HISTORY

Creech is a sept of the Clan MacDuff (Source: http://www.tartans.com/official/MacDuff/usa/macsept.htm).
Other spellings of the same name are: Creach, Creich and Creiche, which appear in Scottish Church Records 2.01.
Many of these were in Fife, Scotland in the early 1600s.
Here you will find information that will aid in your Clan research.

Clan MacDuff Society of America
Clan MacDuff History Page
The Gathering of the Clans: Highland Games

Taken from: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~tmsgen/sur/creech/info.html
Creech, the family and the name, seems to have started in Fife, Scotland before feudal times. In Fife, Scotland, there is a region known as Creich. The Creech clan of this area owed allegiance to the MacDuffs and wore the Scottish tartan. Early records associated it with a locale that referred to a hilly section. From there they spread out over the British Isles and later to America.

The name has been recorded with several spellings, and some family groups still use some of these altered spellings. The original spelling was, I think Creich. Spelling variations in the Old Country were Cridge, Criech, Creych, Creeche, McCreech, etc. Over here in America we find Creach, Critz, Critch, Crich, Scritch, Screech, Cruch, etc. the most prevalent is Creech.

There have been many notable persons of the Creech name such as Ronald de Creych who witnessed the confirmation of a charter in 1204; Simon de Creych who petitioned for a canonary of Moray in 1394; Richard de Creych who made a safe journey to England in l423; Andrew Creich who was in Dumforshire in 1500; John Creech who was a merchant in Leith in 1544; and Willie Creech, an editor and printer who published the poems of Robert Burns.

Taken from: http://sciway3.net/clark/allendale/creechfamhist.html
Notes: James M. Creech (JMC), 1980 Revised MSS, "Creech Family", writes that Richard Creech was brought to America by William Carter and arrived in North America, by or before 1622, in James City County, Virginia. The Creech family was in England as early as 1197 and in Scotland as early as 1204. In Scotland they were of Fifeshire and owed allegiance to the MacDuffs. According to James M. Creech (JMC), Richard Creech was the first Creech to come to America from the Highlands of Scotland and sailed aboard the ship "Journeyman" with Captain William Carter in about 1622, before 1623. JMC must have had evidence, but we have not found it.

In "Cavaliers and Pioneers", Nell M. Nugent, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1979, p. 42, states that William Carter was given 100 acres by the James City Company, 20 May 1636, from Patent Book I, Part 1, p. 359, being a neck of land near unto the head of Lower Chippokes Creeck (sic), East upon same, South upon the land of Robert Sheppard, North towards James River, for transfer of Michael Siler and Richard Crich (Creech). Note by Roy G. Creech: It is suspected that these two men were guards trained by the military for the settlement to help defend against the Indians. There were many Indian uprisings during this period and about 400 settlers were killed in James City settlement area in 1622, almost destroying the settlement. Another major Indian uprising occurred in 1644 (Dan Lacy, American Book Publishers Council, "Virginia", The Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. 28, 1958 Edition, pp. 116-125, 1958). Apparently the Indians were resisting further expansion of the settlement. King James I changed Virginia to a royal colony in 1624, thereby changing its status from commercial enterprise to a commonwealth.

Evidence at hand is that Richard Critch (Creech?), age 27, came to America in 1635 (boarded ship in London on 4 Jul 1635 for "Virginia in America"), in "Passengers to America" by Michael Tepper, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, p 90, 1978 (Confirmed by RGC). Charles Waddell Creech supports the 1635 date (ca. 1635) in his article. See Sources below. Charles W. Creech is a native of Johnston Co., NC, a descendent of Joshua Creech (son of Benjamin Creech and Mary Lewis) and Sally Stanford of Johnston Co., NC, and brother of Ezekiel, Sr.

J. M. Creech writes that Richard Creech, his wife Frances, and young daughter were killed by Indians in James City, VA, in about 1630, with two sons surviving (Henry and Nicholas). Henry is said to have been 9 years of age when his family was killed. Henry and Nicholas were reared by their uncle, John Beale/Beels. James Beels' (Beale) will, found in "Abstracts of Wills", Pasquotank Co., VA, was written 3 Nov 1721, probated Apr 1722, and names wife and executrix, Ann, son John Beels, plantation. Witnesses: John Perkens, Henry Creech, and George Lumley (Confirmed by RGC).

Charles Waddell Creech states that the family story is that Richard Creech from Scotland settled in James City Co., VA about 1635, and that Richard and his wife and three children were killed by the Indians, except 9-year old Henry, who was away from his home at the time (conflicts with JMC in that JMC states that Nicholas and Henry survived). The Nicholas in Lower Norfolk County, VA in 1640 may not have been the son of Richard and Frances Beale (Beels) Creech, since so little is known about this Nicholas Creech, but he probably is the same Nicholas. These independent accounts are very similar, however.

There are: a Creich Village, Creich Church Ruins, Creich Cemetery, and Creich Defensive Tower (Castle) Ruins in Fife, Scotland (photos in file of RGC, provided by Whitney & Michele Creech, 1997). Creich (from Gaelic) is apparently spelled Creech in English.

James City was the original settlement in VA near the mouth of the James River in 1607. The second group arrived in June, 1610. James City settlement became Jamestown. The first group consisted of about 100 men who cleared land for a plantation. The second and later groups had families who sought to make this their new home. Richard Creech appears to have been close behind.

Sources: "The Creech Family" by James M. Creech (deceased), Rt. 3, Box 358, Snow Hill, North Carolina, P. 81, 15, 12, 16, 18); Mrs. J. D. Baswell (Jean), 4300 Burns Dr., Bessemer, Ala. 35023, DAR # 673595-A652, Mary Holt Batten; Michael L. Cox, 1358 Rice Rd., Centerville, In. 47330; Mrs. David N. Batten: Doris (Creech) Miles, Box 461, Blytheville, Ark. 72316; Lillian Broughton Creech, "Creech Lineage", Gateway Press, Inc., Baltimore, 1989; June Moosberg Sherman, R.R. 1, Box 54, Lockney, TX 79241; Roy G. Creech (RGC); Charles W. Creech, `The Genealogy of Stephen Worley Creech', IN "The Heritage of Johnston County", 1985 (Route 1, Box 196, Zebulon, NC 27597), from Norma Jean (McCarty) Clark; Anne Creech Trevarthen, 121 Underwood Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185; Will of James Beels (sic, Beale), see Notes above (confirmed by RGC): "Passengers to America" by Michael Tepper (See Notes above); Hotten's "Lists of Emigrants to America" (Same information as Michael Tepper). For further information on the Creech family, contact: rgcreech@ra.msstate.edu