Henry H. Crapo

Infobox Governor
name= Henry Crapo


caption=
order= 14th
office= Governor of Michigan
term_start= January 3, 1865
term_end= January 6, 1869
lieutenant= 1.Ebenezer Grosvenor 1865-66 2.Dwight May 1867-68
predecessor= Austin Blair
successor= Henry P. Baldwin
birth_date= birth date|1804|5|24|mf=y
birth_place= Dartmouth, Massachusetts
death_date= death date and age|1869|7|23|1804|5|24|mf=y
death_place= Flint, Michigan
spouse= Mary A. Slocum Crapo
party=Republican
religion=Christian

Henry Howland Crapo (pronounced "Cray-poe") (May 24, 1804–July 23, 1869) was Governor of Michigan during the end of the American Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction.

Early life in Massachusetts

Crapo was born to Jesse and Phoebe Crapo in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He spent his early years on his father's farm and then as a teacher in Dartmouth before moving to New Bedford, where he became a land surveyor, and occasionally acted as an auctioneer. He was elected Town Clerk, Treasurer, and Collector of taxes, which office he held until the municipal government was changed, about fifteen years. Upon the inauguration of the city government, he was elected Treasurer and Collector of taxes, a position which he held two or three years. He was also Justice of the Peace for many years. He was elected Alderman of New Bedford, and was Chairman of Council Committee on Education, along with involvement in the whaling industry. A barque built at Dartmouth, of which he was part owner, was named the "H. H. Crapo" in compliment to him. On June 9, 1825, Crapo married Mary Ann Slocum. Together they had nine daughters and a son. Crapo became treasurer of New Bedford when it was incorporated as a city in 1847.

Crapo also took part in the State Militia, and for several years held a commission as Colonel of one of the regiments. He was President of the Bristol County Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and Secretary of the Bedford Commercial Insurance Company in New Bedford. While an officer of the municipal government he compiled and published, between the years 1836 and 1845, five numbers of the "New Bedford Directory", the first work of the kind ever published there.

Life and politics in Michigan

In 1856 Crapo moved to Flint, Michigan, primarily due to investments in pinelands, and became Flint's mayor in 1860. His family established a lucrative lumbering business in the area, which by the beginning of the Civil War was one of the largest individually owned lumber firms in the state. [Hubbell, John T., and Geary, James W. (eds.) (1995). "Biographical Dictionary of the Union: Northern Leaders of the Civil War", p. 114. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313209200.] He was instrumental in the construction of the Flint and Holly Railroad, and was President of that corporation until its consolidation with the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad.

In 1862, he was elected to the Michigan Senate to represent Genesee County, and ranked with the leading men of Michigan in the Civil War Senate.

In 1864, he was nominated on the Republican ticket for Governor of Michigan and was elected by a large majority. He was re-elected in 1866, holding the office two terms and retiring in January, 1869. His administration was very efficient and marked particularly by his vetoing railway aid legislation and his firm refusal to pardon convicts, except upon overwhelming proofs of their innocence or excessive sentence.

Retirement and death

While serving his last term he was attacked with a disease. A successful surgical operation was performed which seemed rapidly to restore him, but he overestimated his strength, and by too much exertion in business matters and State affairs suffered a relapse from which there was no rebound. Crapo died at the age of 65, nearly seven months after leaving office, at his home in Flint, and is interred there at Glenwood Cemetery. [Ashlee, Laura Rose (2005). "Traveling Through Time: A Guide to Michigan's Historical Markers", p. 129. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472030663.]

Notable descendants

His daughter, Rebecca, married William Clark Durant and their only son, William Crapo Durant (Billy Durant), became the leader of Flint's carriage and automobile industry as the founder of General Motors. [Rubenstein, James M. (1992). "The Changing US Auto Industry: A Geographical Analysis", p. 33. Routledge. ISBN 041505544X.] Current U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) is distantly related to Henry Howland Crapo. They are first cousins, five times removed, as Henry's father, Jesse Crapo, and Mike's great-great-great grandfather, Charles Crapo, were brothers.

Notes

References

*cite book |title=Portrait and Biographical Album of Ingham & Livingston Counties, Michigan |publisher=Chapman Bros. |date=1891 |location=Chicago |pages=149-150 |url=http://www.memoriallibrary.com/MI/LivIngPB/gov~144-182.htm#Crapo Scanned and republished by [http://www.memoriallibrary.com/ MARDOS Memorial Library of On-Line Books & maps]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/cranfill-cravalho.html#RHI181WU4 The Political Graveyard]