Biographical sketch extracted from:
Biographical and historical record of
Adams and
Wells counties,
Indiana. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1887. pp. 739-740.
WILLIAM CRAIG, of Ossian, was born in
Johnstone, Renfrewshire, near
Glasgow,
Scotland, February 11, 1824, a son of William and
Jennette (
Robinson) Craig, who immigrated to
America in 1828, and settled at Troy,
New York, where they remained four years, then removed to
London, Ontario, in 1832. The Craigs made a permanent location in this township July 12, 1838, where the parents remained until death. Their three eldest children that still survive are residents of this county. Mr. Craig well remembers the first train of cars that ever passed over a line of road in
Michigan. The date was July 4, 1838. The train left Detroit and stopped at Ypsilanti, that being the terminus of what is now the
Michigan Central. The farm upon which the Craig family settled is now owned by Warren
Mills. The father erected the second log cabin in
Jefferson Township in the autumn of 1837. Robert Craig, a brother of our subject, came with his wife the same year, and the brothers entered adjoining tracts. The cabin of Robert being first completed for occupancy, made his the first actual settlement in the township. He removed with his family to
Illinois a few years later. The father was the first naturalized citizen of
Jefferson Township, and was one of the best known men in the county. His death occurred in 1863, and his wife survived him eight years. They were the parents of five children—William,
Jennette, Lucy (deceased), Robert (deceased), and David. Jennette is the widow of Dr. William Johnston; David is a farmer, married Miss Eliza
Salter, and they reside near Ossian; they have one daughter—Maggie, wife of Harry
Deam, of Bluffton, whose grandfather, John
Deam, was one of the first settlers of the county. Our subject married Margaret, daughter of Robert and Mary A. (Stout)
McConnell, natives of New Jersey, in which State Mrs. Craig was born October 4, 1827. Their marriage occurred April 11, 1850, at the home of the bride's parents, in
Jefferson Township. The young couple began domestic life upon a farm, and have followed that occupation to some extent. Mr. Craig has also been a merchant of Ossian, but now lives a retired life in the village of Ossian, having sufficient means to render him independent. They have four children—Robert J., who has attained the age of twenty-one; Walter M., who married Anna Hatfield; Frank M. and Jennie. The latter is a graduate of the Ossian High School, and is now a teacher in the primary department of that school. The first election held in the township was at the house of William Craig. Samuel Saul
Weston was elected justice of the peace, and J. R. Zepever, township clerk. Robert
Burns, the poet, was a near neighbor of Mr. Craig's grandparents, and Mr. Craig was born in the same neighborhood, and was familiar with the country which formed the topics of his famous poems.