Joel CRAWFORD, Congress, GA (1783-1858)

CRAWFORD, Joel, a Representative from Georgia; born in Columbia County, Ga., June 15, 1783; completed preparatory studies; studied law at the Litchfield Law School; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Sparta in 1808; moved to Milledgeville, Ga., in 1811; served in the war against the Creek Indians as second lieutenant and aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Floyd in 1813 and 1814; resumed the practice of law in Milledgeville; member of the State house of representatives 1814-1817; elected as a Republican to the Fifteenth Congress and reelected to the Sixteenth Congress (March 4, 1817-March 3, 1821); returned to Sparta, Hancock County, in 1828; member of the State senate in 1827 and 1828; appointed a commissioner to run the boundary line between Alabama and Georgia in 1826; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Georgia in 1828 and 1831; delegate to the International Improvement Convention in 1831; elected in 1837 a State commissioner to locate and construct the Western & Atlantic Railroad; died near Blakely, Early County, Ga., April 5, 1858; interment in the family burying ground on his plantation in Early County, Ga.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present