The first documentation for Crandall in America is in 1643 when he appears as a grand jury member in Newport. He became a prominent member of the First Baptist Church in Newport, and subsequently the first elder of the denomination at Westerly, Rhode Island. He went to Lynn, Massachusetts with John Clarke and Obadiah Holmes to hold services for the Baptists; he was arrested there on July 21, 1651 and sent to prison in Boston. Ten days later, he was convicted of breaking the law by holding services and fined five pounds, in default of which he was to be publicly whipped. He was released upon his promise to appear at the next term of court.