Coe Isaac Crawford Biography


	This biography appears on pages 818-819 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				COE ISAAC CRAWFORD. 

	A predominant characteristic of Coe Isaac Crawford is his loyalty 
to his honest convictions, which he will defend to the point of 
sacrificing any personal ambition. He stands at all times in stalwart 
defense of what he believes to be right and none question the integrity 
of his opinions; they may differ from him in matters of belief or of 
policy but none doubt his sincerity. These qualities have been again 
and again manifest in his career-the tangible evidences of his public 
spirit and today as representative of South Dakota in the United States 
senate, he is displaying the same qualities which marked his efforts to 
defeat machine rule in state politics. 

	C. I. Crawford is a typical resident of the west, alert and 
enterprising. He was born at Volney, Allamakee county, Iowa, January 
14, 1858, his parents being Robert and Sarah (Shannon) Crawford. The 
family is of Irish lineage and was founded in the new world by James 
Crawford who, leaving his home in County Tyrone, Ireland, became a 
resident of Coshocton county, Ohio, in 1816. He was the father of 
Robert Crawford, who removed from Bloomfield, Ohio, to Allamakee 
county, Iowa, in 1851, and there amid the hills which border the 
Mississippi valley, established his home and reared his family of 
twelve children, including Coe I., who was the fourth son. When in the 
battle of life the city boy crosses swords with the country lad the 
odds are against him. The early rising, the daily tasks, the economical 
habits of the country boy prepare him for the struggle that must 
precede ascendancy. The early training of C. I. Crawford was that of 
the farm and the habits of industry and close application which he 
early developed have constituted the foundation not only of his 
professional success but also of his personal prominence. The effort 
required to live in ungenerous surroundings such as those of a pioneer 
community, the necessity to make every blow tell and to exercise every 
inventive faculty develop powers of mind and habit which have 
established distinguished names within South Dakota's borders. The 
usual experiences of the farm lad fell to the lot of C. I. Crawford. He 
attended the public schools in the winter months and assisted in 
clearing the farm through the summer seasons, having the necessities of 
life and some of its comforts but none of its luxuries. When a youth of 
fifteen he had the opportunity of attending a graded school, working, 
however, for his board in the family of a physician who was a man of 
broad culture and felt a personal interest in the lad who thus early 
was manifesting a laudable ambition for intellectual advancement. This 
physician instructed Mr. Crawford in Latin, geometry and English 
literature and after two years, further study he was granted a 
teacher's certificate and became a law student in the Iowa State 
University, in which he completed his course in the class of 1882, 
winning the LL. B. degree. 

	Mr. Crawford located for practice in Pierre, Dakota territory, in 
1883, and his ability as a lawyer soon gained for him a very desirable 
clientage and led to his election to the office of states attorney for 
Hughes county in 1886. Two years afterward he became a member of the 
legislative council of Dakota territory and was a member of the first 
state legislature, which convened in 1889-1890. He was appointed 
chairman of the committee on revenue and made the original drafts of 
nearly all the bills of importance that were introduced during that 
session, his influence constituting a potent force in securing their 
enactment. In 1896 the party nominated him for congress and following 
his defeat by a small majority he temporarily withdrew from politics 
and concentrated his efforts upon his profession. The Chicago & 
Northwestern Railway Company made him its attorney for South Dakota and 
he removed from Pierre to Huron, remaining as the legal representative 
of that railroad in this state until he resigned in order to be free to 
make an independent decisive fight for progressive republicanism. In 
that year he was made the nominee of his party for governor but was 
again defeated. However, he was studying the political situation with 
thoroughness and recognized the fact that the party in South Dakota was 
under the domination of the political machine. Once more he became his 
party's candidate for gubernatorial honors and after a most bitterly 
contested campaign was elected in November, 1906. His administration 
was characterized by needed reforms and improvements in matters 
relating to the commonwealth. While he occupied the chair of chief 
executive, many laws of public benefit were added to the statute books: 
the primary election law, the anti-lobby law, the anti-pass law, the 
fellow servant law, the law limiting the hours of labor for the 
employee of common carriers and a law requiring the publicity of 
election campaign funds. Under the primary election law he became the 
republican candidate to represent South Dakota in the United States 
senate during the term beginning March 4, 1909, and at the election 
received a most gratifying majority. As in the state legislature, his 
individuality is making itself felt and he is regarded as the peer of 
many of the ablest members of the senate. 

	Mr. Crawford was married to Miss May Robinson, whose father, Levi 
Robinson, was a prominent attorney of Iowa City, Iowa. She died in,1894 
leaving two children, Miriam and Irving, and on the 27th of November, 
1896, Senator Crawford married her sister Lavinia. The children of this 
union are two sons and a daughter, Robert, Curtis and Jeannette. The 
family residence is maintained at Huron, South Dakota, although of 
necessity they have in recent years spent much time in the national 
capital. 

	Senator Crawford is a Presbyterian in religious faith. His 
standing in professional circles is indicated by the fact that he was 
honored with the presidency of the South Dakota Bar Association in 1899 
and in 1904 and 1905 he was a member of the general council of the 
American Bar Association, with both of which organizations he is still 
actively connected. He is prominent as a man, his constantly expanding 
powers having taken him from humble surroundings to the field of large 
enterprises and continually broadening opportunities. His personal 
characteristics and social qualities are pronounced and he is an 
acceptable companion in any society in which intelligence is a 
necessary attribute to agreeableness. He has occupied a central place 
on the stage of political action almost from the time when his initial 
effort was made. He has pursued his course without allowing personal 
interest or ambition to dwarf his public spirit or activities and the 
high ideals which he has cherished have found embodiment in practical 
effort for their adoption. His breadth of view enables him to grasp the 
possibilities of a situation and the highest type of American manhood 
finds in him an exponent.