Samuel J. Crawford
Samuel J. Crawford | |
---|---|
Governor of Kansas | |
In office January 9, 1865 – November 4, 1868 | |
Lieutenant | James McGrew Nehemiah Green |
Preceded by | Thomas Carney |
Succeeded by | Nehemiah Green |
Personal details | |
Born | April 10, 1835 Lawrence County, Indiana |
Died | October 21, 1913 (aged 78) Topeka, Kansas |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Isabel Marshall Chase |
Profession | attorney, politician, soldier, real estate |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | Colonel Brevet Brigadier General |
Commands | 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment 19th Kansas Cavalry Regiment |
Battles/wars | American Civil War American Indian Wars |
Samuel Johnson Crawford (April 10, 1835 – October 21, 1913) was a
Early life
Crawford was born in
Arrival in Kansas
Samuel J. Crawford arrived in Kansas Territory and began the practice of law at Garnett, Kansas, on March 1, 1859. In May of the same year of his arrival he attended the Osawatomie Convention and participated in the organization of the Republican Party in Kansas. In September of the same year he was a delegate to the Republican state convention at Topeka, which placed in nomination state officers under the Wyandotte Constitution.
In November 1859, he was elected a member of the first state Legislature, and assisted in putting the state government into operation.
Military career
Toward the close of the first session the country was involved in war. He resigned his legislative seat to become captain in the
With the 2nd Kansas Cavalry he was with General James G. Blunt in Southwest Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian Territory until early in the fall of 1862. During that time he participated in the battles of Newtonia, Old Fort Wayne, Cane Hill, Bald Peak, Cove Creek, Prairie Grove and Van Buren. At Old Fort Wayne he led his battalion in the charge which resulted in the capture of an entire battery of artillery.
On March 12, 1863, he was assigned command of the 2nd Kansas Cavalry and soon afterward joined Blunt at Fort Gibson for an expedition south through the Choctaw Nation. This campaign ended with the taking of Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Colonel Crawford was instrumental in capturing a number of prisoners, wagons, horses, a Confederate paymaster and $40,000 of Confederate money.
In November 1863, he was appointed colonel of the
Governor
While still in active service, on September 8, 1864, Crawford was nominated for governor of Kansas. On October 1 he was granted a leave of absence, the first he had had since entering the service at the beginning of the war. However, on arriving in Kansas learned of
On November 8, 1864, he was elected governor, and on January 9, 1865, took the oath of office; on September 5, 1866, he became the first person to be re-elected governor of Kansas.
Governor Crawford resigned on November 4, 1868, to take command of the
Retirement
After retiring from the governorship Crawford was in the real estate business at Emporia, Kansas, until 1876, when he moved to Topeka to undertake the prosecution of certain claims against the United States for indemnity school lands, and in this he rendered much aid to Kansas. Subsequently, he moved to Washington, D.C., and practiced law there for a number of years. Among other activities Crawford published Kansas in the '60s, a work which attracted much attention as a picture of conditions in early Kansas history.
On December 1, 1870, he formed the Florence Town Company. It was a group of men who learned of the proposed route of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway who decided on a town site where the railroad would cross the Cottonwood River. He named the town, Florence, in honor of his daughter.[1]
Legacy
Samuel J. Crawford is the namesake of Crawford County, Kansas.[2] Many cities in Kansas also have streets named after Crawford.
See also
Notes
- ^ Century of Pride, 1872–1972 : Florence Kansas Centennial; Florence Centennial Book Committee; 1972.
- ^ Blackmar, Frank Wilson (1912). Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. Standard Publishing Company. pp. 471.
References
- A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, written and compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, copyright 1918; transcribed by Ryan Cannon, student from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, September, 1997.
- S. J. Crawford Copies of Letters Sent and Essay, 1868–1905, Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection, Kansas State Historical Society
- Kansas Cavalry Awards
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- "Samuel J. Crawford". Find a Grave. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
- Governor Samuel J. Crawford Collection State Library of Kansas KGI Online Library
- Der Staat Kansas-eine Heimath für Einwanderer by S.J. Crawford