Welcome to my web site about Jean Baptiste Creely (died 1762) and the first three generations of his descendants. Jean Baptiste Creely was the progenitor of hundreds—perhaps thousands—of people living today throughout the United States. This web site chronicles all of his life and the lives of three generations of his descendants.
Before proceeding with the content of the web page, take note of a few things:
1. Most of the people in the Creely family were illiterate and spelling was highly flexible in the 18th and 19th centuries. Therefore, the primary documents on these people use several last name spellings for Creely. Other spellings include Crely, Crealy, Creilly, Creeley, Creley, Crilis, Creilis, Crilie, Crelie, Krilis, and Kreli. This web site uses “Creely” everywhere because that seems to be the most common spelling that the descendants of today use. Other last names are just as variant in their spelling, and although one spelling will be used throughout the entire web site, alternative spellings will be noted.
2. This web site is primarily a source for the Kaskaskia period of the Creely family. The family stayed in that town until the early 1790’s. After the family migrated to the St. Louis area, they became very numerous and harder to keep track of. I arbitrarily decided to trace only until the great-grandchildren of Jean Baptiste Creely. However, as certain lines of the family have contacted me with information, I have posted it. No information will be posted, though, from after 1930, or on anybody living.
3. All information on this web site has been checked against primary or secondary sources on the Creely family. These are usually found in the registers of their Catholic parish, but also in property records, business transactions, and other records. You are free to take any information that you find on this site, but please note the original source in your records and do not cite this web site as a source.
4. Of course, this information may be wrong. You are encouraged to check it against the original documents, secondary sources, written histories, family records, and any other source. I would be pleased to receive more accurate information that has been gathered from reliable sources and post it online. For any corrections or additional information about the Creely family, please contact me at russwarne (at) gmail (dot) com.
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