mayor of Adrian in 1862, and in the antunin of that year entered the state senate. After serving in this capacity three terms, he was successively president of the Constitutional convention in 1867, elector-at-large on the republican ticket in 1868, speaker of the lower house of the legislature in 1874, and later secretary of the State board of chari- ties. After filling the office of governor of Michi- gan in 1876. he was re-elected in 1878.
CROSWELL, Harry, clergyman, b. in West
Hartford, Conn., 16 June, 1778; d. in New Haven,
Conn., 13 March, 1858. He was educated under
the care of Rev. Dr. Perkins and Dr. Noah Web-
ster. When quite young, he entered his broth-
er's printing-oilice in Catskill, N. Y., and soon be-
came editor of a paper issued there. He founded
a Federalist newspaper called the " Balance " in
Hudson, N. Y., in 1802, which became noted for
the bitterness and scathing sarcasm of its editori-
als ; and Mr. Croswell became involved in many
libel suits. The most celebrated of these was
caused by an article on .Jefferson, published in the
" Wasp," a paper controlled by Mr. Croswell, and
Alexander Hamilton's last and one of his finest
speeches was made in Croswell's defence at the
trial. Croswell afterward edited a jsolitical news-
paper in Albany, whither he removed in 1809,
and was again prosecuted for libel by a Mr. South-
wick, who recovered damages. Croswell called on
his friends for money to make good this amount,
and on their refusal determined to enter the min-
istry of the Protestant Episcopal church, though
he had been brought up a Congregationalist. He
was ordained deacon, 8 May, 1814, and had charge
of Christ church, Hudson, till 1 Jan.. 1815, when
he became rector of Trinity church, New Haven,
Conn., then the only Episcopal church in the
city, holding services in an old wooden building
on Church street till the opening of the new
church edifice, on 22 Feb., 1816. He remained in
New Haven till his death. One who knew him
writes : " His tall figure and manly form, clerical
garb, and high-topped boots with knee-buckles,
impressed every beholder as they saw him walk the
streets of New Haven. He was not a great
preacher, but he had an extraordinary knowledge
of human nature, and could ingratiate himself into
every man's heart." Trinity college gave him the
degree of D. D. in 1831. He published " Young
Churchman's Guide " (4 vols.) ; " Manual of Family
Prayers " (New Haven) ; " Guide to the Holy Sacra-
ment " ; and a " Memoir " of his son. Rev. William
Croswell, D. D. (New l^ork, 1854). He left in
manuscript " Annals of Trinity Church " and a
voluminous diarv. See " Letters of Waldegrave,"
by Rev. G. W." Nichols (New York, 1886).— His
son, William, clergyman, b. in Hudson, N. Y., 7
Nov., 1804 ; d. in Boston, Mass., 9 Nov., 1851, was
graduated at Yale in 1822, taught a select school
in New Haven, with an elder brother, and in 1824
was engaged with his cousin, Edwin Croswell, as
assistant editor of the Albany " Argus." He en-
tered the General theological seminary in New
York in 1826, and pursued his studies with Bishop
Brownell, in Hartford, in 1827, at the same time
editing the " Episcopal Watchman." He was or-
dained in 1828, and, after holding several pastor-
ates, became rector of the recently organized
Church of the Advent in Boston, where he re-
mained till his death. His manner of conducting
the church services led to a controversy with Bish-
op Eastburn, by whom he was officially censured.
His life was one of charity and religious devotion.
Trinity college gave him the degree of D. D. in
1846. He wrote numerous short lyrical poems,
some of which were published in his father's
memoirs of hini, and his " Poems, Sacred and Secu-
lar," were edited, with a memoir, by Rev. A.
Cleveland Coxe, D. D. (New York, 1859).— Harry
Croswell's nephew, Edwin, journalist, b. in Cats-
kill, N. Y., 29 May, 1797 ; d. in Princeton, N. J.,
13 June, 1871, became assistant editor of his fa-
ther's paper, the " Catskill Recorder," his first arti-
cle being a defence and vindication of the soldiers
drafted for the defence of New York during the
war of 1812. After the retirement of his father,
his management of the " Recorder " attracted the
attention of the democratic leaders, and in 1824
he was invited to Albany by Martin Van Buren,
Benjamin F. Butler, and others, to edit the
" Argus," and also to become state printer. Mr.
Croswell remained in Albany thirty years, changed
the "Argus" from a semi-weekly to a daily jour-
nal, and made it one of the chief democratic
organs in the countiy. As a member of the so-
called " Albany Regency," a group of politicians
who directed the party councils in the state, it
was his duty to preserve order in the ranks through
the columns of his journal, and to his tact in j^er-
forming this duty may be largely ascribed the
position of the democrats in New York at that
time. The leading articles in the " Argus " were
copied in the minor party papers throughout the
state as embodying all that was sound of demo-
cratic principles, and for many yeai's it was
regarded as political apostasy to question the
authority of the party organ. When the whigs
obtained" possession of the state in 1840, Mr. Cros-
well was succeeded in tlie office of state printer by
Thurlow Weed, but held it again from 1844 till
1847. Subsequently he found himself opposed to
Martin Van Buren and others of his early political
associates, through a split in the party. He retired
from journalism in 1854 and engaged in business
in New York. He published numerous addresses.
CROTHERS, Samuel, clergyman, b. near
Chambersburg, Pa., 22 Oct., 1783; d. in Oswego,
HI., 20 July, "1856. He went to Lexington, Ky.,
with his father in 1787, entered the academy there
in 1798, and, after studying at the New York
theological seminary, returned to Kentucky in
1809, and was licensed to preach by the Kentucky
presbytery. After a year of missionary work, he
was settled, in 1810, over the churches of Chilli-
cothe and Greenfield, Ohio, but in 1813 devoted
himself to the latter alone. In company with his
former teacher in New York, Dr. Mason, he op-
posed close communion, and the exclusive use of
what has been called inspired psalmody. Trouble
growing out of his opinions on these subjects led
him, in 1818, to resign his charge and move to
Winchester, Ky. ; but he returned to Greenfield in
1820, organized a new church, and remained pas-
tor of it till his death. Dr. Crothers was a con-
cise and vigorous writer and an eloquent preacher.
See " Life and Writings of Samuel Crothers," by
Rev. A. Ritchie (Cincinnati, 1857).
CROWE, Frederick, missionary, b. in Belgium ; d. in New York city, 7 Nov., 1858. He was the son of a British subject. Coming to Balize about 1838, he established himself there as an independent missionary, labored thirteen years in disseminating the scriptures in Spanish America, and was the author of a valuable historical work
on Central America. He was expelled from San Salvador, as is said, by the Roman Catholics, because he circulated the Bible, and intended to open a school in San IMiguel. After being imprisoned, harassed, and at last driven by mob violence from the country, he came to New York, and soon died.
