Descendants of Joseph Cree and Ann Crissey
The genealogy of this line has been extensively researched by Gary Maher. We are therefore providing a link to the Cree pages on his web site.
The earliest definitely-known member of this line is Joseph Cree (died 1798) a printer who had moved from New York to Elizabeth, New Jersey,
Following the results of yDNA testing of members of the two lines, it is now being proposed that Joseph Cree of Elizabeth NJ was related to brothers David and John Cree of Huntingdon County, PA. This is currently (November 2006) the subject of research. Further details will be published here.
Latest News! (December 2006) Gary Maher had also suggested that his Cree line was related to a Cree family of whom there were sketchy records in New York. On 18th December 2006, Gary wrote:
As you are aware, I have been searching for evidence connecting my ancestor Joseph Cree (c. 1765-1798) of Elizabeth, New Jersey to the family of John Cree (c. 1722-1778) of New York City. As you may also be aware, Joseph Cree's obituary indicates that he had been a journeyman printer for Shepard Kollock for 15 years at the time of Joseph's death.
Until today, the only sign of a Joseph Cree in New York City in the 18th Century was the service of a man of that name in the New York Militia during the American Revolution (1779).
Today, I stumbled upon the attached broadside. It shows that there was a Joseph Cree in New York City in 1774, that he was a young boy at the time and that he was employed by a printer. That printer was James Rivington, whose press was steadfastly loyal to the crown but who is now known to have been a spy for George Washington.
James Rivington ceased publication of his last newspaper on December 31, 1783, which is three months short of 15 years prior to the death of Joseph Cree. It appears that Joseph may have learned the printing trade as an apprentice to James Rivington and then, when Rivington was no longer publishing a newspaper, obtained a job with Shepard Kollock.
The broadside referred to by Gary Maher
Also, Joseph Cree named a son James, but there is no known James in his family or that of his wife (Ann Crissey). Perhaps James Rivington is the source of that given name.
There are still many questions that need to be answered, and the Cree family of New York City remains rather obscure. But I feel this new evidence strongly connects my Joseph to that family. And, based on our DNA study, it also strongly connects the lines of David and John Cree of Pennsylvania to the John Cree family of New York City.