THE MAN WHO WAS ALMOST PRESIDENT
WILLIAM HARRIS CRAWFORD
by Bob Chope (from Old Nick, August 2007)
For a brief period in the 1870s the United States Treasury experimented with the issuance of fractional currency. This was done because in the decade following the War Between the States the demand for coinage far exceeded the availability of the metals needed to mint them. Fractional currency proved immensely unpopular with the public and was quickly abandoned. The run of fractional currency did, however, provide the U.S. Treasury with the opportunity to honor great Americans who could not be easily honored on postage stamps or larger currency notes. Among the leading citizens of the past so honored was a cousin to the Davies family, the Honorable William Harris Crawford. His likeness appears on the fifty-cent note depicted above.
The Honorable William Harris Crawford is not in our Davies line. Nevertheless, he is one of those close relatives that deserves inclusion in our history because of the possible insight into our Davies-Crawford line that our knowledge of him may provide.
William H. Crawford was the only surviving child of the Honorable Joel Crawford and his wife, Fanny (nee Harris) Crawford. He was born in Amherst County, Virginia, on February 24, 1772. William's father was the brother of David Crawford, whose daughter Catherine Crawford married Nicholas Clayton Davies. Therefore, William and Catherine were first cousins.
In 1779 William's parents moved from Amherst County to the Edgefield District, South Carolina. The Edgefield District is located about thirty miles north of Augusta, Georgia. Again in 1783 the Crawfords moved. This time they settled in what is now Columbia County near Savannah, Georgia. Joel was a farmer, owning a modest plantation in Georgia. According to the "Memoirs of the Crawford Family," Joel was an ardent Whig during the Revolutionary War. During the British occupation of Georgia, the Torres took Joel prisoner holding him in a British military camp. At the hands of the Torres and British he was subjected to harsh treatment. As a result of his physical abuse and knowledge that the Torres had confiscated his plantation, he weakened, contracted a fever and died. This account appears in the Memoirs and is taken from a letter written by a descendent, R. L. Barret some time in the latter part of the 19th century. If Joel died five years after arriving in Columbia County, then the date of his death would have been in 1788. In another section of the Memoirs it states that Joel died before 1813. When this phrase is used it usually means shortly before the date given and not 25 years before. Inconsistencies like this prevail throughout the Memoirs, but overall it is a good study of the Crawford family of Virginia because it draws on many primary sources of information and generally reliably secondary sources.
Following the routing of the British from Georgia and the pacifying of the Torres, the Crawfords, now without Joel, regained ownership of its property. William, who had managed to obtain an education during the turbulent years of the Revolution, found himself working the farm while also earning money to support himself and his mother as a school teacher. He started teaching the primary grades at the age of sixteen. In 1794 William left teaching in to attend a classical school run by Dr. Moses Waddell in Columbia County. Here he studied the classics and contemporary foreign languages.
William proved to be a talented student and was quickly made a teaching assistant by Dr. Waddell. After attending and working at Dr. Waddell's Academy for two years, he left to teach in Augusta, Georgia at the Richmond Academy. Here William became friends with Charles Tait and helped manage the Academy, while studying the law and advancing his studies in the classics, logic and mathematics. In 1798 he was accepted to the bar and the following spring moved to Lexington, Oglethrope County, Georgia. Very quickly William proved himself a competent attorney and began to prosper in the profession. William's abilities caught the attention of Georgia politicians and in 1800, along with Horatio Marbury, Esq, was appointed to revise the laws of Georgia and compiled the first digest of its laws. This digest was published in Savannah in 1802.
Also in 1802 William Crawford was elected to the State Senate of Georgia. Here he is most noted for introducing a resolution, adopted by both houses of the Legislature, urging President Jefferson to seek a third term in office. He continued to serve in the State Senate until 1807, when he was selected to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. William was challenged during the canvas of the Legislature for the Senate vacancy by an attorney, Peter L. Van Allen. The contest for votes of the Georgia Senate became heated, with brutal accusations being made by Mr. Van Allen and his supporters against the character of William. The contest escalated to a duel between Crawford and Van Allen, the result of which was that William killed Van Allen. It must be kept in mind that although public opinion against dueling was mounting, in 1807 it was still an acceptable and legal way for gentlemen to settle disputes of honor.
William's dueling was not to stop with the death of Van Allen. Although the specifics in this case are murky, soon after the Van Allen duel, William found himself in a dispute with Governor Clark of Georgia that led to a duel between these gentlemen. This time William's aim was not true and he was severely wounded. This duel gave birth to what can be best described as a family feud between the Clark family and the Crawford and Troup families and their political adherents. The political factions in Georgia became know as the "Clark and Troup factions." (Memoirs pg. 37) Besides himself, William's faction was led by kinsman Governor George W. Crawford, Honorable Joel Crawford and Messrs. Barnett, Glimer, Troup, Torrence and their political associates. The Troup faction dominated Georgia politics for nearly thirty years.
Senator William Crawford began his career in Washington towards the end of President Thomas Jefferson's second term. He entered the Senate as one recognized as a strong supporter of the Administration. William was virtually an instant success on the National scene. The American Historian John A. Garraty describes William in Volume I of "The American Nation" as follows: " Crawford was direct and friendly, a marvelous storyteller, and a superb manipulator of men. He was one of the few persons in Washington who could teach the fledgling senator Martin Van Buren anything about politics, and Van Buren supported him enthusiastically in the contest for the 1824 Presidential nomination."
Before running for President, however, William won re-election to the Senate in 1811. It was during this, his first full term, that he established himself as perhaps the first Washington "powerbroker" and boss of a national political machine. In the Senate William supported the policies of then Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, specifically by voting for the renewal of the First Bank of the Untied States. Unlike most of his Southern colleagues, William did vote for the continuation of tariffs. In the next session, however, he changed his position and both spoke and voted in favor of tariffs. When Vice President Clinton became ill, the Senate over-whelming voted for William as President pro tem.
Along with the Old Guard of the Domocratic-Republican Party, William Crawford opposed war with Great Britain in 1812. As a means to assure that the Untied States would avoid the conflict, he voted against augmentation of the navy. His thinking was that without a strong navy the Administration would avoid war with Great Britain at all cost. This was one issue that even with his tremendous influence he could not carry on the floor of the Senate.
In 1813 President Madison offered William the appointment of Secretary of War, but in the midst of a war he did not full heartily support he declined the offer. Instead William accepted the post of Minister to France. He was a patriot beyond question, but his coolness towards the war with Great Britain resulted in him taking little interest in the peace negotiations in Ghent.
During his term as Minister to France William became friends with most of the important people in Paris. He became a dear friend of General Lafayette, who appointed him agent of his American lands, and with whom after his return home, William carried on confidential correspondence. (Memoirs) In Governor Gilmer's "History of Georgians) he wrote: "His (William's) tall, commanding person figured conspicuously among the diminutive Frenchmen, whilst his noble features and gallant temper rendered him a great favorite in Parisian society. When he returned home, polished by intimate association with the highest class of the politest nation, his appearance and manners made him the most imposing gentleman who had ever been seen in Georgia. He indeed, surpassed in personal appearance Mr. Clay, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Lowndes, and General Jackson, his rivals for the Presidency, though each of them would have attracted attention among a million."
In 1815, while on his voyage home from France, William Crawford was confirmed as Secretary of War. This is the position that William had previously declined. Not being enthused by the appointment William served as Secretary of War only until he was confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury in October 1816. Also in 1816 William received significant support among the Democratic-Republican Party to run for President in place of James Monroe. Until this time William apparently never considered a run for the Presidency. At least there are no surviving accounts indicating that he publicly voiced an interest in being President. The ground swell of support to run that he received from his party's Virginian and Georgian delegations may be what planted the idea in his mind to run in 1824. But before running for the Presidency William was destined to make a name for himself as Secretary of the Treasury, an office that he faithfully performed until 1825.
Generally, William Crawford was a Republican-Democrat of the Old School in as far as he believed in states rights and free trade. When faced with unique challenges, however, he did prove flexible. During the economic depression of 1819 he instituted an effective relief program for farmers who were falling behind in meeting their installment debts owed to the Federal government for the purchase of Federal lands because of falling farm prices. His debt deferral program was immensely popular in the western territories where the majority of farmers purchased their land from the Federal government.
Also because of the economic state of the nation in 1819-1820, William supported a modest protective tariff on imported goods and favored re-chartering the Bank of the United States. The most daring scheme that he proposed was for the Federal government to issue flexible paper currency that would not be convertible to hard currency. This proposal met strong opposition in Congress, so William backed down.
It should not be thought that William Crawford was universally loved, even by members of his own political party. There were many, John C. Calhoun and John Adams among them, who viewed William as a cynical spoilsman interested more in building a political machine (a term not yet coined in the early 1800s) than good government. The new Democratic-Republican leadership was moving away from many of the Jeffersonian positions and favoring a more proactive central government. This led to William publicly denouncing many of his colleagues, which resulted in countercharges by them of his being, as Calhoun called him, "a radical". This is an odd application of the word radical. Today we would accuse William of being conservative for adhering to the old ways.
Starting in about 1820 the gloves started coming off between William Crawford and his detractors. Calhoun, Clay and John Q. Adams led a House of Representatives' call for a full investigation of the operations of the Treasury under William. William not only welcomed an investigation, he demanded that it take place immediately. Daniel Webster, Edward Livingston, and John Randolph were the members of the investigating committee. (Memoirs, pg 39)
By the time the investigating committee got underway William was seriously ill. Despite his condition he managed to dictate answers to all of the committee's inquiries and compose a reply to the committee's initial findings. The committee concluded by unanimous vote that all charges of wrong doing lodged against William Crawford were false. There were no misappropriation of funds, no special political deals with William's supporters and absolutely no evidence that William misused the powers of his office for personal gain.
The illness that William suffered at the time of the investigation was one of several short-term illnesses that progressively debilitated him. It is reported that he suffered paralysis from the over usage of lobelia for an attack of erysipelas. Lobelia is a flower that was widely used in the early 19th century to combat a variety of infections. Erysipelas is better known as "St. Anthony's Fire," which is a skin and subcutaneous tissue infection caused by streptococcus and is identified by extreme inflammation and redness of the infected area. Lobelia is one of those old remedies that may have been effective combating certain infections when used in small doses, but dangerous to administer because of the ease of overdosing. Lobelia contains toxins that can cause paralysis and death.
Following this bout of illness William's health recovered enough that he could resume his race for the Presidency. William believed that gaining the support of Thomas Jefferson would virtually ensure his election. Jefferson, however, had refused to come out publicly in support of any of the candidates, although in private letters Jefferson indicated his mistrust of John Quincy Adams and belief that General Jackson was a dangerous man who would lead the country to ruin. Jefferson did indicate his preference for Crawford, although here he admitted that he did not know him personally despite having known members of his family in Virginia for decades.
In September of 1823 Crawford was scheduled to meet Jefferson at Monticello, traveling there by way of Montpelier. (Malone, pg. 432) Unfortunately he never made it to Monticello, becoming ill while visiting with Senator James Barbour in Barboursville, Virginia. It is quite likely that William falling ill when he did not only changed the course of the election for him, but also the history of our Republic.
Any thoughts that Jefferson may have had of eventually announcing in favor of Crawford were ended when word came following his bout with St. Anthony's Fire that he was rendered virtually totally incapacitated by a serious illness. There are different accounts regarding what this illness was. Some claim that he suffered from a series of strokes that left him almost completely crippled. Others claimed that William suffered a nervous breakdown when he learned that his chances of winning the Presidency were evaporating in wake of both Adams and Jackson winning over many of his old supporters. Whatever the nature of his illness was, the public became increasingly aware that he was physically unfit to fill the office. Once the favorite candidate to win the election of 1824, he came in fourth in a field of four. William carried all the electoral votes from Virginia and Georgia, five from New York and two from Massachusetts. Jackson took both the popular vote and the electoral vote, while Adams came in second and Henry Clay third. With no candidate winning a clear majority, however, the election of 1824 stands to this day as the only election to be decided by the House of Representatives. Adams was eventually selected as a compromise. General Jackson was considered too radical to lead the nation and support for Clay had eroded for other reasons.
President Adams offered William the opportunity to stay on in his administration as Secretary of the Treasury, but because of his health William declined. William told Adams that he could no longer see to write or had enough energy to devote to the labors demanded by the office. There is absolutely no evidence that there was any animosity between Crawford and Adams. William left Washington for his home in Georgia.
William had devoted most of his adult life to public service. His financial condition reflected this. He owned very little land and had not accumulated much money. Although not impoverished, he was far from being able to retire comfortably. Realizing this his friends in Georgia provided him with an opportunity to make some money by appointing him to the bench of the 9th Northern Circuit Court in May 1827 to temporarily fill a vacancy resulting from the death of Judge Dooly. Despite his physical limitations he was able to perform his duties to the satisfaction of most and was appointed to serve the remainder of Judge Dooly's three-year term by the State Legislature in November of 1827. He was subsequently re-elected in 1828 and 1831. During his entire time on the bench he was the Chairman of the Convention of Judges. His illness never impaired his intellect. It is said that he remained a great story teller and a man of great dignity up throughout his final days.
In 1804 William married Susanna Gerardine, the daughter of Louis Gerardine, a planter with property on the Savannah River near Augusta, Georgia. Mr. Gerardine was of French Huguenot descent and said to have been a man of letters and refinement. William and Susanna met when William was attending law school. They were engaged for seven years before they were wed, William insisting on getting his career in law established before taking on the responsibility of raising a family. William and Susanna had the following children:
Caroline Crawford, b. March 1805; d. 1875. She married George Mortimer Dudley.
John Crawford, b. February 1807. He married Sarah Bass.
Ann Crawford, b. May 1809. She never married and lived most of her life in Atlanta, GA.
Nathaniel Macon Crawford, b. March 22, 1811.
William Harris Crawford, b. December 19, 1813.
Dr. Robert Crawford, b. June 1816; d. unmarried. Was schooled and practiced medicine in Philadelphia, PA.
Susan Crawford, b. ?; unmarried. Lived in Athens, GA.
William Bibb Crawford, b. 1822; d. ?
William Crawford was never a member of a church. He professed to favor the Baptists, although he maintained a high degree of suspicion towards all organized religion, believing them to be self-serving rather than committed to fostering Christianity. Nevertheless, he did not ignore his children's religious education. He regularly read the Bible to them and accompanied them to church. His friends and foes alike agreed that William led an honest and moral life.
Perhaps the proof of William's honesty is found in the fact that when he died his estate was of little value. He entered government service poor and left it far from wealthy, having to work until nearly the last days of his life. William passed away on September 15, 1834 at the age of 62. He spent his last days on his modest estate in Woodlawn, GA, four miles from Lexington known as "Liberty Hall." His wife of thirty years survived him by about thirty years, dying in Athens, GA at the age of 80 in 1863.
Sources:
_________, Memoirs of the Branch of the Crawford Family which Comprises the *Descendants of John Crawford of Virginia 1660-1883, Privately **printed, NY, NY, 1883.
Garraty, John A., The American Nation - A History of the United States to 1877, *2nd Edition, Harper & Row Publishers, NY, NY, c. 1971.
Malone, Dumas, Jefferson and His Time, Vol. Six - The Saga of Monticello, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA, c. 1981.