John Crawford was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician.

Born in Kintail, Huron County, Ontario

Huron County, Ontario

Huron County is a census division and county of the province of Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeast shore of its namesake, Lake Huron, in the southwest part of the province...

, the son of James Crawford and Catherine McGregor, Crawford received his education in the Port Albert public school, and after spending six years in a flour mill in Port Albert moved to Gladstone, Manitoba

Gladstone, Manitoba

Gladstone is a town in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is located on the Yellowhead Highway at the intersection with Highway 34 within the boundaries of the Rural Municipality of Westbourne...

. In 1876, he took up land in Neepawa district and carried on an implement business also, until 1883, when he removed to the town and conducted the implement, lumber and grain business until August 1890 when he opened a general store.

He was elected to Council in 1884, and was, for some years, Reeve of Rosedale, Manitoba

Rosedale, Manitoba

Rosedale is a rural municipality in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada. The separately administered town of Neepawa lies at its extreme southeast, on the border between it and the Rural Municipality of Langford.-External links:*...

. At the time of the outbreak of the North-West Rebellion

North-West Rebellion

The North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada...

, he raised a company of volunteers, which was attached to the 95th Battalion, and was gazetted as captain. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 as the Liberal candidate for Beautiful Plains in 1886

Manitoba general election, 1886

This was the sixth Manitoba general election and was held on December 9, 1886....

 and 1888

Manitoba general election, 1888

This was the seventh Manitoba general election and was held on July 11, 1888....

, but was defeated by John Andrew Davidson

John Andrew Davidson

John Andrew Davidson was a Manitoba politician. He was briefly the leader of Manitoba's Conservative parliamentary caucus in 1894, and later served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Hugh John Macdonald and Rodmond P. Roblin.Davidson was born in Thamesford, Canada West...

 in 1892

Manitoba general election, 1892

This was the eighth Manitoba general election and was held on July 23, 1892....

. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 for Portage la Prairie

Portage la Prairie (electoral district)

Portage la Prairie was a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1949.This riding was created in 1903 from parts of Macdonald riding....

 in the 1904 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1904

The Canadian federal election of 1904 was held on November 3 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Canada...

. A Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

, he was defeated in 1908

Canadian federal election, 1908

The Canadian federal election of 1908 was held on October 26 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal Party of Canada was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term in government with a majority government...

 losing to future Prime Minister of Canada

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 Arthur Meighen

Arthur Meighen

Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...

.

Crawford was a Presbyterian and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows

Independent Order of Odd Fellows

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...

. He married Matilda Hayden in 1881.

External links

This article incorporates text from the The Canadian album: men of Canada, Vol. 3, a publication now in the public domain.