The Craig Family of Lee County, Iowa

JOHN HENDERSON CRAIG.

History is held by writers and readers as a mighty mirror, reflecting the images and deeds of great men, and some of these heroes are pictured with such overtowering ])reportions that they monopolize the thought and admiration of the world.

It is one province of biography to correct the exaggerated and unjust discriminations of history and give a due proportion of praise to some of those who aided in elevating those heroes to their high historical plane and by many deeds, honest lives and eloquent words added to the progress and glory of our common county.

To portray human actions and characteristics with honest fidelity should be the aim of the biographer. And as a man worthy of high position and the dearest memory in the annals of Iowa and the Union we shall unhesitatingly place as compeer with the great men who have preceded him. Keokuk's honored and lamented citizen. John FT. Craig.

The subject of this brief sketch was born on a farm near Claysville, Washington county, Pennsylvania, July 31, 1824, of which county his parents were also natives. His early years were spent upon the farm, pursuing the usual duties of a farmer boy about the old homestead but receiving a good common-school education. These advantages were supplemented by courses in chemistry, philosophy, rhetoric and algebra. He studied later under the instruction of the pastor of his church. As early as at the age of fifteen years Mr. Craig left the farm, taught school one term and then attended the West Alexander Academy at West Alexander, Pennsylvania, for a period of four years. Completing the academic course in 1845, he engaged in teaching at the academy for a year, when he entered the junior class at Washington and Jefiferson College, from which institution he was graduated in 1848, meeting the expenses of this collegiate course by acting as a tutor of Latin and (creek in the college.

In the spring of 1849, l''- Craig commenced the study of law with Hon. T. M. T. McKennen, ex-secretanof the interior and ex-member of congress. He had, however, so closely confined himself to his studies in school that his health forbade his continuing them further, so, in the spring of 1850 he went to Natchez, Mississippi, where he devoted himself to literary pursuits and teaching. In the fall of 1853 his health being perfectly restored, he returned to his Pennsylvania home. The following year he went to Wheeling, Virginia, now West Virginia, and resumed his law studies.

The death of his father occurred al)out that time and he returned home to settle the estate. Afterwards he entered the law office of Hon. William Montgomery, of Washington, Pennsylvania, congressman from that district. Here he pursued his studies one year and was admitted to the bar in 1856. After the death of his mother, in November of the same year, Mr. Craig concluded to seek his fortunes in the West, having now no very strong ties to bind him to his native state.

In the following spring, 1857, he came to Iowa, stopping in Keokuk to isit friends. During this visit he was induced to form a law partnership with Judge R. P. Lowe, afterwards governor of Iowa, and John W. Noble, who rose to distinction as a general in the War of the Rebellion, became secretary of the interior in President Benjanun Harrison's cabinet, and now a prominent lawyer at St. Louis, Missouri. The fall of that year Judge Lowe was elected governor and the partnership was dissolved. Mr. Craig, however, continued in active practice until about 1888, when his health precluded the possibility of continuing professional jnirsuits.

During his practice he was associated with different attorneys. The last firm with which he was connected was that of Craig, McCrary & Craig, composed, besides himself, of A. J. McCreary and John E. Craig, a nephew. He was an earnest student, a conscientious lawyer. a finished orator. a valued citizen, and above all an honest man. He was a magnetic leader at the bar. and never allowed a difficult point of law to go unmastered. In life he lire the fame of being one of the ablest attorneys in the West and was regarded all over Iowa as a brilliant lawyer.

The first important case with which Mr. Craig was connected was that of Nash and Redoubt, charged with the murder of Harrison, partner of the late Patrick Gibbons, in which he ably assisted in the prosecution, and he was connected with nianv nf the important cases in Lee county and other counties of the state and in the supreme court of the state.

In politics Mr. Craig was a stanch Democrat but always declined to be a candidate for office though man)- times solicited to break the rule of his life. In educational matters he always took the deepest interest and was for sixteen years or more a member of the board of education of Keokuk. He was the president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, one of the oldest and best-known medical colleges of the W'est. for a number of years prior to his death. For about thirty years he was attorney for the Iowa State Insurance Company, having made a special study of Insurance laws. He was a consistent and devout member of the first Westminster Presbyterian church and until he became broken in health was a constant attendant at the services, always taking an active ])art in religious matters.

Mr. Craig was of fine literary taste and culture and would have taken rank with the best in that tled had he chosen to enter it more largely. Some of his lectures were gems of the platform. But he was the kind of genius who hid his brilliant attainments from the world rather than proclaim them from the housetops. Mis writings and ])oems were never published but many of them are preserved as precious family relics in happy memory and as evidences of the power of the man.

John H. Craig was married December 24, 1863, at Madison, Wisconsin, to Miss.Mice Read, daughter of Hon. Daniel Read, who was for many years connected with the State L'university of Indiana, was later president of the State University of Wisconsin, ruid who at the time of his death was president of the State University of Missouri. Mrs. Craig survives her husband with the following children: Daniel Rend Craig, superintendent of construction of the XcMihwestern Telephone Company, of Illinois; Miss Rertha R. Craig, teacher of hi.story in the Keokuk high school; Theodore A. Craig, attorney in Keokuk, and ex-Mayor of the cit\ and Hugh H. Craig, attorney and mem1;er of the board of education of Keokuk. Mr. Craig was also eminent as a husband and father. He loved his home and family. Their welfare and happiness were his delight. The great lawyer, the busy citizen, the untiring student was never too engrossed in the affairs of life to turn the ear away from the cab of wife or child. His home was his loved paradise on earth, where rest and comfort and happiness came as a denison.

After an ilhiess existing over four years. during which time he was incapitated for the duties of his profession, Hon. John H. Craig passed away peacefully Monday, September 1 8, 1893. Ii"- Craig was first stricken during the march. 1888. term of the district court and while addressing a jury he sank to the floor and was borne to his home. From this attack, which the physicians said was caused by the rupture of a small blood vessel in the brain, he recovered sufficiently to resume the duties of his profession until in January. 1889, he suiifered another attack while sitting at his home. At the time it was thought this attack would prove fatal, but he again rallied so that he was able to walk about. From that time, however, his life work was over and the great legal mind and eloquent tongue ceased their labors, until after more than four years "he drew the draper of his couch about him and lay down to pleasant dreams." The end had come.

Citizens of every class and creed felt with moistened eye the great loss 'that had befallen the city. The State of Iowa echoed the lament from Keokuk. The Keokuk bar passed resolutions of regret and eulogy as did also the Iowa State Insurance Company and the Keokuk School Board of which he was so long a member and presiding officer. The press of Iowa, of Pennsylvania, the commonwealth which gave him Ijirth. and of other states gave high tribute to the goodness and greatness of Mr. Craig.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

THEODORE A. CRAIG.

Theodore A. Craig, a member of the Keokuk bar and a leader in local political circles, was born in Lee county. June 13, 1872, his parents being John H. and Alice (Read) Craig. His father coming to Keokuk aliout 1855, was one of the first practicing attorneys of this city and was associated in his profession with General Noble. He was a Democrat and took an active interest in the work of the party, frequently delivering cam)aign addresses in the county and state, although always refusing to become a candidate for office. He died in Kcnkuk in Seiitember. 1893, and is still survived by his wife. The four children of the family are also living: Read, who resides in Aurora, Illinois; Bertha R., who is teaching history\- in the Keokuk high school; Hugh 11., an attorney\- of this city, and Theodore A.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

HUGH H. CRAIG.

Although a young man and a comparatively recent addition to the legal fraternity in Keokuk, Hugh H. Craig in the short space of three and a half years has demonstrated himself to be the possessor of unusual aptitude and enthusiasm for his chosen profession, in which he has already achieved a gratif_\-ing degree of success and if past attainment be a criterion for prophecy is destined to genuine distinction and a high plane of usefulness. A native of Keokuk, he was born October 1, 1874, the son of John H. Craig, now deceased, a sketch of whose career and lineage appears elsewhere in these pages. His preliminary education was obtained in the public schools of this city, and he is a graduate of Keokuk high school, class of 1892, but living ambitious for further training, he entered Parsons College, at Fairfield, Iowa, in which institution he ]nirsuc(l ri th'irougli course of classical study and was graduated in 1896 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

Mr. Craig early determined in favor of the law as a lifelong vocation, and on his graduation entered the law offices of John E. Craig in this city, where he studied for several months, but with a view to obtaining a variety of experience he then accepted a position as city editor of the Gate City, a leading daily newspaper of Keokuk, continuing in that line of work with marked success for three years, at the expiration of which period he resigned and resumed the study of law. Shortly afterward, in September, 1899, he was appointed by the county board of supervisors a justice of the peace, and after serving in that capacity until the following November was elected to fill the unexpired term for which he was originally appointed, and discharged the duties of the office in an acceptable manner until January 1, 1901. Meantime he had continued his legal studies, and in May, 1901, he was admitted to the bar, since which time he has devoted his attention to general practice.

Mr. Craig has shown himself to be a young man loyally devoted to the general welfare, and has assumed a prominent part in local politics as a member of the Democracy, having served his party for four years as secretary of the county central committee and for two years as secretary of the Keokuk committee, while he is also an active member of the board of directors of the Associated Charities of Keokuk, and since March of the past year has served the public as a member of the municipal board of education. He maintains substantial relations with industrial interests in Keokuk, being secretary of the Keokuk Improvement Company, and in the fraternal world of this city and of Iowa he is conceded a leading position, being Past Exalted Ruler of Keokuk Lodge, No. 106, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, an office to which he was elected after a membership of only ten months in the order, at present trustee of the Keokuk Lodge and member of the Grand Lodge, to which he has been twice elected representative, and having attended the session of the Grand Lodge at Baltimore in 1903: while he sustains membership relations with the National Union and with Morning Star Lodge, No. 5, of Keokuk, Knights of Pythias. Connected thus at many important points of contact with the varied interests of his native city, his rapid advancement is viewed with pleasure by many an experienced leader who, having played a worthy role in the upbuilding of the community, now looks about him to discover younger and stalwart shoulders upon which to cast his honored mantle.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

HON. JOHN ENSTER CRAIG.

With public affairs in Keokuk Hon. John Enster Craig has long been prominently, actively and helpfully identified and as a member of the bar he ranks among the foremost. Keen intelligence has directed his efforts and a recognition of the obligations and duties of citizenship has made his service one of value, not only in the legal profession but in the broader field of civics.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Craig was born in Washington county, March 14, 1853, and is a son of Alexander K. and Sarah

(JVlcLain) Craig. The father was a man of prominence in his community and represented the twenty-fourth district of Pennsylvania in congress from 1890 until 1892. At the usual age John E. Craig became a pupil in the public schools of his native county and later entered Washington and Jefferson College, becoming one of its alumni in 1877. During the period of his later youth and early manhood he was employed at farm labor through the summer seasons and engaged in teaching during the winter months in order to secure the money necessary to meet the expenses of a college course, his time being thus passed until he reached the age of twenty-four. The year following his graduation he came to the west, arriving in Keokuk on the ist of May, 1878. Here he became a law student in the office of his uncle, Hon. John H. Craig, and was admitted to practice in 1879, immediately thereafter becoming a member of the law firm of Craig, Collier & Craig. His advancement from that time to the present has been continuous, and he has long been accorded a position in the front ranks of the legal profession in Lee county and the state. Thoroughness in the preparation of his cases has been one of his strong characteristics, and his analytical mind enables him to readily recognize the relation between a point in evidence and the law applicable thereto. He has never deviated from the highest standards of the profession, and his pronounced ability has won him a large and distinctively representative clientage.

Mr. Craig has been called to several offices in the line of his profession. He became one of the lawmakers of the state in 1886, when Lee county sent him as its representative to the Iowa legislature. In 1888 he was reelected and while a member of the general assembly at Des Moines he took a prominent place among the lawmakers of the state, being a recognized leader of the democratic party in the house. In 1889 he was elected mayor of Keokuk and was reelected in 1891, both times receiving a large majority. He was instrumental in inaugurating street paving in Keokuk, Main street being paved from Second to Eighth. Various other public improvements were instituted, including a sewer system, which was established and put in operation. It was also during his administration that the union depot was built and the electric street railway was established. He won so high a place in the regard of his fellow citizens of the town and county and indeed among the people of his party that he was prominently named as a candidate for governor at the democratic convention held in Sioux City in 1889. However, he refused to allow his name to be used in connection with the candidacy for the office. For eleven years he served as a member of the board of education in Keokuk and his fellow members of the board and the public in general strongly indorsed his services, recognizing their force as factors in the improvement of the school system of the city. In 1896 he was elected county attorney and served in that position for four years. In 1902 and again in 1904 he was the democratic nominee from the first congressional district for congress and in 191 2 was the candidate of his party for judge of the supreme court of the state of Iowa. His part recognizes him as one of its leaders, a man capable of directing its best interests and standing for its highest principles.

The social features of Mr. Craig's nature have found expression in a happy home and in connection with several fraternal organizations. He was married on October 7, 1880, to Miss Fame S. Coulter and to them has been born a son, M. Coulter, now a civil engineer at Wilmington, Delaware. Mr. Craig holds membership in the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Royal Arcanum, the National Union, the Iowa Legion of Honor and the Keokuk Club. He is active in every good work promoted by the Westminster Presbyterian church, of which he has long been a devoted member. The welfare of Keokuk is dear to his heart and his interest therein has found tangible expression on many occasions. If rewards have come to him in the shape of public office they have been well merited. If they have not come it has not been a matter of deep concern to him, as he feels that the pursuits of private life are in themselves worthy of his best efforts.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.