Nathaniel Crosby (captain)

Nathaniel Crosby, Jr. was an early Columbia River boat captain who is credited by historians "with founding at least two towns, Toulon and St. Helens, Ore."[1]

Life

Nathaniel Crosby was born November 3, 1810, in Brewster, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.[2]

Crosby, Jr. and fellow speculator Thomas H. Smith operated a successful sawmill during the California Gold Rush, shipping timber to that region aboard their bark, the Louisiana. They also founded the town of Milton, a half mile above St. Helens, on Scappoose Bay, which eventually died out.[3][4]

He was active in the sea trade between the Pacific Northwest and China in the 1850s, shipping timber from the American northwest to the Orient, and made his home in Hong Kong. [5]

Crosby died in Hong Kong on December 17, 1856,[6] and is buried there.[7]

Family

Crosby married Mary Lincoln (1808 - 1866), and had a son, Nathaniel Crosby (1835 - 1885), and a daughter, Martha Crosby Burr (1840 - 1914).[8]

Crosby was the great grandfather of Bing and Bob Crosby.[9]

Commemoration

A World War II Liberty ship was named for Captain Crosby.[10]

References
  1. Associated Press, "Launch Crosby Sunday", The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington, Saturday 4 September 1943, Volume 61, Number 113, page 2.
  2. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=71333389
  3. Marschner, Janice, "Oregon 1859 - A Snapshot in Time", Timber Press, Portland, London, 2008, Library of Congress card number 2007036182, ISBN 978-0-88192-873-0, page 88.
  4. Marschner, Janice (2008-07-15). Oregon 1859: A Snapshot in Time. ISBN 9780881928730.
  5. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jtenlen/crosby.txt
  6. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=71333389
  7. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42001901
  8. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42001901
  9. Associated Press, "Launch Crosby Sunday", The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington, Saturday 4 September 1943, Volume 61, Number 113, page 2.
  10. http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibShipsN.html
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