Alvah Crocker
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Alvah Crocker (October 14, 1801 – December 26, 1874) was an American manufacturer and railroad promoter. He served in the
Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...
and was a U.S. Representative from
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
.


Biography

Born in Leominster, Massachusetts, Crocker attended the public schools and Groton Academy. He was first employed in a
paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...
at Franklin, New Hampshire, in 1820. In 1823, he borrowed the money necessary to establish a paper mill at Fitchburg and served as proprietor of paper manufactures there. His paper mills became the largest in the United States and he built extensive machine shops and foundries in the neighborhood of his mills. In manufacturing white paper he was the first to use cotton waste and also the first to use palm leaf fibre in wall papers.''The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans'', by John Howard Brown
/ref> He was elected to the Massachusetts legislature in 1835, where he advocated steam communication with
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. He returned to the legislature in 1842, and obtained a charter for a new railroad between northern Massachusetts and the seaboard, which was completed through his exertions in 1845. He afterward engaged in building the Vermont and Massachusetts, the Troy and Boston, and the Hoosac Tunnel railroads, and in 1847/8 lectured in behalf of the tunnel project. The
Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...
documentary ''Driven to Invent: Killer Tunnel'' called Crocker "The Father of Modern Tunneling" for his influence in advancing the use of
geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
s,
explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...
, pneumatic tools, boring technology, and said, "He laid down the rules for tunnel construction even to the present day." He served as president of the Fitchburg Railroad. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, he was a member of the Massachusetts State Senate for two terms. Crocker was elected as a Republican to the Forty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William B. Washburn (who was elected Governor). He was reelected to the Forty-third Congress. He served in Congress from January 2, 1872, until his death in
Fitchburg, Massachusetts Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Fitchburg State University is located here. History ...
, on December 26, 1874. He was interred in Laurel Hill Cemetery.


See also

*
List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899) The following is a list of United States United States Senate, senators and United States House of Representatives, representatives who died of natural or accidental causes, or who killed themselves, while serving their terms between 1790 and 18 ...


References

;Attribution


Future reading

*Wheelwright, William Bond, ''Life and Times of Alvah Crocker'' 1923, Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1981.


External links

* Crane, Ellery Bicknell
''Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester County Massachusetts''
page 241. {{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Alvah 1801 births 1874 deaths People from Leominster, Massachusetts Politicians from Worcester County, Massachusetts Massachusetts Whigs Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts state senators 19th-century American railroad executives Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives