info on these families, thanks!


BACKGROUND
No attempt had been made to permanently settle the area known as French Lick on the banks of the Cumberland River in Middle Tennessee until 1779. In February of that year, Wataugan leader James Robertson set out with a nine-man exploration party to the site. Soon after their arrival, fellow pioneer Casper Mansker joined the group. A 3,000-acre land grant was negotiated with Richard Henderson and arrangements were made for the movement of these families who were prepared to risk all to start a new life in a far-distant rugged wilderness. Robertson charged three of his men with staying behind and planting some corn to prepare for the arrival of a much larger group, whilst he returned to Watauga to prepare them to make the journey westward.
James Robertson did not immediately return to Watauga, but detoured to Illinois to see General George Rogers Clark, who, as the agent of Virginia was dispensing "cabin rights" on very favorable terms. Robertson, whose Watauga Association was in opposition to the control of the government of North Carolina (which held claim to the land) thought it possible that the yet-to-be established border between the Virginia and North Carolina frontiers would throw the new Cumberland River settlement in Virginia. Thus he wished to get secure titles and eliminate any future complications over ownership. After making provisional arrangements with General Clark, Robertson returned to his family to prepare for the pending relocation to the Cumberland country.
Robertson by land
On November 1, 1779, Robertson led some 200 "movers," some on horseback and some on foot, from Fort Patrick Henry at Watauga toward the western frontier to prepare for the later arrival of the party's women and children, to be led over waterways by John Donelson. Robertson's brothers, Mark and John, were in the party, as well as his oldest son, 11-year-old Jonathan, who drove the sheep. The men were joined en route by John Rains and a number of his friends, who then decided to settle at French Lick, rather than in Kentucky. The end of the journey was not reached until Christmas Day, due to delays caused by the winter described as the coldest one any of them had ever known. [1]
The settlement occurred at a time of great unrest on the western frontier of the thirteen colonies. The American Revolution broke out one month after the Henderson's Purchase treaty was signed. Most Cherokee towns tried to stay neutral, but Cherokee chief Dragging Canoe considered the war an opportunity to resist the white encroachment on Cherokee territory. American raids against his towns in East Tennessee forced Dragging Canoe to move them farther to the southwest. In 1779 they settled on Chickamauga Creek near Chattanooga, and became known as the Chickamauga band of Cherokees. Dragging Canoe had promised to make the settlers pay a "heavy price" if they moved there, and he made good his word. [2]

Donelson by river
After only three miles the river voyage was halted; ice and snow and cold had set in and the frozen river made progress impossible. There was no movement until mid-February, and when the boats were eventually cut loose, they were hampered again by the swell of the river due to incessant heavy rain. Donelson's group suffered greatly from Dragging Canoe's promise of vengeance. On their way to French Lick they had to pass the Chickamauga towns on the Tennessee River. Headed north on the Tennessee river past the "Big Bend" in what is today Hardin County, Tennessee, the natives attacked the Donelson party and managed to capture one boat with 28 people on board. They had come that way because Donelson and Robertson had mistakenly assumed the Cumberland to be a tributary of the Tennessee River. The Cumberland is, in fact, like the Tennessee, a tributary of the Ohio River, and the journey by river was much more difficult — and took three months longer — than they had expected. On March 20, they arrived at the mouth of the Tennessee River and went into camp on the lowland which is now the site of Paducah, Kentucky. Wear, hungry and low on provisions, they were confronted by new difficulties. Having been constructed to float downstream, their boats scarcely able to ascend the rapid current of the Ohio, which due to heavy spring rains was particularly high and fast. They were also ignorant of the distance yet to be travelled, and the length of time required to reach their destination. Some of the company here decided to abandon the journey to French Lick; a part of them floating down the Ohio and Mississippi to Natchez, the rest going to points in Illinois. Among the latter were John Caffrey and his wife, who was Donelson's daughter.
This loss of companionship made a continuation of the voyage doubly trying on those who were left behind. However, nothing daunted, they determined to pursue their course up the Ohio from Paducah to the mouth of the Cumberland, a distance of fifteen miles. Upon seeing it, they were unsure it was even the Cumberland, because it was very much smaller in volume than they had expected to find. Probably their three days of incessant toil against the swift current of the Ohio had much to do with the appearance the river whose banks would become their home. However, they had heard of no stream flowing into the Ohio between the Tennessee and Cumberland, and, therefore, decided to make the ascent. They were soon assured by the widening channel that they were correct in their conjectures. In order to make progress up stream Donelson rigged his boat, the Adventure, with a small sail made out of a sheet. To prevent the ill effects of any sudden gusts of wind a man was stationed at each lower corner of this sail with instructions to loosen it when the breeze became too strong.

Construction and fort life
The colonists agreed to pay Henderson 26 pounds of silver per hundred acres, which was an expensive price of approximately $6.20 an acre. The log stockade was square in shape and covered two acres. It contained 20 log cabins and was protection for the settlers against wild animals and Indians. Buffalo, black bear, wild turkeys, white tail deer, beaver, raccoon, fox. elk, wolf, cougar, mink, and otter were abundant in the untamed forests.
A family's most treasured possessions were their guns for hunting, axes for wood-cutting, seeds, and hoes for cultivating. Frontier life was a constant struggle, and without these necessities, survival was at risk. Corn was the most important crop for their daily diet, and corn whiskey was the remedy for all health problems. Henderson, ever the profiteer, arranged to have corn shipped from Kentucky at a cost of $200 a bushel for that first winter in Nashville. Linen made from flax or cotton was used for clothes. Animal skins and hides supplemented their wardrobes. The first white child born in the new settlement was James Robertson's son, Felix, on January 11, 1781. He eventually became one of the most influential physicians of the era.
The Land Grab Act of 1783 offered Tennessee lots in one hundred acre tracts for the price of about five dollars. Much property was awarded for honorable military service. Native American lands reserved by treaties and previous claims were not legally available, but in the haste, confusion and greed, there were many squatters and boundary disputes. The flood of colonists wanting land of their own was unstoppable.

Political significance
Upon reaching their destination, Donelson reunited with Robertson. They cleared the land and built a log stockade they called Fort Nashborough in honor of General Francis Nash, who won acclaim in the American Revolution. Together they built other fortified "stations" in the area, named for members of the party: Eaton's Station on the east side of the Cumberland; Clover Bottom, the Donelson plantation on the Stones River; Freeland's Station, Mansker's Station, Thompson's Station and others which are still remembered as neighborhood or town names in the modern Nashville area although the original settlements have long since been destroyed.
Robertson drew up a constitution, called the Cumberland Compact, and began a new phase of autonomy from the government of North Carolina. Robertson had been a leader of the Watauga Association as well as a member of the Regulator Movement.

Native American attacks
The largest and most numerous tribes were the Cherokee, who were civilized and originally peaceful to the eastern colonists. But from the beginning, the Cumberland settlement had very little peace, and was continually attacked. The tribes resented past concessions, broken treaties and further encroachment on their hunting grounds.
April 2, 1781, a force of Chickamaugans led by Dragging Canoe attacked the fort at the bluffs. The Indians succeeded in luring most of the men out of the fort and then cutting them off from the entrance. But the whites managed to escape back to the fort while the Chickamaugans captured their horses. They also had help from the fort's dogs, turned loose by the women. The Chickasaw attacks decreased the following year. Because of their political situation, they decided to make peace with the settlers. Piomingo, an influential Chickasaw leader, considered the Cumberland settlers to be less of a threat than the Spanish government.
The Chickamaugans and their Creek allies continued attacks on the settlements for the next fourteen years. The "settlers" had to be on guard against Indian attacks at all times.
As previously related, the boundary line between North Carolina and Virginia, to which the territory included in Tennessee and Kentucky at this time respectively belonged, had not yet been fixed. ROBERTSON believed that the country around French Lick was within the limits of Virginia. He also doubted the legality of the title thereto of Henderson's Transylvania Company under whose patronage he and his fellow settlers had come. He had heard that General CLARK, as the agent of Virginia, had for sale along the Cumberland certain land claims, called "cabin rights", which could be bought for a small sum. By the purchase of these he might insure himself and his fellow immigrants against future annoyance.
Just what information ROBERTSON received during his visit is unknown to history. It is believed, however, that General CLARK gave him assurance that French Lick was safely within the boundary of North Carolina, and that he would therefore need no favors from Virginia. At least that was the impression that soon thereafter prevailed among the colonists. Before leaving Kaskaskia, ROBERTSON bought a drove of live stock, consisting of horses, mules and ponies. Finding some men who were going to East Tennessee, he offered them passage on the backs of his animals. The proposition was readily accepted, and soon this caravan was on its way to Watauga, the route being to Harrodsburg, Ky., and thence through Cumberland Gap. On reaching home ROBERTSON found everything in readiness for an early removal to the new settlement.
By the middle of October a company of about 380 immigrants, gathered from all the settlements between Knoxville and New river, were ready to begin the journey.
It was arranged that they should go in two parties. The first of these, led by James ROBERTSON, and consisting of a majority of the men, should travel overland, and by an early arrival have everything in readiness for the coming of the second party. The latter, composed largely of the families of the first party, and commanded by Colonel John DONELSON and Capt. John BLACKMORE were to proceed by boats down the Tennessee River to the Ohio and thence up the Cumberland to French Lick.
It was agreed that after the arrival of the land party at the new settlement some of their number should go down to the upper end of Muscle shoals on the Tennessee river in North Alabama. There they would either await the coming of the voyagers under DONELSON and BLACKMORE, or leave certain signs indicating whether or not it was considered safe for the river party to quit the boats and go from thence across the country to the French Lick. If this could be done, it would shorten the journey and also avoid the danger of running the shoals.
Colonel John DONELSON, who is mentioned in connection with the above, was born in the year 1718, and was a native of Pittsylvania county, Virginia. He was by profession a surveyor, which vocation in that day was a mark of the highest educational attainment. From the same section of Virginia originally came the ROBERTSONS, the BLEDSOES, the CARTWRIGHTS and HENDERSONS, all of whom were untiring in their efforts to extend the limits of civilization across the western mountains. We shall learn much more of Colonel DONELSON in subsequent chapters.

Yes! This is the right "party." I do know that Jackson married Rachel (a great love story) I also know that around 1815 Marquis Lafayette, the Revolutional War Hero toured the United States and spent several days at the Hermitage, Jacksons home near Nashville. I have a ggggrandfather named Marquis Lafayette Crane. (It was a popular name of the time. I am clutching at straws and hoping that my Marquis Crane's father or grandfather was in the Nashville area at the time.) I know of Lewis Crain but I can't connect him with my family line. Thanks for your help. Sharon Crane, back in Tennessee scrane52@hotmail.com