Crawford, Martin Jenkins

CRAWFORD, Martin Jenkins, a Representative from Georgia; born in Jasper County, Ga., March 17, 1820; attended Brownwood Institute and Mercer University, Macon, Ga.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1839 and practiced in Hamilton, Ga.; also engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the State house of representatives 1845-1847; moved to Columbus, Ga., in 1849; delegate to the Southern convention at Nashville in May 1850; judge of the superior courts of the Chattahoochee circuit from February 1, 1854, to November 1854; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, and Thirty-sixth Congresses and served from March 4, 1855, until January 23, 1861, when he withdrew; elected to the Confederate Provisional Congress and served from January 1861 to February 22, 1862; appointed by President Davis a special commissioner to the Government of the United States at Washington; raised the Third Georgia Cavalry Regiment in May 1862; served with it one year, and was then placed on the staff with Maj. Gen. Howell Cobb, where he served until the close of the Civil War; appointed judge of the superior court of the Chattahoochee circuit to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge James Johnson on October 1, 1875; reappointed in 1877 and served until February 9, 1880, when he resigned; appointed February 10, 1880, to the supreme court of Georgia to fill a vacancy; reappointed, and served until his death in Columbus, Ga., July 23, 1883; interment in Linnwood Cemetery.