| Roswell Parsons Crafts | |
| Order: | 2nd and 6th Mayor of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts |
| Term Start: | 1882 |
| Term End: | 1883 |
| Predecessor: | Franklin P. Goodall |
| Successor: | James E. Delaney |
| Term1: | 1877 |
| Predecessor1: | William B. C. Pearsons |
| Successor1: | William Whiting II |
| Spouse: | Delia Charlotte Jones (m. 1843) |
| Children: | 1 Pliny Jones Crafts (1844–1886) |
| Order2: | Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives |
| Term2: | 1872[1] |
| Order3: | Chief of the Holyoke Fire Department |
| Term3: | 1868–1869, 1871[2] |
| Birth Date: | September 17, 1822 |
| Birth Place: | Whately, Massachusetts |
| Death Place: | Holyoke, Massachusetts |
| Party: | Democratic[3] |
| Resting Place: | Forestdale Cemetery Holyoke, Massachusetts |
Roswell Parsons Crafts (September 17, 1822 – September 3, 1904)[4] [5] was an American businessman, politician, fire chief, and the second and sixth mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Born in Whately, Massachusetts, to Chester and Phila (née Jewett) Crafts,[6] he arrived in Holyoke at age 11, and after attending school began his first business driving a stagecoach between Springfield and Northampton carrying mail and passengers.[4] At the age of 20 he helped his brother, Chester, open a general store under the name Chester Crafts & Co. In 1843 he married Ms. Delia Jones of Ireland Parish; the couple bore one son, Pliny Jones Chester on February 9, 1845.[1] [4]
This same year he left his brother's venture to open his own store on High Street. By 1866 he had made his son a business partner, operating under the name R.P. Crafts & Son. In 1870 his store's building and its contents burned to the ground, prompting him to construct the Caledonia Building in 1874.[7] Prior to this he had served as the city's fire chief from 1868 to 1869, and following his own store's fire served for one more year in 1871.[2] Ever present in the political landscape of the town, he ran successfully for a representative seat for the Massachusetts Legislature in 1872. When Holyoke was incorporated as a city in 1873, Crafts ran for mayor against William B. C. Pearsons that Fall; local historian George H. Allyn later recalled–[8]
the recriminations of [1912] are weak and feeble compared with what passed between the advocates of W. B. C. Pearsons and R. P. Crafts. When Pearsons was elected by a majority of sixty-two the Transcript came out with a cut of the most exultant, arrogant, loud-throated rooster that it was ever our fortune to gaze upon. He was re-elected, and then R. P. Crafts was given a turn ...
Losing the first mayoral election, Crafts subsequently ran successfully in 1876 as well as 1881 and 1882 for 3 one-year terms. During his time as mayor, the city opened its first paved roads.[4]
By the end of his life, Crafts had held several properties in the city, as well as a stake in the Bemis Paper Company. He died at his residence in Holyoke on September 3, 1904, from kidney failure, and was interred in Forestdale Cemetery.[9]