our james craik was the grandson of dr. james craik. one of george washington's closest personal friends and comrades during the french and indian war, the revolutionary war. and throughout his term as president. james craik grew up in alexandria, virginia. he decided to settle the lands that his grandfather and george washington had discovered. in the 1820's, charleston was a city that was on the rise and that was in part due to the salt industry just outside of town. prior to that, it just -- the charleston area would have been a militia outpost, fort lee, which would have been at the mouth of the elk river. by the time that james craik had moved from his then-mason county home to charleston, it had a population of roughly 600 people, that included white, free black and enslaved. so it was a small town but a close-knit society where everyone seemed to know each other. james craik was a wealthy man. most of his wealth inherited from the bounties that he had received from his grandfather and father. he ended up traveling as a circuit la