William H. Crawford: 1772–1834

University of Kentucky UKnowledge United States History History 1974 William H. Crawford: 1772–1834 Chase C. Mooney Indiana University Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Mooney, Chase C., "William H. Crawford: 1772–1834" (1974). United States History. 72. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/72 William H. Crawford This page intentionally left blank William H. Crawford 1772-1834 9:s,; Chase C. Mooney The University Press of Kentucky ISBN: 978-0-8131-5367-4 LBW BWL WLB This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface The Early Georgia Years In the Senate: Defender of the Bank In the Senate: Embargo or War Minister to France Secretary of War The Treasury: Organization and Administration The Second Bank and the Currency The Treasury Secretary and the Budget Presidential Adviser One-Party Presidential Politics The Last Congressional Nominating Caucus The Election of 1824 The Last Georgia Years Note on Sources Index This page intentionally left blank Preface FEW MEN played a more prominent role in the political life of the United States from 1807 to 1825 than William Harris Craw- ford (1772-1834), and few of such major importance in any period of American history have been accorded so little attention by historians. Senator from Georgia for more than six years, staunch defender of the Bank of the United States, minister to France, secretary of war, secretary of the treasury for the fourth longest period in history, instigator and implementer of important re- forms, leading contender for the presidency until his illness in the fall of 1823, and active in the educational, political, and judicial life of his state until his death in 1834, Crawford has been all but forgotten by later generations. Writers of different periods have attributed this neglect to various factors, but the simple explanation is the absence of a single large collection of Crawford's personal papers. He often did not make a copy of outgoing correspondence and was careless about preserving the letters he received. Much of the material that survived was gathered by Crawford's son-in-law, George M. Dudley, who intended to write a memoir, but this material was lost when Dudley's house burned shortly after the Civil War. Over the years bits of Crawfordiana have found their way into depositories scattered throughout the country, and the examina- tion of hundreds of collections has uncovered information that permits an evaluation not clouded by political jealousy and op- position. There are still many gaps and unanswered questions. The materials on his pre-Senate years are quite skimpy, and information on his private life is not sufficient to limn the portrait one would wish. Politicians-and others-often revealed their motives and true feelings in correspondence with their wives and families, but not a single letter between Crawford and any member of his large family is known to exist. In other instances, key letters X PREFACE are known by reference only. Even so, the new material does show Crawford to have been something more than a master of intrigue driven by ambition and something less than the paragon portrayed by his partisans. In monographs, biographies, general histories, and specialized series much of the information on Crawford is incorrect or dis- torted by a bias in favor of one or more of his political opponents. A considerable number of errors have resulted from relying too heavily on the memoirs of John Quincy Adams; others have stemmed from the unwillingness of authors to mine the less productive and more pedestrian bodies of material. It is not the purpose of this study to correct each of these inaccuracies-or even to indicate them. On a few occasions reference will be made to some especially gross misinterpretation or distortion of the ev- idence. In gathering material for this biography I have probably been helped by more people than have most authors. More than one hundred and fifty individuals, from directors to manuscript clerks, in some seventy-five repositories throughout the country have extended kindnesses and assistance that are beyond repayment. To all of them I express my sincere gratitude. My thanks are extended to the staffs of the following repositories who have graciously granted permission to use and quote from collections in their custody: Boston Public Library; Hough- ton Library, Harvard University; Massachusetts Historical Society; New-York Historical Society; Research Libraries, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations; University of Rochester Library; Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Chicago Historical Society; Newberry Library; University of Chicago Library; J. K. Lilly Library, Indiana University; and Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Museum. The location of the materials will be indicated on first citation. Special acknowledgments must be made to the late David M. Potter for allowing me to use the Ulrich B. Phillips Papers (then in his possession and now at Yale University), to John A. Munroe of the University of Delaware for extending courtesies in con- nection with the use of the James A. Bayard and the Louis McLane Papers, to William H. Masterson of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for sharing some of his notes, and to Miss Fanny Golding (Columbus, Mississippi) and Mrs. E. E. PREFACE xi (Patty) Gross (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) for permission to use the papers in their possession and for personal kindnesses. Financial aid from the Graduate School of Indiana University and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was most welcome and greatly appreciated. Abbreviations ADAH Alabama Department of Archives and History ASPF American State Papers: Finance ASPFA American State Papers: Foreign Affairs ASPIA American State Papers: Indian Affairs ASPM American State Papers: Miscellaneous ASPMA American State Papers: Military Affairs ASPPL American State Papers: Public Lands BPL Boston Public Library GDAH Georgia Department of Archives and History HSP Historical Society of Pennsylvania ISH Illinois State Historical Library MDLC Manuscript Division, Library of Congress MHS Massachusetts Historical Society MdHS Maryland Historical Society NYH New-York Historical Society NYP New York Public Library NYS New York State Library NCDAH North Carolina Department of Archives and History OHS Ohio Historical Society OSL Ohio State Library UGL University of Georgia Library U KY University of Kentucky Library UNC University of North Carolina Library UVa University of Virginia Library VSL Virginia State Library This page intentionally left blank 1 The Early Georgia Years SOONAFTER the inauguration of John Quincy Adams in March 1825, an uncommonly large man, emaciated and enfeebled from long illness, left Washington, D.C., for a 600-mile carriage trip to the South. He had traveled the same route many times in the preceding eighteen years, sometimes as senator, others as minister to France, and still others as secretary of war or of the treasury. This time the defeated presidential candidate was making his last journey from the capital to his beloved "Woodlawn," a few miles from Lexington, Georgia. He had seriously thought of retiring from national office ten years earlier; now the time had come, and the expectation of a more leisurely life buoyed his spirit during the arduous ride. William Harris Cratvford had served his country with distinction; during seven of his remaining nine years he would play a significant role in the political and judicial life of his state. Crawford, the sixth of eleven children, was born to Joel and Fanny Harris Crawford on February 24, 1772, in Amherst County, Virginia. He had three older and three younger brothers and two older and two younger sisters. The family was not new to Virginia. Joel's great-grandfather John, Earl of Crawford, was born in Scotland in 1600, emigrated to Virginia in 1643, and was killed while fighting in Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. As a family, the Crawfords have been described as clannish, large of stature, physically powerful, given to a considerable amount of inter- marriage, and not without some distincti0n.l Financial reverses of an unknown nature induced Joel Crawford in 1779 to move his family to the Edgefield District of South Carolina, where he located on Stevens Creek about thirty miles above Augusta, Georgia. The military operations of the Revolu- tion had placed Augusta in British hands earlier in 1779, and apparently in about a year the Crawford family crossed the Broad River into the Chester District. Joel was among those "rebels" 2 EARLY GEORGIA YEARS put in the Camden jail while the Tory-Patriot conflict raged in the area, but in the late summer of 1780 he was released through the efforts of some of his loyalist neighbors. Within the next two years he returned to the Edgefield District and then in 1783 moved to Kiokee Creek, near the present site of Appling, Georgia. Already a number of Virginia families lived in the area, and more were soon to come. Young Crawford had received a little schooling in the Edgefield District, and judging from accounts of his father's zeal for education, it can be assumed that his children attended such schools as existed in the Chester District. It is known that they attended a nearby school in Georgia. Joel Crawford apparently hoped to send William Harris to the University of Edinburgh, which he believed offered the finest education a~ailable.~These hopes were unrealized, however, and Crawford returned to the old field school. In 1788 resources were insufficient to finance his education at the academy in Augusta, and he became the teacher of the school he had so recently attended.

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