Ernest Howard Crosby (November 4, 1856 – January 3, 1907) was an American reformer, georgist, and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Early life

Crosby was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1856. He was the son of the Rev. Dr.

Howard Crosby Howard Crosby may refer to: * Howard Crosby (minister) Howard Crosby (27 February 1826 – 29 March 1891) was an American Presbyterian preacher, scholar and professor. He was Chancellor of New York University. Biography Crosby was born in New Yor ...

(1826-1891), a Presbyterian minister, and Margaret Evertson Givan, a descendant of the prominent Dutch Evertson family. Crosby was a relative of prolific hymn-writer and rescue mission worker

Fanny Crosby Frances Jane van Alstyne (née Crosby; March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915), more commonly known as Fanny J. Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns ...

. He was educated at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and the

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. He was a member of the Delta Phi fraternity during his time at New York University.

Career

While a member of the State Assembly (1887–1889), he introduced three high-license bills, all vetoed by the Governor

David Bennett Hill David Bennett Hill (August 29, 1843October 20, 1910) was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891 and represented New York in the United States Senate from 1892 to 1897. In 1892, he made an u ...

. From 1889 to 1894, he was judge of the Court of the First Instance at

Alexandria, Egypt Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. He became an exponent of the theories of Count Tolstoy, whom he visited before his return to America; his relations with the great

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

later ripened into intimate friendship, and he devoted himself in America largely to promulgating Tolstoy's ideas of universal peace. His book, ''Plain Talk in Psalm and Parable'' (1899), was widely commended by such writers as Björnson,

Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...

, and Zangwill. Crosby was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

and supporter of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

, authoring an essay entitled " The Meat Fetish", published in the

Humanitarian League The Humanitarian League was a British radical advocacy group formed by Henry S. Salt and others to promote the principle that it is wrong to inflict avoidable suffering on any sentient being. It was based in London and operated between 189 ...

's quarterly publication, the ''Humane Review'' in 1904; this was later published as a pamphlet. He was also president of the New York Vegetarian Society. Like the Englishman Edward Carpenter, the subject of his book ''Poet and Prophet'', Crosby's poetry (in the volume ''Swords and Plowshares'') followed the example of Whitman's free verse.

Death and burial

Crosby died of pneumonia in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

on January 3, 1907. His remains were transported to New York and he was buried in Rhinebeck, New York, where he maintained an estate.

Personal life

In 1881, Crosby married Frances (Fanny) Kendall Schieffelin, daughter of Henry Maunsell Schieffelin. Their children were Margaret Eleanor and Maunsell Schieffelin Crosby.Derby, George and White, James Terry. The National Cyclopædia of American Biography, Volume 10, 1900, page 61

Published works

* ''Captain Jinks, Hero'', illustrated by

Daniel Carter Beard Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard (June 21, 1850 – June 11, 1941) was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, Georgist and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of Am ...

, (1902) * ''Swords and Plowshares'' (1902)
''Tolstoy and His Message''
(1903; second edition, 1904) * ''Tolstoy as a Schoolmaster'' (1904) * '' Carpenter: Poet and Prophet'' (second edition, 1905) * '' Garrison, the Non-Resistant and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

'' (Chicago, 1905) * ''Broad-Cast'' (1905)
''The Meat Fetish: Two Essays on Vegetarianism''
(by Ernest Howard Crosby and Elisée Reclus, 1905) * ''Labor and Neighbor'' (1908)

Footnotes

Additional source

External links

* * * * * * *
The Soldier’s Creed
a poem by Ernest Crosby, collected in ''Liberty and the Great Libertarians'' (1913) ed. by Charles T. Sprading, p. 54. {{DEFAULTSORT:Crosby, Ernest Howard 1856 births 1907 deaths 19th-century American essayists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American poets 19th-century American politicians 19th-century jurists 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American politicians 20th-century jurists American animal rights activists American expatriates in Egypt American humanitarians American male essayists American jurists American male poets American people of Dutch descent American political writers American vegetarianism activists Burials in New York (state) Calvinist pacifists Columbia Law School alumni Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland Georgists Members of the New York State Assembly New York University alumni People from Alexandria People from Rhinebeck, New York Poets from New York (state) Politicians from New York City Tolstoyans Writers from New York City