Last time we examined the roots of the Styer family, we studied Cyrus and Harriet Brugler Styer. Their youngest son, Charles, married Emily Crossley in 1913. The Crossley genealogy is not well documented among current Styer family records to which I have access, but a providential meeting a few summers ago opened new doors to understanding this part of our heritage.
Louise (Crossley) Nogle has been picking blueberries at the Ralph Styer (Now Green Barn) Berry farm for many years. After discussions with the family, it had been discovered that her maiden name was Crossley and that she must be somehow related to the Styer’s. One summer when I was working at the farm, she lent me a 2006 hardbound Crossley genealogy by Dani Crossley entitled Speak to Me, Ezekiel. This source delves much deeper into the Crossley story than the traditional Styer family sources I have at my disposal, and the findings are a tremendous addition to our shared knowledge.
The Thomas Connection
Our story begins with the Welsh family of Evan (1660-~1710) and Margaret Thomas who were early settlers of the colony of Pennsylvania. They made their home in Bucks County, PA, where they had at least three sons, the third of which was Richard Thomas (1715-177?). Richard married Elizabeth Walton at the Abingdon Friends Meeting House in 1736. They had at least seven children, the second of which was William Thomas (b. 1737). William wed Mary Rhodes around the year 1756 and moved to Northampton County, PA. William and Mary Thomas had a daughter, Rachel, who married George Crossley sometime before 1777.
Family life for the Crossley’s and Thomas’ was complicated significantly by the brutal and divisive politics which divided the nation during the years of the American Revolution. The consequences of the divisions between Patriots and Loyalists make today’s political divisions look tame, and even the divisions of the Civil War years can seem pale in comparison to the divide between Loyalists (or Tories, as they were called) and Patriots.
This study of the Styer genealogy has turned up Revolutionary Patriots (in the form of families like the Spares, or as we are about to see, the Crossleys), Mennonite conscientious objectors (like the Styers), and even a rogue Hessian deserter-turned-Patriot (i.e. John Lutsey). In today’s post it will become clear that we have Tories in our ancestry as well- in the form of the Thomas family.
Lizard Creek, the Crossley’s, and the War Years
Just before the onset of the American Revolution, the Thomas family had moved from the Hilltown area of Bucks County to the Lizard Creek region which today in West Penn township Schuylkill County and East Penn Township Carbon County. All of the following events took place when this region was still part of Northampton County.
After the move to Lizard Creek, Rachel Thomas married George Crossley, a neighbor of likely Pennsylvania German heritage. The exact immigrant origins of the Crossley’s (or Krassel’s as early documents show them) are unclear. The two probably had no idea about the political cataclysm that was about to take place as the 13 colonies left the British Empire.
Partisan rancor in the Lizard Creek region steadily increased through the early 1770’s until It all came to a head after the defeat of Washington’s army in the 1776 campaign around New York City. As the Continental cause looked doomed and Washington’s army retreated through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, Loyalist elements began to organize a resistance movement in support of the King. Local Patriots organized and broke up a meeting of Loyalists on December 23, 1776.[1] Dani Crossley’s “Speak to Me, Ezekiel” (the Crossley genealogy included in PDF form below) makes the claim that this meeting may have included William Thomas and some of his relatives. Unfortunately for these Loyalists, a week later General Washington would lead the Continental Army in a crushing victory over Hessian soldiers at Trenton and later a British force at Princeton, ending the threat of Loyalist insurrection in the Lizard Creek region.
In the year 1778, When the British took the city of Philadelphia, William Thomas escaped there to join them and became a captain in a Loyalist unit. His brother, Joshua, also defected at some point and spent some time enlisted in the Queens’ Rangers, a famed Loyalist regiment. Both men lost everything they owned. Their land, homes, and possessions were all confiscated by the state and sold (All by a bill of attainder, which is now unconstitutional). William and Joshua Thomas were among the tens of thousands of Loyalists forced to flee the young United States to the eastern provinces of Canada after the war. The two resettled in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, respectively, as defeated and destitute men.[2]
There is a twist in this story that shines a light into the family politics of the Thomas/Crossley clan. William’s son-in-law, George Crossley (and his daughter, Rachel) acquired nearly 200 acres of William Thomas’ confiscated estate near Lizard Creek, where they lived at least until the first decade of the nineteenth century. William’s loss was to George and Rachel’s benefit; one can assume this represented a sad pattern seen across the colonies.
The details are somewhat hazy, but according to Dani Crossley, it appears that George and Rachel (Thomas) Crossley had the following children:
- Reuben (1777-1837); moved to Vigo County, Indiana and married Anna ?
- James (1779-1830); lived around Danville, married Christianna Sidler, and is buried at Columbia Hill.
- George (1784-1860); moved to Hancock, Ohio and married Mariah Mary Mahan
- Joseph (1787-1863) married Catherine Heimbach and is buried at Straub’s Lutheran.
- Daughter 1 (b. before 1790)
- Daughter 2 (b. before 1790)
- John (d. 1843) moved to Hamilton County, Indiana and married Maria Moser.
- Jacob (b. 1794)
- Daughter 3 (born before 1800)
- Daughter 4 (born before 1800)
- Ezekiel (before 1800-before 1880)
As a matter of interest: family sources are conflicting as to the immigrant origins of the Crossley branch of the family. One source I have claims the Crossley’s were English, but examination of records show that the name originally may have been something like Krassel. This, combined with the fact that many are buried at Lutheran cemeteries, points to Pennsylvania German origins of the family.
Next time on Styer Stories we will discuss the Crossley family in Columbia and Montour County, specifically the family of Joseph and Catherine (Heimbach) Crossley.
Source: Speak to Me, Ezekiel! The Crossley’s of Columbia and Montour Counties by Dani Crossley, 2006.
[1] Bodle, Wayne, Valley Forge Winter, 2010, Penn State Press, Page 19.
[2] According to colonial records, both men were entirely without money in the years after the war.
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