A.J. Crawford; rich, shrewd, thrifty and promiscuous

A.J. (Abel Justus) Crawford, once a penniless sheepherder in the late 1800s, became a self-made millionaire who called Carlsbad home for more than 70 years. Today, many individuals, non-profit groups and projects in the surrounding area benefit from his generosity. Crawford came to the area with nothing. He had worked as a sheepherder in West Texas accumulating a small flock he took instead of pay. He later followed his brother, L.S. (Louis Stine) Crawford to Eddy (now Carlsbad). In the late 1890s Crawford grazed 5,000 sheep on beet pulp once the sugar beet factory was operational. It cost him 5 cents per animal per month. A Penasco Valley News article dated Oct. 28, 1910, told of Crawford selling 400,000 pounds of local wool. He had negotiated a price of 12.5 cents a pound that came to around $50,000. The wool purchased by C.H. Webb & Company of Philadelphia required shipment on 14 rail cars. In December 1917 Crawford opened the Crawford Hotel which was said to have an elegant and ornate interior. The Artesia Advocate dated Dec. 7, 1917, reported a $50,000 plus price tag. Other sources report it cost $100,000. He would later build onto that hotel and would later build other hotels in the West Texas area. Crawford had opened the People's Mercantile Company in June of 1910. After offering some of the 500 shares for $100 per share, he and his wife remained primary shareholders with 40 percent. Although his mercantile was in competition with the Joyce-Pruit Store, he established a bank partnership with the Joyce-Pruit Company. Not long after he sold his interest in the Joyce-Pruit Bank. He began building what was to become Carlsbad National Bank. "In the 1920s Crawford watched as the Joyce-Pruit Bank defaulted, while his bank continued to expand," wrote Dr. Jerry Cox in his book "Ghosts of the Guadalupes." Crawford became a dominant figure in the community's commercial activity with major interests in the region's ranching, retailing, real estate, hotels and banking, as reported each year in the Carlsbad Community Foundation Annual Report of Activities...more