They Call It Treason: The Legend of Christiana Crewey

They Call it Treason is based on the true story of George and Christiana Crewey Walters, the author’s fourth great grandparents. Christiana was born in Holland, and had studied very intently to obtain a good education in mid-eighteenth century England. George was a ruggedly handsome young British brick mason, but uneducated and opinionated. Drawn in by his good looks, his hard work and sincere desire for a better life, Christiana married him and joined him on a voyage aboard what turned out to be a slave ship to the Virginia Colony where they had been promised a land grant to grow tobacco for sale in England by the Virginia House of Burgesses. Taking up property on the cusp of the Great Eastern Divide, they started a family, which grew as they gradually reached for their goals. When the American Revolution broke out, George was fiercely loyal to the Crown, King George III, the father of whom he saw as the source of all their good fortune. Being fairly forced to serve in the Revolutionary Virginia Militia, after only a brief time, he deserted and joined the regulars, the British military. After being captured and spending two years in jail, he was court-martialed and compelled to serve eighteen months in the Continental Army under General George Washington. Christiana, who was very pro American, was furious! She refused to own slaves. With a big family and a plantation to run, what would she do? Her actions would make her a legend. This book highlights the bravery and heroism of several legendary women in the early era of Colonial and Revolutionary America.