Crawford to Oklahoma

My recent 'adventure' in Dodge City newspapers on Newspapers.com allowed me to discover information about another Crawford family.

There are two distinct Crawford lines in Dodge City prior to 1890. My line descends from Washington Marion Crawford who followed his brother, James H. Crawford to Dodge City from Indiana around 1884. The other line, Harvey H. Crawford, descends from James Crawford (1770-1836) of Warren County, Indiana thru his son, William Alan Crawford.

Harvey H. Crawford settled in Wheatland Township northeast of Dodge City about the same time that James H. Crawford settled just south of Dodge City. According to newspaper articles, Harvey H. Crawford moved to Oklahoma for a time before settling in Dodge City before 1900.

In May 1889, H. H. Crawford journeyed to Oklahoma pursuing work as a carpenter.

Steve Leavergood and H. H. Crawford started for Oklahoma on last Sunday morning. Mr. Crawford expects to get some work at his trade, carpentering. Mr. Leavergood has taken a claim, but will follow butchering.

Western Kansas Ensign (Dodge City, Kansas), 10 May 1889, page 3; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online November 2019).


Later in June, the paper published a letter from H. H. Crawford in Oklahoma.

Mr. H. H. Crawford of this place, who has been dwelling among the Oklahomaites I.T. during the last six weeks doing carpenter work, writes June 16th in which he gives a census taken by the Gazette, of Oklahoma City, which is too lengthy to insert in our columns. It would not require a philosopher to see at a glance that all branches of business are over done, and ahead of the country, not half of them can make a living and in less than a year there must be an exodus which will astonish the natives. The following is the conclusion of Mr. Crawford's letter viz:
You ask how I like this country, I don't like to live here as well as I do there, there is an oppressive feeling to me; as to the water there is none that is as good as the water there, there is something about it that people generally are complaining of dysentery. The wind blows here as well as there; we had a terrible hail storm June 6th, it went south of the city two and a half miles, the leaves were beaten off the trees and limbs as large as your finger peeled clear around; hailstones as big as hen eggs were found twelve hours after the storm in the drifts in the draws. There is plenty of timber along the streams but the U.S. don't allow any green timber sold. Groceries are as cheap here as there; we can get fresh fruit of all kinds; irish potatoes are one dollar per bushel, sweet potatoes thirty cents a peck. I am well.
H. H. Crawford

 Letter, Western Kansas Ensign (Dodge City, Kansas), 28 June 1889, page 3; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online November 2019).