The Nathaniel Crow Family

With the sale of the Crow’s Nest property and demolition of all buildings there, I felt that while it might be GONE, I was bound and determined that it WOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN!   Well, there are MANY branches of the Nathaniel Crow family.  A descendant, Sandi Fick Ulery, shared a tremendous amount of material on the Crow family with us and without these, the research would have been daunting!

Our hearts go out to all the Crow relatives, as they mourn the unexpected passing a week ago (8/7/2021) of James Michael “Jamie” Fick.  He was a participant in our very first Centennial Homes program in 2016!

Nathaniel Crow (1823 – 1912)

In 1845, at the age of 21, Nathaniel traveled alone on horseback from his childhood home in Champagne Co., Ohio, to the wilderness of Indiana where his uncle had settled near Indian Village. It was only about 12 years after the Indians were moved west.  After first buying land in Van Buren Township and teaching at the Strieby School, he moved to Turkey Creek Township and boarded with a neighbor, Joseph Moore and his wife Mary, just east of his newly purchased land (from Wabash and Erie Canal Co.) on the northeast side of Lake Wawasee, as we know it now.  Mrs. Moore’s younger sister, Miss Louisa Eliza Airgood would occasionally come for a visit.  Eliza had been born in Germany on Sept. 13, 1832. Along with her parents and 2 sisters, she sailed to America when she was 3 months old, learning to walk on the ship’s rolling deck.  When they reached Lower Manhattan, she was nine months old!  Nathaniel and Eliza were married in October of 1852.

Together, they acquired a wealth of over 560 acres around Lake Wawasee, practically all of it within the former Flat Belly Reserve.  They were one of the largest real estate owners in the county.

My “assignment” was the Family Tree!  Even with all this research, I think we’re likely to discover more leaves and branches as the years go along.

Of the 8 children born to Nathaniel & Eliza, four died in infancy or at a very young age, and 3 died as young parents.  Nathaniel and his wife, Eliza, are buried in the center of the Lake Bethel cemetery along with many of their relatives.  High on the very tall spire of their (reddish) headstone is an inscription, “Earth to earth, dust to dust, in God we trust.”

We’ll start with the oldest child to live to adulthood: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CROW (1857 – 1893): Speaking for the family of Ben’s son, Charles C., is Nathaniel’s great-great grandson Chuck Crow who lives on Cottingham Beach & in Noblesville. 

His brother Steve lives near original Nathaniel Crow land; on Warner Rd., just off Elkhart-Kosciusko County line.  Plus you’re going to be introduced to three more generations. Steve, I think you have us all beat!!

Some points of Chuck’s speech on his line of the family tree:  Nathaniel Crow owned a flouring mill on Main Street in Syracuse just south of the Turkey Creek Bridge.  He modernized the mill in 1888, and placed his son, Benjamin in charge.  The building burned down in 1890 or 1908.  A millstone is in front of the Syracuse Community Center.

By 1880, Ben had married Elizabeth Anna Shearer (calculated 1853-1930) and their children were Charles (calculated 1877-1952), Amy Edith & Leon Dwight (calculated 1880-1880), Chesley Leroy (calculated 1885-1885). Ben died April 10, 1893 at age 36 yrs., 3 mos. & 10 days, buried in Syracuse Cemetery. 

Their son Charles had Maurice (pictured above; then and now pictures of Crow homes on West Main Street in Syracuse just east of the church).  Maurice’s children were: Charles “Chuck,” Marcia & Steve.

Speaking for the family of Ben’s daughter, Cora, is Nathaniel’s great-great grandson David Jarrett, who lives on Kale Island. 

Cora Crow Jarrett was 15 years or so younger than her brother Charley so they were not very close.  There were other children in between, but they died young.  She married Guy Jarrett.  Our speaker, David Jarrett’s brother, John Crow Jarrett II, has a son John Crow Jarrett III, and a grandson Jackson Crow Jarrett. Obviously, they are proud of their family name and history. David’s sister writes: In our family alone, Nathaniel Crow has three great great grandchildren, 11 great great great grandchildren, and 10 great great great great great grandchildren.

The next branch of the family tree starts with LUCY ANN CROW DOLL (1860 – 1898) who was born just prior to the Civil War in the original log cabin Nathaniel built on his land and grew to adulthood in a frame house on the same site.  She taught at the Lake Bethel School for 3 years (1880-1883), and then married Henry Hiram Doll.  They lived in LaGrange. IN.

Their first children, Joy Nell (1886–1889 ) & Nathaniel Lewis Doll (1888–1889) died young.  Pneumonia struck the family in 1898 when Lucy Crow Doll, only 38 years old, died, leaving 3 young children.  Mattie Crow took on the care of her sister Lucy’s 3-year-old daughter, “Lulu,” raising her at Crow’s Nest.  Lucy’s boys, Theries (age 8) & Byron 5 years old lived with family, helping their grandfather with the farm.

Eventually Theries Doll considered Mary and Mrs. Homer Harting as his foster family.  About 1900, the Hartings moved to Kalkaska, MI, due to Mary’s poor health.  At age 14, Theries started logging in the nearby lumber camps.  While there, he met & married Minnie Simon in 1913, and they came to IN a while later, owning the farm that became Enchanted Hills – property which his grandfather, Nathaniel Crow, had owned.  Theries and his sons had a maple sugar camp on the farm.  Their home was built on a high bank overlooking Wawasee fairly near Crow’s Nest.  In addition to farming, Theries did some earth work on Cedar Point using a horse and scraper, plus he worked with Don McCulloch from the time Don got into the excavating business in 1965 until Theries was 78 years old!  Minnie and Theries had 3 sons, Herman “Mike” of Cromwell, Elvin, Arnold “Pete” of Milford, and a daughter, Ellabelle “Ellie” who married Jack Carr of Syracuse.

We’re grateful to Nathaniel Crow’s great grandson, Pete Doll, of Milford for these pictures and information!!  Pete is retired from Choretime Brock in Milford, and his wife Becky owned Doll’s Decorating there.  Their son Dan works as a rocket scientist in Culpepper, VA; son Dave works for Brock Manufacturing (his wife Bobi is a hairdresser in Milford & my initial enthusiastic contact), and Dick is a nurse in Elkhart.  Several grandchildren continue the Nathaniel Crow descendant line.  Just last evening I was able to contact Darlene Doll who summers on Crow Road and found out that her husband’s father is Pete’s brother Elvin Louie!!!  Her sons from Tipp City, OH were in the audience today!

Theries’ brother, Byron Doll (6/21/1892 – 4/7/1949) was in the Navy in 1912 and later had several children.

Their younger sister, Louisa Dianna “Lulu” (1895-1989), was raised mostly by her Aunt Mattie at Crow’s Nest.  Lulu became a schoolteacher, and in 1915 went by train with a friend, Mary Miles (her father, George Miles, was the original Syracuse historian), to teach in a mining town in New Mexico (Mogollon, NE of Tucson).  Most of the students only spoke Spanish, and her first words in Spanish were “sit down.” In 1918, Lulu graduated from New Mexico Normal University and returned to IN, later marrying Arthur Gibbons of Ligonier, and they had several children.  There are probably many more descendants through Byron and “Lulu” Doll’s line.

NELLIE ALICE CROW (1870 – Fall, 1903) married George Dull.  At age 33, Nellie died of pneumonia only 5 years after her sister Lucy passed away.

Her young daughters, Rae (around 11) & Violet (around 1), remained with their father.  Daughter Rae married Ed Knox and is pictured here with her sons, Frank and Russell Knox.  Violet married Hurley “Buck” Lung. 

Because they were very young when they inherited land from their Grandfather Crow, it was quickly developed into lots along the shore of Wawasee – we call it Natti Crow Beach.    We’re still tracking down the Dull line of descendants.

On the map, you’ll also note W.N. Crow, Nathaniel’s nephew.  Around 1858, Nathaniel asked William to come to Indiana (from Champaign County, Ohio) to help clear the land and help with the farm work.  Nathaniel promised to help William purchase land of his own.  And that he did!  W.N. bought his first 36 acres of land in 1861, the same year he married Janette Rarick (1837-1920).  He was a Civil War veteran.  William and Janette had 5 children; their son, William Nelson Crow, Jr. and his wife Rosella Wright, developed the end of Ogden Island – Rosella St. may sound familiar.

Perhaps the hardest blow to 81-year-old Nathaniel was the death of his life partner of 52 years.  Louisa Eliza Crow died of pneumonia in Feb., 1904 at the age of 72 years, just a few months after losing their daughter, Nellie Alice.  In 6 years, he had lost 2 daughters and his wife.  Nathaniel was to live 8 more years.

MARTHA MARIE “MATTIE” CROW’s destiny would prove to be a life of tremendous extremes.  She experienced both financial privilege due to her place in the family birth order (the youngest), as well as struggle (she lived through the Depression years).  Her life was filled with the joys of family; yet, one-by-one Mattie’s loved ones were snatched away by death.

As a widow, Mattie learned to face her many life responsibilities projecting a “hard as nails” business savvy image.  Yet, inconspicuously behind her business facade, Mattie’s true nature was more like the “sweet little girl in the chair”…. kind, clever, loving and giving.

As Martha Marie “Mattie” Crow was coming of age, she chose to remain at the Crow’s Nest with her father and be a nurturing Aunt to her nieces & nephews.  Mattie attended the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.  She studied the harp in Chicago at Lyon & Healy School of Music in 1899 and also played other stringed instruments. (Mattie on right) To pay for another music term in Chicago, Matti first took 20 boarders – most of them musicians – for a week at Crow’s Nest in August, 1901.  Her artistic ability in drawing & painting were also encouraged by professional instruction.  She and her father were able to do some traveling during the winters of 1905 & ’06 out West & down South – once noting a visit with Col. John Vawter.  She wrote lively accounts of their travels for the Cromwell News. 

In the summer of 1911, 36-year-old Mattie Crow married Albert Edward Fick on the east lawn of Crow’s Nest attended by 300 guests, including her father. (lake in background) Shortly after, Nathaniel stumbled and fell down the cellar steps which was sadly a factor in his decline and death, a year later, in 1912.

Mattie and Albert seemed to have an ideal life in the family homestead aptly named Crow’s Nest.  Two sons were born, Nathaniel Crow Fick (nicknamed “Than”) and James Albert “Jim” Fick; then a baby girl named Eloise who was sadly taken by pneumonia before she had learned to walk.

Tragedy struck again when Albert passed away in 1922 after only 11 years of marriage.  Mattie had 2 young sons to raise alone, and the Great Depression years were setting in.  The burden of running a chicken & fruit farm became too great, so Mattie chose to lease the family homestead to an Inn Keeper while she tried her hand at nursing.  Crow’s Nest became a summer resort Inn where guests could come for relaxation in a country atmosphere. Once both sons had completed their college years, “Than” at Purdue and Jim at Butler, Jim returned home to Crow’s Nest.  He and his mother continued the Inn Resort, catering to organizations, clubs and sorority or fraternity groups.  The barn was remodeled and a dance floor added to hold parties for the guests.

Fun activities have always been part of living at the lake!  Pictures include: Theries & Than looking out at the lake; Than & Jim would land this plane in Theries’ fields – Enchanted Hills today; Jim had the adventure of raising the car that had gone through the ice the winter before (& getting it in driving condition); Than’s family sailed a Lightning – son Niel still sails today.

Jim and his college roommate, Ray Weaver, put together a color film of the Lake Wawasee sites and activities in 1936.  Jim’s mission was to show it to as many groups as possible throughout his life.  That’s being carried on today with the Syracuse Public Library and the museum partnering within the last 10 years to make digital copies available to the public.

Beatrice Catherine “Bea” McHenry answered an ad in the Indianapolis Star newspaper for a car hop who could relocate to Lake Wawasee for the summer months to work at the North Pole drive-in restaurant located at the northeastern corner of the Crow’s Nest property.  Bea and Jim Fick fell in love and were married in Indianapolis. 

Nathaniel Crow “Than” Fick was born in 1916 to Mattie and Albert Fick.  After graduating in Engineering from Purdue in the late 1930s, he worked at Ohio’s Batelle Institute, a major force in science and technology discovery.  He was “called to Washington” in 1948, retiring in 1980 as a metallurgical engineer with the U.S. Government.

My contact, Than’s son, Nathaniel Crow “Niel” Fick, Jr., shared his earliest memories of Crow’s Nest: driving from Arlington, VA to the Lake in the family station wagon in the 1950s, with Mom and Dad in the front seat, one child in between, a mattress in the back, and the other FIVE of us children laying about in the back during the 600-mile drive.  Oh, were we all happy to finally arrive!  Niel loved catching turtles just to hold and look at, and then release to watch them scoot away in the reeds.  The girls remembered canning rhubarb with their grandmother, Babo, and a theater costume accepted as rent payment which Margaret Ann wore to a dance!  Niel’s sister Marilou told me she has a newel post from the Lake Bethel Church that she uses as a plant stand.

The family donated land which Dillon Creek flows thru to the WACF.  Also, just this week (Aug., 2021), WACF purchased the Turkey Creek inlet to Lake Wawasee which is on land originally owned by Nathaniel Crow and given to his grandchildren Charles and Cora Crow.

Niel’s son, Nathaniel Crow “Nate” Fick (on far right in the above picture), has written a book about leading a platoon in Afghanistan just after 9/11 and advancing to a Recon unit two years later, on the eve of war with Iraq.  Pretty exciting reading that you can check out at the Syracuse Public Library.

Mattie’s younger son James Albert “Jim” Fick returned from overseas after serving in the Army on the island of Saipan.  He joined Bea and their children, James, Sheryl Ann and “Sandi,” and the young family spent the summers in a very tiny cottage beside the barn so Crow’s Nest could be leased. The cottage had been the summer kitchen for Crow’s Nest. The “Castle,” as it was called, had a 2-seater out-house surrounded by fragrant lilac bushes! Eventually a small room was added…and an inside bathroom with a stool and shower stall!  Babo enjoyed the children.  Baby brother Brian was added to Jim and Bea’s family.

Their permanent home was in Indianapolis, but every summer they headed to Lake Wawasee as soon as school let out.  They had long out-grown the tiny 1 bedroom “Castle” cottage.  “Welkum” was a 2-story brick 4 bedroom lakefront cottage with 2 bathrooms which was much more suited for their family of five. 

Bea and Jim enjoyed the cottage for the rest of their lives.  Youngest son Brian lives in Williamsport, IN and has worked in architectural conservation for thirty years.  Among his projects are Lew Wallace Study in Crawfordsville; the Library of Congress, Jefferson Library; Federal Courthouse in Indianapolis.  Daughter Sandi is here with us from Florida – she’s the genealogist of the family.  Daughter Sheryl lives in Arizona; I understand her son, Jerry Littleton, is moving back to this area; and oldest son Jamie’s passion was the Crow’s Nest itself which we honor today.

Sandi Fick Ulery is working on a project to return the 1860 Lake Bethel Church Bell to its original location.  Her great grandparents, Nathaniel and Eliza Crow, provided the land and helped friends and neighbors build the church, one room schoolhouse and cemetery at the intersection of the road to Cromwell (1050 N.) & Turkey Creek Road very near their home.  The cemetery property was donated to the county, and the church bell was moved to the high lake bank near Crow’s Nest. 

Dedicated Spring 2023

Again, I’d like to thank Sandi for her wonderfully complete history of the family of Nathaniel and Eliza Crow!  I’m extremely grateful to Nathaniel & Eliza’s descendants who still live in the area – Chuck & Steve Crow and their families, David Jarrett, Pete Doll and his family, the family of his brother Elvin Louie, and Myrna Harting – who is a descendant of Mrs. Moore, the sister Eliza was visiting when she met Nathaniel! 

Script written by Ann Vanderford Garceau for the Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum’s August 14, 2021 Centennial presentation based on historical research.  It is not to be used without permission from the museum.

Written in 2022 by Ann Vanderford Garceau for the Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum based on historical research.  It is not to be used without permission from the museum.