Coe I. Crawford

Coe Isaac Crawford (* January 14, 1858 in Volney, Allamakee County, Iowa, † April 25, 1944 in Huron, South Dakota ) was an American politician and from 1907 to 1909, the sixth Governor of South Dakota. This state he represented also as a Senator in Congress.

Early years and political rise

Coe Crawford attended the local schools of his home in Iowa, and was occasionally also teaches privately. He then studied 1878-1882 at the University of Iowa law. After qualifying as a lawyer, he practiced first in Independence. In 1883 he moved to Pierre in the Dakota Territory, where he opened a law office. 1886 Crawford Attorney in Hughes County. After that, he was a member of the last territorial governing council of the Dakota Territory.

After South Dakota was in 1889 became a member of the United States in the year, Crawford was elected to the first Senate of the new state. Between 1893 and 1897 he was Attorney General of South Dakota. 1896 and 1904 he applied unsuccessfully for a seat each in the U.S. Congress. After a move to Huron he was 1897-1903 advocate of a railway company. In 1906, Crawford was elected as a candidate of the Republican Party as the new Governor of South Dakota.

Governor and U.S. Senator

Crawford's two-year term began on January 8, 1907. During this time the law was enacted code (Primary Law ), which introduced the still common code system legally. Companies were forbidden to send money assignments political candidates. The power of the railway committee was strengthened and for railway employees, limits on the statutory working hours have been established. Another law committed candidates and parties down their campaign spending open. In 1908, two Indian reservations for the white population were opened.

Even in 1908, Crawford was elected to the U.S. Senate. His tenure in Washington, D.C. began on March 4, 1909, two months after the end of his term as Governor of South Dakota. Until March 3, 1915, he remained in this body. He was a member of several Senate committees. In 1914 he was not re-elected and therefore resigned from the Congress. He then moved back to Huron, where he again worked as a lawyer until 1934. After that he went into retirement. He died in 1944. Coe Crawford was married twice and had five children.