Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/63

 CROCKER

CROES

for the advancement of science in 1870 ; of the New England woman's chib in 1875; a fellow of the Massachusetts medical society in 1887; a member of the Essex north medical society in 1887; of the Suffolk county medical society in 1888 ; and of the American medical association in 1888.

CROCKER, Uriel, publisher, was born in Marblehead, Mass., Sept. 13, 1796. He was ap- prenticed by his father to Samuel T. Armstrong of Boston to learn the printer's trade. He had a fellow apprentice, Osmyn Brewster, and when the boys became of age Mr. Armstrong took them into partnership which continued until 1825, when the yoimg men bought out the in- terest of Mr. Armstrong and continued the busi- ness as Crocker & Brewster until 1875, when they retired. As publishers they made a specialty of religious and educational works. They occu- pied the old bookstore at 173-175 Washington street, then 50 Cornhill, for over fifty years, and on Nov. 29, 1886, Mr. Crocker celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of his partnership with Mr. Bi-ewster, who was then also a non- agenarian. He was one of the most earnest promoters of the Bunker Hill monument; an original organizer of the Old Colony railroad and a director for forty j^ears; a director of the Concord railroad; a director, vice-president and president of the Atlantic and Pacific and of the St. Louis and San Francisco railroads; and a director and president of the United States Hotel company and of the Revere House association. He died at Cohasset, Mass., June 19, 1887.

CROCKETT, David, pioneer, was born in Limestone, Tenn., Aug. 17, 1786; son of a Revo- lutionary soldier, and of Irish descent. His boy- hood was spent in the fields and woods and his education was so entirely neglected that he could neither read nor write until his nine- teenth year. At the age of twelve he be- came a drover, and in 1813, at the break- ing out of the Creek war, he volunteered in the service, fight- ing bravely until its close, March 7, 1814, imder Gen. Andrew Jackson, with whom ^ \ > ^® formed a firm

<^cotrcd 't^i^^>^/:^ friendship. In 1821 he was elected a representative in the state legislature and was again elected in 1823, at- tracting interest by his quaint wit and keen powers of perception. This led to his election in 1826 as a representative in the 20th congress,

and he was returned to the 21st and 23d con- gresses. Meanwhile he made a canvassing tour in the interest of Andrew Jackson, throughout the northern and eastern states, creating much amusement and interest by his eccentricities in dress and manner and his effective stories of his wild adventures. He was a candidate for the 24th congress in 1834, but owing to his oppo- sition to Jackson's Indian bill, he was defeated by a small majority. His popularity while in congress was due largely to his wonderful power as an extemporaneous speaker, and his apt ex- pressions were quoted long after their author was dead. The familiar " Be sure you're right and then go ahead," was original with him. He turned the noise made by a flock of guinea fowls to good account during his canvass of east Tennessee by stopping in the midst of a speech and exclaming: " Listen, gentlemen! the very fowls are hallooing for Crockett, Crockett, Crockett!" In 1834 he removed to Texas, where he espoused the cause of the Texans in their struggle for independence. In ]\Iarch, 1836, he joined the force of 140 men in the defence of the Alamo, and was one of the six who survived the merciless slaughter, surren- dered to Santa Anna, and were shot by his orders on the same day. See Crockett's Antohirxiraphrf (1834) ; Life of Colonel David Crockett by Edward S. Ellis; and David Crockett: His Life and Adven- tures, by John S. C. Abbott. He is the author of A Tour to the Xorth ; Life of Van Bureyi, Heir Ap- parent to the Government (1835) ; Down East (1835) ; Sketches and Eccentricities (1847) ; and Exploits in Texas. He died in Texas, March 6, 1836.

CROCKETT, John W., representative, was born in Trenton, Tenn., about 1811; son of David Crockett (1786- 1836). He was brought up in one of the wildest sections of the state. He was educated as a lawyer, practised his profession in Paris, Tenn., and held various local and state offices. He represented his district in the 25th and 26th congresses, 1837-41, and was elected attorney-general of the 9th judicial district of Tennessee in November, 1841. He subsequently removed to New Orleans, La., where in 1848 he became associate editor of The National. He was married to Mary L., daughter of John A. Hamilton, a circuit judge of west Tennessee, and their son. Col. Robert Hamilton, was a state senator in Arkansas. He died in Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 24. 18.-)2

CROES, John, first P. E. bishop of Nesv Jersey and 16tli in succession in the American episco- pate, was born at Elizabethtown, N.J., June 1, 1762; son of Jacob and Charlotte C. Croes, who immigrated to America from Scotland about 1750. He served in the Continental army in the v/ar of the Revolution, 1778-81. He conducted a