What do you know about Thomas Crawford, Sculptor of the statue called Freedom that sits atop the US Capitol? When the statue was taken down repaired several years ago, the Clerk of the House looked in vain for living descendents, so perhaps there are none. Thomas seems to be a mysterious character in terms of genealogy. A Crawford relative of mine, now deceased, who was only slightly prone to exaggerate, said some time ago he was a relation. No other relative so far seems to confirm this. He has been mentioned at least six times in the past 3 years on this list, but so far I see no real genealogy, so I am casting out my net. This is what I know. Apparently, there is a book about him, which I have not read, Thomas Crawford American Sculptor 1813-1957 by Robert Gale 1964. It is on my to do list, but we all know how that is. CRAWFORD, THOMAS, sculptor, was born March 22, 1814 or 1914, probably in New York City. Some sources indicate his parents may have been from Europe. One source I've seen said he died Oct. 16, 1857, in London, England. But other sources say Italy. He seems to have spent much of his life in Italy, where he learned to sculpt. His son, with his wife Louise Cutler Ward was: CRAWFORD, Francis Marion - (1854-1909) American novelist . He was according to one source the master of 20 languages. He spent his youth in India, according to one source, but I have also heard Italy, which makes more sense. He is said to have edited a newspaper there in India. Some movies have been made out of his books, including "The White Sister." Francis Marion Crawford sang a hymn at the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. This is how LDS site shows the parentage of Thomas Crawford's wife. Samuel Ward + Phoebe Greene> 2.Louise Cutler Ward + Thomas Crawford 1813-1857 (married Providence, RI 3. Frances Marion Crawford 1854 -1909 2.JULIA WARD + Samuel Gridley Howe 3.Laura Howe +Henry Richards 3. Maude Howe His wife's sister was JULIA WARD 1819-1910, the writer and social reformer. She and her sister were born in New York City on May 27, 1819, of a well-to- do family . In April 1843 she married Samuel Gridley Howe. They settled in Boston. She wrote a book of poetry «Passion Flowers», in 1854. For a while she and her husband published the «Commonwealth», an abolitionist newspaper. The «Atlantic Monthly» published her poem "Battle Hymn of the Republic." It was linked to a folk tune also use d for "John Brown's Body." The song, written during a visit to an army camp near Washington, D.C., in 1861, became the semiofficial Civil War song of the Union army. After the war Howe was involved in the woman suffrage movement. I have pieced this together on my own. I invite corrections.