Martha "Ellen Thomas" OLIVER Crawford was born the daughter of a veteran of the War of 1812, Pvt. Thruston W. Oliver and Martha Ann DICKINSON Oliver. Her mother and father were married on 13 Feb 1809 in Caroline Co, VA. After the war, her family settled in Caroline and Spotsylvania Co, VA where she was raised with her many siblings.

In the mid-1830's her family migrated west to settle in Henderson Co, TN. It was here in Tennessee that Ellen met and later married Andrew Jackson Crawford, Sr. His father was also a veteran of the War of 1812. The young couple is documented in the 1850 US Census with daughter Rebecca and living alongside A.J.'s father, mother, and siblings in Henderson Co, TN. This is one of the few documents where she lists her name as Martha Ellen Crawford, named for her mother Martha. Thereafter, she would simply go by her middle names, Ellen Thomas Crawford after her maternal grandfather Thomas Dickinson.

Soon the entire Crawford family migrated south through Arkansas to Texas which had recently gained statehood in 1845. Her husband A.J., his brother William, and father James Lesley Crawford purchased land just east of the new community of San Saba, TX (1852) on the San Saba River at Brown's Branch in the year 1855. They would start a successful, multi-generational ranching operation known as the Crawford Cattle Ranch and Ellen was be a big part of it.

Her husband was drafted into service during the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Thankfully he returned home to his family in San Saba County, TX where he and Ellen would raise a large family and enjoy the hard work of the Texas Cattle business. In their later years, A.J. and Ellen Crawford donated five acres of land to local community leaders where the grounds of Harris Cemetery remain, designated a Historic Texas Cemetery.

Ellen and A.J.'s children are:

1. Rebecca CRAWFORD b.1849
2. William Franklin Crawford
3. Martha Jane CRAWFORD Bushong
4. Andrew Jackson Crawford, Jr.
5. Thomas J. Crawford (1859-1870)
6. Frances C. CRAWFORD b.1862
7. Alice Grace CRAWFORD b.1865
8. Ruby Berthenia CRAWFORD Kendall
9. Ellen Thomas CRAWFORD Taff
10. Edward Enoch Crawford