Gravesite of Thomas Theodore Crittenden

Thomas Theodore Crittenden was a prominent Missouri lawyer who served in the United States Civil War with the 7th Missouri State Militia Cavalry on the Union side as a captain and later lieutenant. He served in the army from 1862 to 1864, after he was wounded at the Battle of Westport. Following his time in the army, Crittenden was appointed Attorney General, served in the United States House of Representatives for the 7th Congressional District, and was elected as governor of Missouri. Among other accomplishments during his term as governor, Crittenden is remembered for controlling the outlaw threat in Missouri by offering a $5,000 reward for Frank and Jesse James which led to Jesse James' assassination.

Thomas Theodore Crittenden was born on January 1st, 1832 to a politically prominent family in Shelbyville, Kentucky. His father, Henry Crittenden, was uninterested in politics but was at one point the Whig candidate for Congress. His mother, Anna Maria Crittenden, was the daughter of a successful Kentucky lawyer who died in the Battle of 1812. Henry died when Crittenden was just two years old, and his mother was remarried to David R. Murray. They had Crittenden’s half brother E.H. Murray, who would later distinguish himself in the Union Army during the Civil War and become the Marshall of Kentucky.

Crittenden attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and graduated in 1855. He also studied law with his uncle, Kentucky governor John J. Crittenden. He was admitted to the Kentucky state bar in 1856. The same year, Crittenden was married to Carrie Jackson with whom he had several children including his son Thomas T. Crittenden who would become the mayor of Kansas City. Shortly after being married, the couple moved to Lexington, Missouri where Crittenden began his law practice. When the Civil War broke out, the lawyer was appointed to the 7th Missouri State Militia Cavalry and served with the Union Army from 1862 to 1864 as a captain and later a lieutenant. Crittenden was involved in the Battle of Murfreesboro in Tennessee in May of 1862. He was wounded at the Battle of Westport and was honorably discharged in 1865. The year before, Willard Preble Hall appointed Crittenden as Attorney General.

After his term as Attorney General, Crittenden moved his law practice to Warrensburg, Missouri where he partnered with Senator Francis Cockrell. They became affiliated with the Sedalia firm Phillips and Vest and they all became known as the “Big Four.” In 1872, and again in 1876, Crittenden was elected to the United States House of Representatives for the 7th Congressional District. Crittenden helped form the Missouri Bar Association in 1880 and that same year he was elected as governor of Missouri. During his term as governor, his main concerns were in the state’s finances and controlling the outlaw threat – particularly that of the James Brothers Gang. Some of the governor’s accomplishments included paying the loans on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroads, reducing the state debt, establishing the Missouri State Board of Health, and increasing funding for education.

Since the end of the Civil War, Missouri had been terrorized by the James Brothers Gang. Although Missouri state law capped the reward money that could be offered for the capture of criminals at $300, Crittenden received pledges from the railroads in order to offer $5,000 for the capture of Frank and Jesse James. This inspired a member of the gang, Robert Ford, to betray the gang and kill Jesse James in 1882, for which Crittenden pardoned him before he was to be hanged. On October 5th, 1882, Frank James surrendered to Crittenden in Jefferson City, Missouri. He was acquitted for the murder of a railroad employee and went on to work various jobs before retiring to the farm life. Frank James died on February 18th, 1915 and at his funeral, one of Crittenden’s sons served as pallbearer. Ultimately, Governor Crittenden paid out $20,000 for the capture and conviction of the James Brothers Gang although it is unclear to whom exactly this money went. While some celebrated Crittenden for controlling the outlaw threat, others criticized him for conspiring to kill a private citizen.

Following his term as governor, Crittenden moved his law firm once again to Kansas City, Missouri. From 1893 to 1897, he was appointed the United States Consul to Mexico City by President Grover Cleveland and held the post for four years. Crittenden died in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery.

Thomas Theodore Crittenden, 1881-1885, Missouri Digital Heritage. Accessed March 4th, 2023. https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/mdh_splash/default.asp?coll=crittenden.

Crittenden, Thomas Theodore (1832-1909), Papers, 1880-1950, University of Missouri System. Accessed March 4th, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20150927105449/http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/0087.pdf.

Office of the Governor Thomas Theodore Crittenden, 1881-1885, Missouri State Archives. Accessed March 4th, 2023. https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/archives/resources/findingaids/rg003-24.pdf.

Trout, Carlynn. Thomas T. Crittenden, State Historical Society of Missouri. Accessed March 4th, 2023. https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/?page_id=6334.

Thomas Theodore Crittenden, Find a Grave. Accessed March 4th, 2023. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11843/thomas-theodore-crittenden.

Pictorial and Genealogical Record of Greene County, Missouri • 1893: Thomas T. Crittenden, Springfield-Greene County Library District. Accessed March 4th, 2023. https://thelibrary.org/lochist/history/pictorial/crittend.html.