Craddock was born in Munfordville, Kentucky on October 26, 1881, a son of Berry Carter Craddock and Alice Green (McCarty) Craddock.[1] He attended the public schools of Hart County and the Green River Collegiate Institute.[1] The 1896 death of his father caused Berry to begin working to help support his seven brothers and sisters, and he was employed as a printer for the Hart County News.[1]
After returning to Kentucky, Craddock was employed in the transportation department of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.[1] In 1905, he accepted a position as a railroad engineer with the Isthmian Canal Commission, and he remained in the Panama Canal Zone until 1910.[1] He returned to Munfordville in 1910 and became the owner and operator of a successful farm that grew tobacco in addition to raising cattle and hogs.[1]
Craddock was active in politics as a Republican, and served as chairman of the party in Hart County.[1] In addition to serving for several years as a justice of the peace, Craddock was a member of the Munfordville Board of Trustees from 1910 to 1925.[1][2] During World War I, he recruited volunteers for the American Red Cross and YMCA, and organized several Liberty Loan drives.[1] In 1922, he assisted in organizing the Burley Tobacco Growers Association, of which he served as a director until 1941.[2] He served as member of the Kentucky Mammoth Cave National Park Commission from 1922 to 1928.[2]
Craddock was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-first Congress (March 4, 1929 – March 3, 1931).[2] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1930 to the Seventy-second Congress.[2] After leaving Congress, Craddock was a field representative for the Federal Farm Board in 1931 and 1932.[2] He was an agent for the Kentucky Blue Grass Cooperative Association in 1933 and 1934.[2]
From 1934 to 1935, Craddock served as treasurer of Hart County, Kentucky.[2] He later resumed farming, and was a member of the State Agricultural Adjustment Administration Committee from 1939 until his death.[2] Craddock died in Louisville, Kentucky on May 20, 1942.[2] He was buried at New Munfordville Cemetery in Munfordville.[3]
Family
In 1910, Craddock married Mary E. Craddock; despite having the same last name before their marriage, they were not related.[1] They were the parents of a son, John D. Craddock Jr.[1]
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