Oliver H. Crosby (1856 - 1922)

Born 23 Jan 1856 in Dexter, Penobscot County, Maine

Husband of Elizabeth Isabel (Wood) Crosby — married 18 May 1878 in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota

Died 8 Dec 1922 at age 66 in Ramsey County, Minnesota

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Biography

Oliver was born in 1856. He is the son of Josiah Crosby and Mary Bradbury Foss. He passed away in 1922. ^[1]

Crosby was co-founder, president and chief engineer of American Hoist and Derrick Company (later known as AmHoist), a manufacturing company that created unique products for lifting and construction tasks. He is the inventor or co-inventor of 36 patents issued between 1887 and 1925, primarily hoisting devises and cable enhancements. His most well-known invention is the wire rope clamp, a device to loop wire cable without losing its strength. It was marketed and sold as the “Crosby Clip” and is still being sold today.

Crosby invented the first traveling cranes mounted on railcar type wheels. For the railroad industry, he designed the ditcher, a flatcar-mounted crane that could scoop out dirt forming ditches on either side of the track. For the lumber industry, he designed cranes that could move between flatbed cars to safely lift logs on and off rail cars. For the shipping industry, he designed large traveling cranes for harbors around the world. And he designed the boom derrick for the sugar cane industry. Based on his designs, his company manufactured huge cranes for major construction projects, such as the Panama Canal. His company was also a major supplier of cranes, hoists and derricks for American shipyards during World War I and World War II. The company produced some of the largest machines ever manufactured. Perhaps the most famous is the forty-ton traveling crane at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard near San Francisco (home of the Pacific Fleet during World War II). It was recognized as the largest crane in the world for more than 15 years. Crosby also invented the first crawler cranes – cranes on continuous chain treads – the forerunner of today’s modern, huge crawler machines.

During Crosby’s tenure as president, from 1882 until his death in 1922, his company grew to more than 1,000 employees with offices in every major city in the United States. He created a culture and structure for the company to grow to be a Fortune 500 company, one of the nation’s top 500 companies as measured by revenue. Crosby was a leader in the St. Paul business and civic community, focusing on city planning and beautification. Although he never ran for public office, his opinion and advice were widely sought in matters affecting municipal and civic development.

Oliver Crosby was educated in the Maine State College, now the University of Maine, graduating in 1876 as a mechanical engineer. He had entered college with a definite purpose to study mechanical engineering. The facilities for teaching engineering in the State University at that time were very crude. He took his kit of carpenter tools and jigsaw to the institution, arid with a friend fitted up a shop in one of the college buildings. That was the beginning of a workshop for mechanical engineers at the University of Maine.

Crosby Hall (Crosby Labs) at the University of Maine, Orono, is named for Oliver Crosby. The laboratory was constructed in 1926 with funds donated by Mr. Oliver Crosby, the inventor of the Crosby Clamp. Crosby’s dream was to establish a facility, at his alma mater, where the mechanical engineering arts could thrive. Currently, Crosby’s dream continues to flourish as Crosby Laboratory excels as both an advanced engineering research facility and a facility for providing today’s students with the skills they will need to succeed as tomorrow’s engineers.

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Sources

• 1860 US Census: Dexter, Penobscot County, ME, 22 Jun 1860, Pg. 24^[2]
• 1870 US Census: Dexter, Penobscot County, ME, 10 Jun 1870, Pg. 22^[3]
• Minnesota, Marriages Index, 1849-1950: Oliver Crosby and Elizabeth Isabel Wood, 18 May 1878, St. Paul, Ramsey County^[4]
• 1880 US Census: Saint Paul, Ramsey County, MN, 11 Jun 1880, Enumeration District 222, Pg. 28^[5]
• 1900 US Census: St. Paul, Ward 7, Ramsey County, MN, 9 Jun 1900, Enumeration District 117, Sheet 12B^[6]
• 1910 US Census: St. Paul, Ward 7, Ramsey County, MN, 29 Apr 1910, Enumeration District 94, Sheet 16B^[7]
• 1920 US Census: St. Paul, Ward 11, Ramsey County, MN, 8 Jan1920, Enumeration District 136, Sheet 13B^[8]
• Minnesota, Death Index, 1908-2017: Oliver Crosby, 8 Dec 1922, Ramsey County^[9]

See also:

• Ramsey County History; Stonebridge, the story of a Lost Estate and Oliver Crosby, the Genius Who Created It
• Forgotten Minnesota; The Gates of Stonebridge
• University of Maine; Crosby Hall History

• Add sources here.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Information from Maine history researcher Nick Dann, 30 Jun 2019.
2. ↑ Eighth Census of the United States, NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.; Roll: M653_447; Page: 24; FHL microfilm: 803447
3. ↑ Ninth Census of the United States, NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.; Roll: M593_553; Page: 425B; FHL microfilm: 552052
4. ↑ "Minnesota Marriages, 1849–1950." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010; FHL microfilm 1314549
5. ↑ Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Roll: 631; Page: 438B; Enumeration District: 222
6. ↑ Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls; Page: 12; Enumeration District: 0117; FHL microfilm: 1240784
7. ↑ Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Roll: T624_720; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 0094; FHL microfilm: 1374733
8. ↑ Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Roll: T625_855; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 136
9. ↑ Minnesota Department of Health; St Paul, Minnesota; Death Registration Date:1922, Certificate No. 023986, Record No. 365209