Person:William Crolius (1)

Watchers
William Crolius
m. 12 Jun 1753
  1. William Crolius1753 - 1830
  2. John Crolius1755 - 1841
  3. Maria Crolius1758 -
  4. Elizabet Crolius1762 -
  5. Veronica Crolius1764 -
  6. Ann Crolius1767 -
  7. George Clarkson Crolius1770 -
  8. Clarkson Crolius1773 - Abt 1774
  9. Clarkson Crolius1774 -
  • HWilliam Crolius1753 - 1830
  • WMary DobbsAbt 1749 - Aft 1836
m. 28 Feb 1775
  1. _____ Crolius1777 -
  2. Elizabeth Clarkson Crolius1786 -
  3. William Dobbs Crolius1792 - Bef 1798
  4. William Dobbs Crolius1798 -
Facts and Events
Name William Crolius
Gender Male
Birth? 1753 New York City, New York, United States(probable)
Christening[1] 12 Dec 1753 New York City, New York, USDutch Reformed Church
Marriage 28 Feb 1775 New York City, New York, United States(probable location)
to Mary Dobbs
Death[2][4] 21 Apr 1830 Brooklyn, New York, US(probable location)

Biography

William Crolius was born in 1753, among the eldest of a 20+ year span of children of John Crolius and Maria Clarkson. The family lived in Reade Street in New York City, 100 feet west of Centre Street, and operated a pottery established by William's grandfather (possibly the first pottery in New York).S3

William Crolius married Mary Dobbs, daughter of Captain William Dobbs, in 1775, shortly before the Revolutionary War. William served during the War, including battles at Harlem Heights and White Plains, as assistant harbor master under his father-in-law, and in charge of provisions. He spent much of the war obtaining and delivering provisions for the Army, traveling all around the New York countryside, sometimes at great cost to his health. During one winter, his feet were injured from frost, a lifelong injury. His superiors at one point asked him to desist to save his health, but his dedication to supplying garrisons that were in dire need inspired him to persevere. (His war service is extensively documented in engaging detail in personal narrative statements by both himself and his wife found in pension application records.)

After the war, he returned to the pottery business, possibly setting up shop in Newark. He and his wife had at least two children. He lived to age 76, leaving a widow and at least one surviving son when he died in 1830.

Disambiguation

No other William Crolius is known to be nearly contemporary with this one. There are a couple of known William Crolius born a few decades after this one (one in 1774 of unknown parents who married Lavinia Munson, and one in 1782 in New Jersey son of John Crolius and Jane Morgan and who married Anna Montayne), and there is a Johan Willem Crolius (aka William) born circa 1700 and said to have emigrated from Germany who is the common ancestor of all the Crolius living in New York at the time of the Revolution.

References
  1. Reformed Dutch Church (New York City), and Tobias Alexander Wright (ed.). Records of the Reformed Dutch Church in New Amsterdam and New York: baptisms from 1 January, 1731, to 29 December, 1800. (New York: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1902).
  2. Crolius, William and Mary. William Crolius - Revolutionary War pension application.

    includes extensive statement describing William's service during the war

  3.   Our Firemen: A History of the New York Fire Department, volunteer and paid.

    Costello, Augustine E. (New York: Knickerbocker Book Publishing, 1887, reprinted 1997). Contains some detailed biographical sketches, including Clarkson Crolius at chapter 25, part 2. (online transcription)

  4. His widow was living in Brooklyn at the time she filed a widow's pension application in 1836, so it may be that's where they were living when William died in 1830.