Shortly after his marriage, James and Catherine and their in-laws, Louis and Cathrine Dumas, moved in 1760 to Orange County, Virginia (later Federick County, Maryland) and then to Berkley County which is now part of West Virginia. Both families settled on the Opequon River where Louis Dumas established a mill. Then James and Cathrine followed their daugher to western Virginia (now West Virginia). Their sons, Charles and Pierre fought in the Revolutionary War. James was appointed Captain in the Virginia militia.

Page 1055 in the Annals of Southwestern Virginia, 1769-1800.
April 19, 1780 Thomas Jefferson, Governor appointed James Crabtree Captain of the Virginia Militia of Washington County. The Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia dated November 11, 1794 shows James Crabtree receiving a pension for his services under General Green. Will was probated in Winchester, Virginia. His heirs were his wife Catherine, sons William, James, Thomas and Lewis.1