Henry Clay Crawford (1856 – September 23, 1929) served as

Secretary of State of Florida The Secretary of State of Florida is an executive officer of the state government of the U.S. state of Florida, established since the original 1838 state constitution. Like the corresponding officials in other states, the original charge of the ...

from 1902 to 1929, succeeding his father John Lovic Crawford, who served from 1881 to 1902, upon his death. He was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. H. Clay Crawford held several jobs before becoming chief clerk to his father. Appointed Secretary on January 28, 1902, after his father's death, he was nominated and reelected to that position until his own death. He wrote his

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

in 1914, mainly about the founding of

Crawfordville, Florida Crawfordville is an unincorporated community and county seat of Wakulla County, Florida, United States. Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,853 people, 1,729 households, and 1,046 families residing in th ...

(the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Wakulla County Wakulla County is a County (United States), county located in the Big Bend (Florida), Big Bend region in the North Florida, northern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33, ...

) and the post-

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

in the county. According to the

State Archives of Florida The State Library and Archives of Florida is the central repository for the archives of state government for the state of Florida. It is located at the R.A. Gray Building on 500 South Bronough Street in Tallahassee, Florida, Florida's capital. M ...

, "''Crawford claimed that the town was named in 1866 in honor of his father who was then the

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

for Wakulla. He recounts the names and activities of the earliest of Crawfordville's inhabitants and names those who have died and those who remain. His depiction of Reconstruction politics is told from the point of view of a

southern Democrat Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than Northern Democrats with ...

and accuses the

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malfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up the ...

in office. He recounts a riot taking place at the courthouse and the assassination of one of the Republican ringleaders. This is a short work and it seems that it may perhaps have been prepared for publication in a newspaper of the era.''"

External links

State Archives of FloridaCrawford
profile from Florida Memory {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Henry Clay Secretaries of State of Florida 1856 births 1929 deaths