Son of a min­is­ter, Crafts at­tend­ed Wes­ley­an Un­i­ver­si­ty, Con­nec­ti­cut (1869, AM 1871); Bos­ton Un­i­ver­si­ty (BD 1871); and Mar­i­et­ta Col­lege (PhD 1886). He served as pastor at Methodist Episcopal, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches, and was prom­i­nent in the tem­per­ance and pro­hi­bi­tion move­ment. He found­ed and for 28 years was su­per­in­tend­ent of the In­ter­na­tion­al Re­form Bur­eau. His works in­clude:

• Through the Eye to the Heart: or, Eye-Teach­ing in the Sund­ay-School (New York: Nel­son & Phil­lips, ca. 1873)
• Song Vic­tor­ies of “The Bliss and Sank­ey Hymns” (Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts: D. Lo­throp & Co., 1877)
• Plain Us­es of the Black­board and Slate (New York: Ward & Drum­mond , 1881)
• Successful Men of To-day and What They Say of Suc­cess (New York : Funk & Wag­nalls, 1883)
• The Sab­bath for Man (New York : Funk & Wag­nalls, 1885)
• Intoxicants & Opi­um in All Lands and Times, a Twen­ti­eth Cen­tu­ry Sur­vey of In­temp­er­ance (Wash­ing­ton, DC: The In­ter­na­tion­al Re­form Bu­reau, 1900)
• Childhood: The Text­book of the Age for Par­ents, Pas­tors and Teach­ers and All Lov­ers of Child­hood
• Before the Lost Arts
• Social Pro­gress
• The Ideal Sun­day School
• Reading the Bi­ble with Rel­ish
• The Ci­vil Sab­bath
• Must the Old Test­a­ment Go?
• Talks to Boys and Girls About Je­sus
• Talks and Stor­ies About He­roes and Hol­i­days
• New Test­a­ment Helps
• Bible and Sun­day School
• Practical Christ­ian So­ci­ol­o­gy
• Protection of Na­tive Rac­es Against In­tox­i­cants and Opi­um
• The March of Christ Down the Cen­tu­ries