Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/48

 CRAVENS

CRAVER

mander in April, 1861. and with the TuKcarora engaged in searching for Confederate blockade runners and cruisers. He blockaded the Confed- erate steamer Sumtir in the jwrt of Gibraltar for two months wlien her officei's and crew deserted her. He afterward joined the James river flotilla with the iron-clad monitor Tccumsch and in 1864 was attached to Admiral Farragut's .squadron in Mobile bay. In the battle of Mobile Bay his monitor was given the post of honor and fired the first shot on the morning of Aug. 5, 1864. To avoid a line of torpedoes, general directions were given to pass under the guns of Fort Morgan and eastward of a red buoy. The Confederate ram Teuncsxee lay inside the line of torpedoes and Craven, eager to lead the attack, passed westward of the buoy. As he crossed the line of torpedoes an explosion destroyed the Tecumseh and most of her officers and crew went down with the iron-clad. The commodore and the pilot John Collins, met inside the turret at the foot of the ladder leading to the passage way on top. The vessel was going down, and the hand that had sent the vessel across the deadly line had been directed bj- the superior officer. With sub- lime chivalry Commodore Craven stepped back, saying, "After you, pilot." The pilot reached the passage of escajje and at "the same moment the iron mass sunk to the bottom of Mobile bay carrying with her the brave but too daring com- mander. He died Aug. 5, 1864.

CRAVENS, James Addison, representative, was born in Rotkingham county, Va., Nov. 4, 1818; son of John and Nancy (Newman) Cravens; grandson of "William and Jane (Harrison) Cravens; and a descendant of John Cravens, an officer in the Revolutionary war, and of Ben- jamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of In- dependence. He removed to Hardinsburg, Ind..in 1840 and engaged in farming and stock-raising. He was major of the 2d Indiana volunteers in the Mexican war, 1846-47. He was a representa- tive in the state legislature, 1848-49, and a state senator, 18.jO-v)3. He was appointed brigadier- general of militia in 18.54, and a .state agent in 18o9. He was a Democratic representative in the 37th and 38th congresses, 1861-65, and was a delegate to the Union national convention at Philadelphia in 1866, and to the Democratic national convention of 1868. He also served as president of the Agricultural societies of Wash- ington and Orange counties, Ind. He died at Hardinslnirg, Ind., June:2, lMf»3.

CRAVENS, James Harrison, representative, was born in Harrisonburg, Rockingham county, Va., Aug. 2, 1802; son of Joseph and Mary (Har- rison) Cravens. His ancestors came from the north of Ireland at the close of the Revolution. He left Virginia in 1820 because of his anti-

slavery views, and settled in Madison, Ind., wliere he engaged in the practice of law, later removing to Ripley county, Ind., where lie prac- tised law and became a farmer. He was a presi- dential elector on the Whig ticket in 1840, and a representative in the 27th congress, 1841-43. In 1860 he was the defeated candidate for attorney- general of Indiana. He entered the army in 1863 as lieutenant-colonel of the 83d Indiana regiment, and was discharged from the service, Feb. 11, 1868, on account of total physical disability. He was one of the original anti-slavery agitators and liberated his own slaves, acquired by inheri- tance. He died in Marion, Ind., Dec. 4, 1876.

CRAVENS, Jordan E., representative, was born in Fredericktown, Madi-son covmty. Mo., Nov. 7, 1830; grandson of William Cravens who came to America from Ireland after the Revolu- tion and settled in Virginia. He removed with his parents to Arkansas in 1831, completed his preparatory education at Spring River academy. Mo., 1848-50, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He was in the state legislature in 1860, and the following year joined the Confederate army as a volunteer on the staff of General Burrow. He fought in the battle of Dug Spring, Mo., in the regiment of his cousin, Col. Jesse L. Cravens, and at Oak Hills, Aug. 10, 1861, under Colonel Churchill, where he was wounded three times during the fight. At Fort Pillow he was promoted major of the 17tli Arkansas regiment, October, 1862, and at Corinth in 1863 he was elected colonel of the 21st Arkansas as reorgan- ized. He was taken prisoner in May, 1863, and was exchanged in February, 1864, after which he served in the trans-Mississippi department to the close of the war. He settled in Clarksville, Ark., where he was prosecuting attorney, 1865- 66; state senator, 1866-68; presidential elector in 1872; and represented his district as a Democrat in the 45th, 46th and 47th congresses, 1877-83. In 1868 he was married to a daughter of Felix i. Baston of the supreme court of Arkansas.

CRAVER, Samuel Porch, missionary, was born at Franklin ville, N.J., April 26, 1847; son of James A. and Hannah (Porch) Craver; grand- son of George and Hannah (Abbott) Craver; and of Samuel and Jane (Fisler) Porch. The Gravers were German, the Abbotts and Porches, English, and the Fislers, Irisli. He was gradu- ated from Iowa college in 1871, and from the theological school of Boston university in 1875. In 1876 he became a missionary to Guanajuato, Mexico, and remained there until 1883 when he was transferred to Silao. In 1884 he was in charge of the publisliing interests of the Mission in Mexico, City of Mexico, and tlien became mis- sionary and presiding elder of the northern dis- trict, residing in Queretaro, where he remained