Franklin-Fulton County GaArchives Obituaries.....Crawford, Thomas Robert April 27, 1956 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Evie Whitfield http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00024.html#0005876 October 1, 2011, 5:05 pm Carnesville Herald, May 3, 1956 Carnesville Herald Thursday, May 3, 1956 Funeral services for Tom R. Crawford, 68, of Lavonia, and a native of Franklin County, were held Sunday afternoon at the A. S. Turner Funeral Home in Decatur. Burial was in Melwood Cemetery. He died in a Milledgeville Hospital Thursday night following a major operation. Mr. Crawford, a great lover of Franklin County, and of people, was born in the Gumlog Section of Franklin County, on August 20, 1886, a son of the late J. S. and Rhody Mary Davis Crawford. He attended Davis and Lavonia Schools and then went to Shenandoah College at Dayton, VA. Following the schooling, he returned to his farm, adjoining the homeplace and farmed and taught singing schools in Frank, Hart and Stephens County and in South Carolina for a number of years. Around 1911, he and Mrs. Crawford the former Miss Carrie Wilson of the Liberty Community of near Carnesville, moved to Lavonia where he was in the mercantile business. They moved to Atlanta around 1935, where Mr. Crawford was a salesman for a number of hardware and paint companies traveling throughout the southern states. Along with his farming and other business interests, Mr. Crawford never lost his love for music and people. On his business trips throughout the South, he could always find time to look up former Franklin CCountians - he was interested in hearing about their families and successes and like to pass the information on to their other friends through the medium of his column "Atlanta News", in the Lavonia Times. He never missed an opportunity to attend an all day singing where he could take part in the song service as well as enjoy the fellowship of the people. Mrs. Crawford will be greatly missed by his family and friends. Survivors include his wife, 2 sons and 2 daughters, Arthur Crawford of Atlanta, Woodrow Crawford of Orland, FL, Mrs. Jenny Lind Heist of Clarkston, Mrs. Mary King of Atlanta; two sisters, Mrs. W. H. Smith and Mrs. W. A. Thomas of Martin; 3 brothers, G. D. Crawford, Van A. Crawford and W. A. Crawford, all of Lavonia. Carnesville Herald Thursday, May 3, 1956 TOM CRAWFORD PENS "30" by Billy Dilworth One of Franklin County's biggest and most loyal supporters for the past half century, T. R. Crawford passed away in a Milledgeville hospital Friday morning. Crawford, famous for his weekly writings in The Lavonia Times and a gentleman who shared the same page many weeks with Red Hill News, stood for the upright things in life. His main interest was church work and his talent lay in music. The Atlanta News columnist wrote his column regularly two months before that fatal hour. And his items dealt with friends he'd met so far and near - at home and away. He loved people. Leo Aikman, Atlanta Constitution editorial writer, once describer Mr. Crawford as "a fellow who should be pushing a pencil full time rather than selling a paint brush." Crawford had that writing talent, an instinct born to share ides with thousands of people. We hold a sad heart. A flavor known as the Crawford flair of writing will be missed in these columns. But it makes those of us who have a desire to write to the people work harder, knowing Mr. Crawford would have done just that. In an issue dated Sept. 24, 1954, Atlanta News, Mr. Crawford wrote, "This time Franklin folks were well pleased over results of the state primary on Sept.8, in which Ernest Vandiver was so overwhelmingly elected Lt. Gov. of Georgia. Of course, Franklin Countians were for Mr. Vandiver, and so they voted for him and really expected his election. The Vandivers conducted their campaign in a splendid manner." (Two paragraphs omitted.) - Mostly deals with the Vandivers. And now, our tribute comes to an end - to a man who wrote reams and reams of paper for this newspaper, to a man who shook many hands in gathering news, to a man who stood for regular church attendance and all that was good. The journalistic profession will note his absence. And, Mr. Crawford writes "30", the journalist's symbol for "The End". File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/franklin/obits/c/crawford13547ob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 4.7 Kb