My Genealogy Hound

HON. JOHN D. CRAWFORD, who served as Mayor of Sedalia from 1888 until 1890, has been Vice-President of the Citizens’ National Bank for over sixteen years, and is one of the most prominent men of Pettis County. During his term at the head of the city government, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad headquarters were moved here, an electric street railway system inaugurated, and street paving and electric lighting introduced.

The Crawford family date their origin back to Ardlock or Crawford-land, in Ayrshire, Scotland. The old Crawford castle, built in a remote period of antiquity, still stands on the right bank of the river Clyde. Our subject’s ancestors were natives of Scotland and descendants of Col. John Crawford, who came from Ayrshire to Pennsylvania. His grandfather, John, who was born in Cumberland County, Pa., removed to Kentucky, where he was one of the very earliest settlers, having located in the wilderness in 1790. While on an expedition prospecting for mines in the Northwest Territory, he met his death. Our subject’s father, John E., was born in Cumberland County, Ky., and inherited the same adventurous spirit. In 1827 he went on horseback to St. Louis, from there came to Pettis County, and then went to the lead mines of Galena, Ill., remaining there some two years, but in 1829 returned to this county and participated in the Indian troubles and in the Mormon War. He settled on a farm on Spring Fork Creek, six miles south of Sedalia, and in time became the owner of eight hundred acres. For one term he served as a member of the General Assembly, having been elected on the Whig ticket, but after the formation of the Republican party he adhered to its teachings. He made a specialty of raising high-grade stock, and was very successful in his ventures. His death occurred in the old brick house which he had built in 1844 on his farm, at the age of eighty-nine years, in 1891.

The maternal ancestors of our subject were of Scotch-Irish origin. His mother, Sarilda J., was born in Clark County, Ky., and died February 2, 1895, aged seventy-six years. Her grandparents were among the first settlers of Ste. Genevieve, Mo.; in fact, they settled there at a time when the surrounding country was so wild as to be illy fitted for a home, and they therefore returned to Kentucky. Daniel Donnohue, our subject’s grandfather, was born in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., but was reared principally in Kentucky, and at a very early period in the history of Pettis County settled on a farm in Dresden Township.

The marriage of John E. Crawford and Sarilda J. Donnohue, which was solemnized in 1836, was blessed by six children, namely: John D.; James H., who was Lieutenant of Company E, Seventh Missouri State Cavalry, and who located and settled Steamboat Springs, Colo., in 1873; Henry A., who died in Colorado in 1882; Grant, who is Assistant Cashier of the Citizens’ National Bank, of Sedalia; Ann E., Mrs. J. J. Ferguson, who lives in Texas; and Cynthia M., wife of Rev. B. T. Thomas, of Lafayette County, Mo. The first marriage of John E. Crawford united him with Miss McFarland, of Cooper County, Mo., and they became the parents of two sons, namely: Christopher C., who was a Lieutenant in the Forty-fifth Missouri Infantry, and died in Pettis County in 1891; and William O., who was a member of the Fortieth Missouri Militia during the late war, and is now engaged in farming in Pettis County.

Upon his father’s farm, five miles northwest of Sedalia, March 1, 1838, occurred the birth of the subject of this notice. With the exception of the first two years, he resided on a farm south of Sedalia until he was twenty-one. His studies were conducted in William Jewell College, at Liberty, Mo., and on completing his education he taught school until the outbreak of the war. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Fortieth Missouri Militia, and was elected Captain of the company. The following year he was made Captain of Company K, Fifth Provisional Regiment of Missouri Troops, and in 1864 was commissioned Colonel of the Fortieth Regiment by Governor Gamble, and served as such till the close of the war. His regiment was central, and on duty in southwestern Missouri. At the time of Price’s last raid, he was in command of the post at Sedalia, which was evacuated temporarily by order of Gen. E. B. Brown, who was in command.

In June, 1865, Mr. Crawford married Annie E. Barberry, who was born in this county. Her father, N. N. Parberry, came from Virginia to this section and settled on a farm four miles south of Sedalia. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford are members of the First Baptist Church of Sedalia, of which the former has been a Trustee for many years. Since 1875 they have spent ten summers in the Rocky Mountains, and have thoroughly enjoyed this recreation.

In the fall of 1870 Mr. Crawford was elected County Recorder of Deeds on the Republican ticket, was re-elected four years later, and did not retire from the office until January, 1879. Subsequently he has been engaged in the abstract, title and real-estate business, the firm with which he is connected being known as Morey & Crawford, and he is giving his principal attention to real-estate and loan transactions. In company with Ira Hinsdale, he laid out West Broadway Addition, now the finest residence part of the city. He owns a part of the old Spring Fork Farm, besides land in other sections of the county. His residence is situated at the corner of Sixteenth Street and Kentucky Avenue, one of the highest points in the city. He has been interested in all public enterprises, and has many friends in central Missouri. Fraternally he has held many offices in the Masonic order, and has been a delegate to county and state conventions of the Republican party. It is within his recollection when Sedalia was not yet in existence and this region was all wild land. As he was reared in this section, he has been a witness of its development, and claims it as the garden spot of earth. Both he and his family deserve more than passing mention.