Born in Galveston, Texas, Crain attended the Christian Brothers' School, New York City, until the age of fourteen, and graduated from St. Francis Xavier's College, New York City, in 1867.

[1] He was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth and to the five succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1885, until his death in Washington, D.C., February 10, 1896.

[1] He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings during the Fifty-third Congress.

[2] After his death, a fellow Congressman from Texas noted that "Mr. Crain was a poor man; he did not possess the money-making faculty.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress