Crawford, Riley C.
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REVEREND RI LEY C• CRAWFORD
Rev. Ri l ey c . crawford was
th ~
only Lee.Ohapelminister who was not
transferred to the De tro i t Conference.
All of his
for~y-seven
ye a rs of
a ctive mini stry was in t he Michi gan Conf'erence.
s erved a t
Lee .cna~eL ,
sept. 22 , 1852 to Sept. 20 , 1853, (Lee's Chapel)
before the division of t he conference, in 1856 , when t he Detroit Conference was cre a ted.
Born January 1?, 181?, in Richmond, N. Y.
Died nearly ninety-four . yea r s l ater, a t Grand Rapids , Nov. 1 0 , 1910.
The funeral service was conducted by Rev. Alex. T. Luther, and he was
l aid to re s t in Oak Hill cemetery .
His
~arents
moved to canada in 1819, and to Burns, Shiawassee 6o.,
Mich. in 1836, from a farm near Troy, Mich,, where they settled in 1 825 .
At 21 years of age, 1 838 , he left his father after being converted
and r eceiving the call to preach.
He was given an exhorter' s license
and began holding meetings in s chool houses.
Received on tri al, Michi gan conference, at Pontiac in 1841.
Received in full connection at Ann Arbor in 1 843 .
Superannua~ed
in 1888 a fter serving twenty- s even appointment s , all in
the Michi gan Conference.
Presented with Gold cane, as olde st member of Conference, in 1906.
He was the olde s t minister in the state and the one that had served the
longest in conference
He was a
s~eaker
membershi~.
at the founding of t he Re publica n Party
11
under t he
oaks at J ackson, 11 and f or many years took active pa rt in the State Historical Society.
He loved to l'ray a loud_,. and it was his ea rne s t a i m to
instruct the church and bring salva tion to men .
All his work was marked
with completene ss .
In January, 1842 he married Mary L. Wa rren , who was hi s helper and
companion for fifty-five yea r s of ma rried l ife.
After her death he
made his home with hi s s i s ter, Mr s . Lewi s of Byron, Mich., but at the
opening of the Clark Memo ri a l Home in Grand Rapids he to.o k hi s a bode
there, and it was there he left hi s e a rthly body when ca lled home.
11
And if it shall pl ease him to close out the journey
Before thi s , my ninety-fourth year, comes to a n end,
I am sure he will t ake me to t hat better country,
Where I will be greeted by score s of old friends. 11
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