Samuel J. Crawford
American politician (1835-1913)

Samuel Johnson Crawford (April 10, 1835 – October 21, 1913) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War, and the third governor of Kansas (1865–1868). He also served as one of the first members of the Kansas Legislature.
Early life
Crawford was born in Lawrence County, Indiana, and grew up on a farm while he attended school in Bedford, Indiana. He later attended law school at Cincinnati College. His parents were William and Jane (Morrow) Crawford, who were natives of North Carolina and had moved to Indiana Territory in 1815. His paternal grandparents were James and Mary (Fraser) Crawford, his grandfather having been a Revolutionary soldier.
Arrival in Kansas
Samuel J. Crawford arrived in Kansas Territory and began the practice of law at Garnett, Kansas, on March 1, 1859. In May of the same year of his arrival he attended the Osawatomie Convention and participated in the organization of the Republican Party in Kansas. In September of the same year he was a delegate to the Republican state convention at Topeka, which placed in nomination state officers under the Wyandotte Constitution.
In November 1859, he was elected a member of the first state Legislature, and assisted in putting the state government into operation.
“Samuel J. Crawford” enters the record as american politician (1835-1913). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Samuel, Crawford and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2218403. VIAF identifies the subject as 26646279. The Library of Congress control number is no95015703. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1835, 1913, 1865 and 1868.
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This entry incorporates text from “Samuel J. Crawford” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.