San Jacinto Museum of History
Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library
Manuscript Collections
Finding Aid
ROBERT CRAWFORD PAPERS
1837 - 1886 (Bulk: 1867 - 1883)
Manuscript Collection: MC005
Size: .2 linear feet
Boxes: 1 box
OCLC No. 45966759
Acquisition: Gift of Mrs. Willis N. Downs, 1940
Restrictions on Access: None
Terms Governing Use: Open for research by appointment.
Processed by: Sarah Canby Jackson, 2000
Publication Rights: Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jacinto Museum of History. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Jacinto Museum of History as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Citation: [Identification of Item], Robert Crawford Papers, MC005, San Jacinto Museum of History, Houston, Texas.
Creator Sketch:
Born in the Abbeville District of South Carolina in 1815, Robert Crawford moved to Tennessee in 1829 with his father and two brothers, John B. and Andrew. The following year, his father died, orphaning the three boys. The small family remained in Tennessee until December of 1835 when aroused by "the fires of patriotism," and a sense of familial duty to his brother, John B., Crawford joined a company of volunteers eager to enter the fight in Texas. Crossing the Sabine River on January 1, 1836, Crawford soon enlisted in the Volunteer Auxiliary Corps. He served as a private under Capt. Robert James Calder’s Company K of Colonel Edward Burleson’s First Regiment, Texas Volunteers at the Battle of San Jacinto.
When in Tennessee, Crawford became a Methodist on September 22, 1834, a decision that would dictate his life’s work. Although interrupted by his departure for Texas, Crawford’s desire to study for the ministry and become a Methodist preacher was realized soon after Independence. Crawford was licensed to exhort in the Methodist Church on March 18, 1838 and to preach on September 14, 1839. For the next twenty years, he traveled throughout Texas as a Methodist preacher riding many of the circuits of the time. Married on October 27, 1846, Crawford and his wife had four children. In December 1848, the East Texas Conference appointed Crawford to the Harrison County African Mission, a move which required the approval and trust of the slave owners in the area for him to be granted access to the slaves. Crawford continued in this significant mission until the Civil War. In 1859 Crawford moved his family to Owensville, Robertson County, where he and his wife taught school for several years. Retiring from preaching in 1874, he became a physician late in life. Robert Crawford continued to reside in Robertson and Williamson Counties until his death on December 5, 1888.
Bibliography:
"CRAWFORD, ROBERT." The Handbook of Texas Online.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/CC/fcr11.html
Scope and Content Note:
Correspondence, creative works, tax receipts, legal documents, and printed materials document the life of Robert Crawford, a San Jacinto veteran who became a Methodist circuit riding preacher on the Texas frontier. The Robert Crawford Papers are divided into two groups: Personal Papers and the Ridgway Papers. Of particular interest in the Personal Papers are Crawford’s autobiographical writings concerning his life in early Texas, the Battle of San Jacinto, his life as a frontier preacher, and drafts of several essays and speeches. An early Texas legal action (1839) in Robertson County, J. M. Ridgway vs George Robertson, comprise the bulk of the Ridgway Papers. Jona Ridgway’s Oath of Allegiance to Texas (1837) and Permit to Leave Texas (1837) have artifactual interest.
ROBERT CRAWFORD PAPERS,
