Crawford, William Carroll, 1804-1895

The last surviving signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, William Carroll, or Carrol, Crawford (1804-1895) was born to Archibald and Nancy (Carroll) Crawford in Fayetteville, North Carolina. After the family moved to Georgia, Crawford apprenticed as a tailor (1821/1822-1830) and became a Methodist minister in Alabama in 1830. Four years later he married Rhoda Jackson Watkins (d. 1881), with whom he had nine children, including W. C. Crawford, Julia A. Luck, L. F. Fewell, L. V. (Mrs. B. B.) Moore, Alice C. Koonce Dickerson, and W. W. Harpold.

In 1835, the Crawfords settled with the Watkins family near Shelbyville in Shelby County, Texas. Crawford and Sydney O. Penington represented Shelby County at the Convention of 1836, where they signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. In 1859, Crawford moved to Pittsburg, where he served as postmaster from 1874 to 1881. He then lived in Hill County, until 1884, and in Alvarado, until his death.

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