Ruby Selma Crotwell

My paternal grandmother was Ruby Selma Crotwell and this is her family's history.

Pedigree Chart of Ruby Selma Crotwell

 The ancestors of Ruby Selma Crotwell include the following families: (Click on the surname to view the descendant chart and brief family history.)

  • Crotwell
  • Cannon
  • Gauntt
  • Gray
  • Griffin
  • Neal
  • Summers
  • Waters

These families were of German, Scots-Irish, and English origins.  They settled in the American colonies in the 1600s and 1700s, prior to the American Revolution, arriving through ports in Plymouth Colony, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina. They included the earliest Quakers in the colonies as well as Lutherans and Presbyterians.  Most were part of the settlement of the original frontier in the colonies along the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, where they persevered under harsh conditions.  Eventually members of all of these families settled in South Carolina. They and their descendants became successful farmers, merchants, educators, and engineers. Through the years members of these families served in the military during the French and Indian Wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the War Between the States, World War I and World War II.  Many members of these families were also civic leaders, serving in various positions in both local and state governments.     

Samuel P. Crotwell and Nellie Neal Family

Acknowledgments

Many people have helped me through the years of research on this project, and I appreciate all of their help. 

Special thanks go to my father's first cousins, Neal Crotwell Posey and Bill Crotwell, for generously sharing all their information and resources related to the Crotwell and Neal families.

Thanks to Dr. Robert C. Fulmer for sharing the history of the Chapman-Summers Cemetery and information on the Summers family.

The Newberry Historical Society was a valuable resource for me, especially Jim Clamp. Jim found the ruins of the Crotwell cheese factory, provided information on the Crotwell and Gauntt families, provided contacts with Gauntt descendants, and opened the Gauntt house and museum for my family to tour. I greatly appreciate all the information on the Gauntt family history provided by Fran Gantt Dwiggins, Millie Price Livingston, Butch Younginer, and Mary Lee Barnes.  

My thanks also go to those who shared their photographs and permission to use them, including Bill Crotwell, Neal Crotwell Posey, Daniel P. Griffith Jr, and Bobby Dwiggins.

Notes for using this site:

The Menu Bar at the top of each page helps to navigate the Crotwell Family site.  

• You can search for a name using the "Search" option or the "Surname Index".
• The "Charts" option provides a list of Descendant Charts for the Crotwell and associated families. By clicking on a name in the chart, you can go directly to the person page for that individual.
• The "Sources" option provides a list of all sources used to document the facts. The detailed source information is listed on the page with the fact.
• The "Images" option provides the pictures and documents used on these pages.

Thumbnail pictures have an arrow and dark square above the image, like the one of Ruby Selma Crotwell above. Click the arrow to go to the person page associated with that image or click the dark square to view enlarged image.

The person page for each person contains the facts and associated sources. A camera icon denotes a picture associated with that person or an event in that person's life. Clicking that icon will display the photo or document.

At the top of the person page is a "Family Explorer" icon which will display a pedigree chart for that person.