Evening journal., 1895-08-13
SUICIDE ON A HILLTOP
The Fate Of DR.. Crawford Made
Known at Last.
DISAPPEARED THREE YEARS AGO.

The Skeleton Was Found Many Feet Above
the Sea Level, with a Bullet Hole In the
Skull and Revolver Lying Close TO the
Bones of the Right Arm.
HAvERsrRAw. n. Y, Aug. 13.-The
skeleton Of the late Dr. John r. Craw-
ford, well known resident Of this place,
who mystoriously disappeared on Sunday,
Feb. 81, 1899, was found on ledge of
rocks ON the High Tor mountain of the
Ramapo range, just back Of the village Of
Haverstraw, by two young men from New
City, an adjacent town. The bones were
lying on rock just big enough to hold
the body of "a man. Two trees In front
Of the rock and the precipicc at its rear
base kept the bones sheltered from the
winds and storms The point where the
skeleton was found is 800 feet above the
level Of the sea- 1t lay upon it's back, and
ma IS calibcr revolver was in close prox-
unity 60 the bones Of the right forearm.
The skull was perforated by bullet in
the right temporal region. A set of artif-
cial teeth, with a gold plate attachment,
were found eight feet away. Near by were
the dead mans umbrella and oyershoes.
The remains were identified by means Of
the false teeth and the ovcrshoes, which
DIR. Crawford had borrowed Of Plumber
Crawford Of Hayerstraw few hours be-
fore he disappeared.
Word was brought to the village Of Hav-
erstraw by the two young men from New
City late at night, and early in the
morning a large party Of villagers ascend
cd the High Tor and put the bones in a
bag. They were taken TO w. II. Purdy's
undertaking rooms in Haverstraw, and a
jury wds summoned by the local coroner.
Tho inquest was adjourned so that the
widow might be able TO be present.
High Tor is one OF the most picturesque
Of the lower mountains near the Hudson.
As seen from the river it appears to be al
most a perfect cone.
he Wrote Six Letters.
On the Sunday morning OF his dlsap-
poarance DR.. Crawford went into his
room. His wife was absent, visiting in
Stony Point, at the home Of Mr.. b. J.
Allison Of that place. and the servant had
gone to attend mass in tho Catholic
church. He disrobed himself Of his sun
day garments laid his gold watch and
jewelry on the bureau and wrote six let
tiers, addressed respectively to 3. J. Ali
son Of Stony Point, brother in-law; DR..
n. b. Baylcy Of Haverstraw, his physi-
cian Lewis Chambers, q hardware mer-
chant Of Haverstraw; Corporal Tanner of
Brooklyn, one to his wife and one to his
little boy.
When DR.. Bayley received his letter, he
and a posse of men searched everywhere
in tho village of Haverstraw where a man
could be supposed to DO able to commit
suicide, but no trace was found of the
missing man. The Hudson river was
dredgod with graphing irons, as it was
thought that the man might have drown
ed himself down near Wilson p. Foss' dy-
Mantle works, in the vicinity of Haver-
straw The Haverstraw lodge of Odd
Follows also secured the surrounding
country and mountains but no clews were
discovered except that the doctor had
been seen by the flagman Of the Glove
crossing Of the West Shore railroad to cross
the tracks that Sunday morning.
DIR. Crawford was % years Of age. He
belonged to the Thirty-third regiment
Iowa Volunteers He was wounded at
Helena, Ark, in 1868 and was also 10
months in rebel prison during the war.
He had praoticed dentistry in Dubuque,
Ia, and also engaged in mining ventures
i'm Colorado, which proved failure and
broke down his health He came TO Hav-
erstraw in 1850, opened dental Office and
continued the practice Of his profession
for zen years Then, owing to the failure
of his eyesight he bought out tho hard
ware store Of the late e. J. Peck Of Hay
orstraw, and, being unable 70 attend to
business he sold it to l.. W. Chambers
about a year before he committed suicide.
A vito and son survive him.