St Johns County FlArchives Biographies.....CRAIG, AUGUSTUS H. October 1, 1884 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Nancy Rayburn http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00025.html#0006128 July 29, 2008, 1:23 am Author: The History of Florida: Past & Present, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1923, Vol. II pg.80 CRAIG, AUGUSTUS H. Among the younger generation of business men AUGUSTUS H. CRAIG has firmly established himself in public confidence at St. Augustine, where he is a member of the funeral directing and embalming firm of L. F. SANCHEZ & CRAIG. This one of the old established houses of the city, formerly known as Sanchez & Son, and since joining its personnel Mr. CRAIG has maintained the policy of the business by his honorable dealing, infinite tact and sympathetic bearing. Mr. CRAIG was born in Orange County, North Carolina, October 1, 1884, and is a son of WILLIAM P. and MARY O. (SMITH) CRAIG, natives of the same state and county. He traces his ancestors on both the paternal and maternal sides to pioneers of North Carolina, and his maternal grandfather, MURPH SMITH, was a soldier of the Confederacy during the war between the states. WILLIAM P. CRAIG was born May 7, 1855, the youngest of the six children of CAMERON CRAIG and his wife. He was only one year old when his father died, and as a result his schooling was not very extensive, but he managed to acquire a good practical education, at the same time learning habits of industry that have stood him in good stead. Reared amid agricultural surroundings, he worked on the home farm for a number of years, and when he came to choose his own life work adopted the pursuits of the soil, in which he is still engaged in his native county. He is the owner of a well-improved and well-cultivated property, on which he raises cotton, corn and oats, and also carries on a successful business in breeding cattle. He is known as a man of integrity in his community and as a man of public spirit and civic pride, although he has never held nor sought public office. In politics he is a democrat. He attends the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Craig’s first wife, MARY O. (SMITH) CRAIG, died August 4, 1893, aged about thirty-seven years, leaving four sons and two daughters, of whom three sons and one daughter still survive. For his second wife Mr. CRAIG married Miss BERTHA ADAMS, and they have had two sons and one daughter. The third in order of birth of his parents’ children, AUGUSTUS H. CRAIG attended the public schools of Orange County, North Carolina, where he passed his boyhood on his father’s homestead and was reared as a farmer’s son. An agricultural life, however, did not appeal to him, and he accordingly left the parental roof and found employment with the Southern Railway, working with the construction department for a period of two years. On January 3, 1910, he came to St. Augustine, where he entered the service of the Florida East Coast Railway, being identified with the car-building department until September 11, 1912. At that time he became a member of the police force of St. Augustine, and after one year was appointed deputy marshal, an office which he held for four years. He resigned February 1, 1917, when he purchased a one-half interest in the funeral directing and embalming business of Sanchez & Son, taking over the former holdings of the father, JOHN WILLIAM SANCHEZ. The business has since been known as L. F. SANCHEZ & CRAIG, funeral directors and licensed embalmers. The rooms and chapel are situated at 30 St. George Street, and are thoroughly equipped for the reverent care of the dead, the partners having modern conveniences of every kind, including a motor ambulance. Mr. CRAIG is a member of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church. As a fraternalist he holds membership in Ashlar Lodge No. 98, F. and A. M.; St. Augustine Chapter No. 17, R.A.M.; St. Augustine Commandery No. 10, K.T.; St. Augustine Lodge of Perfection, S.R.M.; and Morocco Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., of Jacksonville; the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also has several civic connections. In his political allegiance he is a democrat, but is not active in politics. On February 4, 1914, Mr. CRAIG was united in marriage with Miss WILLILEE BUSH, who was born in Toombs County, Georgia, the second in order of birth of the seven children, six of whom are living, of CHARLES and ELLA (SMITH) BUSH, natives of Laurens County, Georgia. Mr. BUSH is a well-known farmer and contracting builder of Toombs County, where he is held in high esteem. To Mr. and Mrs. CRAIG there have been born two sons: AUGUSTUS H., Jr., and WILLIAM P. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/stjohns/bios/craig102nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/flfiles/ File size: 5.0 Kb