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Caddo Co. Oklahoma - Civil War 
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Craggs, John
Q.M. Sgt. 122 Reg. Ill. Vol.
Born 07-Jul-1834
Died 18-Jan-1918
Buried Memory Lane Cemetery


The Anadarko Tribune
January 24, 1918

PASSING OF A PIONEER

Another Veteran of the Union Army

Goes to His Final Reward


Mr. John Craggs departed this life at the home of a daughter, Mrs.
Jessie Hutchins, Friday afternoon, Jan. 18, at 4 o'clock p.m. The
deceased had been in declining health for the last several years, but,
with loving care his life had been prolonged until the final summons
came from the source of all power. The funeral services were conducted
Sunday afternoon by Rev. S.V. Fait, beginning soon after 2 o'clock.
"Nearer, My God to Thee" and "Asleep in Jesus" were sung by Lawrence 
and Snyder, with Miss Monta Keeler at the piano; and Mrs. Lawrence sang
"Face to Face."

The sermon and the prayer of the officiating clergyman were preceded by
scriptural reading. The prayer following the delivery of the sermon was
delivered by Rev. Mr. Methvin. The sermon was one of those which fit 
the peculiar case, because of the intimacy of the deliverer with the
situation attending the life of the departed. There was offered to the
immediate relatives and friends of the deceased that comfort which 
comes from an implied averment that all is well with the one who had just passed off the stage of human activities. The biography comprised in the present article was read by the pastor at the beginning of the
exercises. Following the funeral sermon the remains were taken in 
charge by the Masonic lodge of this city, of which the deceased was a member, the pall bearers being members of this order. The coffin, which sat in the center of the large sitting room of the residence, was all but literally buried in flowers of the utmost beauty. The auditors, who had taxed the capacity of the entire room space in the building, filed past the coffin following the conclusion of the exercises at the residence.
Sprinkled through the audience were a few Union veterans who had braved
the storm to pay respect to a comrade who was leaving them, not for
long, but just blazing the way for them who are soon to follow.

Obituary

The subject of this sketch was born July 7, 1834 at Lynville, Illinois.
He was the son of John and Sallie Craggs and of English parentage. He
served as quartermaster sergeant in the 122nd regiment, Illinois
volunteers from August 7, 1862 until July 15, 1865. He participated in
the following engagements: Town Creek, Ala., 28th April, 1863: Tupelo,
Miss., 14th July, 1864; Nashville, Tenn, 15th and 16th Dec., 1864; 
siege of and assault on Fort Blakely (Mobile) April, 1865. He was baptized into the Episcopal church of Chesterfield, Ill., which he had helped erect. He returned from military service to Macoupin county, Ill., and was married to Miss Frances Jane Leach Nov. 7, 1865. To this union were born one son, H.E. Craggs, now of Heavener, Okla., and four daughters, namely, Mrs. H.H. Little of Washington D.C.; Mrs. Jessie Hutchins of Anadarko, Okla.; Mrs. R.L. Boake of Anadarko, and one daughter who died in infancy. The family moved from Jackson county, Mo., to Anadarko in 1887. His wife died June 7, 1907 and from that time until death claimed him he was taken care of by Mrs. Hutchins.

Mr. Craggs bore for years a large part in the business life of this
community. He opened at Old Town (within the limits of the headquarters
part of the Kiowa Indian agency) a general store soon after locating
here. This he conducted for many years. He continued to reside in that
immediate locality until after the exclusion of white traders from Old
Town, soon after which he removed to the west end of South Boundary,
where he lived the rest of his life. The part borne by Mr. Craggs in
this community in all those thirty years and more is a sealed book, to 
a large extent, except to those people who came here contemporaneously
with him. Of this we think now of Rev. and Mrs. S.V. Fait, who arrived
in the autumn of 1888, soon after the completion of their studies back
in the East, and whose life here marks a period crowded with conditions
so utterly strange to the continuous residents in the eastern part of
our country as to baffle their skill in comprehending any considerable
proportion of it. Dr. and Mrs. Charles R. Hume came here from Kansas
about that time. Such was true of Rev. Mr. Methvin and family, but they
came from the southeastern portion of the country -- Georgia, we
believe. Then there were Comrade C.A. Cleveland, who came here not far
from that time --indeed perhaps earlier -- from Fort Sill; T.A. Woodard
and others whose names do not recur to us. After all the accounts have
been cast up -- the benefits further east and the drawbacks here
measured and compared -- we, as one who came into the Southwest at an
early day -- more than forty-nine years ago, to be concise -- remaining
for a brief period, but long enough to witness myriads of buffaloes on
the trails and reposing on the hillsides and in the valleys as they lay
basking in the sun, and to make note that this region was then covered
with what was known as buffalo grass, which disappeared behind the
destruction of the buffaloes and the work of the plow -- find it not in
our heart to regret that coming and what it meant to us in the long 
run.
We are quite sure that this, too, would have been the judgment of Mr.
Craggs had he taken occasion to express his views on this subject.