This Representative farmer and stockraiser, one of Laramie County’s enterprising men of affairs, was born in Sullivan County, Indiana, on August 3, 1868. His parents were Robert and Mary (Hall) Crawford, both lifelong residents of Sullivan County, the father being a farmer by occupation. Robert Crawford was well known in the community where nearly all his life was spent and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his neighbors and fellow citizens; his death occurred in February 1877. Mrs. Crawford is still living in the county of Sullivan, making her home with a son, Charles, who carries on farming near the old family homestead. The early life of John E. Crawford, spent on the home farm, was without events of striking interest and was passed very much like that of the majority of boys who are reared to industrious habits in the country. His educational experiences included an attendance at the public schools in the winter seasons, while the rest of the year was devoted to the honorable toil with which life on the farm is attended. Before attaining his majority, he left the parental roof and began life for himself, working for farmers in the neighborhood where he was born and reared. He was thus engaged until the spring of 1890 when he went to Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, where he followed agricultural pursuits for a limited period. Going thence to the northern part of Wyoming. Mr. Crawford spent about six months in the northern section of the state, and at the expiration of that time he located on the Rawhide, where, during the eighteen months following, he was engaged in ranching. In the spring of 1892 he assisted in driving cattle to Montana, but did not long remain in the latter state, returning to Wyoming after a lapse of six months, and, in the fall of 1892, he took up his present ranch, seventeen miles east of Fort Laramie. Mr. Crawford erected a comfortable home on his land but did nothing further in the way of improvement until 1899, devoting the intervening years to ranching for various parties in Laramie and other counties. In the spring of the above year he addressed himself to the improvements of his place, since that time he has been actively engaged in farming, for which his land appears peculiarly adapted. In addition to cultivating the soil, he is also interested in stockraising, owning a fine herd of cattle, which is constantly increasing, the outlook being very favorable for a prosperous business in this important industry. Mr. Crawford is a stockholder in the Torrington ditch, which was organized in 1892 and which has done so much to redeem and make habitable so large and valuable an agricultural district in the county of Laramie. He is one of the leading spirits in the enterprise, takes an active interest in the work, devoting no inconsiderable portion of his time to the further extension of the ditch to the end that a still larger area of fertile land may be reduced to tillage. Fraternally, Mr. Crawford is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and in his daily life exemplifies, in a practical way, the teachings and precepts of this most excellent organization. He has never married, contenting himself to live alone without assuming the responsibility of family ties. Enjoying the respect and esteem of the community in which he resides, and having gained distinctive success in a temporal way. Mr. Crawford has no cause for regretting that he has cast his lot in the West, and it is safe to assert, that the State of Wyoming has no more loyal supporter. He has led an active life and in many ways has done much to advance the material interests of the county, which is honored by his citizenship.
