George Eli Crawley: Liveryman (1864-1921)

Recently, you met liveryman and hotel keeper, Thomas Culbert, the son of John Culbert and Mary Ward. Today, we meet Thomas's nephew, George Eli Crawley. George Crawley was a liveryman, just like his uncle Thomas.

I don't have a photo of George Crawley's livery but this gives you an idea of what a livery stable looked like circa 1900 when George was in business. A livery was a stable that boarded the horses of people visiting from out-of-town. In an age before rental cars and taxi service, the livery also kept horses and carriages for hire.

On 24 January 1864, George Crawley was born on Lot 17, Concession 2 (the Coursey Line) in Biddulph Township in what we know today as the Province of Ontario, Canada. His parent's property was just north of the Culbert homestead.

He was the 8th of 10 children born to Philip Crawley and Susan Culbert (daughter of John Culbert & Mary Ward.) George was their first son and was probably welcomed with great fanfare, considering the importance placed on male children at that time. 

At age 28, George married a 29-year-old dressmaker from London Township named Ida Victoria Fraleigh. They wed at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Lucan on 5 October 1892.

Both the 1901 Census and 1911 Census list George as a farmer, living in Lucan. He was also in the livery business at this time. George had stables in both Lucan and Exeter, Ontario. It's possible that he learned the ropes of the livery business from his mother's brother, Thomas Culbert.

George and Ida moved back and forth between Lucan and Exeter more than once.
 

Above, for example, we see that George Crawley of the livery firm Crawley & Ogden has moved into a house on Huron Street in Exeter in 1902. It says he moved with his family but George and Ida didn't have children and the Census from a year earlier doesn't show any family members living with them. Source: Exeter Advocate, 5 June 1902, page 8.

George Crawley was a well-known and highly respected businessman of both Lucan and Exeter. George and Ida were active members of Trivett Memorial Church in Exeter...

This Anglican church located at 264 Main Street South, Exeter has been holding services since 1888.

In 1903, George Crawley dissolved his partnership with Thomas Ogden. George continued to run the business as an independent liveryman...

Source: Exeter Times, 7 May 1903, page 5.

... a genial, obliging, and thorough liveryman, I might add...

Source: Exeter Advocate, 7 May 1903, page 8.

And later that year...

Has anyone found a lost carriage door?...

Source: Exeter Advocate, 26 November 1903, page 8.

The door of said Waggonette was lost between Exeter and Elimville. Finder will be rewarded by leaving it at Crawley's Livery...

Source: Exeter Times, 26 November 1903, page 8.

During this period, George Crawley's livery barns were on the east side of Exeter's Main Street; in other words, right in the heart of the downtown action...

Source: Exeter Advocate, 28 July 1904, page 8.

In November 1905, George sold his business in Exeter to Thornton Baker...
 

Source: The Brussels Post, 2 November 1905, page 5.

George bought a livery business in Lucan from James Hodgins, in 1907...
 

Source: The Zurich Herald, 1 March 1907, page 5.

In 1911, George purchased the livery business of Mr. W.G. Bissett, Exeter's oldest businessman. The stables were on the west side of Exeter's Main Street, the opposite side of where he'd previously been in business before selling to Thornton Baker. From this clip we can see that George had been living in Lucan again at the time of the sale. ...
 

Source: Exeter Advocate, 29 June 1911, page 1.

Let's hope that George had insurance...

Source: Exeter Advocate, 22 January 1914, page 8.

George's health began to fail. In 1916, he sold his livery business to William Hodgert...
 

Source: Exeter Advocate, 30 March 1916, page 8.

George pulled out of the livery business just in time. A new era was emerging in which the automobile was taking over from the horse and carriage. By 1920, William Hodgert sold what was the last livery in Exeter...

Source: Exeter Advocate, 10 June 1920, page 8.

George suffered from heart trouble and Bright's disease; a kidney condition also known as nephritis. 

George was living on Main Street, Exeter and seriously ill in 1920. Source: Exeter Times, 11 November 1920, page 5.

After experiencing a particularly bad bout of illness, it seemed he was on the road to recovery when he was felled by a cold. He died 23 March 1921 in Exeter, age 57.

George Crawley's obituary in the Exeter Advocate, 31 March 1921.

 

George's obituary in the Exeter Advocate failed to acknowledge his sister Hattie who's mentioned in the item above as Mrs. Alex McNeil of Detroit. Source: Exeter Times, 31 March 1921, page 4.

He was survived by his only brother, William Crawley of Hartford, Connecticut; and four sisters: Maggie (Crawley) Ryan of Biddulph Township, Rebecca (Crawley) Brock of Lobo, Sarah Catherine (Crawley) Hodgins of Lot 14, Concession 2, Biddulph Township, and Harriet "Hattie" (Crawley) McNeil, all of whom attended his funeral. George was a member of the Masonic Lodge and his funeral was arranged under Masonic auspices.

His widow, Ida Crawley lived two more years and died of cancer on 25 July 1923. 
 

Ida Crawley's obituary in the Exeter Advocate, 2 August 1923.

George Crawley is buried at Woodland Cemetery in London, Ontario in Section N, Lot 174 NE, Grave #3. Ida is buried alongside her husband.
 

Woodland Cemetery. Photo by Mary Jane Culbert.

Note: If anyone has any photos of George Crawley, please let me know.

George Eli Crawley's Family Tree:
Ancestors:
John Culbert & Mary Ward (grandparents)
Susan Culbert & Philip Crawley (parents)
No descendants.