I wrote this blog entry five days early, knowing the 52 Ancestors writing prompt coming up was going to be Spirits. To me, Crackbone is a perfect surname to write about at Halloween. It conjures up thoughts about cracking bones, graveyard bones, ghosts and spirits.

Well Halloween is quickly approaching, and whenever I ponder on my Crackbone ancestors, I think, wow, that would be an awesome surname to write about near Halloween! 🎃

The meaning of the Crackbone surname is not completely known, we can only glean the meaning of the surname by splitting it up into two elements. The second element of the surname may refer to legs rather than bones proper [From the Old English bán, bone, leg = Old Norse and German bein, bone, leg]. (1)

Crackbone, Crackbon. Another take on the second element of the surname is that it is from some local name compounded of bourn which means a brook, Anglo-Saxon bum. Hence, Smallbone, Collarbone, Crackbone, Fulborn, Kneebone, Newbone, Newborne, Stubborne, Whalebone. (2)

The surname Crack, by itself, is thought to be a nickname surname from the Middle English word crak, crayke (Old Scandinavian krákr), meaning a crow [carrion crow] or raven, and hence a person with the characteristics of those birds. Sometimes voiced to sound like crag. (3)

Even if the surname does not have a meaning related to cracking bone(s), 🎃, the crow and raven are very much tied to the Halloween holiday and spooky stories.

The crow is a large black bird found in a variety of habitats worldwide, crows have long been associated with death and darkness, thanks to their coloring and certain behaviors—namely a fondness for the flesh of dead animals, including humans. During wartime, observers have reported crows swooping down to feed on fallen soldiers. The birds prefer soft tissue such as eyes or the meat inside an open wound. One superstition holds that if a crow lands on a roof, death or misfortune will befall the home’s inhabitants. (4)

Like crows, which are close relatives, ravens have also been long viewed as symbols of evil or death. Just think of the creepy poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. Also, carrion eaters, ravens are likewise highly intelligent birds that can learn to mimic other species, including humans. In Sweden, their harsh calls traditionally were considered to be voices of murdered people who were inappropriately buried. Germans believed that ravens could locate the souls of the dead and that witches hitched rides on the birds’ backs. (4)

Ravens are extremely intelligent, confident, and inquisitive birds often referenced to in lore and literature. Even though their appearance is often associated with bad omens and loss, they have sophisticated symbolism and messages attached to them. Ravens are considered mediator animals between life and death, and many cultures associate them with lost souls. (5)

Fun side note, I share English ancestors Edward Sale and Elizabeth Gifford with Edgar Allan Poe. My maternal line back to Elizabeth Sale (daughter of Edward Sale and Elizabeth Gifford) who married William Preston: Cole-Prindle-Canfield-Mallory-Preston-Sale. My Crackbone ancestors are also on my maternal side, on a related line: Cole-Prindle-Plumb-Crackbone.

Crackbone surname in England.

What is known is that the Crackbone surname is mostly found in historical records in Essex, England. Mostly in Chelmsford, Terling, Coggeshall, White Notley, and areas nearby, which are all close in distance to each other. The surname is found in records spelled as Crackbone, Crackbon, Crakeborne, and occasionally as Cragbone or Cracbone.

My 11th great-grandmother is Grace Crackbone, who was born 7 May 1564 in Terling, Essex, England, and died 22 July 1615 in Great Yeldham, Essex, England. She was the daughter of Robert Crackbone and Avis Avice ___. She married 14 December 1584 to Robert Plumb in East Hanningfield, Essex, England. He was the son of Robert Plumb and Elizabeth Purcas (Purchas).

Her father Robert Crackbone was born about 1525 in White Notley, Essex, England, and died 14 August 1599 in Terling, Essex, England. He married Avis Avice ____, she died November 1591 and is buried in the All Saints Churchyard in Terling, Essex, England.

Robert Crackbone was the son of Thomas Crackbone and Felis/Felyce/Phyllis ____ of White Notley.

As referenced above in The American Genealogist, Thomas Crackbone is thought to be the son of Richard Crackbone of the same parish of White Notley in Essex, England.

The known Crackbone kin living in Coggeshall, Essex, England were Gilbert Crackbone born about 1596 in Coggeshall. He married first on 18 June 1627 in Coggeshall to Mary Eastwood. He married second to Elizabeth ____ Robbins on 17 June 1656 in Massachusetts, and he died 2 January 1672 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts. The distance between Coggeshall and White Notley is 9.6 miles (15.4 km). Gilbert Crackbone’s parentage is unproven, but there appears to be at least a cousin kinship between the families.

With my ancestor Grace Crackbone’s marriage to Robert Plumb, the name is lost in my direct family line and becomes Plumb for the next four generations. Robert Plumb was a significant landowner in Essex and Suffolk, holding the manors of Yeldham Hall and Spaynes Hall in Great Yeldham and The Poole, also in Essex, as well as estates in Clare, in Suffolk. He is mentioned in the Visitation of Essex of 1634, indicating that he had been granted a coat of arms and was thus of the gentry class. (6 & 7)

My line continues with their son, John Plumb. He was born 28 July 1594 in Spaynes Hall, Great Yeldham Essex, England, and died 1 July 1648 in Branford, New Haven, Connecticut. John Plumb came from the minor gentry of Essex and received Ridgewell Hall from his father. He is known to have been living there in 1634 for he is listed in the Visitation of Essex of that year. He first appears in the records of Connecticut in Sep 1636, and it is known that he was a shipowner and did quite well in the Colonial British American Colonies. (6 & 7)

In 1637, he was a member of the General Court. He fought in the Pequot War, and it is likely that it was his ship that was used in the expedition. He traded regularly with the Indians up and down the Connecticut River, and owned more than one ship for that purpose. He was appointed to attend to the clearance of vessels at Weathersfield, because his house was near the water. In 1637, he was appointed to the commission designated by Massachusetts to govern Connecticut. He held several town offices in Weathersfield and was a member of the General Court, on and off, until 1644. (6 & 7)

In that year he moved to Branford and sold his land in Weathersfield, consisting of thirteen parcels from two to 204 acres in size. He was appointed town clerk of Branford and held that office until his death. He was married to Dorothy ____ (possibly Chaplin or Wood) about 1616. (6 & 7)

I will write in the future about my Plumb and related ancestors in more detail in a different blog post.

The list of famous kin of Grace Crackbone and Robert Plumb includes U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Author Ernest Hemingway, and Fashion Designer Gloria Vanderbilt.

My direct line:

1. Richard Crackbone of White Notley, Essex, England.
2. Thomas Crackbone and Felis/Felyce/Phyllis ____.
3. Robert Crackbone and Avis/Avice ____.
4. Grace Crackbone and Robert Plumb.
5. John Plumb and Dorothy ____.
6. Robert Plumb and Mary Baldwin.
7. John Plumb and Elizabeth Norton.
8. Dorothy Plumb and Samuel Prindle.

The name stays Prindle down to my great-grandmother Anna Cora Prindle Cole, when it then changes to Cole.

Happy Hallowtide / Halloweenmas season to all my Cole/Prindle kin. 🎃🐦‍⬛👻🦇⚰️🕷️🕸️🕯️🧙‍♀️🧹🎃

References:

1. Harrison, Harry (1912). Surnames of the United Kingdom, a concise etymological dictionary. Eaton Press.
2. Charnock, Richard Stephen (1868). Ludus Patronymicus: Or, The Etymology of Curious Surnames. Trübner & Co. pp. 21 & 100.
3. Hanks et al. (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press. via Ancestry.com
4. This Halloween, Meet Four “Spooky” Birds Across many cultures, certain birds have been traditional symbols of bad luck or death. Here are four spooky species that inhabit North America. by Laura Tangley, Oct. 04, 2010. The National Wildlife Federation Magazine Online.
5. Raven Spirit Animal Symbolism and Meaning by Niccoy Walker. A-Z Animals.com
6. Ship Owner in Early Connecticut — John Plumb, Ancestor Biographies, STORIES OF THE PEOPLE ON MY PEDIGREE. Laura M., blogspot.com
7.  The American Genealogist. Vol. 30 (1954), pp. 187-190.

Further Reading:

1. Cultural depictions of ravens. en.wikipedia.org
2. A Halloween Special — “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe OCTOBER 26, 2017 / JRMILSON.
3. White Notley. wikipedia.org
4. What’s the difference between a raven and a crow, according to experts. Although very similar, there are subtle differences that we can use to tell them apart, by Alexandru Micu by Alexandru Micu, May 4, 2023. zmescience.com
5. Terling. wikipedia.org

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