JUDGE ALLEN CRAIG, present Judge of the
Forty-third Judicial District of Pennsylvania, is one of the
most prominent citizens of Mauch Chunk, having more than a
statewide reputation on account of the leading position which he
occupies at the Bar and in political circles. He has steadily
worked his way upward until he is now in the front rank among
his brethren of the legal fraternity, and his success is the
crown of merit and ability.
Judge Craig was born on Christmas Day of 1835, in Lehigh Gap,
which was then in Northampton County, but is now in Carbon
County, and within the limits of the latter county his entire
life has been passed. The Craig family is of Scotch-Irish
extraction, and the ancestors emigrated from Ireland and located
in Northampton County, Pa., in 1728. The grandfather, Gen.
Thomas Craig, served under Arnold in the French and Indian War,
and commanded the Third Pennsylvania Regiment during the
struggle for independence. Capt. Thomas Craig, the father of
Judge Craig, was proprietor of the old Lehigh Gap Inn at Lehigh
Gap, and was also engaged in merchandising, lumbering, and ran a
stage line between Easton and Mauch Chunk. He became a very
prominent citizen of Carbon County, and took an active interest
in political and public affairs. He married Catherine Hagenbuch,
daughter of John Hagenbuch.
The subject of this sketch remained in Lehigh Gap until
sixteen years of age, during which time he attended the public
schools, and in a private school prepared for College under the
tutelage of Rev. John Vanderveer. He then entered Lafayette
College, in eastern Pennsylvania, in 1851, and on the completion
of the classical course was graduated from that institution in
1855. Soon afterward he took up time study of law with Hon. Milo
M. Dimmick, and after a thorough preparation was admitted to the
Bar at Mauch Chunk in June, 1858. His abilities, natural and
acquired, have well fitted him for his chosen profession. He is
a man of deep research, a careful student, and possesses
oratorical powers of a high order. His arguments are logical and
convincing, his speech clear and forcible, and on all the
important cases tried in Carbon County he has been found either
as defendant or prosecutor. His ability was soon known, and won
recognition in a large and extensive practice, which from the
beginning has constantly increased.
Judge Craig was married, in 1866, to Miss Anna I. Douglas,
who is a native of Pennsylvania, but was reared and educated in
Connecticut. Four children have been born of their union, two
sons and two daughters: Douglas, Harry, Hattie and
Gay. Judge has done much for the upbuilding of the city in
which he makes his home, through his connection with many of its
leading enterprises. He was for many years a Director of the
First National Bank of Mauch Chunk, and was also with the gas
and water companies. His support and hearty co-operation are
ever given to those enterprises which are calculated to promote
the general welfare. He has also had an honorable political
career. In 1859 he was elected District Attorney of Carbon
County for a term of three years on the Democratic ticket, and
in 1865 he was elected to represent Carbon and Monroe Counties
in the State Legislature. He held that office for three
successive terms of one year each, and in 1878 was elected State
Senator for a term of four years, from the districts comprising
Carbon, Monroe and Pike Counties. Ably did he perform the duties
of the office, proving in both houses a most capable member,
working earnestly for the best interests of those whom he
represented. In 1893 He was elected Judge of the Forty-third
Judicial District, and is now acceptably filling that office. No
more capable man could have been selected for the position, for
his thirty-five years of law practice and a keen, cool judgment
make him well adapted for the Bench. His decisions are the
result of careful and earnest deliberation.
In manner Judge Craig is always courteous and agreeable,
possessed of a genial humor and social tendencies which make him
a delightful companion. He is one of the best informed men of
the state, his school privileges having been supplemented by
extensive reading and study in later
years. He was appointed one of the Trustees and superintended
the erection of the Dimmick Memorial Library Building, which was
provided for by the will of Milton Dimmick. He served for a
short time in the war, in 1862, as a member of the Nineteenth
Pennsylvania Infantry, and has taken a prominent part in Grand
Army affairs. When it was proposed to erect a monument “To all
the brave defenders of the Union from the county of Carbon,” Mr.
Craig was chosen Chairman of the
building committee, and labored earnestly until the
completion of the monument and its dedication, September 28,
1886. He is a great favorite with the boys in blue, and few
public meetings and camp fires have been held in Mauch Chunk at
which he has not been called upon to address his old army
comrades.