Roswell Parsons Crafts | |
---|---|
2nd and 6th Mayor of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts | |
In office 1882–1883 | |
Preceded by | Franklin P. Goodall |
Succeeded by | James E. Delaney |
In office 1877 | |
Preceded by | William B. C. Pearsons |
Succeeded by | William Whiting II |
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
In office 1872[1] | |
Chief of the Holyoke Fire Department | |
In office 1868–1869, 1871[2] | |
Personal details | |
Born | September 17, 1822 Whately, Massachusetts |
Died | September 3, 1904 Holyoke, Massachusetts | (aged 81)
Resting place | Forestdale Cemetery Holyoke, Massachusetts |
Political party | Democratic[3] |
Spouse(s) | Delia Charlotte Jones (m. 1843) |
Children | 1 Pliny Jones Crafts (1844–1886) |
Roswell Parsons Crafts (September 17, 1822 – September 3, 1904)[4][5] was an American businessman, politician, fire chief, and the second and sixth mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Born in Whately, Massachusetts, to Chester and Phila (née Jewett) Crafts,[6] he arrived in Holyoke at age 11, and after attending school began his first business driving a stagecoach between Springfield and Northampton carrying mail and passengers.[4] At the age of 20 he helped his brother, Chester, open a general store under the name Chester Crafts & Co. In 1843 he married Ms. Delia Jones of Ireland Parish; the couple bore one son, Pliny Jones Chester on February 9, 1845.[1][4]
This same year he left his brother's venture to open his own store on High Street. By 1866 he had made his son a business partner, operating under the name R.P. Crafts & Son. In 1870 his store's building and its contents burned to the ground, prompting him to construct the Caledonia Building in 1874.[7] Prior to this he had served as the city's fire chief from 1868 to 1869, and following his own store's fire served for one more year in 1871.[2]
Ever present in the political landscape of the town, he ran successfully for a representative seat for the Massachusetts Legislature in 1872. When Holyoke was incorporated as a city in 1873, Crafts ran for mayor against William B. C. Pearsons that Fall; local historian George H. Allyn later recalled–[8]
the recriminations of [1912] are weak and feeble compared with what passed between the advocates of W. B. C. Pearsons and R. P. Crafts. When Pearsons was elected by a majority of sixty-two the Transcript came out with a cut of the most exultant, arrogant, loud-throated rooster that it was ever our fortune to gaze upon. He was re-elected, and then R. P. Crafts was given a turn ...
Losing the first mayoral election, Crafts subsequently ran successfully in 1876 as well as 1881 and 1882 for 3 one-year terms. During his time as mayor, the city opened its first paved roads.[4]
By the end of his life, Crafts had held several properties in the city, as well as a stake in the Bemis Paper Company. He died at his residence in Holyoke on September 3, 1904, from kidney failure, and was interred in Forestdale Cemetery.[9]
The vote of Ludlow for Roswell P. Crafts of Holyoke, democrat, for representative, was 36, instead of 86, as at first reported.