Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/44

 CRANSTON

CRAPO

15, 1813. to Mary, daughter of Nathan and Cath- erine Hamniett of New|K)rt. She died, Nov. 24, 1857. Their son, William Henry Cranston, was mayor of Newport for nine years and died Oct. 10. 1871, Henry Y. Cranston died in Newport. R.I.. Feb. V2. 1804.

CRANSTON, John, governor of Rhode Island, was supposed to have l>een born in England about 1626. He was a son of James Cranston, chaplain to Charles I. By special act of the general as- sembly of Rhode Island, March 1, 16C4, he was permitted " to administer phisicke and practice chirurgy.'' He was a soldier and lawyer, holding the rank of major-general in King Philip's war. He was attorney -general, lC.")4-.'36, dei)ut}' gov- ernor, 1672, 1076 and 1077. and governor, 1678-80. He died March 12. lOSd.

CRANSTON, Robert Bennie, representative, was born in Newport. R. I., Jan. 14,1791; son of Peleg and Elizabeth Cranston and brother of Henrj- Young Cranston. He was a collector of internal revenue, .sheriff of Newport, and a AVhig representative in the 2r)th, 26th. 27th and 30th congresses, 1837-43 and 1847-49. He engaged in banking, was postmaster of Newj^rt, repre- sented that city in the state legislature and was speaker of the house one term. He was elected maj-or of Newport but declined to serve, and was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1864. At his death one of his bequests was the sum of §70,000 to the poor of Newjwrt " too honest to steal and too proud to beg."' He died in NewjKjrt, R.I., Jan. 27, 1873.

CRANSTON, Samuel, governor of Rhode Island, was born in Newport, R.I., Aug. 27, 1659; son of Gov. John Cranston. After his marriage with Mary Hart, a granddaughter of Roger Wil- liams, he went to .sea and not having been heard from for a number of years was given up for lost. His wife, supposing her hu.sband dead. accepted an offer of marriage from a Mr. Russell of Boston, and just as the marriage was about to take place the hu.sband returned. In 1698 he was electefl governor of Rhode Island, to which office he was re-elected twenty-nine con- secutive times. His tombstone at Newj)ort bears this in.scription: "Here lieth the body of Samuel Cran.ston, Esqr., late governor of this Colony, aged 68 years, and departed this life April 26, A.D. 1727. He was the son of John Cranston, Esq., who also was governor here in 1680. He was descended from the noble Scottish Lord Cranston, and carried in hi.s veins a stream of the ancient Earls of Crawford Bothwell and Tracjuair, having for his grand- father James Cran.ston, Clerk, Chaplain to King Charles the First. His great-grandfather was John Cranston. Rsq.. of Boal. Tliis last was .son to James Cranston, Esq.. which James was son

of AVilliam, Lord Cranston." He died at New- port, R.I.. Ai)ril26, 1727.

CRAPO, Henry Howland, governor of Michi- gan, was l)orii at Dartinoutii. Mass., May 24, 1804; son of Jes.sv and Phel)t' (liowland) Crapo. His education was accjuired chiefly by means of pri- vate stud}'. Having made him.self familiar with theoretical land surveying from a book on the subject, he constructed a rude compass and be- gan life as a surveyor. He also taught school in Dartmouth until 1832 when he removed to New Bedford and continued to practise surveying. He held various nnuiicipal offices, and was prom- inent in all matters of public interest in that place, before and after its organization as a city. He removed to Flint, Mich., in 1857 and became a successful manufacturer of lumber. In 1862 he was elected mayor of Flint; in 1863-64 he served in the state senate, and in 1864 was elected governor of Michigan, holding the office four years. He was married June 9, 1825, to ^lary Ann Slocum of Dartmouth, Mass., and had one son, William Wallace Crapo, and nine daughters. He died at Flint, Midi.. July 22, 1869.

CRAPO, William Wallace, representative, was born at Dartmouth Mass., May 16, 1830; son of Henry Howland and Mary Ann (Slocum) Crapo. He attended the public schools of New Bedford, and Phillii)s Andover academy, and was graduated at Yale college in 1852. He studied law in the office of John H. Clifford at New Bedford, and at Harvard law school, and was admitted to the bar in Feb- ruar}% 1855. He was city solicitor of New Bedford, 1856-68. His first political speeches were made in behalf of John C. Fremont, in 1856. He was a repre.sentative in the Massachusetts legis- lature, 1856, and in 1857 declined a nom- ination to the state senate. He was a Rejiul)- lican representative in the 44th, 45tli, 40th and 47th congresses, 1875-83, declining re- jiomination in 1882. In the 47th congre.ss, as chairman of the committee on banking and cur- rency, he urged tiie passage of the bill for ex- tending the charters of the national banks. He was .several times an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Mas.sachusetts. He was president of the Flint and Pere Marquette railroad ; presi- dent of the New Bedford institute for savings; l)resident of the Wamsutta mills; one of the

/Moa. (aj, (L