{{Short description|American judge (1820–1883)}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_name = Martin Jenkins Crawford | name = Martin J. Crawford | image = Martin J. Crawford.jpg | office1 = Member of the [[Provisional Confederate States Congress|C.S. Congress]]<br>from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] | term_start1 = February 8, 1861 | term_end1 = February 17, 1862 | predecessor1 = ''Position established'' | successor1 = ''Position abolished'' | state2 = Georgia | district2 = [[Georgia's 2nd congressional district|2nd]] | term_start2 = March 4, 1855 | term_end2 = January 23, 1861 | preceded2 = [[Alfred H. Colquitt|Alfred Colquitt]] | succeeded2 = [[Nelson Tift]] | office3 = Member of the [[Georgia House of Representatives]] | term3 = 1845–1847 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1820|03|17}} | birth_place = [[Jasper County, Georgia|Jasper County]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1883|07|23|1820|03|17}} | death_place = [[Columbus, Georgia|Columbus]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] |resting_place = Linwood Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | signature = Martin J. Crawford signature.png | allegiance = {{flag|Confederate States|1865}} | branch = {{army|CSA|size=23px}} | service_years = 1862–1865 | rank = [[File:Confederate States of America Colonel.png|30px]] [[Colonel]] | battles = [[American Civil War]] }} '''Martin Jenkins Crawford''' (March 17, 1820 – July 23, 1883) was an [[Antebellum era|antebellum]] [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] and a representative to the [[Provisional Confederate Congress]] during the [[American Civil War]] from the state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].
==Life and career== Martin J. Crawford was born March 17, 1820, in [[Jasper County, Georgia]]. He attended Brownwood Institute and [[Mercer University]] in [[Macon, Georgia]]. After studying law, he was admitted to the [[State Bar of Georgia]] in 1839.<ref name="congbiomjc">[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000892 CRAWFORD, Martin Jenkins, (1820 - 1883)]. congress.gov. Retrieved July 22, 2013.</ref> Crawford started his [[law practice|practice]] in [[Hamilton, Georgia]]—where Crawford was also involved with farming.
[[File:Hon. Crawford - NARA - 528697.jpg|thumb|left|Rep. Martin Jenkins Crawford]] From 1845 to 1847, Crawford served in the [[Georgia House of Representatives]]. After moving to [[Columbus, Georgia]], in 1849, he served as a delegate to the [[Nashville Convention|Southern convention at Nashville]] in May 1850. From February 1, 1854, to November 1854, Crawford was a judge of the [[superior court]]s of the Chattahoochee circuit.
=== Congress === In 1854, Crawford was elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to the [[34th United States Congress]] to represent [[Georgia's 2nd congressional district]]. He was reelected to two additional terms in the seat ([[35th United States Congress|35th]] and [[36th United States Congress|36th]] Congresses), and his congressional service spanned from March 4, 1855, until his resignation on January 23, 1861, with Georgia having seceded the [[US|Union]] on January 22.
=== Confederate Congress=== After resigning the U.S. Congress, Crawford was elected to the [[Confederate Provisional Congress]], serving from January 1861 to February 22, 1862. [[President of the Confederate States of America|Confederate President]] [[Jefferson Davis]] appointed Crawford as a special commissioner to the United States in [[Washington, D.C.]]
=== Civil War === Crawford organized the {{anchor|3rd Regiment, Georgia Cavalry}}3rd Regiment, Georgia Cavalry in May 1862 to support the [[Confederate States Army]], operating with the [[Army of Tennessee]]. Under Crawford's command the 3rd Regiment saw combat, fighting in [[Kentucky]] with General Wheeler. The next campaign at [[New Haven]] saw most of the regiment taken prisoner—the retreating contingent fought at the [[Battle of Murfreesboro]]—then reconstituted under Colonel [[J.J. Morrison]]. The Georgia 3rd surrendered on April 26, 1865, with the [[Army of Tennessee]]—surrendering field officers were Colonels Martin J. Crawford, Richard E. Kennon, and Robert Thompson; Lieutenant Colonel James T. Thornton; and Majors Daniel F. Booton and Hiram H. Johnson.<ref>[https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units.htm 3rd Regiment, Georgia Cavalry]. nps.gov. Retrieved July 22, 2013.</ref>
=== Later career and death === After the war, Crawford became judge of the superior court of the Chattahoochee circuit on October 1, 1875, to fill a vacancy. He was reappointed in 1877 and served on that bench until he resigned on February 9, 1880. The next day, he was appointed to a vacant position on the [[Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state)|Supreme Court of Georgia]] and served on that court until his death in Columbus. He was buried in that city's Linwood Cemetery.
==See also== * [[List of signers of the Georgia Ordinance of Secession]] * [[Confederate States of America#Causes of secession|Confederate States of America]], causes of secession, [[Confederate States of America#"Died of states' rights"|"Died of states' rights"]]
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
{{Navboxes |title=Offices and distinctions |list1= {{S-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box |state=Georgia |district=2 |before=[[Alfred H. Colquitt|Alfred Colquitt]] |after=vacant |years= March 4, 1855 – January 23, 1861}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title = Deputy in the [[Provisional Confederate States Congress|C.S. Congress]]<br>from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] | years = February 8, 1861 – February 17, 1862 | before = Position established | after = Position abolished}} {{s-end}} }} {{Navboxes |title=Articles related to Martin Jenkins Crawford |list1= {{CSProvisionalConstitutionSig}} {{Confederate States Constitution signatories}} }} {{Portal bar|American Civil War|Biography|Georgia (U.S. state)|Politics}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Martin Jenkins}} [[Category:1820 births]] [[Category:1883 deaths]] [[Category:Confederate States Army officers]] [[Category:Confederate States of America diplomats]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers]] [[Category:Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives]] [[Category:People from Jasper County, Georgia]] [[Category:People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Signatories of the Constitution of the Confederate States]] [[Category:Signatories of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States]] [[Category:Signatories of the Georgia Ordinance of Secession]] [[Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:19th-century Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:United States representatives who owned slaves]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]