John Crosse (1602 - 1686)

Born 1602 in London, England

Husband of Margaret (Wright) Crosse — married 25 Feb 1622 in St Dunstan in the East, London, England

Husband of Mary (Fisher) Cross — married 19 Sep 1678 in Southwark, London, England

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Harold Cross [send private message]

Biography

John was born in 1602. He passed away in 1686.

Migration: 1635, Barbados, West Indies.

On 20 Feb 1662, he resided in London, Middlesex, England where he was involved in the following lawsuit.

"20 February 1661/2. John Oldbury of London, merchant, age 24, deposes at the request of John Cross of London, merchant, that he witnessed a deed whereby Joshua Conant of Salem, New England, merchant, bound himself on 5 November 1658 to John Cross; the sum to be paid either by 5 August following or on the return of the Dolphin. Captain John Sealy, to London."

This is likely the John Crosse who is listed as an immigrant to SC in 1670. Sylvester Crosse and Matthew Crosse also appear on SC immigration records in 1670.

John Crosse signed a will on 23 Mar 1685 in Charleston, Charleston Co., SC. "WILL OF JOHN CROSSE Greetings/ In ye Name of God, Amen I John Crofse of ye province of Carolina abovesd Cordwainer Intending by Gods afquisition for a Voyage to Sea & not knowing how ye Lord may deal with me in this Present Voyage Do Make this my Last Will & Testmnt in Manner & form following --------- Imprimis First & Principally I Give my Soul to God my Saviour in an afsurance of rest & Peace wth almighty God & my Body to ye Earth to be Disposed of as the Lord shall think fitt--------- Item, As to my Estate I am now Pofsefsed of in ye Province of Carolina both real and Personal goods & Chattels wtfever. I Give & Bequeath ye Same unto my Loveing Wife Mary Crofse to be enjoyed by her Dureing her Life after her Death to be Disposed of as she shall order & appoint------ Item, I Will give & bequeath unto my Loveing Son in Law William Bayly my now Dwelling House wth one half of ye Ott therounto belonging & Situated in Charles Towne in ye Province of Carolina to be Enjoyed by Him & his Heirs for Ever (after ye Decease my Said Loveing Wife)--------------- Lastly I will, order, Nominate & appoint my Said Loveing Wife Mary Crofse my true & only Executrix of this my Last Will & Testamt. & Do hereby Declare this to be my last In Testimony whereof I have unto the My Will Set my hand & Seal ye twenty third day of March Anno Domini 1685/6---------- John Crofse --- (seal) Sealed, signed, Published & Declared in ye Prefence of --- Jacob: Wright John Gwin Recorded March ye fifth Anne 1699/700 Jno Shelton Henry Wigington Dp. Secrety Recorded in Original Will Book 1687-1710 Recorded on Page 1"

Research Notes

I assume that this is the same John Crosse because of several pieces of circumstantial evidence. His will was witnessed by Jacob Wright who I assume was a relative of his first wife Margaret Wright.

The John Gwin who witnessed the will could be related to the John Gwin of James City Co., VA. He was a merchant who left a will dated 6 Jul 1682 and proved 25 November 1684.

The reference to the ship 'Dolphin' in his lawsuit seems to establish that John Cross the London merchant is probably related to Silvester Crosse who left a will in Charleston, SC dated 20 Aug 1684 in which he states that he is the sole owner of the ship 'Dolphin'. It seems likely that John Cross had a financial interest in the ship in 1662 and was trying to collect shipping fees to New England. Both John and Silvester Cross immigrated to South Carolina in 1670. There is also an indirect connection between John's second wife Mary Crosse and the sloop 'Dolphin'. Mary's will (dated 28 Aug 1698) was witnessed by Jonathan Amory. This appears to be the same Jonathan Amory who was an attorney for Richard Newton who wrote a will 9 Sep 1692 in which the sloop 'Dolphin' was mentioned. William Day (Dry) was listed as the Master of the Dolphin. This is very likely the same William Dry who was part owner of the sloop “Samewell”, a ship of 40 tons burden of Ashley River in Carolina, on 18 Feb. 1697/8. The other owners of the “Samewell” were William Pople and Mrs. Mary Basden, widow. This is obviously the widow of Captain Charles Basden who died in 1698 in Charleston. Mary Basden was the step-daughter of John Cross.

Research Notes on the Croft (Crosse) families Of Virginia and South Carolina

Before leaving on a sea voyage, John Crosse of Charleston, SC, wrote a will in 1685. He left most of his estate to his wife Mary Crosse and his son-in-law William Bailey. His widow Mary Crosse was apparently very wealthy when she wrote her will in 1698. She owned several lots adjacent to the marketplace in Charleston and a Warf among numerous other possessions including land in Bermuda. She received some of the first lots awarded in Charlestown. Apparently one of the lots was on the waterfront and included a Warf. One of the lots (Lot# 15) adjacent to one of the lots that Mary Crosse owned was later owned by in 1716 by Edward Croft (likely the merchant son of Capt. John Croft). (A.S. Salley, Jr., ed, Warrants for Lands in South Carolina 1672-1711 (Columbia, S.C., Univ. of South Carolina Press, (unknown date)), and Clara A. Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772 South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772 (Publisher Unknown). Childermas Croft, another son of Capt. John Croft, witnessed numerous documents in Charleston, SC for the widow Mary Crosse (Clara A. Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772 (Publisher Unknown)). One of the witnesses to the will of John Crosse of Charles Town, SC was John Gwin. He is likely related to the John Gwin who left a will dated Nov 25, 1684 in James City, Virginia. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Index of Will Registers, 1384-1858). Note that James City, VA is near Lancaster, VA where a John Croft lived. I think John Croft was most likely the son of John Crosse who wrote the will in Charleston, SC.

“Died, John Crofts, Merchant of London, July 23, 1709.” (William and Mary College Quarterly. Series 1, 5:181). This John Croft of Lancaster, VA had a daughter, Susannah who was the first wife of Sir William Cole. They were married prior to 1674 according to Encyclopedia Virginia (https://encyclopediavirginia.org). Sir William Cole was a wealthy landowner in Warwick, VA and a member of the governor’s Council and served as secretary of the Virginia Colony. He also served as customs collector in the late 1680’s until 1692 which was apparently a very lucrative position. He was named in the charter for the College of William and Mary and was a founding trustee. He had a daughter Susannah with his first wife who married Dudley Digges who was also a member of the Virginia Council. After Sir William Cole’s first wife died, he married Ann Digges, the sister of Dudley Diggs and daughter of Edward Digges, the Governor of the Virginia in 1655 and 1656.

John Crofts, the merchant of London and Lancaster, VA, had a son Capt. John Croft (Cross) who married Catherine, the youngest daughter of John Childermas. She married Capt. John Croft immediately following her father’s death in 1697 in Jamaica (Gerald Elvey and Lewis Kirby, The Wigg family (n.p., 1989)). This is highly likely the Capt. John Cross who was Captain of a sloop in Jamaica in 1698 charged with capturing pirates. (J. W. Fortescue, editor, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies, 15 May 1696 - 31 Oct 1697 (London, England: Mackie and Co., LD, 1904)). In another record he is listed as Capt. John Croft the father-in-law of Richard Wigg who wrote a will in South Carolina in 1727. The S.C. Historical Society Magazine (vol. 74, p. 81) in an article about the Wigg family states that Capt. John Croft had been in Virginia before he came to South Carolina, and that Katherine Childermas, wife of John Croft was the daughter of John Childermas who died in Jamaica in 1697 leaving a large estate. In 1717 John Croft of Charleston, SC gave power of attorney to his wife Katherine, to administer the estate of James Burtell on behalf of his two children, Childermas and Abraham Croft. In the William and Mary Quarterly Virginia Pedigree of Digges, Vol 1, 1893, there is the following statement “James Burtell of Elizabeth City Co. left his property in 1716 to Edward, John, Childermas and Abraham, sons of Madam Katherine Croft.” The will mentions that Childermas was the third son and Abraham was the youngest son of Katherine (Childermas) Croft. Perhaps James Bartell was married to another daughter of Capt. John Croft, but this is not yet confirmed. The will of Hill Croft establishes him as the fifth known son of Capt. John Croft. John witnessed a legal paper on November 3, 1714 in SC. In 1717 he was granted 300 acres of land in Granville County, SC. Captain John Croft was an Assistant Judge and member of a Commission to try pirates in 1719 in South Carolina. He died Jul 19, 1736.

Childermas Croft, son of Captain Croft and Katherine was Commissioner of Indian Affairs in South Carolina. Another son, Edward, was a prosperous merchant in Charleston.

Hill Croft, son of Capt. John Croft, left a will in 1731 in SC. (Caroline T. Moore and Agatha Aimar Simmons, comp, Abstracts of the Wills of the State of South Carolina 1670 - 1740 (Columbia, SC: R. L. Bryan Co., 1960)). He owned land in Jamaica left to him by his aunt, Sarah Austine, the daughter of John Childermas. He states that his father was John Croft, and mentions his brother Edward Croft, a Charleston merchant. He had a son John, under 21. He named John Laurens, a Charleston saddler, guardian for his son and named John Lauren’s two daughters as heirs in his will. Perhaps John Lauren was his son-in-law.

Abraham Croft the youngest son of Capt. John Croft married Anna Maria Marston 23 Jul 1731 in St. Phillips Par, Charleston, SC. (IGI). As mentioned above he inherited a Warf from James Burtell of Elizabeth City Co., VA in 1731.

Edward Croft, who was also called Capt. Edward Croft was first married to Susannah. He had two sons and a daughter by her." He owned land on 8 Aug 1717 in Beaufort, SC. (A. S. Salley Jr., editor, The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume 1 (Charleston, SC: The Walker, Evans & Cogswell Co., 1900), Vol. 8.: 152 and 217.) He worked as an appraiser for the first Insurance Company in the Colonies in Jan 1736 in Charleston, SC. He may have been the Edward Cross who owned land in Dinwiddie Co., VA before 10 Nov 1764. "Dinwiddie County, Virginia Data 1752-1865" compiled by Thomas P. Hughes Jr. and self-published in 1975 in Memphis, TN). Several sources state that Edward Cross was a Collector at the Port of Yorktown. I believe the data strongly supports that this Edward Croft is the Edward Cross, the revenue collector, cited in numerous secondary sources.

Judge Edward Cross b. 11 Nov 1798 was the grandson of Edward Cross, of Yorktown (Hallum’s History of Arkansas, p. 119: 1887. Hallum states that Edward of Yorktown was a disabled civil servant for the American Colonies. Octavia Zollicoffer Bond in her book, The Family Chronicle and Kinship Book, 1928, McDaniel Printing Co., Nashville TN, cites a handwritten history on the back of a Bible owned by the Judge’s grandson that supports the ancestry given in Hallum’s History of Arkansas. Octavia states that Edward Cross was Collector at the Port of Yorktown in 1783 and had four sons named Robert, William, Edward Jr. and (John?) and three daughters. She states that Edward of Yorktown was incapacitated and too old for military service but that his son Robert Cross, father of Judge Edward Cross, served in the Revolutionary War. Judge Edward Cross was appointed a federal judge for the Territory of Arkansas on May 26, 1830. He was later elected the United States Congress from Arkansas between 1839 and 1845. He served as a justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1845 to 1855. He served as President of the Cairo & Fulton Railway from 1855 to 1862. In 1874 he was appointed Attorney General of Arkansas. (Wikipedia).

I have copies of handwritten wills that John Crosse and his widow Mary Crosse wrote in Charleston, SC in 1685 and 1698, respectively. In the handwriting of that period, it is extremely easy to confuse “Crosse” and “Croft” due to the symbol that was used when “ss” occurred in a word. That symbol resembles a script “f”. Some Crosse researchers have referred to an “old style “spelling of Crosse. I do not know if some members of this branch of the Crosse family adopted “Croft” as their surname or if this is a confused reading the hand-written records. It seems very improbable that there was a Capt. John “Cross” in Jamaica at the same time that Capt. John “Croft” married Katherine Childermas. What is the probability that Edward Cross was collector for the Port of Yorktown while an Edward Croft was collector?

John was a Friend (Quaker)

On 19 September 1678, at Horslydown, Southwark, Surrey (which came under Southwark Monthly Meeting), John married Mary Fisher, widow of William Bayly. He is described in the Quaker marriage record as a London cordwainer.^[1][2][3] In 1682 they emigrated to North America.^[1]

John passed away about 1687.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Fisher [married names Bayly, Cross], Mary', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
2. ↑ England & Wales, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Marriages 1578-1841, LONDON AND MIDDLESEX: Quarterly Meeting of London and Middlesex: Marriages, RG6/1437, FindMyPast and accompanying image
3. ↑ England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers, 1578-1837, RG6, Piece 1270: Monthly Meeting of Southwark: Union of Southwark and [St John] Horsleydown (1666-1733), Ancestry.co.uk and accompanying image

• A.S. Salley, Jr., ed, Warrants for Lands in South Carolina 1672-1711 (Columbia, S.C., Univ. of South Carolina Press, (unknown date)).

• Robert William Croft, A Southern Legacy: the house of Croft (N.p.: n.p., 1981).

• Peter Wilson Coldham, comp, Lord Mayor's Court of London Depositions Relating to Americans 1661 - 1736 (Washington, DC: National Genealogical Society, 1980).

• John Crosse, Testator Will Book 1687-1710: 1

• Elizabeth Merritt , ed, Archives of Maryland: Proceedings of the Provincial Court of Maryland, 1670/1-1675 (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1952).I

• Ira Brown Cross, Some Genealogical Data concerning the Cross, Bradford, Clammons, Havley, Mobley, Hessey, Dillman, and Rhorer Families (Edwards Brothers, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, 1932).

• Anne Long, Cross Collections, #15 (Anne Long, Rt. 2, Box 671, Grangeville, ID 83530-9635).

• International Genealogical Index of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/255304171/john-crosse: accessed 21 October 2023), memorial page for John Crosse (unknown–1687), Find a Grave Memorial ID 255304171, citing Quaker Churchyard, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA; Maintained by Deborah Stackley (contributor 47375056).
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Fisher [married names Bayly, Cross], Mary', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries