Joseph Halsey Crane (August 31, 1782 – November 13, 1851) was an attorney,

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

, and

legislator A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

. He was born in

Elizabethtown, New Jersey Elizabeth Township, also called Elizabethtown, was a township that existed in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, from 1664 until 1855. The area was initially part of the Elizabethtown Tract, purchased from the Lenape on October 28, 166 ...

He was the son of General Wiliam Crane and Abigail (Miller) Crane and the grandson of

Stephen Crane Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism an ...

, member of the

First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...

, his brother was Colonel Ichabod B. Crane. Joseph Crane was a student at

Princeton College Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

. He studied law with Governor

Aaron Ogden Aaron Ogden (December 3, 1756April 19, 1839) was an American soldier, lawyer, United States Senator and the fifth governor of New Jersey. Ogden is perhaps best known today as the complainant in ''Gibbons v. Ogden'' which destroyed the monopoly p ...

and was admitted to the bar of New Jersey in 1802 and practiced there briefly. He went to

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

in 1804 and became the first attorney to practice in there. Crane took on

Daniel C. Cooper Daniel C. Cooper (November 21, 1773 — July 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, farmer, miller and political leader. Biography He was born in the Passaic Valley at Long Hill, Morris County, New Jersey, the son of wealthy farmer Georg ...

as a client. In 1809, Joseph Halsey Crane married Julia Ann Elliott, the daughter of one of Dayton’s first doctors, Dr. John Elliott, who was a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during the Revolution and had been at

Vincennes, Indiana Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the Southwestern Indiana, southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville, Indi ...

with General "Mad Anthony" Wayne and General Arthur St. Clair. Joseph and Julia had a large family, but most of the children, like Ann (died February 22, 1812, aged 18 months), died young. Two sons, William Elliott Crane and Joseph Graham Crane, followed their father into the legal profession. His son Joseph,

brevetted In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

a major in the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

for his participation in the

Second Battle of Bull Run The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate ...

, later became mayor of

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

during the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

in the south. He was stabbed to death by a former colonel in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

named

Edward M. Yerger Edward M. Yerger (1828 – April 22, 1875) was an American newspaper editor and military officer. After a career in the newspaper industry, Yerger was arrested for the stabbing death of the provisional mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. His claim of ...

. He was elected a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

in 1809. During the session in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, he authored the Practice Act – modeled after the practice of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

– under which legal proceedings in Ohio were regulated until the adoption of the revised

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

of 1851. Joseph Crane served in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

as a private, Fifth Brigade, First Division of the Ohio Militia. His brother

Ichabod Crane Ichabod Crane is a fictional character and the protagonist in Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Crane is portrayed, in the original work, as well as in most adaptations, as a tall, lanky individual with a scarecro ...

served as a captain in the United States Army during the war. He was Montgomery County recorder in 1813 and prosecuting attorney of the county from 1813 to 1816. In 1814, he was on the Board of Directors of Dayton's first bank, the Dayton Manufacturing Company. In 1819, he was a Trustee at the founding of the Dayton Academy. Joseph Halsey Crane was elected President Judge of the Ohio First Circuit Court of Common Pleas in 1817 serving two terms until he resigned in 1829 to take his seat in Congress. He was elected in 1828 as an

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

from

Ohio's 3rd congressional district Ohio's 3rd congressional district is located entirely in Franklin County and includes most of the city of Columbus. The current district lines were drawn in 2011, following the redistricting based on the 2010 census. It is currently represent ...

to the Twenty-first Congress. He was subsequently elected to three more terms, serving until 1837. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1836.A Princeton Companion, by Alexander Leitch, Princeton University Press (1978). Joseph H. Crane returned to Dayton after his congressional service and resumed the practice of law. For several years from 1831, he was in partnership with

Robert C. Schenck Robert Cumming Schenck (October 4, 1809 – March 23, 1890) was a Union Army general in the American Civil War, and American diplomatic representative to Brazil and the United Kingdom. He was at both battles of Bull Run and took part in Jack ...

. When

Clement Vallandigham Clement Laird Vallandigham ( ; July 29, 1820 – June 17, 1871) was an American politician and leader of the Copperhead faction of anti-war Democrats during the American Civil War. He served two terms for Ohio's 3rd congressional district in the ...

came to Dayton in 1847 and became actively engaged in the practice of law a few years later, he often availed himself of the superior facilities afforded by Judge Crane's extensive law library in preparation of his cases. Judge Crane mentored and encouraged the aspiring young attorney and a warm personal friendship developed between them that was never broken. Joseph Halsey Crane died in Dayton, aged 69, and was interred in

Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum (200 acres), located at 118 Woodland Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, is one of the oldest garden cemeteries in the United States. Woodland was incorporated in 1842 by John Whitten Van Cleve, the first male child born in D ...

References

Sources

* History of Union County, New Jersey from 1664 to 1923. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1923, 1234 pgs. * History of Dayton, Ohio. Dayton, Ohio: United Brethren Publishing House, 1889, 753 pgs. * Edgar, John F Pioneer life in Dayton and vicinity from 1796 to 1840. Dayton, Ohio: W.J. Shuey, United Brethren Publishing House, 1896, 307 pgs. * Gilkey, Elliot Howard. The Ohio hundred year book : a hand-book of the public men and public institutions of Ohio, from the formation of the North-west Territory (1787) to July 1, 1901. Columbus: F.J. Heer, state printer, 1901, 779 pgs. * Hover, Barnes, Jones, Conover, Wright, Leiter, Bradfords, Culkins, eds. Memoirs of the Miami Valley, 3 vols, Chicago: Robert O. Law Company, 1919. {{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Joseph Halsey 1782 births 1851 deaths Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio state court judges Princeton University alumni Politicians from Dayton, Ohio Politicians from Elizabeth, New Jersey Burials at Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges Crane family of New Jersey