John T. Crawford (1813-1880) was a white Union soldier who, in gratitude for the kindnesses he received from African-Americans during the Civil War, willed his 18 1/2-acre farm to be used as a home for aged, indigent worthy colored men, with preference given to those who had suffered the miseries of American slavery. The Crawford Old Men's Home opened in 1888 and operated until 1964 under the trusteeship of prominent African-Americans including lawyer William Parham, newspaper editor Wendell Dabney, and Ambassador Jesse D. Locker. It later merged with the Progressive Benefit Society's Home for Colored Women to become the Lincoln Crawford Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and Pleasant Hill Academy, College Hill Library, and Crawford Commons now stand on the site of the Crawford farm.