Crawford Martin

Crawford Collins Martin (March 13, 1916 – December 29, 1972) was a Texas State Senator, Texas Secretary of State and Attorney General of Texas from 1967 until his death. Early life Martin was born to Will M. Martin and Daisy (Beavers) Martin at Hillsboro, Texas, on March 13, 1916. He was educated in the public schools, attended Hillsboro Junior College graduating in 1935. He graduated with a law degree from Cumberland University's law school (now the Cumberland Law School at Samford University) in Tennessee after attending the University of Texas at Austin, first. He was admitted to the Texas bar in 1939 and commenced the practice of law with his brother, William, in Hillsboro. Martin married Margaret Ann Mash in 1941. During World War II, Martin enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. Political career Mayor and state senator After the war, Martin was elected Mayor of Hillsboro. In 1948, he was elected as a Democrat to the Texas Senate representing district 12, which his father had previously represented. The 12th district comprised all of the counties of Ellis, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Somervell in North Central Texas. During his fourteen-year career in the Senate he served on a number of committees, including Finance. He sponsored legislation in insurance reform and securities regulation, and he was elected president pro tem of the Senate in 1955. In addition, in 1957 he sponsored the state's first law requiring the registration of lobbyists.