HENRY T. CROSBY

BIOGRAPHY

AS RECORDED IN:

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES.

PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 472

HENRY T. CROSBY is now living retired in Chaplin, Windham county, where he enjoys the distinction of being one of the oldest citizens of the town, and he comes from an old New England family.

Simon Crosby, the founder of the family in America, was born in 1609, in England, and came to the Colonies when twenty-six years of age, in the “Susan and Ellen,” with his wife and young son, Thomas. Simon became a freeman in Cambridge, Mass., in 1639, and died the same year.

Ezra Crosby, the father of our subject, was a farmer, and resided in Lisbon, New London Co., Conn., where he was born Sept. 17, 1780, and where he died July 29, 1852, aged seventy-two years. During his life he was a quiet, prosperous man. He married Mary Warren, who was born May 15, 1785, a daughter of Jotham Warren, a Revolutionary soldier, and she survived until Feb. 26, 1863. Their children were: Mary E., born Feb. 29, 1809, died June 4, 1813; Miss Jerusha, born Jan. 14, 1811, resided in Chaplin; Henry T.; Mary H., born Feb. 27, 1815, married Alexander Dorrance, and died in Chaplin, Nov. 14, 1894; Lydia M., born Jan. 18, 1817, is the widow of George L. Davidson, and resides in Brooklyn, Conn.; Levi A., born Jan. 22, 1819, died Aug. 14, 1848, at the age of twenty-nine; Harriet E., born July 8, 1821, married James H. Work, and died in Chaplin, April 10, 1899; Charlotte, born Oct. 30, 1823, widow of Henry R. Robbins, resides in Chaplin; Martin W., born Oct. 11, 1826, married Abbie Dexter and resides in Brooklyn, Conn.; Mary Louise died at the age of ten; and Emma Jessie
married Newell Clinton Hunt, of Chaplin.

Henry T. Crosby was born Feb. 13, 1813, in Lisbon, Conn., and attended the district schools until he was sixteen years of age, and then had the
advantage of one term at the Norwichtown high school. When thirteen years old he suffered an injury to his right ankle which refused to yield to treatment, and when but nineteen he was forced to lose the limb, the amputation being made between the knee and ankle. Ever since then he has worn an artificial limb. At the age of twenty-one he began to teach school, and for nine years had the following schools: his first three terms were spent at the school in his native district, from which he received ten dollars a month; he next taught two terms at Norwich, one term at Oxford, Mass., and three terms in the town of Lisbon. Until about 1843 he remained at home, but at that time he was offered the position of assistant postmaster at Jewett City, Conn., under postmaster James Johnson, which he accepted, and he remained there during the term of that gentleman. The latter was succeeded by a Dr. Kendall, and the new postmaster was very glad to be able to retain the services of Mr. Crosby, who did the greater portion of the work. During the term of Dr. Kendall the latter decided to remove to Moosup, Conn., and resigned the office. Mr. Crosby was selected to succeed him, and held the office during Buchanan’s administration. At the beginning
of the administration of President Lincoln he was removed and he then purchased a small farm of thirty acres near Lisbon Center, and resided there two years, when he was offered the position of assistant cashier in Jewett City National Bank, under cashier James Johnson, the same man under whom Mr. Crosby served as assistant postmaster. A few years later Mr. Johnson resigned from the bank on account of failing health and eyesight, and Mr. Crosby was selected to fill his position. For seven years Mr. Crosby served as cashier in this institution, or until 1873, when the affairs of the bank were closed up, although it was in a prosperous condition and the stock sold at premium. Mr. Crosby then decided to start a savings bank for the town of Griswold, and a charter was obtained from the State Legislature. On July 1,
1873, the Jewett City Savings Bank began business, with H. L. Reed as president and Mr. Crosby as treasurer. The bank flourished from the start, and is yet in existence in a very prosperous condition. Until July, 1883, our subject continued its treasurer, but then resigned on account of his poor health and moved to Brooklyn, Conn., where he remained for three years, when, having lost his devoted wife, he came to Chaplin, and has made his home with his sister, Mrs. Charlotte Robbins.

On March 4, 1856, Mr. Crosby was married in Lisbon, Conn., to Mary Jackson, a native of Norwich, who had been reared in the family of Rev. Levi Nelson, being an adopted daughter of that good man. Mrs. Crosby died in Jewett City, Conn., March 2, 1884. No children were born of this marriage.

Mr. Crosby has been liberal in politics and cast his first presidential vote for William Henry Harrison in 1840. In late years he has voted the
Prohibition ticket and was treasurer of the town of Griswold for many years. Early in life he connected himself with the Congregational Church at Lisbon. When he removed to Jewett City he transferred his membership to the church at that city, and also repeated this transferral upon his location in Brooklyn and Chaplin. For many years he taught in the Sunday-school and has continued his good work in Chaplin. Mr. Crosby took and active part in educational matters during his residence in Lisbon, having served as school visitor and as a member of the committee authorized to examine all applicants for the position of school teacher, serving in these capacities several years. Mr. Crosby has been very successful, possesses a good income and stands very high in the community where he now resides. For a man of
his age he has a very clear memory, and can relate many interesting incidents in the country’s history as well as of his own life.

Reproduced by:

Linda D. Pingel – great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct.