"A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of the City of
Seattle and County of King, Washington." New York and Chicago: Lewis Publishing
Co., 1903.  p. 528.
 
RONALD C. CRAWFORD

     Great indeed have been the changes which time and man have wrought since
Ronald C. Crawford landed on the Pacific coast.  He is numbered among the
pioneers of both Oregon and California, and is now a distinguished and honored
resident of Seattle, where he is living retired in the enjoyment of a well
earned rest after many years of toil, in which his efforts have contributed to
the development and upbuilding of this section of the country as well as to his
individual prosperity.  When the rich mineral sources were still locked fast in
the embraces of nature, when the rich land was unclaimed and uncultivated, when
the Indians far outnumbered the white settlers, and life in the northwest was
attended with many dangers and hardships, Mr. Crawford took up his abode on the
Pacific coast and for fifty-five years has been identified with its interests.
     He was born in Havana, New York, in 1827, and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
His great-great-grandfather, William Crawford, emigrated to Orange county, New
York, and became the progenitor of the family in America.  He was a Presbyterian
in religious faith.  His son, William Crawford, Jr., was born in New York and
participated in the war of the Revolution, while his son, Samuel Crawford,
Ronald C. Crawford's grandfather, was a soldier of the war of 1812.  The latter
lived to be more than eighty years of age and died in 1847.  Samuel G. Crawford,
the father of our subject, was born in Orange county, New York, in 1799 and
married Miss Elizabeth Davis of the same county.  Both attained to an advanced
age.  The father was a Republican and gave to the party an unfaltering support.
He served as magistrate and in numerous other offices, was a man of high
Christian character and in his religious affiliation was a Congregationalist.
He visited the Pacific coast in 1862 and his death occurred in 1878 when he was
seventy-nine years of age.  His good wife departed this life in the fortieth
year of her age.  They were the parents of five children, all of whom lived to a
good old age, and two of the sons yet survive, the brother of our subject being
Leroy Crawford, now a resident of New York.
     Ronald C. Crawford pursued his education in the schools of Havana, New
York, and in 1847 when twenty years of age, crossed the plains to Oregon City.
His brother, Medorem Crawford, had made the long journey across the plains in
1842, and was one of the prominent pioneers of Oregon.  For many years he was
the honored president of the Pioneer Society of that state.  He became the owner
of a large farm in Yamhill county and spent the remainder of his life there,
being held in the highest regard by all.  When our subject came to the pacific
coast in 1847 there was a large emigration.  The company with which he traveled
made the journey with ox teams, but Mr. Crawford had his own horse.  He assisted
the company in various ways, one of his duties being to ride on ahead, which he
could do, as his horse traveled faster than the oxen, and select a suitable
camping place for the night.  His luggage was carried in one of the wagons in
payment of the help which he rendered the party.  There were large herds of
buffalo upon the plains, and the party frequently saw Indians but were never
molested by the red men.  The six months' journey was terminated by their
arrival at Oregon City, where Mr. Crawford engaged in freighting for two years.
Then when the gold excitement in California was drawing people to the mines from
all sections of the country, he also went there in search of the precious metal,
making the journey on horseback, packing his equipments and necessary clothing.
Reaching the gold fields he engaged in placer mining on the American river and
on the Feather river above Sacramento, taking out gold to the value of from one
hundred to two hundred and fifty dollars per day.  He made a great deal and when
he returned to Oregon at the end of two years he had a handsome stake for so
young a man.  He spent the winter of 1851-2 in San Francisco, and in the spring
returned to Oregon City.
     Not long after his arrival Mr. Crawford was happily married to Miss
Elizabeth Moore, a native of Illinois, who crossed the plains with her father,
James M. Moore, in 1847.  After their marriage they secured a donation claim in
Clackamas county and resided thereon for five years, during which time our
subject made many improvements upon his land and obtained his patent from the
government.  At the end of the period he removed to Walla Walla county and was
engaged in mining, also in freighting from the mines of Walla Walla for four
years.  He was next appointed deputy collector of internal revenue and spent six
years in Salem, Oregon.   He joined the Republican party at its organization and
was a strong Union man.
     In 1869 Mr. Crawford removed to Olympia, Washington, and established a
furniture store, but the Northern Pacific Railroad Company did not make that
town its terminus, and he closed out his business, removing to his farm in Lewis
county, where he remained for five years, farming and improving his property.
At the expiration of that period he accepted the position of chief warden of the
United States penitentiary on McNeal Island, having charge of the prisoners
there for three years.   In 1877 he became a resident of Seattle and accepted
the position of pressman and afterwards traveling agent for the Post
Intelligencer for five years.  He then became interested in his present
business, that of buying bonds and commercial paper of all descriptions.
     Unto Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have been born seven children, all natives of
either Oregon or Washington.  Five survive.  They are as follows:  Addie, the
wife of M. E. Warren of Dawson City; Samuel L., who is prominently engaged in
the real estate business in Seattle; Fannie, the widow of Clark Biles; Ronald M.
of Dawson; and Nellie, the wife of Captain Laurence S. Booth, who is engaged in
the abstract business in Seattle.  Mr. Crawford was for many years a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  In 1852 he was made a Master Mason in
Multnomah Lodge No. 1, F. & A.M., the first Masonic lodge organized on the
Pacific coast.  For many years he has been an honorary member of St. John's
Lodge of Seattle.  In politics he is still a Republican on whom the party can
rely, and he has been honored with different official positions.  While in Lewis
county he was chosen to represent his district in the Washington territorial
legislature of 1875.  He was also postmaster and justice of the peace, filling
all the positions at one time, creditably acquitting himself in the discharge of
his manifold and varied duties.  On coming to Seattle he purchased a residence
near the university in order to educate his children, and has remained here for
the past twenty-five years.  His wife, with whom he has traveled life's journey
for a half-century, is a member of the Plymouth Congregational church, and both
are numbered among the most respected citizens of Seattle.  His connection with
the northwest covers a very extended period and in every sphere of life in which
he has been called upon to move he has made an indelible impression, and by his
excellent public service and upright life has honored the state which has
honored him.

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Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in October 2006 by Diana Smith.

Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.