the Nazareth
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of other parties, and is ever ready to award credit wherever he thinks it is due. He is one of that honest, conservative minority that we have so fre- quently spoken of in the course of these biographies, and a fanatic only upon questions of right and justice. He is of a grave disposition, and a studious demeanor, a man whose opinion is carefully weighed before it is pronounced, and, when delivered, carrying conviction to the fair and im- partial mind. He possesses a vast amount of reserve power — he is a tliinker. He is one of the most valuable men in the assembly, mainly on account of his individuality, a quality possessed by him in an eminent degree. Mr. Crawford was born in Grayson county, Virginia, in the year 1818. He at- tended the common schools of the county and afterwards learned the trade of tanner, in the meantime studying medicine. He immigrated to Illinois in the year 1844 and located in Warren county. Here he commenced the prac- tice of his profession as a full-fledged M. D., and in the following year he moved to Henderson county, where he continued to practice for one year, attaining quite a reputation ana meeting with a fair amount of success. In the year 1852 he came to Oregon, taking up his residence in Albany, Linn county, where he has since remained. He was elected a member of the House of Representatives from that place in the year 1874. Ever since the organization of the Albany Farmers' Warehouse Company he has been associated with it, and is at the present time one of its board of directors and its president. Mr. Crawford is the oldest member in the House, being sixty-four years of age, and is of a fine, hale and hearty appearance. He is what one would pronounce at first sight a picture of the regular old country gentleman, appreciating a favor and anxious to perform a kindness. In the year 1845 Mr. Crawford was wedded to Miss Mary Ellen Gilmour, a daughter of Dr. Gilmour, one of the physicians under whom he studied.
HON. JAMES B. SPERRY
Is one of the Democratic Representatives on the floor of the House, and hails from Umatilla county. He is six feet in height, weighs about 200 pounds, is well-proportioped and one of the quiet but hard workers of the minority. He has lived in our State thirty -two years, and can look back over the useful years of his life with the happy satisfaction of knowing that his character has ever remained unl)lemished, and his every action pure beyond question. Although, as we have said, Mr. Sperry is one of the quiet mem- bers, he has used every exertion in behalf of his constituency, and on one occasion, when a bill was up for passage which had for its object the di- vision of Umatilla county in a way that would work injury to his people, he made one of the plainest, most vigorous and effective speeches of the session. Mr. Sperry was bord in Ohio in 1835 and went with his parents to Iowa in 1840, where he remained until 1851, receiving there his school train- ing, and afterwards worked on his father's farm. In 1851 he crossed the plains to Oregon and ktcated in Linn county. He remained in that county until 1877, when he moved to Umatilla county. Eastern Oregon, where he has since resided. In 1870 he was honored by his felloAv-citizens with the office of Assessor, which he held two years. He was married in the year
