Crosswell Family
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General | My Crosswell Ancestors

General Information 

• The earlier generations of Crosswells tended to prefer the single S version of the name, and the name was often spelled "Croswell."
• South Carolinians pronounce the name: "Croz' wuhl" with the accent on the first syllable.
• Crosswells in my database  This will bring you to the index page of my RootsWeb database.  Just click on a name of interest.
• Crosswell census listings and notes (Adobe Acrobat/PDF file, mostly my research notes)

Harriet Elizabeth "Hattie" Crosswell
(wife of Thomas Baskin)

  
Harriet Crosswell
(c1858-1898)
(with her son John Sewanee Baskin)

• Harriet Elizabeth "Hattie" Crosswell is my great grandmother.  (PDF ancestor chart | GIF)
• From various census listings (1860, age 2; 1870, age 12; 1880, age 21 ) we know that Harriet was born near Bishopville, in what was then Sumter County, SC around 1858, to John J. Crosswell and his first wife, Martha J. Mixon Crosswell.  I have not yet been able to document a specific birth date for Hattie.
  • Note that in the 1880 census enumeration below, the head of household is "Martha S. Crosswell."  This is Hattie's stepmother, and her father's second wife, Martha S. Alexander.
  • Before marrying John J. Crosswell, Hattie's stepmother had been married two previous times: to Daniel McLean and Ephraim J. Fields.  That's why John A. McLean is enumerated as "son" rather than "stepson" in the 1880 census.
  • Martha S Alexander Crosswell (Hattie's stepmother) had three sons with John J. Crosswell: Hartwell Gilbert, Robert L., and J. Layton/Leighton.
  • For more information on Hattie's stepmother, see her will.
• Hattie married Thomas on December 19th, 1883 at her brother James' home in Bishopville, SC; by the Rev. N. K. Melton. They were married shortly after the death of his first wife, Maria Francis Peebles.
• Her only son, John Stuckey Bradley Baskin was born on Oct. 13, 1884.
• We have recently learned that Hattie was committed to the SC Hospital for the Insane in Columbia, on the January 26, 1898.  After attending a "Holiness Meeting" in Bishopville, Hattie began to feel that the devil was in her house.  She tried to remove her husband, Thomas from the house, destroyed her clothing.  She was committed by her half-brother, Hartwell Gilbert Croswell.
  • Commitment Papers: -1-, -2-, -3-, -4-, -5-
• After commitment, her condition worsened.  Her son, John (aged 14) came for a visit, and she did not recognize him (see #5 above).
• According to hospital records, she died on Feb. 7, 1898 due to "exhaustion from acute melancholia mania."
• For 117 years after her death, Hattie was buried at Piedmont Cemetery in an unmarked grave, just to the left of her husband, Thomas Baskin.  We learned the location of her burial through a hand-written note (probably by Dr. Eldridge Baskin) showing the Baskin burial plots in Piedmont.  This paper also shows that Thomas Baskin's third wife, Fanny S or Fanny Burns Baskin, is buried to Thomas' right (also in an unmarked grave).  Hattie's descendants erected and dedicated a memorial gravestone at the cemetery during a family reunion on June 14th, 2015.

 

John J. Crosswell

John J. Crosswell (father of Hattie, and my second great grandfather), was born about 1815 in Sumter District of South Carolina.  He was son of James and Argent Kennedy Crosswell.

John's marriages to two different women with the first name of Martha caused quite a bit of confusion until we finally figured things out.  John's "first Martha" was Martha Jane Mixon (1826 - after 1883) to whom he was married on March 25th, 1845.  John and this Martha had eight children (including my great grandmother, Hattie):

1. James E. Garfield Crosswell b: 30 Nov 1846 in Bishopville, Sumter Co., SC d: 1920 in Pageland, Chesterfield, South Carolina
   1. +Henrietta DuPree Alexander b: 16 Jul 1850 in Bishopville, Sumter, SC d: 06 Aug 1897 in Lee Co., SC
   2. +Mattie J. ??? b: Aug 1871 in SC
2. Ladson M. Crosswell, Jr. b: 29 Sep 1849 in Bishopville, Sumter Co., SC d: 24 Oct 1923 in Lee Co., SC
   1. +Sarah Jane Reynolds b: 01 Oct 1854 in Lydia, Darlington,SC d: 05 Feb 1930 in Lee Co., SC
3. Lillis C. Crosswell b: 10 Jun 1854 in Bishopville, Sumter Co., SC d: 26 Jul 1933
4. Octavia Crosswell b: Bet. Aug 1856 - Aug 1859 in Bishopville, Sumter Co., SC
   1. +James Baskin Bennett b: Jan 1854 in Lancaster Co., SC
5.  Harriet Elizabeth Crosswell b: Abt. 1858 in Bishopville, Sumter Co., SC d: 07 Feb 1898 in SC Hospital for the Insane, Columbia, Richland, SC
   1. +Thomas Baskin b: 01 Nov 1822 in Lancaster, South Carolina d: 08 Aug 1900 in Bishopville, Sumter, SC
6. Ida Crosswell b: Abt. 1860 in Bishopville, Sumter Co., SC
7. Leeta Crosswell b: 1862 in Bishopville, Sumter Co., SC
8. Martha Jane Crosswell b: 23 May 1864 in Bishopville, Sumter Co., SC d: 26 Jan 1918 in Bishopville, Lee, SC
   1. +Charles Mitchell Alexander b: 12 Nov 1860 in Spring Hill, Darlington, SC d: 26 Sep 1905 in Bishopville, Lee, SC

John's second wife was Martha S. Alexander (b: 19 Dec 1833 in Sumter Co., SC d: 16 May 1907 in Lee Co. SC).  They had three children:

1. Hartwell Gilbert Crosswell b: 16 Mar 1867 in Bishopville, Sumter, SC d: 12 Sep 1921 in SC
   1. +Martha "Mattie" Craig ? b: 03 Sep 1869 in SC d: 27 Jun 1958 in SC
2. Robert L. Crosswell b: Jun 1870 in Bishopville, Sumter, SC d: 24 May 1920 in Florence Co., SC
   1. +Marguerite Alexander b: Abt. 1875 in SC
3. J. Layton Crosswell b: Abt. 1874 in Bishopville, Sumter, SC

Census Details

• Note that between the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census listings everyone's age advances by the appropriate 10-year span... all except for Martha S. in the 1870 census.

  • This is because John has now married his second Martha.  This time, it's Martha S. Alexander.

  • The kicker is the 1880 census, which finally allows us to sort out the relationships"

    • Explanation:
      •  The "Martha Crosswell" listed on this page is the former Martha S. Alexander, second wife of John J. Crosswell. Hartwell, Robert and Layton are children of this, his second marriage.
      • Notice that Hattie, Ida, Luta, and Martha are listed as Step Daughters. That's because their mother was Martha Mixon (John J. Crosswell's first wife).
      • Finally, John McClean is listed as Martha Alexander Crosswell's son. That is through her first husband, Daniel McClean. Martha was married three times: to John McClean, Ephraim Fields, and finally John Crosswell.

From his probate records, we know that John J. Crosswell died on March 4th, 1875.  We have not yet found his burial location.

Other documents, records and questions

• Will of Martha S. Alexander Crosswell (2nd wife of John J. Crosswell)
• Need to find land records to nail down the exact locations where John and family were living, this will help us find his gravestone (assuming one exists).

 

Gilbert Croswell
b. 1740-1750 -- d. bef Aug 1810

Gilbert Croswell is my 4th great grandfather and the earliest known Crosswell ancestor.

•   RootsWeb Descendancy Report