From History of the Panhandle of West Virginia by J.H. Newton, 1879, page 298
Joseph Craycraft (correctly spelled Craucraft) emigrated from Lincolnshire, England to the vicinity of Frederick City, Maryland, in the spring of 1720. A number of his sons removed to the West, one (William) to Uniontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania; another to Ohio; another to Mound city, then Elizabeth City and another to Mason County, Kentucky.
Dr. Charles Craycraft, one of the sons of Joseph, located on Ten Mile Creek in Washington County, Pennsylvania, at an early date before the Revolution. He married Miss Ellen (Eleanor) Atkinson, daughter of Thomas Atkinson who then lived in what was called Atkinson's Fort or block house on Ten Mile Creek, two miles South of Dickinson's Fort or Blockhouse. The Atkinsons, Dickinsons, Craycrafts, Sheridans, Lucas, and a few other families, constituted a little colony about equidistant between the two forts. Dr. Charles Craycraft and Colonel Stokely, (together with Thomas Atkinson and others) were taken prisoners to Detroit and thence to Montreal, Quebec, and given over to the British. After twenty-two months, Dr. Charles Craycraft and Colonel Stokely returned home to their families in Washington county, where they lived and died, both in the year 1824. Dr. Charles Craycraft and Ellen Craycraft had Joseph, Charles, and William Craycraft.
Joseph Craycraft and wife, Ann, sold their land in Frederick County, Maryland, on August 21, 1761, to Josiah Harper, and it is to be supposed that they also removed to the West with one of their sons.
William Craycraft, a son of Joseph Craycraft and Ann, his wife, married Sarah Bowell, daughter of William and Anna Bowell of Frederick, Maryland, and went to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania where he patented several tracts of land. He settled on one of these tracts in Union Township, Westmoreland County, later Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Mary Ann, the oldest child of William and Sarah Craycraft, was born in Frederick, Maryland in 1760. She married Thomas Atkinson II in Fayette County, Pennsylvania in 1785 and lived in Washington County, Pennsylvania until 1795 when she removed to Kentucky with her husband and family. She died on Flat Creek in Bath County , Kentucky in 1844, and is buried, as is her husband, Thomas Atkinson, in Springfield Churchyard.
William Bowel appeared in Frederick County, Maryland deed records for the first time when he conveyed lands to Samuel Rorer on September 27, 1762. His wife Anna joined in the deed. The scrivener wrote the name in the deed as "Bowers" throughout, but it is clearly signed "William Bowel. He appeared next in the deed records of Hampshire County, Virginia on November 11, 1766, when he divided his lands of the Great Capo Capon (Caoapon) River between some of his children. The instrument recorded in Deed Book No. 1, page 347, purported to convey "My son in Law", Wm. Creacraft and Sarah, his wife, for their natural lives and then to Maryan (their oldest daughter) certain lands in Hampshire County. Other deeds recorded about the same time from Wm. Bowel, who seemed then to be a widower, were to son-in-law Joseph Craycraft and Margaret, his wife, and to Basil Bowel. There was no conveyance to a William Bowel, Junior, but in some of the instruments William Bowel, the grantor, was referred to as senior, implying a son William. Incidentally, in these conveyances the signature is "Bowell." Wm. Bowell had acquired at least part of the lands disposed of by him in Hampshire county, Virginia in 1762 by lease and release from John Hite and wife, and Wm. Bowel, Sr. and wife in 1765. In the 1762 deed Wm. Bowell is referred to as being of Frederick, Maryland.
In 1773 William Craycraft and wife, Sarah, of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, conveyed the Bowel gift of lands in Hampshire County, Virginia to John Keith of Hampshire County, Virginia. Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania then contained all of what is now Westmoreland county, Fayette County, Washington County and Greene County
The following is a best guess of the first Craycrafts in Bath County, Kentucky
William Craycraft b. 1760-70 d. between 1843 & 1846
m. (1) Sarah Bowell b. 1760-70 Sarah died between 1830 & 1832
m. (2) Keziah (Isabella) Ratliff, 19 January 1832 in Bath County, Kentucky This was also her 2nd marriage
Children (not necessarily in order of birth)
Eli had a son named John Tilford, born after 1830 (some time referred to as John Tilford, II).
John Tilford has a son named John Tilford, born about 1843 (we call him John Tilford, III)