Sedgwick County KS Archives Biographies.....Crossley, Elwood E. 1859 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 21, 2007, 11:29 pm Author: O. H. Bentley (1910) Elwood E. Crossley, a retired farmer of Cheney, Kan., was born on June 2, 1859, in Danville, Pa., of English-French ancestry. His father came from England to the United States when about eight years old and located in Danville, where he lived and died. Elwood E. remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-one. His first occupation was that of attendant in a hospital. After this he was a clerk for a short time in the mercantile business, and in the spring of 1880 he came to Kansas to take up his permanent residence. He located at Cheney, which at that time was but a small village containing only a few houses and before the railroad was built, and worked at painting for a living. A short time after his arrival he purchased a farm of 160 acres and on it made his bachelor quarters for about four years. He then returned to Pennsylvania on a visit and while there was married to Miss Hester Parsel, an accomplished lady born at Waterford, Canada. The marriage took place at the village of Buck Horn, on January 12, 1888. No children have been born of this union. Mr. Crossley returned to Cheney with his wife in 1889 and acquired more land, making in all 320 acres that he owns. After a residence of over eleven years on the farm he engaged in other pursuits. For one year he was in the livery business, which he sold out, and then made another visit to his old home in Pennsylvania, and to Canada, where his wife's relatives resided, coming back to Kansas in 1899. Mr. Crossley then engaged in the hardware and implement business, purchasing a half interest from D. M. Main. The firm afterwards became Northcutt & Crossley, and then Main & Crossley, until its dissolution. Mr. Crossley ever since he has resided in Cheney has been known as a public spirited citizen who has had much to do with the building up of the town. He has held nearly all of the township and some other offices in a satisfactory manner. He was treasurer of Grand River township for one year before he resided in the village of Cheney. He was also treasurer of Morton township for four years, and built the town hall, and was councilman of Cheney for five years at different times. Fraternally Mr. Crossley is a Mason, being a member of Morton Lodge, No. 258, A. F. and A. M., and of Wichita Consistory, No. 2. He is a member of the Scottish Rite bodies and has filled nearly all the chairs in his lodge. Mr. Crossley has been successful in all his business undertakings. He helped organize, in 1900, a creamery in Cheney which proved to be a profitable enterprise. He has taken a great interest in the raising of stock and dealt in Norman bred horses and Shorthorn Hereford cattle. He has been known to realize from his stock in a single year as much as $2,800. He is a large land owner at the present time, but likes to recall the vicissitudes that beset him for awhile in the attempts to raise stock. He says: "It just appeared at one time that my calves, cattle and chickens would take sick and die, and I was almost discouraged." But he stuck to his work during times of panic until his luck changed and everything he has touched in the way of raising stock since has paid him handsomely and made him prosperous. Mr. Crossley is a man who has proved his efficiency in everything he has undertaken. In politics he is a Democrat of the Grover Cleveland type. Additional Comments: Extracted from History of Wichita and Sedgwick County: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county Editor in chief: O. H. Bentley Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co. (1910) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/sedgwick/bios/crossley266gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ksfiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb