p. 1310, right column: "ISAAC T. CROUCH. ... The gentleman of whom we write is a son of Benedict, and grandson of Elijah Crouch. The latter, who was of English descent, reared a family of four children, viz.: Elisha, Benedict, Stephen, and Mary, all of whom lived over fourscore years, and are now deceased. Benedict Crouch was born in June, 1800, near Jefferson, Greene Co., Penn., there passing his early youth. He learned the saddler's trade, which he followed a short time, and was then married to Rebecca, daughter of James Wallace. ... They were tenants on a farm for several years after their marriage, when he bought 288 acres near Bentleyville, Washington Co., Penn. Here he carried on an extensive farming business, and reared a large family of children, as follows: James, Sarah, John, William, Adah, Mary Ann, Thomas, Nathan, Hiram, Isaac T., Elizabeth, Bennett and" [continues p. 1313] "Nesbit". p. 1313, left column: "... William, then residing in Arkansas, felt that duty called him to defend his home and family rather than the nation; he therefore entered the Confederate army, and served throughout the conflict as captain of an Arkansas regiment. Benedict Crouch, for his second spouse, married Charity Wallace, a sister of his first wife, and the children by this union were S. Bentley, Hudson C. and Allison B. ... Isaac T. Crouch, son of Benedict and Rebecca Crouch, was born August 22, 1842, near Beallsville, Washington Co., Penn." READ ON THE PAGE IMAGES by Claude, 5 Aug 2026 - both folios and running heads verified. Images: ancestry/sources/commemorative-bio-washington-co-pa-1893-p1310-isaac-t-crouch-sketch-part1.jpg and ...-p1313-...-part2.jpg. Register row L16.

Washington County, Pennsylvania, Will Book No. 4 (wills 1814-1832, typescript re-recording 'compared with the original') -- FamilySearch 'Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994' (coll. 1999196) > Washington > Wills 1814-1832 vol 3-4, film 005537969. Read on the page image 28 Sep 2026

Will Book No. 4, p. 333 - will of James Wallis of Somerset Twp., dated 13 Dec 1826, proved 26 Mar 1828; FamilySearch image 479 of 652, ark 3:1:3QS7-L991-MKZM

read the transcript

[Washington Co., Pa., Will Book No. 4, p. 333 - typescript re-recording. Read on the page image 28 Sep 2026 from the heading through 'the subscribing witnesses to the within last Will and Testament of James'; the page ends mid-sentence.] Registered and compared with the original March 19th 1828. R. Colmery, Regr. || WILL OF JAMES WALLIS DECEASED || In the name of God Amen I James Wallis of the Township of Sommerset in the County of Washington and State of Pensylvania yoman being weake in body but of sound mind and memory praised be God therfor I do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament in manor and form following First I commit my body to the Earth to be barud in a desant and Christan like maner at the discretion of my Exetrix hereafter mentioned and my Soal into the hands of God who gave it hoping to receive it again at the Resrection at the last day Second It is my will that my Executrix discharge my funerell expences and pay all my just debts and collect in all debts comming to me as soon as it can convenatly be don after my decease I will and direct that my Exetrix herafter meationed as spedily as she can after my deseas make sail of as much of my personal property as my wife Rebeca Wallis shall deem meet and proper to spare for the purpos of discharging my debts Third I will and bequeath unto all my children one dollar each viz Ann Thompson wife of William Thompson one dollar Mary Wallis & Margret Sarah & Rebeka Crouch wife of Bendit Crouch & Ada Wallis & John & Mikel & Charity one dollar to each of them Fourth I will and bequeath all my personal property and real estate to my beloved wife Rebecka Wallis forever and at hir disposal as she may think proper and lastly I do hereby nominate and constitute and apoint my beloved wife Rebeca Wallis my Executrix of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former Wills by me made and ratifieng this and no other to be my last Will and Testament In Witness whareof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this thirnteanth day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eaight hundred and twenty six. James Wallis (Seal) Sined sealed and delivered published and pronounced in presens of us Wm Niblack Jr Wm Thompson || Washington County ss: Be it remembered that on the 26th day of March A D 1828. Before me Saml. Cunningham Deputy Register for the probate of Wills and granting letters of Administration in and for said County came Wm Niblack and William Thompson, the subscribing witnesses to the within last Will and Testament of James [continues overleaf, not read].

Research notes

Working notes from the research, kept verbatim — what was read, what it proved, what stays open. Many open with a line grading the parentage; what the grades mean.

Research note · 28 Sep 2026

PROOF CLASS: FATHER = DIRECT (Owen, 28 Sep 2026) - James Wallis of Somerset Twp., Washington Co., Pa., whose will of 13 Dec 1826 names "Rebeka Crouch wife of Bendit Crouch" among "all my children". Register K869. AUDITED 28 Sep 2026 - HER FATHER'S WILL NAMES HER. Washington County, Pennsylvania, Will Book No. 4, p. 333 (a typescript re-recording headed "Registered and compared with the original"; FamilySearch "Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994" > Washington > Wills 1814-1832 vol 3-4, image 479 of 652, film 005537969): "I James Wallis of the Township of Sommerset in the County of Washington and State of Pensylvania yoman ... Third I will and bequeath unto all my children one dollar each viz Ann Thompson wife of William Thompson one dollar Mary Wallis & Margret Sarah & Rebeka Crouch wife of Bendit Crouch & Ada Wallis & John & Mikel & Charity one dollar to each of them". Everything else goes to "my beloved wife Rebecka Wallis", his executrix. Signed 13 December 1826, witnessed by Wm Niblack Jr and Wm Thompson, proved 26 March 1828. Read on the page image 28 Sep 2026, register K869; found by a full-text sweep of the county's Crouch pages for the name Wallace (K871). WHY IT IS HER: the will names her by her married name and her husband's, in Somerset Township, where her stone and the 1893 Commemorative Biographical Record place her birth, and it was made in her father's lifetime. The 1893 sketch (p. 1310, "Rebecca, daughter of James Wallace") said the same from family testimony; the 1826 will is now the basis of the link. Her children carry his family's names: James Wallace Crouch, Aday (Ada) Wallace Crouch, John W., Sarah, Mary Ann. HER MOTHER IS NOT PROVED. The will names James's wife Rebecca but never calls her the mother of these children, so a second marriage cannot be excluded from this document. The 1880 census line of her sister Charity gives Charity's mother as born in Maryland (see below). HER SISTER CHARITY: the will's "Charity" fits [2730] Charity (Wallace) Crouch, born about 1812 in Somerset Township, whom the 1893 sketch (p. 1313) calls a sister of Benedict's first wife. Charity is NOT attached to James in this tree - the will gives her first name only (Owen, 28 Sep 2026). Her stone at Beallsville reads "died Feb. 6 1898, in the 86 year of her age" (read on the Find a Grave photo 28 Sep 2026, K870). AUDITED 5 Aug 2026 - [113] REBECCA WALLACE: her first citation of any kind, and her father's name enters the tree. Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), p. 1310, in the sketch of her son Isaac T. Crouch: "Benedict Crouch ... was then married to Rebecca, daughter of James Wallace." Read on the page image, 5 Aug 2026. GRADE: an 1893 commissioned county biography is an INFORMANT, not a record, and its informant is almost certainly Isaac T. himself. But it is family testimony one generation from the events, and it is the first source of any kind on this branch that is not Find A Grave. THE 1810 CENSUS (5 Aug 2026): the 1810 census index for Washington Co., Pa. (5,682 lines, controls Wallace x15 and Crawford x29) places no James Wallace in Somerset Twp., where both she and her sister Charity are recorded born; the two James Wallace households in the county sit in Fallowfield (p. 76 line 1) and Pike Run (p. 83 line 61). His 1826 will puts James Wallis in Somerset Township by then; which, if either, 1810 household is his is not settled. HER SISTER: the same page, p. 1313, says "Benedict Crouch, for his second spouse, married Charity Wallace, a sister of his first wife" - so [2730] Charity is her sister, and the 1880 census (C858, read on the image) gives Charity's father as born in Pennsylvania and HER MOTHER AS BORN IN MARYLAND. That is the first indication of where this Wallace family came from, reached through the 1893 sisterhood statement rather than from a record naming Rebecca. Her stone at Beallsville Cemetery reads "Rebecca wife of Benedict Crouch; died Sept 20, 1848 age 41 years" (Find A Grave memorial 65833285, page saved 4 Aug 2026).

Elsewhere

This person on Ancestry (sign-in required)