John W. Crawley was born around 1823 in North Carolina. Crawley was a farmer who resided in Halifax County, North Carolina. Crawley was charged with larceny on April 8, 1878, and sentenced to five years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Crawley was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2644. In the descriptive register, Crawley's race is noted as white. Crawley was fifty-five years old when he was arrested. Crawley was noted as being able to read and write. During his incarceration, Crawley was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was pardoned on January 8, 1879.