Elijah Crossman (c.1753 – 1835-10-17⟮1⟯) was my 5th-great-grandfather, being the father of Irena Fleming by his third wife Elizabeth Hewett, and a Revolutionary soldier. His parents were Stephen Crossman and Mercy Hoskins, from Taunton, Massachusetts, where Elijah was born. Elijah married in Sutton, MA, and later moved to Rutland, Vermont, and then to Crown Point, New York, where he died.⟮2⟯“After my father + the said Elizabeth were married as I have stated they remained some six or eight years in said Sutton + then removed to Rutland in the State of Vermont and afterwards they removed to Crown Point in the County of Essex and State of New York....” — a deposition from his daughter Sally. https://www.fold3.com/image/13005381⟮3⟯ In 1796 he was referred to as a cordwainer.
That Elijah was indeed the father of Irena is affirmed by credible secondary sources such as the Daughters of the American Revolution⟮4⟯, although I have not seen primary sources to definitively prove it.
His and Elizabeth’s births are estimated from records; see Records below.
There are conflicting claims about Elijah’s parents. A fire in 1838 destroyed Taunton’s town records, and they had to be incompletely reconstructed from other sources, so primary sources may not exist.
A history of Sutton states that Elijah’s father was Noah Crossman from Taunton, who moved to Sutton.⟮5⟯ Documentation for this is not provided. Several other sources make this claim, but so far as I can tell they all trace back to this Sutton history. A scan of the records of both Taunton and Sutton did not turn up any Noah, nor can I find any other reference to such a person. There is a younger Noah, a brother of Elijah.
Various other sources instead state that Elijah was the son of Stephen and Mercy, who married 1740-05-15 in Taunton, MA⟮6⟯. This seems to derive from the work of John Roland Crossman (JRC), who published research on these families. His book on the family of Elijah and Elizabeth is available online⟮7⟯, but his book on Stephen and Mercy’s family is out of print and I have not been able to get ahold of it. His available work looks credible, with good documentation, and briefly gives details of Stephen and Mercy’s lives, suggesting he had a lot of information, although he points to his other book for more, as well as another Crossman history which is similarly unavailable.
Other than the name, the information from these two sources lines up. The Sutton history says Elijah came to Sutton from Taunton with his father Noah and brothers Noah, Jacob, and Samuel. JRC’s book also has these as brothers of Elijah (among others).⟮8⟯ The 1790 census of Sutton⟮9⟯ shows Crossman families headed by Stephen (presumably the father who lived till 1805), Samuel, Elijah, Noah, and Jacob; the Noah is surely Elijah’s brother who married Huldah Hayden based on the similarity to his known number of children. A birth record survives for Samuel (1761-04-22)⟮10⟯⟮11⟯This birth record is notated as having been “cancelled” (I am unclear what this means), and Samuel was later baptized in Hopkinton, MA on 1761-05-10., showing his parents as Stephen and Mary (presumably a mistransription for Mercy). Land records also line up. See Stephen and Mercy Crossman for more details.
This all suggests that the information in the Sutton history is accurate except that Stephen’s name was mixed up with his son Noah.
JRC provides a birthdate for Elijah of “August 18, 1755/56”. Without sourcing, it’s difficult to know what this means. This is not a regular dual date since it’s in August and after 1752; it may simply be a known birthday and uncertain year. Till I find clarifying information, I will rely on the calculations from records below to estimate Elijah’s birth.
In summary, although I have not seen the supporting evidence, the research of JRC looks credible and matches both available records and, after correcting for a likely error, the History of Sutton. Thus, I am accepting these parents in this study.
Elijah served in the 13th Massachusetts Regiment during the Revolutionary War. A combination of records suggest that he enlisted on 1775-05-01⟮12⟯ and mustered out 1777-01-01, although I have seen other date ranges. He had the rank of Private, 3rd Sergeant.
Here is one published summary, although it may not count all service:⟮13⟯
CROSMAN, Elijah, Sutton. Private, Capt. Edward Seagrave’s co., Col. Joseph Read’s (20th) regt.; muster roll dated Aug. 1, 1775; enlisted May 1, 1775; service, 3 mos. 8 days; also, company return dated Sept. 25, 1775; also, Private, Capt. Reuben Sibley’s co., Col. Jacob Davis’s regt.; marched July 30, 1780; discharged Aug. 7, 1780; service, 14 days, travel included, on an alarm at Rhode Island. Roll dated Sutton.
His pension file says he was at the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775-06-17) and the Battle of White Plains (1776-10-28).
Elijah married three times, and had sixteen children, according to JRC (above). His third wife Elizabeth outlived him.
He married Rebekah (
Elijah secondly married Ruth, daughter of John Thayer and Patience Knapp, on 1791-02-16 in Sutton.⟮16⟯ There do not seem to be birth or death records for her, so her age can only be estimated. She must have died by 1793-09-21 when Elijah’s 3rd marriage intention was filed.⟮17⟯
Ruth had only one known child John, known eventually as John Maynard Crossman (1792-04-29 – 1867-09-08), where the dates come from his gravestone.⟮18⟯Find a Grave memorial for John Maynard Crossman A theory is that Ruth died giving birth to him. His case is confusing. He was referred to as “Jno. May now Crossman” on 1797-01-02, suggesting he was born with a different surname, with Elijah as his “father and guardian”.⟮19⟯ A guardianship bond is recorded in a 1796-12-06 document⟮20⟯ where Elijah Crossman, Samuel Crossman (Elijah’s brother), and Timothy Hewitt/Hewet (both spellings used) guarantee a bond of $10,000 for the guardianship for “John Maynard Crossman a minor aged five years son of the said Elijah and grandson of John Thayer late of Douglass”. My surmise is that Ruth’s father left John a large bequest.
It thus seems John was Elijah’s son, despite possibly having had a different surname at birth. There may have been drama in this family not recorded.
He thirdly married Elizabeth Hewett on 1794-02-20 in Sutton, MA.⟮21⟯ Her birth is estimated at 1774 from various records (see below). She died 1853-12-17.⟮22⟯
They had perhaps ten or more children:
Some early census records (which show only heads of households and age range counts) show Elijah, presumably living with Elizabeth after 1794:
| Year | Place | Counts | Inferred births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1790⟮9⟯ | Sutton, MA | 1 ♂ 16+, 1 ♀ | –1774 ♂ –1790 ♀ |
| 1800⟮34⟯ | Rutland, VT | 1 ♂ 10–15, 1 ♂ 16–25, 1 ♂ 45+, 3 ♀ <10, 3 ♀ 16–25, 1 ♀ 26–44 | –1755 ♂ 1755–1774 ♀ 1774–1784 ♂♀♀♀ 1784–1790 ♂ 1790–1800 ♀♀♀ |
| 1810⟮35⟯ | Crown Point, NY | 4 ♂ <10, 1 ♂ 16–25, 1 ♂ 45+, 1 ♀ <10, 1 ♀ 26–44 | –1765 ♂ 1765–1784 ♀ 1784–1794 ♂ 1800–1810 ♂♂♂♂♀ |
| 1820⟮36⟯ | Crown Point, NY | 1 ♂ <10, 1 ♂ 10–15, 1 ♂ 19–25, 1 ♂ 45+, 1 ♀ <10, 2 ♀ 16–25, 1 ♀ 45+ | –1775 ♂♀ 1794–1801 ♂ 1794–1804 ♀♀ 1804–1810 ♂ 1810–1820 ♂♀ |
| 1830⟮37⟯ | Crown Point, NY | 1 ♂ 10–14, 1 ♂ 15–19, 1 ♂ 70s, 1 ♀ <5, 1 ♀ 15–19, 1 ♀ 30s, 1 ♀ 50s | 1750–1760 ♂ 1770–1780 ♀ 1790–1800 ♀ 1810–1815 ♂♀ 1815–1820 ♂ 1825–1830 ♀ |
There are small discrepancies between the child counts and the above list, which are hard to make sense of; JRC attempts to match them⟮38⟯.
In 1840, Elizabeth appears to be living with her son Eliakim in Moriah, NY, with him in his 30s and her in her 60s.⟮39⟯
In 1836 Elijah sold land in Crown Point which the deed record says he first purchased on 1802-04-26, although I have not found the original deed.⟮40⟯ Elijah appears on a tax list in Crown Point in 1803.⟮41⟯
Elijah’s pension file has him aged 63 on 1818-04-11⟮42⟯ and aged 68 on 1820-09-06⟮43⟯. Plainly, these cannot both be correct. The censuses have him born in the early 1750s, and his first marriage being in 1777 does not narrow things down. One might guess a birth from 1752 to 1754. JRC’s stated 1755/6 is still plausible.
In the 1850 census Elijah’s widow Elizabeth is living with her grandson Nathan’s family in Ticonderoga, NY and aged 75.⟮44⟯ The pension file says she was aged 75 on 1850-06-21.⟮45⟯ If these are all accurate (and they may not be), it puts Elizabeth’s birth as late 1774.
I have an autosomal DNA match to a descendant of Elijah Crossman and his second wife Ruth Thayer, through the above-named John Maynard Crossman. However, I do not yet have corroborating matches to narrow down the origin of this segment.
Elijah has a double descent from William Hoskins and Anne Hinds. Rebecca (Hoskins) Briggs was their daughter.