Dr. Crawford is thoroughly American and has an ancestral record of considerable consequence. His great-great-grandfather, John Crawford, was a native of the Highlands of Scotland, and settled in what is now Greene County, Pennsylvania, about the middle of the last century. The son of John Crawford, Colonel William Crawford, Dr. Crawford's great-grandfather, was a Revolutionary hero, and played an important part also in the memorable conquest of Ohio in 1794. He enlisted when a youth under a Captain Campbell, who was employed by the Colony of Virginia as a "ranger” on the border, for the purpose of protecting the settlers from the onslaughts of the Indians. He was in the service altogether about thirty years, and advanced rapidly from the ranks, becoming a shrewd and brave officer. Early in the Revolutionary War he was commissioned a captain by Patrick Henry, and in 1786 he received a commission as lieutenant-colonel. When "Mad Anthony” Wayne made his famous expedition against the troublesome Indians north of the Ohio river and west of the Alle gheny Mountains in 1794, Colonel Crawford was in command of part of the troops, having been commissioned by Governor Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania to protect the western border of the County of Washington.
The official papers showing to what positions Colonel Crawford was appointed at different times are still in the possession of his descendants. His record was one of great bravery, and the trust placed in him by the Governor of Pennsylvania, by Patrick Henry and others, shows the esteem in which he was held. His military record entitles his descendant, Dr. Crawford, to membership in the society of the Sons of the Revolution. Colonel Crawford was the owner of about five hundred acres of land where the town of Carmichaels, in Greene County, Pennsylvania, now stands, and was residing there at the time of his death in 1828, when he was eighty-two years of age. It may be truly said of him that he died “ full of years and honors."
His son, John Crawford, Dr. Crawford's grandfather, was a man of considerable prominence in Southwestern Pennsylvania, being the first to make a survey of the Monongahela river from Pittsburgh to the Virginia line. He was also an Indian scout and lay under the same blanket with John Lynn, of historic mention, when the latter was shot and killed. Because of this episode the name "John Lynn" has been perpetuated through the various branches of the Crawford family.
John Crawford had four sons: John Lynn, William, Jennings and Jefferson. The third son, Jennings, father of Dr. J. P. Crawford of Davenport, was born September 14, 1805, at Carmichaels, Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh. He married a daughter of George Evans of Carmichaels when he was twenty-two years of age, and soon thereafter removed to Mount Vernon, Ohio, where he cleared a farm and dwelt for a quarter of a century, after which, in 1852, he removed to Iowa. He was twice married and by the marriage above mentioned there were five children, as follows: Ann, an accomplished woman, who died at the age of twenty-six, unmarried; Salome, now deceased, who married Charles Cabler soon after the family removed to Iowa; John L. of Des Moines, for six years clerk of the courts of Linn County, who married Miss Ann Graham previous to the departure of the family from Ohio, and whose children are: Howard, married; Jefferson, married; Salome, married; Alice, single, and Jennings, single. Lydia, the fourth child of Jennings Crawford, married W. D. Litzenberg, now deceased, who was a very bright man and a member of the Legislature from Linn County, and for a number of years before his death a practicing attorney at Anamosa. Mrs. Litzenberg's children are: Anna, who married and has a family; Jennie and Jennings, the latter educated at the State University of Minnesota for the study of medicine. Mrs. Litzenberg resides in Minneapolis. Phoebe, the fifth child of Jennings Crawford, by his first marriage, married Charles W. Coe, for twelve years post master at Anamosa , Iowa, and is now residing with her husband in Minneapolis. Her children are: Frank L., married, and Louisa, who is married to C. N. Hunt of Minneapolis, and has three sons and a daughter. Mr. Hunt graduated from the Iowa State University in 1881 as one of the strongest men of the class, especially distinguished as an orator. His long-standing convictions of duty led him in 1893 to give up a lucrative law practice in Minneapolis to engage in evangelistic work, in which he is meeting with phenomenal success.
Jennings Crawford's first wife died in Ohio, and he was again married during his residence there to Miss Sarah Price, a native of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, who had gone to Ohio with her parents when she was nine years of age. She was thirty-three when she became the wife of Mr. Crawford. To this union were born four children, as follows: Margaret, who died in infancy; Dr. G. E. of Cedar Rapids, born August 22, 1819; Dr. J. P., born August 27, 1855, and his twin brother, Dr. A. J., now deceased. The latter were born near Marion, Iowa.
Mr. Crawford's departure from Ohio was made in 1852, when he removed to Linn County, in this State, and settled upon a section of land, which he cultivated and upon which he resided until his death by accident, September 11, 1881, at the age of seventy-six. He was very prominent in the community, both as a successful farmer and as a public man. He was well read and scholarly, and possessed all the culture and refinement of a city gentleman. He was a member of the “War Legislature” in 1860. For fifty years he was a deacon in the Baptist Church.
Dr. G. E. Crawford is a graduate of Bellevue Hospital College, New York City, having been a member of the class of 1877. He has become very prominent in his profession and his practice is one of the finest in Cedar Rapids. He is a scholar of no little ability and recently received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy after four years of systematic reading. His wife's maiden name was Julia Benest. The children of the family are: J. Lynn, Jennings and Louisa, the first mentioned educated at the State University of Iowa, and engaged in the study of medicine, intending to make a specialty of diseases of the eye and ear.
The late Dr. A. J. Crawford was also a graduate of the Bellevue Hospital College, in New York City, being a member of the class of 1883. He immediately took up the study of orthopedic surgery as a specialty. He came west soon after his graduation and became professor of orthopedic surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in Des Moines, where he remained until his untimely death from chronic pneumonia in 1888. He was married to Amelia Benest, a sister of his brother's wife, and had one child, Jennings, a bright and promising lad.
Dr. J. P. Crawford received his early education in the district schools of his County, where he attended about three and a half months out of every year, until he was seventeen. After that he attended Western College at Western, Iowa, for a while, although he continued to reside on the farm until he attained his majority, when he took up the study of medicine. He entered the medical department of the State University of Iowa in 1879. His course covered a period of four years, and he graduated in 1883, the valedictorian of his class. He had been house physician at Mercy Hospital in Davenport during two vacations, and these unusual advantages gave him much practical knowledge and specially qualified him for entering upon the practice of his profession. The late Dr. W. F. Peck was his preceptor and professor in surgery, and no doubt his preference for this specialty was inspired by his admiration for his teacher as a noted operator and practical surgeon. Dr. Crawford located in the City of Davenport in 1883, and since that time has been practicing here with remarkable success. He now has one of the most desirable practices in the city, and has a special fondness for surgery.
He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Scott County Medical Society -- of which he was president for three years the Iowa State Medical Society and the Iowa and Illinois District Medical Association, of which he is at present vice-president. He has read a large number of interesting papers before these various associations. Among the original articles which he has contributed may be mentioned the following: A paper on asthma, read before the Scott County Medical Society and published in the Iowa State Medical Reporter; "diphtheria", read before the Scott County Medical Society; bronchitis, read before the Iowa and Illinois District Medical Association; pneumonia, read before the same society; “Pancreatic Calculi,” read before the Iowa State Medical Society and published in the journal of the American Medical Association; "Purulent and Serous Effusions of the Pleural Cavity," read before the Iowa and Illinois District Medical Association and published in the New York Medical Journal; "Isolation and Disinfection in the Treatment of Infectious Diseases," read before the Iowa and Illinois District Medical Association; "Tumor of the Cerebellum,” published in the New York "Medical Record.”
He was a United States pension examiner during President Harrison's administration, is local surgeon of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad, physician and surgeon to Mercy Hospital, and physician and surgeon to St. Luke's Hospital. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and in politics is a Republican, although he has never taken an active part in political affairs. He is a member of the Calvary Baptist Church and an active worker; also a charter member of the San Greil Club, which was organized in September, 1888, and has met once a month since without interruption. It has a restricted membership, limited to thirty, composed of an equal number of ladies and gentlemen, and has for its object literary culture and social enjoyment. The average paper read before this body shows careful preparation and a high order of literary merit.
On October 14, 1885, Dr. Crawford was married to Miss Anna Williams, daughter of A. F. and Frances R. Williams. Mr. Williams, now deceased, was a former partner in what is now the Sieg Iron Company. Mrs. Williams is still living, spending part of her time in Davenport and the remainder in traveling. Mrs. Crawford is well educated and accomplished, and is a very estimable lady in both church and social life. She devotes some time to the fine arts, more especially to portraits, water colors and china decoration, and for several years has been an active member of the Students' Music Club, an organization comprising the leading lady musicians of the city. She is in full sympathy with her husband in all his duties and responsibilities, and their manner of living is to get the greatest amount of enjoyment out of each day of their lives. Dr. and Mrs. Crawford's children are: Frances Louise, born January 27, 1887; Genevieve, born October 4, 1889, and Helen, born June 26, 1891.
Mrs. Crawford has one sister, Mrs. J. S. Thompson of this city, and one brother, Frederick C. Williams, now residing at Colorado Springs. The latter had reached his senior year at Brown's University, Providence, in 1891, when the condition of his health necessitated the abandonment of his school work, and he went to Colorado Springs for a change of climate, in the hope of restoring his health. Another brother, the youngest child in the family, J. Robinson by name, died on February 11, 1894, at the age of eighteen years, of tumor of the brain, after being an invalid for three years. Previous to his illness he was making good progress in the high school, and was a very bright and promising boy.
Dr. Crawford's position and standing in the community are prominent, owing to the fact that his success as a practitioner has been noteworthy. This means that he possesses a natural adaptability to the noble calling in which he is engaged, and his devotion to his work increases as his duties and responsibilities become more arduous. His record at the university shows that he is a man of application and energy, and the same zeal and earnestness in his practice have brought results which would gratify any physician having a desire to be a leader rather than a follower in his profession.
His education did not end with the completion of his university course, for he has taken a number of post-graduate courses in New York, and takes his recreation by spending a day or two every few weeks in the Chicago hospitals, where he comes in contact with the brightest men of the profession. He has an excellent medical library, and constantly replenishes it with the latest publications, keeping himself fully informed of the latest developments and the results of scientific research.
His very cordial relations with the members of the profession in the city are prominent characteristics of his professional life, especially the friendly and intimate fellowship with his associates on the Mercy Hospital staff. The bi-monthly meetings of this board at the hospital, with a banquet provided by the Sisters of Mercy, on which occasions the affairs and interests of the hospital are discussed, are not only profitable conferences, but delightful gatherings socially, but to no one does Dr. Crawford feel so indebted as to Dr. William D. Middleton for his unselfish helpfulness, great kindness and wise counsel at all times.
Davenport recognizes in Dr. Crawford not only an able man in his profession, but one of sterling integrity and an exemplary Christian gentleman.
BIOGRAPHIES