JUDGE M. C. CRAWFORD, lawyer, Jonesboro, was born in Franklin County, Ill. May 26, 1835, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Randolph) Crawford. The elder Crawford was born in Maryland, to which province his father, also John Crawford, had emigrated from the North of Ireland prior to the Revolutionary war. He left his native country in disgust with the British rule and participated in our war for independence. He married Mary Wright in Virginia; she was a native of England, and died in Maryland. John Crawford, the father of our subject, was a farmer by occupation. He served in the Indian wars under Gen. Jackson, participating in several battles with the savages. His wife, Elizabeth Randolph, to whom he was married in 1830, in Franklin County, Ill., was born in 1812, in Rutherford County, Tenn., and died in 1842. She was the mother of five children, viz.: Ellen, wife of Jefferson Whittington; Monroe C. (our subject); Huldah, former wife of Isaac Whittington, deceased; Napoleon B., a physician in Woodford County, Ill., and Thomas, a teacher in Franklin County. Judge Crawford is mainly self-educated, receiving his early learning in the common schools of Southern Illinois, which in the days of his boyhood were common indeed. In 1853, he commenced the study of law with Judge William K. Parrish, and was licensed to practice in 1854. After attending a course of lectures at Louisville, Ky., and receiving the degree of Bachelor of Law, he began the practice of his profession at Benton, the county seat at Franklin, in 1855. In November, 1856, he was elected States Attorney for the Third Judicial Circuit, composed at that time of ten counties; he was re-elected in 1860. He entered the army during the late war, and in 1862 was made Lieutenant Colonel of the One Hundred and Tenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, participating in many stirring scenes and battles, among which were Champion Hill and Stone River. After the war, Judge Crawford returned to Southern Illinois and resumed the practice of law at Duquoin. He was elected Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit in 1867, and was re-elected in 1873. He came to Jonesboro in October, 1867. After serving out his last term, he resumed the practice of his profession. Judge Crawford was married, November 1, 1858, in Benton, Ill., to Miss Sarah I. Willbanks, who was born December 31, 1842, in Jefferson County, Ill. She is a daughter of Col. Robert A. D. and Madaline S. (Arrington) Willbanks. They have six children living, viz.: Robert N., Stanley A., John C, Charles C, George W. and Mary. Judge and Mrs. Crawford are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; he is a member of the Masonic fraternity of Jonesboro Lodge, No. Ill, of which he is Master; he is also an I. O. O. F., and P. G. of his lodge; is a member of the Knights of Honor, Jonesboro Lodge, No. 1891. He has been twice elected by the Grand Lodge of Illinois, K. of H. to represent it in the Supreme Lodge of the United States. In politics. Judge Crawford is identified with the Democratic party.
Extracted 02 Apr 2017 by Norma Hass from 1883 History of Alexander, Union, and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part V, pages 95-96.
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