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LUTHER F. CRAWFORD, M.D., a prominent and successful physician at Tyrone,Pa., and one of the foremost medical men of Blair County, is a member of old and honorable families of this section, which, for generations, have been noted for the honest virtues and substantial qualities which make good citizenship. Dr. Crawford was born in Sinking Valley, Blair County, Pa., January 1, 1859, and is a son of Robert and Mary (Fleck) Crawford.Robert Crawford, who spent his entire life in Blair County, Pa., was born at Newry and for many years was successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits in Sinking Valley. His death occurred in his sixty-fourth year. The maiden name of his mother was Fannie Moore, who was of Scotch-Irishextraction. Her parents settled in the vicinity of Duncansville, Blair County, when she was three weeks old. When he reached man's estate, Robert Crawford was united in marriage with Mary Fleck, who was born December 24,1826, and died January 16, 1902.George Fleck, the maternal great-grandfather of Dr. Luther F. Crawford,was born in Germany in 1748 and came to America a few years prior to the Revolutionary War. He was accompanied by three brothers, two of whom settled in Montgomery County, Pa., while George and Peter came to what is now known as Sinking Valley, Blair County. They erected here a log cabin and for yearstheir only neighbors were Indians, who still claimed this section as one oftheir hunting grounds. When the colonies called for aid in the war with GreatBritain, these brothers shouldered their flint-lock muskets and fought throughthe entire period of the Revolutionary War. It is said that their loyalty to their adopted country was so genuine and their devotion to General Washington so sincere, that long years after the issues of this war were no longer matters of general comment, a mention of either the cause or the great commander in their presence would bring tears to the eyes of these aged patriots. After the termination of his military service, George Fleck gaveattention to agricultural pursuits and it is evident that he took an active part in promoting the early civilizing movements and was a man of wealth and importance. From John Penn, the elder and from John Penn, the younger, he secured 350 acres of land, for which he paid the sum of 295 pounds, threeshillings and two pence. Nature had given him a powerful physical frame andhis strength endured into old age, it being recorded that after he waseighty-seven years old, he reaped in one season, sixty dozen wheat with hishand sickle.George Fleck was twice married, first to Mollie Weeks and second to Catherine Ramey, all of his children being of the first marriage. Mollie Weeks, the great-grandmother of Dr. Crawford, was born in September, 1748, married George Fleck in 1773 and became the mother of the following children:George, born in 1774, died in 1815; Conrad, born in 1780, married Mary Moore,died in 1845; Margaret, born in 1782, married John Fleck, died in 1866;Jacob, born in 1783, married Nellie Mattay, died in 1862; Catherine, born in1785, married Daniel F. Crissman, died in 1874; Elizabeth, married Abram Crissman and died at the age of eighty-two years; Henry, born in 1791, was the father of Rev. H. F. Fleck, a well known Lutheran minister, married first Catherine Ramey and second Mary Keller, died in 1859; David, born in 1793, died in 1870; Mollie, born in 1797, married Peter Burket, and died in 1817. David Fleck, grandfather of Dr. Luther F. Crawford, grew to manhood amid pioneer surroundings and developed into a man of more or less prominence,serving in public offices and exerting a good influence in the community. His life was an agricultural one and that he made it profitable even under the great drawbacks of lack of machinery and of long distances from suitablemarkets, but demonstrates that he possessed excellent and decisive qualities.He was married first to Mary Ramey, who was born in 1799 and died in 1863. He was married second to Keziah Shannon. His children were: Gabriel; Catherine,who married George Lotz; Francis, who died in childhood; Mary, the mother ofDr. Crawford, who married Robert Crawford; Eliza, who married J. M. Carl;Jane, who married John Keasley; Martin Luther, who married Maggie Fox; andtwo who died young.To Robert and Mary Crawford nine children were born, three of whom diedin childhood. The following survived to maturity David Wood, who was a farmer and died in Pleasant Valley, January 12, 1894; Elizabeth, who was the wife of Samuel H. Smith, died January 10, 1884; Olivia A., who still resides in Sinking Valley; Luther Fleck, who is a resident of Tyrone, Pa.; John R., who is engaged in farming in Sinking Valley; and Elmer, who is engaged in the practice of dentistry at Tyrone. This family was carefully reared by parents who recognized their responsibilities and afforded every advantage that, in their loving judgment, was deemed beneficial.Luther Fleck Crawford attended the public schools in Sinking Valley andlater the State Normal School at Millersville. While pursuing his preliminary medical studies he also engaged in teaching school, nine terms of successful effort in this direction proving that the career of an educator might be an attractive no less than a beneficial one. In 1888 he entered the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, where he was graduated in the class of 1890.Immediately afterward he settled permanently at Tyrone, where his profession alability soon won him recognition and his personal qualities and high ideals made him welcome as a citizen. He is a valued member of the State Eclectic Society, and is also a member of the examining board of this organization.In 1877 Dr. Crawford was married to Miss Harriet Bryan, who is adaughter of the late James Bryan, formerly of Birmingham, Huntingdon County,Pa., and three of their four children are living, namely: James Calvin, who is engaged in the practice of medicine at Tyrone, married Miss Laura Beyer, of this city and they have four children: Mary Mabel, who married J. HoweStevens, of Tyrone, has one son; and Virgil L., who is yet a student. Dr.Crawford and family are members of the English Lutheran church.Dr. Crawford has been prominently identified with military affairs and for thirty-three years has been a member of the Sheridan Troop, N.G.P., and served five years as its captain, returning with this rank from the Spanish-American War, having served under Gen. Miles in the Porto Rican campaign during this war. He is associated fraternally and socially with various organizations, his connections in the former relation being with theOdd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen, the Royal Arcanum and the Woodmen of the World. From principle, Dr. Crawford is a Republican and he has been moderately active at times in local politics.Dr. Crawford is a self-made man, his education having been acquired through his own efforts. Marrying young, he kept his family and educated himself at the same time - an achievement in which he can take a pardonable pride.Sell, Jesse C., Twentieth Century History of Altoona and Blair County,Pennsylvania, and Representative Citizens, Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold,1911, pp. 811-813.