Uriel Crocker (September 12, 1796 – July 19, 1887) was a public-spirited

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

citizen, head of the

Crocker & Brewster Crocker & Brewster (1818–1876) was a leading publishing house in Boston, Massachusetts, during its 58-year existence. The business was located at today's 173–175 Washington Street for nearly half a century; in 1864 it moved to the adjoining ...

publishing house during its 58-year existence (1818-1876), and actively involved in other enterprises including railroads. Crocker was born in

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends ...

, as one of eight children of the elder Uriel Crocker and his second wife, Mary James. He graduated from the academy at Marblehead in August 1811, as first scholar. In the next month, on the day after he turned fifteen years old, Crocker began work in Boston as an apprentice in the printing-office of Samuel Turell Armstrong (afterwards mayor of Boston and acting governor of the Commonwealth), who also carried on a bookselling business. At age 19 Crocker was made foreman of the printing-office, and at 22 was, with his fellow-apprentice Osmyn Brewster taken into partnership with Armstrong. The agreement was that the bookstore was to be conducted in the name of Mr. Armstrong, and the printing-office in that of Crocker & Brewster. After 1825 the entire business was carried on under the name of Crocker & Brewster (although Mr. Armstrong continued a member of the firm until 1840). The printing-office was then in Mr. Crocker's especial charge and the bookstore in that of Mr. Brewster. (For a subsequent history of the firm, see

.) In 1829 Crocker married Sarah Kidder Haskell. Their children were Uriel Haskell Crocker, Sarah Haskell Crocker, and George Glover Crocker. Mrs. Crocker died January 16, 1856, at the age of fifty years. In 1866,

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

conferred upon him an honorary degree of A. M. He died at his summer residence in Cohasset on July 19, 1887.

Other business activities

In later years, Crocker became heavily involved with railway companies. He was one of the organizers of the

Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, ...

Company and a director. He was also a director of the Northern (N.H.) Railroad Company, the Concord Railroad, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad (where he was vice-president from 1870 to 1873, and president 1874), the South Pacific Railroad, and the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad. Crocker was also president and director of the Proprietors of the Revere House; of the United States Hotel Company; of the South Cove Corporation; of the South Bay Improvement Company; and of the Tremont Nail Company. He was also one of the original corporators of the

Franklin Savings Bank Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral div ...

Charitable activities

Crocker was a leader in the movement for building the

Bunker Hill Monument The Bunker Hill Monument is a monument erected at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Massachusetts, which was among the first major battles between the Red Coats and Patriots in the American Revolutionary War. The 221-foot (67 m) gran ...

and raised $40,000 for the fund. He was director of the Monument Association from 1833 till 1869, and vice-president from 1869 till his death, declining to accept the position of president. In addition, he held leadership roles in the

Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association (est.1795) of Boston, Massachusetts, was "formed for the sole purposes of promoting the mechanic arts and extending the practice of benevolence." Founders included Paul Revere, Jonathan Hunnewell, ...

, the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society, the Massachusetts Charitable Society, the Board of Managers of the

Boston Dispensary The Boston Dispensary (est.1796) or Boston Medical Dispensary provided for "medical relief of the poor" in Boston, Massachusetts, from the late 18th century through the mid-20th century. It was one of the first hospitals in the United States. In t ...

, the

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

, the Old South Society, the Boston House of Correction, the Boston Lying-In Hospital, the

Massachusetts Horticultural Society The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest formally organized horticultural institution in the United States. In its m ...

, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the

Bostonian Society The Bostonian Society was a non-profit organization that was founded in 1881 for the purpose of preventing the Old State House (built in 1713) from being "moved brick by brick"

. A plaque in Crocker Park,

, records that Crocker donated the park's excellent site on June 15, 1886, later extended by a further gift from his two sons.

Bibliography

* Bacon, Edwin M., Editor. ''Men of Progress: One Thousand Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Leaders in Business and Professional Life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts''. Boston: New England Magazine, 1896. * Toomey, Daniel.:, ''Massachusetts of Today: A Memorial of the State, Historical and Biographical, Issued for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago,'' Columbia Publishing Company, Boston, Massachusetts, page 32, (1892). This article is derived from the ''Men of Progress'' entry for Crocker, on which copyright has expired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Uriel 1796 births 1887 deaths American book publishers (people) Businesspeople from Boston 19th-century American businesspeople People from Marblehead, Massachusetts American transportation businesspeople 19th-century American philanthropists