Known Activities
Little is recorded of Margaret Crichton Ervin's individual activities beyond her identification as the wife of William H. Ervin and the daughter of John Crichton. She married William H. Ervin in 1878, the same year he settled on his farm approximately 3.5 miles northwest of Dundee village. The farm was principally devoted to dairy-farming and bee culture. (Source: Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County (1904))
Her father, John Crichton, is noted only as a pioneer settler of Dundee Township. The Crichton family's presence in the township likely predates the Ervins' arrival, though the precise date of John Crichton's settlement is not recorded in the available source.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1878 | Married William H. Ervin; settled on farm northwest of Dundee village |
| 1904 | Referenced in Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County as wife of William H. Ervin and daughter of pioneer settler John Crichton |
A 1966 family genealogy of John and Janet Hamilton Crichton — Scottish immigrants who came to Dundee in the 1830s–40s — lists a grandchild named "Margaret Crichton Ervin" (entry #17 in the descendant chart). If this is the same Margaret, her father John Crichton would be a child of John and Janet Hamilton Crichton, not an independently-arrived pioneer as the 1904 encyclopedia entry alone suggests. Flagged as probable, not confirmed — see the notes on both linked pages.
Sources
- Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, 1904. Entry for William H. Ervin. Available at: https://archive.org/details/historicalencycl00unse#offset-4513717
- 1966-01-01_physical-archive_crichton-family-genealogy — "The Descendants of John and Janet Hamilton Crichton," compiled by Fred R. Crichton, 1966. Collected by a resident, sourced from FRVPL, 2026-08-18.