CRAWLEY, Thoredore - Putnam

THEODORE CRAWLEY has won a notable position at the bar of Putnam County, and for over a quarter of a century has been in practice at Greencastle. He is known as a liberal minded man, experienced and resourceful, and has devoted his time and talents to an extensive general law practice. He was born in Putnam County, Indiana, June 3, 1874. The Crawley family came from England. Mr. Crawley traces his lineage in an unbroken line in his paternal ancestry back to the year 1680. The Crawleys lived for several generations in North Carolina. That was the home of his great-great-grand-father, John Crawley, who died before the Revolutionary war, and three of his sons were soldiers in the struggle for independence, one of them being killed during the war. The great-grandfather, Henry R. Crawley, moved over the mountains and settled in Claiborne County, Tennessee. The Crawleys while in Tennessee were slaveholders.

Theodore Crawley’s father, Jefferson Crawley, was born in Claiborne County, Tennessee, August 16, 1828, a son of William Crawley, of Claiborne County. Jefferson Crawley came to Indiana in 1834 and lived to be seventy-six years of age. He died in 1904 and is buried in the old Cemetery at Greencastle. Jefferson Crawley married Mary Wofford, whose father, Benjamin Wofford, was a soldier in the War of 1812. Of their four children, Crawford, Horace G., William E. and Theodore, Theodore is the only one now living.

Theodore Crawley was educated in the public schools at Greencastle, also studied at home and for four years worked and studied in the law offices of John W. Lane and Jackson Boyd. In 1903 he was admitted to the bar and has been in practice at Greencastle ever since. He has found satisfaction for his ambition in the good work he has been able to do as a lawyer and has had only the interest of a good citizen in politics. He is a Democrat, a member of the Presbyterian Church and the Improved Order of Red Men.

Mr. Crawley married, December 29, 1904, Miss Minnie R. Davidson. Before her marriage she was private secretary to H. U. Brown, manager of the Indianapolis News. She passed away January 3, 1920. In 1921 Mr. Crawley married Clara M. Hodshire, of Putnam County, who received her education in the public schools and in DePauw University and was a teacher the greater part of her life, having taught in the states of Washington, Missouri and for the most part in Indiana, six years in the City of Greencastle. Her father was James S. Hodshire, who was born in Maryland, in the year 1816, and moved to Indiana when eleven years old. In 1845 he married Susannah Brown, who was a native of Kentucky. A great-uncle of Susannah Brown, William Burroughs, was with George Rogers Clark in the conquest of the Northwest.