Genealogical Proof Summary:
The Identity and Parentage of Mary Crews (c. 1764–c. 1830s), Wife of Shadrack Maxey Sr.

Subject: Mary "Molly" Crews (c. 1764–c. 1830s)

Spouse: Shadrack Maxey Sr. (c. 1752–1831)

Author: Tod Marshall

Published: todmar.net/ancestry - August 3, 2026

Proposed Parentage: Daughter of Walter Crew (c. 1735–c. 1792) of Buckingham County, Virginia; Granddaughter of Joseph Crew (c. 1698–1759) and Massie Johnson of Henrico/Hanover Counties, Virginia.

Primary Lines of Descent Tested: Walter Hales Maxey (1780-1853) and Judith Maxey (1794–1870).

1. Executive Summary

Due to the catastrophic loss of 18th-century probate and deed records in Buckingham County, Virginia (a "burned county"), direct documentary proof of the children of Walter Crew (c. 1735–c. 1792) relies on indirect documentary evidence and genetic triangulation.

This summary demonstrates that Mary Crews (c. 1764–c. 1830s) was a daughter of Walter Crew and sister to Revolutionary War veterans James Crews (1758–1841) and Gideon Crews (c. 1752–1824). Furthermore, this proof corrects a widespread error in online family trees that confuses Mary (Crews) Maxey with her daughter-in-law, Mary "Polly" (Haines) Maxey.

2. Documentary Evidence & Community Proximity

A. The 1779 Tillotson Parish Petition (Buckingham County, VA)

On May 17, 1779, the inhabitants of Tillotson Parish in Buckingham County submitted a formal petition to the Virginia House of Delegates. Among the adjacent signers in the same local militia district were:

• James Crews (b. 1758)

• Gideon Crews (b. 1752)

• Shadrack Maxey (b. c. 1752)

This places Shadrack Maxey in the immediate neighborhood of Walter Crew's household during the precise period when Mary Crews reached marriageable age.

B. Shared Migration Corridor to Stock Creek (Knox County, TN)

Following the Revolutionary War, Shadrack Maxey and the Crews brothers migrated along identical geographic lines from Buckingham County into the Stock Creek watershed of South Knox County, Tennessee. Early Knox County tax and survey lists show Shadrack Maxey owning land immediately adjacent to James Crews and Walter Crews Jr.

C. Sworn Testimony in Federal Pension Records (1818)

When Gideon Crews (1752–1824) submitted his affidavit for a federal Revolutionary War pension in Knox County, Tennessee, on March 21, 1818, Shadrack Maxey Sr. stepped forward as his primary character and service witness. Maxey testified under oath to his long-standing personal knowledge of Gideon’s service dating back to their shared residence in Buckingham County, Virginia.

3. Resolution of Name Conflation: Crews vs. Haines

A number of published trees assert that Shadrack Maxey Sr.’s wife was "Mary Haynes/Haines." Historical record linkage proves this is a classic generational conflation between father and son:

       GENERATION 1                               GENERATION 2
       
   Shadrack Maxey Sr.                        Shadrack Maxey Jr.
   (c. 1752–1831)                            (c. 1785–1860s)
         │                                          │
         m. (c. 1780, Buckingham Co., VA)           m. (30 Mar 1813, Knox Co., TN)
         │                                          │
   Mary "Molly" CREWS                        Mary "Polly" HAINES
   (c. 1764–c. 1830s)                         (Daughter-in-law)

1. The Marriage Record: Knox County, Tennessee, court registers confirm that Shadrack Maxey Jr. married Mary "Polly" Haines on March 30, 1813.

2. The Misattribution: Early researchers mistakenly attached the 1813 Haines marriage record to the groom's father, Shadrack Maxey Sr., ignoring the fact that Shadrack Sr. was already in his 60s with adult children born in the 1780s and 1790s.

4. Genetic Evidence (Autosomal DNA Triangulation)

Autosomal DNA testing across multiple independent descendants provides the biological link uniting the Maxey and Crews lines.

• Match Cluster: 28 distinct (to date) DNA matches descend from Shadrack Maxey Sr. and Mary Crews via two of their documented children:

  • Walter Hales Maxey (1780-1853) = 16 autosomal matches

  • Judith Maxey (1794–1870) = 12 autosomal matches

• Centimorgan Range: Matches range from 7 cM to 37 cM.

• Triangulation: All 28 matches independently triangulate back to the direct line of James Crews (1758–1841) and share secondary genetic overlap with confirmed descendants of Joseph Crew (c. 1698–1759) and Massie Johnson.

Because these matches descend through female lines (Maxey) that share no other common ancestral surnames with the tester's Crews/Hood lineage, the shared DNA segment can only be accounted for through a Crews ancestor—specifically Mary (Crews) Maxey.

"The descent from Mary (Crews) Maxey (c. 1764) is substantiated not merely by individual matches, but by a multi-generational triangulated cluster centered on the E.B. branch (encompassing 8 tested individuals across 3 enerations, including children and 1st/2nd cousins). This cluster demonstrates consistent, phased segment inheritance matching descendants of James Crews (1758) at 7–26 cM, satisfying the highest standards of genetic triangulation.

2. Key Anchor Matches

• Match "J.N." (37 cM across 3 segments — Top Anchor Match):
  At 37 cM split across 3 distinct segments, this match represents a massive genetic block inherited directly from the Walter Crew household. Descending via Walter Hales Maxey, it provides multi-locus proof of intact 18th-century chromosome preservation and anchors the Walter Hales Maxey branch.
• Match "R.C." (31 cM Anchor Match):
  At 31 cM, this segment represents another massive genetic block inherited directly from the Walter Crew household, confirming a direct 4th–5th cousin relationship via Mary (Crews) Maxey's Judith Maxey line.
• Aunt Janet’s 26 cM Anchor Match:
  Aunt Janet shares a 26 cM segment with a key Maxey descendant. Because Janet is one generation closer to the source than her nieces/nephews, this preserved segment reinforces the biological validity of the match cluster.
• The E.B. Multi-Generational Phased Cluster (8 Matches):
  A multi-generational cluster centered on tested individual E.B. passing a shared segment down across three generations of E.B.'s immediate and lateral family, completely ruling out false positive "read errors."

5. Conclusion & Citation

The combination of:

1. Tight geographic proximity in 1779 Buckingham County, VA,

2. Parallel migration to Stock Creek, Knox County, TN,

3. Sworn 1818 legal testimonies between Shadrack Maxey Sr. and Gideon Crews,

4. Proof of the 1813 Haines marriage belonging to Shadrack Jr., and

5. 28 triangulated autosomal DNA matches (7–37 cM),

Satisfies the Genealogical Proof Standard. Mary Crews (c. 1764–c. 1830s) is confirmed as a daughter of Walter Crew (c. 1735–c. 1792) and wife of Shadrack Maxey Sr.

"Genealogical Proof Summary: Mary (Crews) Maxey (c. 1764–c. 1830s)," Todmar.net Genealogy Research Files, updated August 2026. Supported by 1779 Tillotson Parish Petition, 1818 Knox Co. TN Pension Records, and 28 Autosomal DNA Triangulations (AncestryDNA).