Genealogical and Family History
of the
STATE OF MAINE

Compiled under the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D.

LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
New York
1909.

[Please see Index page for full citation.]

[Transcribed by Coralynn Brown]

[Many families included in these genealogical records had their beginnings in Massachusetts.]

CRAWFORD The Crawfords belong to one of the most ancient houses in Ireland, being a branch of the Earls of Richmond. They were staunch Presbyterians, and some of them migrated to Scotland early in the seventeenth century. Several of them came directly to this country from Ireland. Dr. Robert Crawford was the first regular physician at Worcester, Mass., whither he came from Ireland in 1718. He was the grandfather of William H. Crawford, secretary of the U. S. treasury from 1817 to 1825. Moses Crawford, a Presbyterian dissenter, was born in Enniskillen, Ireland, and came to New York with his family in 1731. Probably the branch which has done the most to keep the name before the public is the one represented by Abel and his son, Ethan Allen Crawford, both of them famous White Mountain hunters and guides, who gave the name of Crawford Notch, in whose defiles they lived for many years. (I) Thomas Crawford was born near the beginning of the eighteenth century, and lived at Haverhill, Mass. He moved to various places in New Hampshire, and the last record we have of him was when he bought land at Bridgewater, that state, in 1767. In 1741, when the boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was adjusted, his homestead was severed from Haverhill, and annexed to the latter state; so he became a resident of New Hampshire without changing his location. The town of Hampstead, including a part of the territory taken from Massachusetts, was incorporated in 1749, and he was an inhabitant of that town for several years. He was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of Hampstead, and one of the signers to the settlement of the controversy over the Haverhill and Kingston titles. In the French war he served in three expeditions for the reduction of Crown Point. In 1756 he was in Capt. Parry's company, Col. Meserve's regiment; in 1757, in Capt. Mooney's company, Col. Meserve's regiemtn; and in 1758 in Capt. John Hazen's company, Col. Tash's regiment. He removed from Hampstead to New Chester (now Hill, N. H.) in 1767, and took up land in the section of the town which afterward became Bridgewater. He was a prominent man in the settlement, and owned extensive tracts of land. On March 9, 1737-8, Thomas Crawford married, at Haverhill, Mass., Jane Johnston, daughter of Michael and Mary (Hancock) Johnston, and a sister of Hon. Charles Johnston, of Haverhill, N. H. Children: Abigail, b. about 1740; Jonathan, b. 1746; Thomas, b. 1748; Sarah and Robert, baptized at Hampstead, 1755; John, baptized at Hampstead, 1758. Abigail Crawford, the eldest daughter, married Peter Heath Feb. 11, 1768, and lived at Bridgewater till 1804, when they removed to Stanstead, Province of Quebec, where she died in 1830, aged ninety years. The men of the family all had military inclinations. Jonathan and Thomas, as well as their younger brother Robert, whose sketch is given below, served in the revolution; in later life, Jonathan was captain and Thomas was colonel in the militia. Thomas Crawford was a prominent citizen of New Chester and Bridgewater, was elected to many offices, including thirteen times as representataive, and was a delegate in 1788 to the convention that ratified the constitution of the United States. (II) Robert, third son of Thomas and Jane (Johnston) Crawford, was baptized at Hampstead, N. H. in June, 1755, and died of scarlet fever, during a prevailing epidemic at Concord, N. H., April 18, 1813. Little is known about him except his military history, but that covers an extended period during the revolution, and he was one of the veterans who had enlisted for the war of 1812. According to the New Hampshire rolls, Robert Crawford served six months, from June 16, to Dec. 16, 1775, in the regiment of Rangers under Colonel Timothy Bedel. In 1776 he was a member of the Fifth Regiment of Foot, Capt. Joshua Abbott, Col. John Stark, and he signed receipts for pay during Feb., March and Oct. of that year. We find "A travailing and Billeting Roll for Capt. Abbots Company in Colo Starks Regiment Fort George Novr ye 22d, 1776," in which Robert Crawford is paid sixpence a day for "twelve days before marching," and a penny per mile for marching one hudnred and fifty miles. Jan. 30, 1777, Robert Crawford enlisted in the company of Capt. Amos Morril, Col. David Hobart, of Plymouth, and served till March 6, 1779. He received twenty pounds, state bounty, at the time. Robert Crawford seems to have been a resident of New Chester, now Hill, N. H. most of his life because he probably moved there, as a boy in his early teens, when his father bought land there in 1767. During his last enlistment, 1777 to 1779, he is credited from New Chester, and at the time of his death in Concord he is mentioned as one of the soldiers from New Chester. Capt. Joshua Abbot, under whom Crawford served in 1776, was a resident of Concord; but the company was probably recruited from the surrounding region, and New Chester or Hill lies only about twenty-five miles to the north. (III) Benjamin, son of Robert Crawford, was born Jan. 1, 1810, at Holderness, N. H., died April 27, 1893, at Fairfield, Maine. When a young man of eighteen he went to Detroit, Maine, where for five years he worked as a lumberman for Nathan Lord. During the next thirteen years he lived in Clinton and Burnham where he was engaged in farming and lumbering, and in 1863 came to Detroit, purchasing the only sawmill in the place, and operated this until 1868. He served as deacon of the Methodist church, and held several town offices of minor importance. In Feb., 1833, Deacon Benjamin Crawford married Charlotte L. Lord, daughter of Nathan Lord. Children: William Spratt, whose sketch follows; Llewellyn, Hadassah, Edward William and Emma. (IV) William Spratt, son of Deacon Benjamin and Charlotte L. (Lord) Crawford, was born at Burnham, Maine, Dec. 6, 1853. When a boy he moved with his people to Detroit, Maine, where he was educated in the common schools. Till his eighteenth year he was employed by his father in the sawmill; but he later moved to Hallowell, where he was employed by the Millikens in the sawmill and lumber business. He is a Republican in politics, and attends the Methodist church. He married, June 20, 1874, Elizabeth Frances Clark, daughter of George and Esther Clark, who was born June 20, 1856, at Skowhegan, Maine. Children: William M., whose sketch follows; and Bert, born Dec. 10, 1876. (V) William Maurice, elder son of William Spratt and Elizabeth F. (Clark) Crawford, was born March 29, 1875, in Detroit, Maine, and was educated in the common schools of Clinton, Fairfield and Pittston, now Randolph. After completing his education he was employed by the F. E. Vickery Clothing Company of Fairfield for two years, and later was engaged for a short time with the Durren Lumber Company at Seal Cove, Mount Desert, Maine. Upon his return to Fairfield he worked in the office of Dr. F. A. Knowlton, dentist. Mr. Crawford was later employed by Edward Ware, of Winslow, in the sawmill business; and he then spent one year at the Boston Dental College. The next year he was employed as shipping clerk by the Sampson Manufacuturing Company of Fairfield. He then enlisted in the U. S. Seventh Regiment Band in Boston, which was stationed at Fort Grant, Arizona. They were afterward stationed at Huntsville, Alabama, Macon, Georgia, Savannah, Georgia, and Havana and Marionoa, Cuba. They were discharged in New York City May 6, 1899. Mr. Crawford then returned to Benton Station, where he worked for his father for one year in the grocery business. He then formed a partnership in the clothing business at Fairfield under the firm name of Crawford and Lowell; and on Oct. 5, 1900, he bought out his partner's interest, and has since conducted the business alone. Mr. Crawford is treasurer for the Nemo Company (incorporated). He is a Republican in politics, and belongs to Siloam Lodge, A.F. and A.M., also to the Fairfield Odd Fellows, the Brotherhood of Protective Order of Elks of Waterville, Maine; and to M.W. of A. of Fairfield. On July 24, 1901, William Maurice Crawford married Ethel Joy Preble, daughter of George B. and Ada (Clark) Preble, who was born Nov. 3, 1883, at Waterville, Maine. Child: Glenys Irsteen, born Jan. 9, 1904, at Fairfield, Maine.