Author: Croswell, Joseph
Biography:
CROSWELL, Joseph (fl 1772-1803)
In two letters that he wrote to Thomas Jefferson in 1803, Croswell describes himself as a widower of “about 60”—a detail that suggests a birthdate c. 1743. No public record has been found so far for either his birth or his death. His name is in the Plymouth MA Census for 1790 and 1800 but not in any state for 1810, so the presumption is that he died between 1803 and 1810. He was the son of the controversial, Harvard-educated Calvinist minister, Andrew Croswell (1709-85), and his wife Rebecca Holmes. His uncle was the unlettered itinerant evangelical preacher Joseph Croswell (d 1799). He was probably born in Groton CT before the family moved to Boston MA in 1746. He settled in Plymouth as a shopkeeper and seems to have become a respected citizen. He served as a constable in 1778, contributed patriotic verses to Boston newspapers, and composed an “Ode to Liberty” that was sung at a civic feast in 1793 and published that year along with an address by Chandler Robbins (1738-99). On 29 Oct. 1772 he married Lucy Allen (1739-98) at Boston, and with her had at least five children, two of whom were still dependent on him in 1803. The letters to Jefferson, accompanying presentation copies of his play A New World Planted (two copies, because Croswell feared that the first letter had never reached its destination), are appeals for urgent relief from financial distress: “If it was meritorious amongst the ancient Romans to save the life of a Citizen is it not equally so to relieve a faithfull Zealous Unfortunate & persecuted Republican,” he asks, rhetorically. He had hoped to gain by his play being performed in Boston, but it was not accepted, he thought perhaps because of its Republicanism. There is no sign that Jefferson responded to the appeal. (ANBO [Andrew Croswell] 22 Mar. 2024; ancestry.com 22 Mar. 2024; findmypast.com 22 Mar 2024; “To Thomas Jefferson from Joseph Croswell,” Feb. 1803 and 15 July 1803, in Founders Online, founders.archives.gov)