Croshaw History

 

This unusual and interesting name is locational of English origin from a place called Crawshaw Booth in Lancashire, so called from the Olde English pre 7th Century "crawa", meaning crow, and "sceaga" a grove, thicket. The variants in the modern idiom include Crashaw, Crawshay, Crowshaw, Crowsher. During the Middle Ages it became more common for people to migrate from the village often they adopted their placename as a means of identification. In Whalley, Lancashire on the 8th May 1636 one John Crawshaw married Ann Orineroode. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Crouschagh, which was dated 1308, in the "Wakfield Manor Court Rolls", York, during the reign of King Edward 11, known as "Edward of Caernafon", 1307 - 1327. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

 

Life History of Charles Croshaw

Brother of Thomas Croshaw

This history contains the life of Charles Croshaw, the brother of Thomas Croshaw. Though Thomas is not the exact subject of this sketch, he and his wife Louisa are mentioned various times throughout this history and therefore may be of great worth to his descendants. Charles Croshaw, son of James Avery Croshaw and Mary King was born 22 August 1839 in Bedworth Warwickshire, England.

When Charles was nine years old his father died. When he was eleven years old he went to work in the coal mines in Warwickshire to help support the family of eight. When he was eighteen to twenty years old he went to work for a large construction company at Barrion Furnace.

In the spring of 1860 Charles heard for the first time the gospel, as told by the Latter-Day Saints from a man whom he knew as John Lloyd (presumed to be the uncle of Louise Lloyd, who later married Thomas Croshaw.) He was baptized 6 August 1868. During this time, Charles began keeping company with Hannah Atkins, a beautiful young lady with deep set eyes and long, black, shiny hair. She was the daughter of John Atkins and Elizabeth Vale. Hannah left home to seek employment upon the death of her mother. She found work at Hansley Hall, a part of the Kings Palace as the chief cook. She worked there for three years.

Charles and Hannah were married on December 20, 1868 and began housekeeping in Barrion Furnace. Hannah was not receptive to the gospel but Charles knew that he had heard the Gospel in its plainness and rather than give up what he knew to be true, it was decided that they should separate.

The night before the separation was to take place, Hannah said that she had met father in a dream. He told her that what her husband had done was the right thing and that the gospel was true. On the day they were to separate things were changed completely, and they began to make arrangement to come to the United States. They set sail about August 1869 and arrived in New York early September 1869. About two weeks later their first child, Mary Elizabeth was born in Williamsburg, New York. Charles’ brother Thomas traveled with them from England, but did not remain in New York. Rather, he came to Utah and spent time working on the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City.

 [The steam ship, Minnesota, departed Liverpool England 25 August 1869. Arrived New York 6 Sept 1869. Traveling were Charles Croshaw, Spouse, Hannah Croshaw, and younger brother of Charles, Thomas Croshaw. The ship was a steam powered vessel thus enabling the trip to be made in about 2 weeks instead of 6-8 weeks by sail ship.]
 

Charles was unable to obtain employment in New York, so he went to Pennsylvania to work in the coal mines. Hannah joined him there later. She was baptized on 1 January 1870 in the icy Pennsylvania River. She supported her husband in every way and she herself served in many positions in the LDS church.

Early in the fall of 1870 they traveled by train to Ogden, Utah. Andrew Shumway, who became a close friend, led them to Mendon, Utah. Their first home was a dugout in the side of a hill. Here, their second daughter Louisa was born on 14 October 1870.

To help Hannah while she was confined, Louisa Lloyd, daughter of John Lloyd came to live with them. While here, she met Charles’ brother, Thomas Croshaw. They were married in the LDS Endowment House about 1872, and moved into the dugout with Charles and Hannah.

John Loyd (Father of Louisa)

Louisa Loyd Croshaw

Thomas Croshaw (husband of Louisa)

    

In the spring of 1872, Hannah gave birth to a son, Charles Edward. Two years later another son, John James joined the family. They were born in a log cabin with a dirt floor.

About the time, Charles homesteaded 160 acres of land south of Oxford Idaho and built a log house 16 feet by 20 feet where they lived until a new home was built in 1881.

In the years 1876 and 1877, Charles made two freight trips with ox teams and wagons from Corinne, Utah to the mines in Butte, Montana. On his return trip home in the early winter of 1877 Charles encountered temperatures of 60 degrees below zero and nearly froze to death, but returned home safely.

In 1878, Charles and Thomas decided to go into the sawmill business. That summer they built roads into Cottonwood Valley and set up two mills, a shingle mill and lumber mill. The building of the road into Cottonwood Valley was a very hard task. After crossing the main ridge of the mountain, they had a three mile dug way known as Croshaw’s Dug Way. All traffic traveled this road. Later, a road was cut through the “narrows” which eliminated the trip over the hill.

Charles Croshaw

They began operation of the shingle mill first. In order to operate the lumber mill, a mill race was built out of the Cottonwood Creek and ran it about a quarter-of-a-mile where they had a drop sufficient to run a turbine that outdated the water-powered shingle mill. When they began to operate the mills thousands of board feet of lumber were sawed. This was hauled to northern Utah and southern Idaho. Many barns and buildings in those areas got their lumber and shingles from these mills.

Charles’ brother, Benjamin, had come from England with his wife and eight children to help run the mills. They lived with Charles and family in the 16 x 20 home. During this time, Jim Grant, from Virginia ,and Claude Hamilton, both with saw mill experience came to run the mills. These mills operated full blast for seven months of the year, but the winters were too severe for logging or milling.

In the fall of 1881 the mills were sold to a company by the name of Fielding and Ferguson. Thinking that all men were honest, no papers were signed and no money advanced. They turned over the mills, but no money was ever received. They found themselves in debt for the mills, and in order to satisfy their creditors, Charles sold a part of his farm and Thomas sold his place and moved to Grouse Creek, west of Oxford, Idaho.

On December 4, 1880 Hannah gave birth to a daughter, Annie Vale. She died in 1883. Charles Croshaw served faithfully in many church positions and his contribution to Oxford, Idaho were the planting of the tall poplar trees that surrounded each block and added shade and beauty to the town. He was a truck gardener and hauled his produce and fruit as far north as Pocatello and as far south as Logan, Utah, selling it as he went. He was an agent for the Deseret News for 27 years. He also, with his son-in-law Lionel Farrell introduced dry farming in that area. He reported to the Deseret News that his sons raised 3,000 bushels of grain on land that had grown nothing but sagebrush.


Hannah Croshaw died in 1912. Charles remained in Oxford and continued his work until his death in 1917. Thomas and Benjamin eventually moved to Pocatello, Idaho where they established homes and raised their families.

(Edited by K.C. Colaianni, July, 2016 from https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/6472547)