Date of Birth: January 7, 1793
Birth Location: Chester District, SC, USA
Major Study: Theology
Graduation Year(s): 1844
Degree(s) Earned: Doctor of Divinity (Honorary)
Date of Death: June 6, 1876
Death Location: grave in Philadelphia, PA, USA
Samuel Wylie Crawford was born in South Carolina of Scottish parents who died soon after. He and his sister, Margaret, were cared for by his namesake uncle, Dr. Samuel Wylie. Crawford first studied medicine, but then settled on the study of theology. He was ordained and became a pastor in Conococheague and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and subsequently pastored the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church and Fourth Reformed Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.
Crawford directed the English Academy in Pennsylvania; he was principal of the Academic Department of the University of Pennsylvania; and he was a professor in the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. At one time, Crawford was president of the Terre Haute and Indianapolis Railroad. He was considered one of Terre Haute’s most prominent businessmen.
In 1844, IU’s President, Andrew Wylie, who was also his cousin, awarded Crawford with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.
Crawford died in 1876.
Crawford married Jane Agnew. They had four sons: John Agnew (born 1822), Samuel Jr. (born 1829), Gidion (born 1833), and Joseph (born 1839); and three daughters, Margaret Wylie (born 1823), Abigail (born 1826), and Jane (born 1847).
In 1847, Crawford’s son, John Agnew, was ordained to preach, and in 1853, he married Susan Gilbert, the daughter of the president of Delaware College. During the Civil War, he was a chaplain, and his son, Samuel Jr., was a surgeon, rising to the rank of brigadier general. John Agnew was a pastor from 1867 until his death in 1907.
Crawford’s youngest son, Joseph, also served for the duration of the war.
Crawford’s wife, Jane, died in March 1867. By 1870, Crawford had five grandchildren ranging from age newborn to sixteen.
Crawford was buried in Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery, where his tombstone epitaph says, “MARK THE PERFECT MAN AND BEHOLD THE UPRIGHT FOR THE END OF THAT MAN IS PEACE.”
