Stephen Crosby (1808–1869) was an American politician. He served as the commissioner of the

United States General Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government responsible for Public domain (land), public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 ...

for

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in the 1850s and 1860s. He is the namesake of

Crosby County, Texas Crosby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 5,133. The county seat is Crosbyton. The county was founded in 1876 and later organized in 1886. Both the county and its seat are named fo ...

Early life

Stephen Crosby was born in 1808 in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Career

Crosby worked on a steamboat on the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa River, Tallapoosa and Coosa River, Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka, Alabama, Wetumpka. Over a co ...

in the 1830s. He moved to

in 1840 and joined the Democratic Party. In 1851, he was elected as a commissioner of the

Texas General Land Office The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a state agency of the U.S. state of Texas, responsible for managing lands and mineral rights properties that are owned by the state. The GLO also manages and contributes to the state's Permanent School F ...

. He served in this capacity until 1858. He ran again as a member of the

Know Nothing Party The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock nativist political movement in the United States in the 1850s. Members of the m ...

, but he lost the election. Nevertheless, he served again as Commissioner as a Democrat until he was dismissed in 1867.

Personal life

Crosby married Eliza Green. They had a son, Charles Adolphus Crosby. They resided in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

Death

Crosby died of a

laudanum Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum'') in alcohol (ethanol). Reddish-br ...

overdose on August 5, 1869, in Austin, Texas.

, was named in his honor.

References

External links

Crosby, Stephen 1808-1869
on

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

1808 births 1869 deaths People from South Carolina People from Crosby County, Texas Politicians from Austin, Texas Commissioners of the United States General Land Office Texas Democrats Texas Know Nothings {{Texas-politician-stub