John was the first child born to his parents John & Mary Ann Crawford in 1890. He was my father's dad, my Grandad. John Sr. was 35 and Mary Ann was 22 at the time.
He was born at home at 102 Montrose Street in the Blackfriars District of Glasgow. From what I can gather it was a tenement building as many people are listed as living at #102 on the Census form for 1891. Notice that the birth record shows that John was born on December 30th at 1 am. So his birth date is actually December 31st - New Year's Eve or Hogmanay!
"It is believed that many of the traditional Hogmanay celebrations were originally brought to Scotland by the invading Vikings in the early 8th and 9th centuries. These Norsemen, or men from an even more northerly latitude than Scotland, paid particular attention to the arrival of the Winter Solstice or the shortest day, and fully intended to celebrate its passing with some serious partying......
It may surprise many people to note that Christmas was not celebrated as a festival and virtually banned in Scotland for around 400 years, from the end of the 17th century to the 1950s. The reason for this dates back to the years of Protestant Reformation, when the straight-laced Kirk proclaimed Christmas as a Popish or Catholic feast, and as such needed banning."
**quote from Historic UK - The History of Hogmanay by Ben Johnson
John is 3 months old on the 1891 Census and is living with his parents. His father John is 35 years and his occupation is a "Tobacco Pressman" and his mother Mary is 23 years. They are still living at 102 Montrose Street, Glasgow.
Another son, William was born in this house as well in 1892. The family moved some time between 1892 and 1894 when a daughter, Agnes is born at 19 Canning Place, Glasgow. By 1898 their third son Thomas is born and they are now living at 62 Rottenrow.
Above is a map with the Crawford residences in Glasgow. You can see that they moved a bit but never too far from the same area.
In the 1901 Census the family is still living at 62 Rottenrow and they have four children. John Crawford Sr. 44 years old is a fireman, Mary is 32 years, John Jr. (my paternal grandfather) is 10, William 8, Agnes 6 and they are all scholars while Thomas is just 2. They have two rooms with one or more windows.
The red dot is what I am assuming was my Grandad's home and right next door is the Old Cross Keys Inn and Pub. (P. H. stands for Public House). The pub's address was 60 Rottenrow and the Industrial School across the street was 61 Rottenrow so if their numbering system is similar to ours today then my Grandad's family's address of 62 Rottenrow would be next door to the pub. I will be doing a post about Rottenrow soon but I really wanted to include a few photos to give you a sense of the area the Crawford's were living in back then.
Above are three photos of the Old Cross Keys Inn & Bar. The street lights would have been hand lit each evening.
There are very few documents or stories about John from the age of 10 until he immigrated to Canada following his sister Agnes. Agnes
arrived in Canada on 9 May 1911 and she was only 16 years old. She had left Scotland to
marry Marcus Brown who was 10 years older than her. He was from Barbados, British West Indies and worked as a
machinist. Agnes must have met him in Scotland and then made plans to meet him in Canada. The eldest two brothers, John & William traveled to Canada next in 1911-1912 probably to find their sister. Eventually the entire family relocated to Montreal.
John landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia and started work there as his brother William had to send him passage in 1912 to bring him to Montreal so they could be together according to William's journal. John was engaged to a woman named Maggie in Canada. They were paying $5 per week for board and lodgings at the time. Once the two brothers paid off their debts (William could not pay rent until he received his first paycheck)they then sent Maggie the money to join them in Montreal. Maggie cooked for them both and by now they were paying $10 for their rooms and $6 for Maggie's room. She and John had a quarrel shortly after she arrived and they broke off their engagement.
John got a job on the C.P.R. (Canadian Pacific Railway) dining cars but he took sick on his first trip and had to go to a friends home in the United States for a bit.
Once John was settled back in Canada he was working again on the C.P.R. and he became a professional soccer player (according to his eldest son Denny).
William's journal entry on September 1912:
"My mother, Tom, Jeanie and James came out about September 1912. John and I took a house just before she came in Brewster Ave. at $15 per month. We did not have much in it when she came, just the beds, a table, chairs and the stove.
My chum and my father came out in March 1913. John left the dining cars and started up beside me as a fireman, but the work was too heavy for him and he asked for a shift inside as a helper."
**Note: John & William's mother was Mary Crawford nee King and Tom, Jeanie & James were their brothers and other sister. They arrived on 29 Sep 1912. John had to have surgery when he was 7 years old for a hernia so I think that was why he left the fireman position as he was cautious about lifting too much. Their father John stayed in Scotland until the following spring and he arrived in Canada on 20 Mar 1913.
"We moved to 75 Laporte Ave. to a house of six apartments, heated, with hot and cold water...." April 1913
William's journal entry on May 1913:
".....Mary loaned money to a young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Gore, who were just starting house. Mr. Gore is expecting his mother, sisters, and brothers out the next month." **
Henry, mother Sarah & son Harold
**Note: The young couple were Violet's brother Henry James Gore (above) and his wife Florence Lines who had arrived on the 11 Sep 1912. The mother that is arriving next month is Sarah Routley Tuckfield Gore, sisters Edith, Violet, Daisy, Ethel and brothers Harold & Ronald. Violet was my Grandmother on my fathers side.
This is the ships manifest showing part of the Gore family mentioned above arriving in Canada on 10 Jun 1913.
In June of 1913 things began to get a little exciting. The males were locking horns with each other with so many new girls nearby! William and John had begun a small electrical project in the Gore home and on the evening after the family had arrived from England they went over to finish up. Instead of William and John, John had invited a friend Jack Snook to finish the job and they asked two of the sisters out - Violet and Lily. William was hurt that he was not included but fortunately "for I got the girl I wanted after all." That would be Daisy Gore, Violets twin sister.
By Christmas 1913 John and Violet were engaged and Sarah Gore threw a party. On 25 Jun 1914 they "...were married in the afternoon in St. Jude's Church and the supper was served at Mrs. Gore's at night. They went to Ottawa for a day. We gave them a brass bed costing $18."
St. Jude's Church
John and Violet only had a short time together as WWI had began in Europe in July 1914. John and his brother Tom both enlisted in 1916. John's eldest son Denny said that his father enlisted with his whole soccer team.
"July 27, 1916......John has also enlisted in the Fifth Pioneers. Violet has gone to live with her mother."
According to William's journal, John left for Valcartier, Quebec to undergo training on 14 Aug 1916 and in November he left for Halifax. On Oct 30, 1917 John sailed overseas to England.
John Crawford is on the far left - the little guy - 5'3" 107lbs!
Photo was taken in Montreal - July 1916
Above is a postcard that Violet had given to John when he left for the war. He left Montreal on the 30 Oct 1917 aboard the H.M.T. "Canada" and arrived in Liverpool on 19 Nov 1917. John's battalion did some training in England and eventually his battalion fought on the front in France on several occasions. One of the most famous battles was The Battle of Amiens near the end of the war and was a real turning point for the allies. Their billets consisted of the well known Ronville caves near Arras in France, Chateau's, corrugated bivouacs and many times they slept under the stars. Upon reading through John's military papers it appears that he had sprained his ankle on three occasions, had hernia surgery and in July 1918 he was gassed with Mustard gas.
The battalion had a goat named Flora MacDonald who was the mascot and she marched with the pipers.
John embarked on the "Tunisian" on 23 Dec 1918 in England and returned to Canada via St. John, New Brunswick on 19 Jan 1919.
John was a baker for awhile when he returned home from the war and he told me that the bakers used to spit into the hot sugar to make sure it was ready. Trust me, a young girl does not forget a thing like that every time she eats a birthday cake!
On the 8th of Sep 1920 John and Violet welcomed their first child John Dennis Crawford. Three and a half years later in March of 1924 the family moved from Montreal to the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, California. They were following Violet's brother Harold who was living there at the time (Harold had followed a girlfriend there). Violet's sister Rosie had married Jim Henderson who was able to get John a job with the Southern Pacific RR working the jackhammer. That job lasted one day!
John opened an auto garage as he was very good at working on cars. His son Denny remembers stories that he used to work on Rolls Royce's while living in Canada and would cross the border to go to Detroit to take automotive classes. When they first moved to Oakland they lived with Violet's sister Lily and her husband Jack Snook (see photo below).
On November 5, 1927 Violet and John welcomed their second son Calvin Kenneth Crawford (my father). They had two boys seven years apart and I remember my mother telling me that Violet was not supposed to have any more children after Denny was born for some medical reason.
In 1930 the family is living at 567 - 56th Street in Oakland and Violet's brother Ronald (see photo above) is living with them. Census says that they are renting their home for $18/month.
John became a "motorman" with the Key System and Ronald is a "conductor". The Key Route System were electric trains that would take passengers out to a pier where they would then get on a ferry to San Francisco. The photo below is from 1946 on Telegraph Avenue just a block away from the Crawford's home.
John was
“let go” from the Key System when he was just about to retire, which was common
for those days. Cal remembers something about an altercation
with someone at work as well. Denny
remembers him losing his job when his boss accused him of stealing and John
knocked him over his desk. John
was very active with the Union. He took several trips back East for
Union business and sometimes Violet joined him.
Denny joined him on his 21st birthday (1941). John found other jobs like working at the I. Magnin store in downtown Oakland as a maintenance engineer, he drove a bus, placed gold lettering on business windows, and he did some window displays for I. Magnin as well.
John's two sons may have been correct about that altercation as I found this article in the Oakland Tribune dated 30 Apr 1932...
Violet had a variety of jobs as well....
She was a candy dipper for Hooper's Chocolates (I can't help but think of that I Love Lucy episode as a candy dipper), she opened a shop that sold hand sewn garments, ran a Whist parlor, and she ran a miniature golf place with her brother Ronald and brother-in-law Jimmy (Rosie's husband). She also held seance's in the evening with Ronald where Cal remembers seeing their large oak table lift off the floor (which actually terrified him as a young boy) and she read tea leaves.
Cal and Denny in the San Lorenzo river in Santa Cruz c1937
In Oakland around Thanksgiving time there would be “turkey shoots”. When the turkeys would peek their heads through some wooden slats, you would try to shoot them. You were allowed 3 shots for $1 and very often John would come home with 3 turkeys. He was asked not to return.
They struggled financially and Cal had to spend a year at home because the high school wouldn't let him attend because he was too malnourished.
(l to r) Rosie, Daisy (with rubber lizards on their coats), John & Violet
Violet, Duchess & John at the Santa Cruz beach
Can you imagine wearing a suit and tie to the beach?
The family spent their entire summers in Santa Cruz camping. John would go back and forth to work so he usually only spent the weekends there. Violet and the boys loved the coast and water.
Rosie, Cal and his cousin Pearl (Rosie's daughter)
(l to r) Daisy, Violet, Betty (Cal's wife) with Duchess and Rosie at the Santa Cruz Beach
Lorraine & Denny
In 1948 their eldest son Denny moved with his wife, Lorraine to Jacksonville, Florida.
Violet & John at Betty & Cal's wedding
Their younger son Cal married Betty Malacarne in 1950. She grew up just across the street from the Crawford's in Oakland.
David & John at Violet's grave site c1959
On August 29, 1959 Violet passed away from cancer. After Violet's death, John moved in with Betty & Cal for several years. They eventually purchased a home in Walnut Creek with enough room for John but after awhile he moved back to Oakland. He was the manager of the Oaks Hotel in downtown Oakland and he also lived there. Eventually he met a woman who also lived at the hotel and in 1981 when he was 80 years old they were married.
Winnie & John
Grace Presbyterian in Walnut Creek
John lived another two years before passing on the 1st of June 1983. He and Violet are both buried at Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito California.
*To read about Grandma Violet's journey to America through Canada click HERE. And to see how Grandma Violet relates to my family tree click HERE.
*To see how Grandad John relates to my family tree click HERE.
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