Henry Howland Crapo (pronounced ''Cray-poe''; May 24, 1804 – July 23, 1869) was a businessman and politician who was the

14th 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15. In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a s ...

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the stat ...

from 1865–1869, during the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and the beginning of

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 Unio ...

Early life in Massachusetts

Henry Howland Crapo was born to Jesse and Phoebe (Howland) Crapo in

Dartmouth, Massachusetts Dartmouth (Massachusett: ) is a coastal town in Bristol County, Massachusetts. Old Dartmouth was the first area of Southeastern Massachusetts to be settled by Europeans, primarily English. Dartmouth is part of New England's farm coast, which co ...

on May 24, 1804. Jesse was of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

descent and a farmer. Crapo took every opportunity to learn especially new words. He taught himself how to be a

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

from a book. After working as a surveyor, he became a teacher at the village school at Dartmouth. With a new high school, Henry passed the test to be principal of the new school. Scanned and republished b
MARDOS Memorial Library of On-Line Books & maps
/ref> He moved to New Bedford in 1832 at the age of 28 years. There, he returned to being a land surveyor, some times an

auctioneer An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

and entered the

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

business. He soon was involved in the town's government, being elected to various positions, Town Clerk, Treasurer, and Collector of taxes. He continued as Collector for 15 years until New Bedford became a city, then served the city as Treasurer and Collector of taxes for two or three years. He was also

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for many years, he was elected

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of New Bedford; was Chairman of Council Committee on Education, and as such prepared a report upon which was based the order for the establishment of the free Public Library of New Bedford. On its organization, Mr. Crapo was chosen a member of the Board of Trustees. This was the first free public library in Massachusetts, if not in the world. The Boston Free Library was established, however, soon afterwards. While a resident in New Bedford, he was much interested in horticulture, and to obtain the land necessary for carrying out his ideas he drained and reclaimed several acres of rocky and swampy land adjoining his garden. Here he started a nursery, which he filled with almost every description of fruit and ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers, etc. In this he was very successful and took great pride. He was a regular contributor to the New England Horticultural journal, a position he filled as long as he lived in Massachusetts. As an indication of the wide reputation he acquired in that field of labor, it may be mentioned that after his death an affecting eulogy to his memory was pronounced by the President of the National Horticultural Society at its meeting in Philadelphia, in 1869. A fine barque built at Dartmouth, of which he was part owner, was named the "H. H. Crapo" in compliment to him.

Life and politics in Michigan

In 1858 Crapo moved to

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

, primarily due to investments in pinelands, and became Flint's mayor in 1860. His family established a lucrative lumbering business in the area, which by the beginning of the Civil War was one of the largest individually owned lumber firms in the state. He served as mayor until 1861. He was instrumental in the construction of the Flint and Holly Railroad, and was President of that corporation until its consolidation with the

Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad The Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad (F&PM) is a defunct railroad which operated in the U.S. state of Michigan between 1857 and 1899. It was one of the three companies which merged to become the Pere Marquette Railway. Early history The F&PM was c ...

. The line is now the

CSX Saginaw Subdivision The Saginaw Subdivision is a railroad line in the U.S. state of Michigan. The line runs 105 miles from Toledo, Ohio, to Saginaw, Michigan. CSX owns the line although since 2006, the section from Mt. Morris to Saginaw has been leased to the Lake ...

and leased by

Lake State Railway Lake State Railway is a railroad operating in the Saginaw Valley and northeastern quadrant of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The railroad moves large quantities of aggregate and limestone, as well as coal, grain, and chemical products. Some of ...

. In 1862, he was elected to the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

to represent 24th District from 1863 to 1864. In 1864, he was nominated on the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

ticket for

and won the election. He was re-elected in 1866, holding the office two terms and retiring in January 1869.

Retirement and death

While serving his last term he was attacked with a disease. A successful surgical operation was performed which seemed rapidly to restore him, but he overestimated his strength, and by too much exertion in business matters and State affairs suffered a relapse from which there was no rebound. Crapo died at the age of 65, nearly seven months after leaving office, at his home in Flint, and is interred there at Glenwood Cemetery.

Family

He married Mary Ann Slocum (1805-1875) on June 9, 1825 in Dartmouth, MA. Their son,

William W. Crapo William Wallace Crapo (May 16, 1830 – February 28, 1926) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. He was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Buffinton. He served slightly more than th ...

was born on May 16, 1830 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts. He became a lawyer then served Massachusetts as a representative at the state and federal levels. A daughter married James C. Willson, a doctor and mayor of Flint. His daughter, Rebecca, married William Clark Durant and their only son, William Crapo Durant (Billy Durant), became the leader of Flint's carriage and an automobile industry pioneer who founded

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

. Crapo's granddaughter, Letta Crapo Smith, daughter of Lucy Crapo, was a well known female painter in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

area. Children of Henry and Mary: *Mary Ann Crapo (1827-1903) married Rev John Orrell (1822-1876) **Mary Florence Orrell (1858–1943) married Frank Eberly Willett (1848–1924) ***Mary Kuykendall Willett Blackinton (1886–1965) ***Gretchen Willett (1888–1905) **Esther Morris Orrell (1860–1948) married David D. Mackenzie (1860–1926) **John Wallace Orrell (1861-1862) **Lucy Crapo Orrell (1863-1931) married Arthur Jerome Eddy (1859-1920) ***Jerome Orrell Eddy (1891-1951) **Elizabeth French Orrell (1865–1867) **William Crapo Orrell (1868-1927) married Florence Whaley Bickford (1874–1959) ***Robert Whaley Orrell (1898–1980) married 1st Martha May Gamble (1901–1977); married 2nd Anne Winifred Mullen (1920–2021) * William Wallace Crapo (1830-1926) married Sarah Ann Davis Tappan (1831-1893) **Henry Howland Crapo II (1862-1951) **George Tappan Crapo (1864-1865) **Stanford Tappan Crapo (1865-1939) married Emma Caroline Morley (1872-1937) ***William Wallace Crapo II (1895-1991) ***Catherine Tappan Crapo (1897-1977) married John Morgan Bullard (1890-1965) ****John Crapo Bullard (1921-2002) married Katherine G. Kilburn (1922-2005) *****John Kilburn Bullard (1947-), Mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, from 1986 to 1992 ****Jane Bullard (1924-1942) *** Mary Morley Crapo (1912-2003) married 1st Donald Frizell Hyde (1909-1966); married 2nd

David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles David McAdam Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles (18 September 1904 – 24 February 1999), was an English Conservative politician. Education and early career Eccles was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, where he obtained a sec ...

****Anne Howland Hyde (1941-1941) **Anna Almy Crapo (1866-1867) *Rebecca Folger Crapo (1833-1924) married William Clark Durant (1827-1883) **Rebecca Crapo Durant (1857-1903) **William Crapo Durant (1861-1947) married 1st Clara Miller Pitt (1864-1940), divorced; married 2nd Catherine Lederer (1886-1974) ***Margery Pitt Durant (1887-1969) married Edwin Rutheven Campbell (1868-1929) **** William D. Campbell (Scouting) (1907-1995) married Beatrice Hawn (-1987) *****

Margot Campbell Margot (; ) is a feminine French given name, a variant of Marguerite. It is also occasionally a surname. Persons named Margot include the following: People with the given name Margot * Margot Asquith, countess of Oxford and Asquith * Marguerit ...

****Margery Edwina Campbell (1909-2002) married Grant Sanger (1908-1989) *****Peter Durant Sanger (1944-1986) married Katharine DuPont (1943-), member of the

Du Pont family The du Pont family () or Du Pont family is a prominent American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739–1817). It has been one of the richest families in the United States since the mid-19th century, when it founded its fo ...

. *** Russell Clifford Durant (1890-1937) *Sarah Bush Crapo (1835-1935) *Lucy Anna Crapo (1836-1920) *Rhoda McComber Crapo (1838-1907) *Henrietta Pell Crapo (1840-1866) *Lydia Sherman Crapo (1843-1861) *Emma Eliza Chase Crapo (1845-1897) *Wilhelmina Helena Crapo (1849-1909) married Charles Warren Clifford (1844-1923), son of

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachusetts ...

John H. Clifford John Henry Clifford (January 16, 1809 – January 2, 1876) was an American lawyer and politician from New Bedford, Massachusetts. He served as the state's attorney general for much of the 1850s, retaining the office during administrations do ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crapo, Henry Howland 1804 births American justices of the peace Republican Party governors of Michigan People of Michigan in the American Civil War Mayors of Flint, Michigan Republican Party Michigan state senators H Burials at Glenwood Cemetery (Flint, Michigan) 1869 deaths Union (American Civil War) state governors 19th-century American judges 19th-century American politicians People from Dartmouth, Massachusetts