Crawfish-ford

In "A Justice," Crawfish-ford - "usually it was Craw-ford" (347) - is the biological father whom Sam Fathers calls "pappy" (347). He and Herman Basket have apparently known Doom since they were children "sleeping on the same pallet and talking at night, as boys will" (345). When Doom acquires Sam's mother as a slave, Craw-ford immediately tries to take her as his own but her husband objects, leading to a prolonged rivalry. Craw-ford impregnates the enslaved woman, but eventually loses the contest Doom arranges between the rivals to determine her mate.