Notes for Prudence Crandall:
Prudence Crandall was born in Rhode Island on 3rd September, 1803. After being educated at a Society of Friends school in Plainfield, Connecticut, Crandall established her own private academy for girls at Canterbury.

Women's history in Connecticut - Connecticut Women's Heritage Trail  For educators - Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plan series "From Canterbury to Little Rock:  The Struggle for Educational Equality for African Americans," National Park Service 

Prudence Crandall was the daughter of Quaker parents who became a symbol in the cause of Negro education and abolitionism. In 1831, she opened the Canterbury Female Boarding School at the request of local citizens. A year later she admitted Sarah Harris (1815-1879), the daughter of a prosperous Negro farmer, who had completed the district school and wished to train to be a teacher. Local people were furious at Crandall's actions and attempts were made to prevent the school receiving essential supplies. There was an explosive reaction in the community, forcing the school to close. Crandall, however, was determined to do what she could "to benefit the people of color" and began to recruit pupils among middle-class Negro families throughout the Northeast for the first boarding and teacher training school for black young women. The town of Canterbury did everything it could to block her efforts.

Her first trial was held in late August. Newspapers carried long stories describing the testimony, which in hindsight seems almost comical. Her students gave evasive answers, and visitors to the school called as witnesses claimed they could not recall whether they'd seen Crandall actually teaching. Finally one testified she saw Crandall giving geography and arithmetic lessons. In the end, the jury could not agree on a verdict.

The hung jury led to a second trial in early October. This time Crandall was found guilty, but she was not sentenced because her lawyers appealed. In both trials and in the appeal, however, the testimony of witnesses was less important than the lawyers' arguments and the judges' rulings. If her school was an experiment of national significance, her arrest promised to be a national test case. Her lawyers challenged the Black Law on the grounds that it violated the clause in the U.S. Constitution that said no state could deny to others rights it gave its own citizens. The crucial question, in a nation still wedded to slavery, was whether blacks could be considered citizens.

Crandall's defense was bankrolled by Arthur Tappan and led by William Ellsworth. A congressman soon to be elected governor, Ellsworth was the son-in-law of dictionary writer Noah Webster of West Hartford and the son of Oliver Ellsworth of Windsor. The senior Ellsworth had been a signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional convention in 1787, and an early chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Her chief prosecutor, Judson, would also become a congressman as well as a judge in the Amistad case. A former legislator, he was a pillar of the community who was a director of both a county bank and insurance company. The chief judge in the first trial had sat on the legislative committee that drafted the Black Law and had banking ties to Judson. The chief judge in the second trial, David Daggett, had as mayor of New Haven opposed the black school there and was a vice president of the Hartford Colonization Society.

At one time or another, these men debated state's rights, the consequences of ending slavery and the definition of citizenship - issues that divided the nation and eventually were addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case on the eve of the Civil War.

In the Crandall case, Ellsworth contended that because blacks had fought in the Revolutionary Army and received war pensions they must be considered full citizens under the U.S. Constitution. Judson responded with a Catch-22 type argument: If blacks could not vote, as in Connecticut they could not (the new state constitution of 1818 specifically denied them the franchise), then it followed that they could not be considered full citizens.

Their rhetoric reached its peak when they argued the case on appeal in July 1834 in Hartford. Ellsworth said only Southern slave states had laws as "obnoxious" as the Black Law. "It rivets the chains of grinding bondage and makes our State an ally in the unholy cause of slavery itself," he said. He warned the court that slavery put the nation in peril. "Slavery is a volcano, the fires of which cannot be quenched, nor its ravages controlled," he said.
In 1834 Connecticut passed a law making it illegal to provide a free education for black students. When Crandall refused to obey the law she was arrested and imprisoned. Crandall was convicted but won the case on appeal. When news of the court decision reached Canterbury, a white mob attacked the school and threatened the lives of Crandall and her students. Afraid that the children would be killed or badly injured, Crandall decided to close her school down. The house was put up for sale by Calvin Philleo, a Baptist clergyman and husband of Prudence  on September 11, 1834. (Prudence and Calvin were married on August 19, 1834)

Once the school closed, Crandall exited the public stage. But her life remained eventful and immersed in trouble. In 1835, she found herself living on Philleo's small farm in Boonville, N.Y., caring for his two ailing children and trying to cope with him. She'd discovered he was tyrannical and unstable. He ran up debts, began to have lapses of memory while preaching and forbade Crandall to read books even though he had a scheme to establish a network of libraries for Baptist ministers. One family source said he suffered from "overwork of the brain." After he fell in a fit into a blazing fireplace one day and she saved him from burning to death, a friend quipped, "In an absent-minded moment, she fished him out." The friend was Garrison.

While in Boonville, Crandall learned that her brother Reuben, who had moved to Washington, D.C., had been arrested on charges of seditious libel for distributing abolitionist literature. His prosecutor was Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner." Now a district attorney and an active member of the American Colonization Society, Key sought the death penalty against Reuben.

Reuben might have come under suspicion simply because he was Crandall's brother. Never active in the abolitionist cause, he'd gone to Washington as the private physician of an invalid family and also had a second career as a botanist. Some of the abolitionist literature found in his possession he'd used to pack botanical specimens. But at the time abolitionists had begun to flood the South with antislavery pamphlets that often contained attacks on the Colonization Society. Key turned the trial into a defense of colonization. At one point Key argued that the "great moral and political evil" the nation faced was not slavery, but rather "the whole colored race."

Reuben was eventually acquitted. However, he'd been held in jail for eight months and his imprisonment may have compromised his health. Three years younger than Prudence, he died in 1838. Her father died later the same year. Her sister Almira, who'd taught with her, had died the year before.

Prudence Crandall came to Chicago by ship with her nephew Obediah Crandall, who was 13, they made the trip to  Troy Grove Township of La Salle County by ox cart and set up housekeeping on a farm that her father, Pardon Crandall, had purchased in 1838 and where he had built a small house. Later the two of them arranged for the construction of a larger home.  Prudence soon opened a school (the Philleo Academy) for local children.

In 1856 Prudence's youngest brother, Hezekiah and his family moved to Illinois. (from page 238 book Prudence Crandall by Elizabeth Yates, 1955)

In 1840, Crandall and Philleo returned to Canterbury. The political pendulum had swung so fast that Windham County had a vigorous antislavery society and the legislature had repealed the Black Law. But their stay was short. In 1842, Crandall left to work the farm her father had bought in Troy Grove, Ill., just before his death. She took a teenage nephew as a helper. Philleo stayed behind for one of their frequent separations.

Crandall never had children, but she rarely was alone. One member or another of her extended family - her surviving brother, Hezekiah, and his children; Philleo's son and grandchildren - lived with her at one time or another. Even her mother came West to be cared for in her old age. Crandall went back East only once, to teach briefly in Boston. But she soon returned to the Troy Grove farm. By the end of the Civil War she'd established other homes in the Illinois towns of Mendota and Cordova even as the Troy Grove property stayed in the family.

As he aged, Philleo became a quieter and more constant presence in her various households. He was 87 when he died in 1874. Two years later, when she herself was 73, Crandall moved a last time, with her brother and his family, to a 160-acre farm even further west in the new settlement of Elk Falls, Kan.

All her life, Crandall stayed engaged. She became involved in the causes of temperance and women's suffrage. She wore pants. She invited black émigrés from slave states to visit. She also embraced spiritualism, as did other prominent Americans such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, and was declared a heretic by the Baptist Church. Later, she tried Christian Science. Rycenga said Crandall's participation in important 19th-century religious movements alone makes her noteworthy.

In her last years, journalists sought out the old woman who already seemed to them a historical figure. Her brother had died and they found her living in a rudely furnished 8-by-12 house filled with books and papers. Nevertheless she professed to be happy there and still idealistic.

"I like Kansas very much. My humble dwelling is situated in one of the most beautiful spots on earth," she was quoted as saying in an 1885 report in a Topeka paper. "The aspirations of my soul to benefit the colored race were never greater than at the present time. I hope to live long enough to see a college built on this farm, into which can be admitted all the classes of the human family, without regard to sex or color ... I want professorships of the highest order ... You see that my wants are so many, and so great, that I have no time to waste, no time to spend in grief ... I only need to mourn over my own misdeeds and shortcomings, which are many."

The newspaper reports of Crandall's living conditions apparently inspired Connecticut to atone for some of its own misdeeds. Samuel Clemens ( Mark Train ) led an effort to buy back for her the Canterbury house she'd been forced to abandon. She declined, saying she preferred to stay in Kansas, but wrote Clemens a thank you note, asking instead for his photograph and a copy of "The Innocents Abroad."

Crandall did, however, accept the $400-a-year pension the legislature approved for her in 1886. The Courant led newspapers in favoring the pension, which was originally proposed in a petition from people in Canterbury. Their petition specifically said the wrong done her demanded "late reparation."

Crandall believed some reparation was due her. She told a Kansas City paper, "I want nothing from the Connecticut legislature as a gift. But I feel that they do owe me a just debt for all my property they destroyed, and I should like them to pay just a little of it."

Written sources for this article include:

"Prudence Crandall: a Biography" by Marvis Olive Welch

"A Whole-Souled Woman: Prudence Crandall and the Education of Black Women" by Susan Strane

"The History of Windham County" by Ellen Larned

"Slavery in the Courtroom: an Annotated Bibliography of American Cases," by Paul Finkelman

"North of Slavery: the Negro in the Free States, 1790-1860" by Leon Litwak


Following are two letter written by Prudence father - Pardon Crandall

Pardon Crandall, "The Memorial of Pardon Crandall, of Canterbury (May 5, 1833)," published in Fruits of Colonization, 1833.

THE MEMORIAL OF PARDON CRANDALL, OF CANTERBURY.

To the Honorable General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, now in session at Hartford:—

I would inform you that some time past, Prudence Crandall proposed and notified to open a school for the instruction of young ladies and little misses of color, in the town of Canterbury. Instead of the leading men in Canterbury coming forward to encourage an Institution designed to enlighten the ignorant and elevate the depressed people of color, they have called together a number of Assemblies and town meetings, and have passed a number of resolutions, to do all in their power to destroy the institution. Among others, was one passed at the town meeting, to appoint a committee of ten to draw a petition to the General Assembly, now convened, to prevent people of color from assembling for the purpose of getting an education, and also to correspond with other towns in the State in order to forestall public opinion for the same purpose, which petition is now pending before the General Assembly now in session. I entreat the members of the General Assembly, when acting on this petition, to remember those self-evident truths, that all mankind are created free and equal, that they are endued with inalienable rights, of which no man nor set of men have a right to deprive them. And my request is, that you will not grant the prayer of any petitions nor pass any act that will curtail or destroy any of the rights of the free people of this State, or other States, whether they are white or black.

And as I am in duty bound will ever remain your humble and sincere friend;

PARDON CRANDALL
Canterbury, May 5th, 1833.

A Canterbury Tale: A Document Package for
Connecticut's Prudence Crandall Affair

Pardon Crandall, "Letter to Andrew T. Judson and Chester Lyon (May 5, 1833)," published in Fruits of Colonization, 1833.

To ANDREW T. JUDSON, and CHESTER LYON—Representatives of the town of Canterbury, in the General Assembly, now in session at Hartford

The great excitement that has been got up, and the ungenerous and unrighteous conduct that has been pursued towards my daughter Prudence Crandall, and her School, have given me extreme uneasiness and trouble. I have advised her often, to give up her School and sell her property, and relieve Canterbury from their imagined destruction. Not that I thought she had committed a Crime, or had done any thing which she had not a perfect right to do. But I wanted peace and quietness. I concluded once, to interfere and sell the property myself, of which I informed her.

She replied— 'I do not wish to sell this property until I can get a good location elsewhere. This is a commodious house, well-calculated for my school—in a convenient place—a market, where I can procure any thing I want, at the door. It is near to the Post Office, and there is a meeting_ house near at hand. Besides all this, I have been at considerable expense for the furniture of this house; if I should now leave it, and give up my school, without having any other place to go, it would be more than a thousand dollars damage to me; and if you sell the property, I will give no title, and you must abide the consequences.' Of this I informed Col. Judson, and concluded to withdraw from the scene, and let it terminate as it would. During these transactions, a private gentleman, or a man not in office, insulted me, and said, 'you had better leave Canterbury,' and intimated that they were determined to drive us away at some rate or other. And further said, that 'when Lawyers, Courts, and Jurors were leagued against us; it would be easy to raise a MOB and tear down our house!' continuing, that 'there were a number of men in Brooklyn as well as Canterbury, who said they would come any time when we would let them know.' One of the Civil Authority, in private conversation, said, that there was a gentleman in Brooklyn, that said he would be one in twelve, to tear down Miss Crandall's house, and pay for it. A few days after this, I was in Col. Judson's office, in presence of Judge Adams and other gentlemen, and was insulted. One of the Authority said to me— 'Mr. Crandall, keep away from your daughter, or I will sue you; I had rather sue you than to sue her.' The insult I swallowed as well as I could, and modestly replied— 'Esq. Judson, I do not see any need of suing any one—the powerful committee you have got to direct a petition to the General Assembly, and the pains you have taken to forestall public opinion, will probably enable you to pass a law that will destroy the school without a series of litigations,'—to which he rather assented.

I went out and found that law suits were contemplated. I said to Capt. Sanger, (one of the select men,)— 'I wish, you would not commence law suits, till after the session of the General Assembly is over. Say to the Select Men from me, that if they have no regard for any thing else, for my sake do not commence hostilities or destructive law suits, by numbering days and counting time, to continue till we are stripped of our property, and driven from our hitherto pleasant abodes in Canterbury, You have refused bonds of indemnity oven whom your own-selves have no fear of being injured. You have collected one unrighteous fine, and bill of cost; and have unlawful suits now pending before a Justice's Court; and your suits in bundles unlawful, malicious and vexatious as they are, hang over and are ready to burst upon us.'

The spirit of a father that waketh for the daughter is roused. I know the consequence. I now come forward to oppose tyranny with my property at stake; my life in my hand. I enter the ship Defense. I shall reef and row as occasion may require, and try to steer so as to avoid rocks and quicksand, and if I founder at sea we will go the bottom together. At these thoughts my bosom heaves, my tears flow, and I drop my pen.

PARDON CRANDALL
May 5th, 1833.

Gilder.Lehrman.Center@Yale.edu  Yale University-P.O.Box 208206-34 Hillhouse Avenue-New Haven, CT 06520-8206-Tel:(203)432-3339

Prudence's family members and husband, who roamed western Illinois, buying land at Cordova in Rock Island County arrived. Near her home, the community of Mendota was begun and Crandall watched its development.  She visited new churches as they opened and attended lectures and other events, often being a speaker herself.

In later years she lived in Mendota at a home that had been built on the Cordova farm for her nephew Obediah. (This house stands today and is the home of Barney Nashold, and his wife Vanessa, Obediah Crandall's descendant.) When her mother died in 1872, Prudence returned to Cordova, where she cared for her husband, who had suffered a stroke. At the Cordova farm there was a nearby grove where local people would come to picnic in the summer.  It had a wooden platform where picnickers would dance to violin or accordion music, which pleased Prudence, but annoyed Calvin. She conducted a school in her home and aided the movement for women's rights. After her husband's death in 1874, she moved to Elk Falls, Kansas, where she died of influenza. A somewhat lonely figure in later life, she continued her interest in the reform movements of her day. The Connecticut legislature did penance for its earlier prosecution of Crandall by granting her a small pension in 1886. Arguments from her trials were used in the U.S. Supreme Court's school desegregation decision of 1954.  

Prudence Crandall
Kansas Historical Society Marker on US 160 on the west edge of Elk Falls, KS

In 1831, Prudence Crandall, educator, emancipator, and human rights advocate, established a school which in 1833, became the first Black female academy in New England at Canterbury, Connecticut. This later action resulted in her arrest and imprisonment for violating the "Black Law."
Although she was later released on a technicality, the school was forced to close after being harassed and attacked by a mob. She moved with her husband Reverend Calvin Philleo to Illinois.
After her husband died in 1874, she and her brother moved to a farm near Elk Falls. Prudence taught throughout her long life and was an outspoken champion for equality of education and the rights of women. In 1886, supported by Mark Twain and others, an annuity was granted to her by the Connecticut Legislature. She purchased a house in Elk Falls where she died January 27, 1890.
Over a hundred years later, legal arguments used by her 1834 trial attorney were submitted to the Supreme Court during their consideration of the historic civil rights case of Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education.

Erected by Kansas Historical Society & Kansas Department of Transportation. At the same roadside park is another marker:

The State of Connecticut proudly joins the State of Kansas in honoring the lifetime achievements of Prudence Crandall, educator and champion of human rights. Crandall's courage and determination serve as examples to all who face seemingly insurmountable odds and to those who refuse to be limited by social conventions. To this day, her efforts to promote equality in education remains unequaled.
The building which housed Crandall's academy in Canterbury, Connecticut opened as a museum in 1984 and is administered by the Connecticut Historical Commission. The museum's national importance was recognized in 1991 when it was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior.

This plaque was made possible through the generous donations of citizens of the State of Connecticut.

On October 1, 1995, by an act of the General Assembly, Prudence Crandall became Connecticut's State Heroine.

In 1833, Prudence Crandall established the first academy for African-American women in New England. During its 18 months of operation, Crandall and her students faced hardships and violence. She was placed on trial twice for breaking a law specifically designed to prevent the school from operating. In the fall of 1834, although the charges against her were dismissed, the school was closed.
Prudence Crandall demonstrated great courage and moral strength by taking a stand against prejudice. In 1886 the legislature honored her with an annual pension of $400.00.
The Prudence Crandall House is a National Historic Landmark located at the intersection of 14 and 169 in Canterbury. It is operated by the Connecticut Historical Commission.

Prudence Crandall: Burial: Elk Falls Cemetery

Otis J. Crandall was a early professional baseball player with the New York Giants. Playing in the World series of 1911, 1912 and 1913 as a pitcher.

Otis "Doc" Crandall

Given Name: Otis James Crandall, 1887-1951

Crandall was the first pitcher to be used consistently as a reliever. Damon Runyon nicknamed him "Doc," calling him "the physician of the pitching emergency." Crandall started often, but led the league in relief appearances five seasons in a row with the Giants. He led in relief victories from 1910 through 1912, during which time he went 45-16 overall, helping the Giants win three pennants in 1911-13. A nimble fielder despite his bulky frame, he filled in at infield positions. The .285 lifetime hitter also pinch hit often. When he was sent to the Cardinals in 1913, the displeasure in New York was so great that the Giants repurchased him after two games. But he wound up in St. Louis the following year, in the Federal League, spending more games at second base than on the mound. He led the Federal League in 1915 with 6 relief wins among his 21 victories. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
October 25th, 1911: Before 33,228 at the Polo Grounds, the Giants put 3 hits together off Coombs in the last of the 9th for 2 runs and a 3-3 tie. The A's Eddie Plank comes on in the 10th and gives up the winning run in the 4-3 contest. Relief specialist Doc Crandall gets the win after working 2 scoreless innings.

August 6th, 1913: C Larry McLean is traded from the last-place Cardinals to the pennant-contending Giants for Doc Crandall. One of the biggest players of this era at six feet 5inches and 230 pounds, the veteran catcher will bat .500 in the WS.

August 18th, 1913: Doc Crandall is rescued from the basement: McGraw buys him back 12 days after trading him.

April 7th, 1918: In the a.m. game of a doubleheader in Los Angeles, Doc Crandall's no-hit bid against Salt Lake City (Pacific Coast League) is spoiled with 2 outs in the 9th by Crandall's brother Karl, but Los Angeles wins 14-0.

American Illustrator

Reed Crandall (http://www.comic-art.com/bios-1/crandal1.htm) was an American Illustrator of comic books and magazines. A graduate of Newton High School, Newton, Kansas. In 1935 and enrolled in the Cleveland School of Art, graduating in 1939. He worked on several classic titles, including Flash Gordon, Blackhawk, Gunsmoke, Believe It or Not! series, Tales from the Crypt and Mad Magazine MAD. He worked on comic books from 1939 until 1973.

Reed Crandall was born in Winslow, Indiana on February 22, 1917. His career in art started at the age of four when he wowed his parents with some of his earliest drawings. In 1935 he received an art scholarship at the Cleveland School of Art in northeast Ohio.

After graduating, he moved to New York at the invitation of a publisher of children's books, but after illustrating just one cover, Reed left the company. He then went to work for the NEA Syndicate as an editorial cartoonist before finally landing a job at the Eisner-Iger shop on Manhattan's east side.

In the beginning, one of his chores was inking Lou Fines wonderful Military Comics covers. After a few issues of that, Everett M. (Busy) Arnold, the publisher of Quality saw his beautiful fine-lined renderings, he reportedly hired him exclusively, and Reed took over the reigns of penciling & Chuck Cuidera (& probably others) inked over Reed's work. Some of the features he drew included the Ray, Firebrand, Hercules, Uncle Sam, Dollman & the Blackhawks. Those fantastic group shots of the Blackhawks fighting hordes of villains are breath-taking.

The genre's he drew for crossed from SF to Suspenstory to Horror, but some think his best work here were his Piracy comic covers, two of which were homage's (or swipes) of famous Howard Pyle paintings from his "Book of Pirates".

Also in 1964, Reed through his friend Al Williamson, acquired work at Canaveral Press where he drew bookplates & covers for the Edgar Rice Burroughs characters "John Carter" and the legendary "Tarzan". Unfortunately, Canaveral folded before Reed's entire output for them was published & many great pieces were left to languish in the pages of fan publications.

A little while later, after Williamson left the King "Flash Gordon" comic, he drew several issues of the title.

Reed Crandall Art Gallery

		Blackhawk War Wheel: GREAT GOLDEN AGE QUALITY COMIC Featuring REED CRANDALL COVER AND STORY ( BLACKHAWK'S GREATEST ILLUSTRATOR ) Book is in solid VG condition with vibrant colors and nothing missing,Lays flat, All pages and cover attached at staples, First appearance of the infamous WAR WHEEL! HOOBOY talk about "weapons of mass destruction" This title was famous for them and this one appeared many times!
Cover by Del Crandall	Here’s a shot of the inside cover and opening splash page from HIT #64 showing JEB RIVERS, drawn by Reed Crandall. The detail and work put into these river boats is amazing. Beautiful art here by one of the greatest comic artists to ever work in the field of comics. Interior paper is a little yellowed from age but still very supple.	Inside Art Work by Del Crandall

Animator Roland C. Crandall is credited in the 1993 Paramount Productions cartoon of "Betty Boop" as "Snow White" and did some early Popeye cartoons.

Military:

They have served in every US war and conflict with more than 55 serving during the American Revolutionary War. One was a bodyguard for Gen. George Washington, with others being at battles of Bunker and Yorktown. They served during the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. During the Civil War, they participated in almost all the major campaigns including, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga, Gettysburg, Federicksburg, Manassas, and Wilderness. At least one was in Sherman's Corp for the March to the Sea and at Appomattox Court House upon Gen. Lee surrender. One served as a Captain of the Buffalo Soldiers. One was part of the 7th Cavalry under Gen. A. Custer, surviving the attack by having been dispatched before the battle to request more troops. They served in the trenches and skies of France in WWI. During WWII they saw action in both the Europe and Pacific theaters. They were on the beaches of Normandy, and Iwo Jima and in the snow during the Battle of the Bulge. They have served in Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and are currently serving in Iraqi Freedom.

Three have been awarded a Medal of Honor - Bruce Crandall, Charles Crandall and Orson L. Crandall.  at least one Medal of honor recipient married into the family; Miles M. Oviatt married Lucetta Elzina Crandall.

Bruce "Snake" Crandall

Bruce Crandall

Photo by The Crandall Family
February 09, 2007

US Army Vietnam Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient was the Huey helicopter pilot who was portrayed by Greg Kinnear in the movie We Were Soldiers.  If you are not familiar with Mr. Crandall accomplishments during Vietnam please read his CMOH Citation:

For extraordinary heroism as a Flight Commander in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). On 14 November 1965, his flight of sixteen helicopters was lifting troops for a search and destroy mission from Plei Me, Vietnam, to Landing Zone X-Ray in the la Drang Valley. On the fourth troop lift, the airlift began to take enemy fire, and by the time the aircraft had refueled and returned for the next troop lift, the enemy had Landing Zone X-Ray targeted. As Major Crandall and the first eight helicopters landed to discharge troops on his fifth troop lift, his unarmed helicopter came under such intense enemy fire that the ground commander ordered the second flight of eight aircraft to abort their mission. As Major Crandall flew back to Plei Me, his base of operations, he determined that the ground commander of the besieged infantry battalion desperately needed more ammunition. Major Crandall then decided to adjust his base of operations to Artillery Firebase Falcon in order to shorten the flight distance to deliver ammunition and evacuate wounded soldiers. While medical evacuation was not his mission, he immediately sought volunteers and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, led the two aircraft to Landing Zone X-Ray. Despite the fact that the landing zone was still under relentless enemy fire, Major Crandall landed and proceeded to supervise the loading of seriously wounded soldiers aboard his aircraft. Major Crandall's voluntary decision to land under the most extreme fire instilled in the other pilots the will and spirit to continue to land their own aircraft, and in the ground forces the realization that they would be resupplied and that friendly wounded would be promptly evacuated. This greatly enhanced morale and the will to fight at a critical time. After his first medical evacuation, Major Crandall continued to fly into and out of the landing zone throughout the day and into the evening. That day he completed a total of 22 flights, most under intense enemy fire, retiring from the battlefield only after all possible service had been rendered to the Infantry battalion. His actions provided critical supply of ammunition and evacuation of the wounded. Major Crandall's daring acts of bravery and courage in the face of an overwhelming and determined enemy are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

President Bush Presents the Medal of Honor to Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Crandall..."Our sadness has not diminished with time. Yet we're also comforted by the knowledge that the suffering and grief could have been far worse. One of the reasons it was not is because of the man we honor today. For the soldiers rescued, for the men who came home, for the children they had and the lives they made, America is in debt to Bruce Crandall. It's a debt our nation can never really fully repay, but today we recognize it as best as we're able, and we bestow upon this good and gallant man the Medal of Honor."    Feb. 26th, 2007

 

 

Marion G. Crandall (some listings spell her name as Crandell) was the first American woman killed while in active service in World War I. She went to Paris to aid French soldiers during World War I. Two months later, a German artillery shell hit the hostel where she was working as a YMCA canteen worker. On November 11, 1925, Colonel D. M. King, Commandant of the Rock Island Arsenal, unveiled a memorial for Marion G. Crandall. She was listed as an outstanding heroine of World War I by the Woman's Overseas Service League in 1926.

Nine are inscribed on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall - Bret Fletcher Crandall, Charles Everett Crandall, Gregory Stephen Crandall, John Paul Crandall, Rodney Allen Crandall, Ronald Jay Crandall, Timothy Allen Crandall, Wayne Stephens Crandall, James Lee Crandell.

Generals in the US Military -

• William J. Crandall, Brigadier General, US Air Force

 

• John Gardner Hazard, Brigadier General, US Army    
  (Margaret⁷, Robert⁶, Robert⁵, John⁴, Peter³, John², John¹)

 

• William Stark Rosecrans, Major General, US Army     
  (Crandall⁶, Thankful⁵, Desire⁴, Samuel³, Eber², John¹)

Statesmen:

21153. Carrie(10) BABCOCK (Lewis Hamilton9, Albert Franklin8, Classia7 Crandall, Archibald⁶, Ezekiel⁵, James W.⁴, Joseph³, Joseph², John¹) was born Abt. 1856. She married James Schoolcraft Sherman 26 Jan 1881, son of Richard Sherman and Mary Sherman. He was born 24 Oct 1855 in Utica, Oneida Co., New York, and died 30 Oct 1912 in Utica, Oneida Co., New York.

Notes for Carrie Babcock: listed in JCC on page #487. It states they resided in Utica and Washington, D.C. James S. Sherman, Vice Pres. with William Howard Taft, served from 1909 to 1912, b. Utica, N.Y. Oct 24, 1855; d. Oct. 30, 1912, buried Forest Hill, Utica, N.Y., he was son of Richard U. and Mary F. (Sherman) Sherman. He was educated at Utica and Hamilton College, at Clinton, N.Y. Grad. In 1878.

Notes for James Schoolcraft Sherman: Vice-President of the United States. A marble bust of James Schoolcraft Sherman has the distinction of being the only vice-presidential bust in the United States Capitol with eyeglasses. Sherman apparently had thought that no one would recognize him without his glasses. However, over time he has grown so obscure that no one recognizes him even with his glasses. Capitol visitors often confuse him with the more famous Senator John Sherman, author of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Yet while he never authored a famous bill, "Sunny Jim" Sherman was a powerful leader in the House of Representatives, a skilled parliamentarian, and a popular presiding officer of the Senate during his vice-presidency under William Howard Taft.

Children of Carrie Babcock and James Sherman listed in JCC on page #487 are:

24185 i. Sherrill SHERMAN, born 01 May 1883 in Utica, Oneida Co., New York. He married Kate Baker Roberts 09 Oct 1905.

24186 ii. Richard Updyke SHERMAN, born 29 Jul 1884 in Utica, Oneida Co., New York. He married Eleanor Miller 05 Oct 1909.

24187 iii. Thomas Moore SHERMAN, born 21 Dec 1885 in Utica, Oneida Co., New York; died 29 Feb 1944. He married (1) Elizabeth Cooper 01 Jun 1907. He married (2) Myrtle Hulser 07 Apr 1928.

Notes for Thomas Moore Sherman: JCC states that he divorced his first wife.

---

 

Crandall, Alva (1835-1902) Born in Hopkinton, Washington County, R.I., November 13, 1835. Republican. Member of Rhode Island state senate, 1887-89. Died April 20, 1902. Interment at Rockville Cemetery, Rockville, Hopkinton, R.I.

Crandall, Charles S. (b. 1840) of Owatonna, Steele County, Minn. Born in Erie County, Ohio, 1840. Republican. Newspaper editor; hardware store owner; member of Minnesota state house of representatives; elected 1874; member of Minnesota state senate 12th District; elected 1886, 1890. Burial location unknown.

Crandall, Ethel of Fayette County, W.Va. Democrat. Member of West Virginia state house of delegates from Fayette County; elected 1962, 1966. Female. Still living as of 1966.

Crandall, Hazel of Howell, Livingston County, Mich. Republican. Alternate delegate to Republican National Convention from Michigan, 1936. Female. Burial location unknown.

Crandall, Ira B. of Westerly, Washington County, R.I. Member of Rhode Island state house of representatives, 1889-92. Burial location unknown.

Crandall, Joseph C. of Lebanon, New London County, Conn. Member of Connecticut state senate 11th District, 1884-85. Burial location unknown.

Crandall, Judy D. of Caledonia, Kent County, Mich. Democrat. Candidate for Michigan state house of representatives 72nd District, 1998. Female. Still living as of 1998.

Crandall, Lester of Hopkinton, Washington County, R.I. Member of Rhode Island state senate, 1855-57. Burial location unknown.

Crandall, Lillian of Superior, Douglas County, Wis. Republican. Alternate delegate to Republican National Convention from Wisconsin, 1940, 1948. Female. Burial location unknown.

Crandall, Nancy L. of Norton Shores, Muskegon County, Mich. Mayor of Norton Shores, Mich., 2002. Female. Still living as of 2002.

Crandall, Reed Socialist. Candidate for U.S. Representative from Kansas 8th District, 1920. Burial location unknown.

Places & Locations:

 

Places with the Crandall surname can be found in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming and Manitoba, Canada.

 

• Crandall, Harrison Co., Indiana and Crandall, Kaufman Co., Texas were named after Cornelius. F. Crandall.

 

• Crandall, Manitoba, Canada was named after Morley Crandell.

 

• Mount Crandell, Canadian Rocks; 2381m (7812ft.) Located northwest of Middle Waterton Lake, south of Blakiston Creek, and northeast of Cameron Creek. Waterton Park, Alberta Major headwater Oldman River. Latitude 49; 04; 35 Longitude 113; 55; 40, Topo map 82H/04. Named in 1914. Crandell, Edward H. (A Calgary businessman, E.H. Crandell was one of the city's first "oilmen." Official name. Other names Black Bear Mountain, Sheep Mountain

 

• Crandall Creek - Bitterroot NF - (T3S, R21W, Section 7) Named for Charlie Crandall, an early day prospector, in about 1898. Charlie was crippled by a bear while prospecting on the Salmon River. He had gone to wrangle stock one morning, wearing a pair of hip boots to protect his feet and legs from the dewy grass. A bear with cubs treed him, and then climbed the tree and got hold of one of his legs. She proceeded to gnaw a hole in the boot and Crandall's heel before being fought off.

In Glenns Falls, New York, the Crandall Library and two parks were established in the 1890's by Henry Crandall

Crandall Pool at the West Point Military Academy was named in memory of Robert W. Crandall, USMA ’39, the captain of the 1938-39 Army swimming team who was killed in battle in Italy in World War II.

Things:

 Knives -

Crandall Cutlery Company of Bradford, Pennsylvania produced knives. Herbert Crandall gave the the company its' last name (Crandall Cutlery in 1903). In November of 1911 W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. purchased property and assets of Crandall Cutlery Co. of 125 Barbour Street, Bradford, Pennsylvania. W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. are still producing cutlery today. (Herbert Crandall was the husband of Therese Case, daughter of W.R. Case)

 

 

The company that eventually became the Crandall Cutlery Company of Bradford, PA, had its start in Little Valley, NY. There is little known of the company started by Ira Clinton Crandall (1823-1904), other than it "moved" to his son, James Etsel Crandall (1850-1917) and then James’ son, Herbert Etsel Crandall (1876-1922), who gave the company its "last" name. As it turns out, there were several cutlery companies in that same general area (western NY, along the PA border), the largest and most powerful of which was W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery in Bradford. William Russell Case wanted all the cutlery business of that area, and was quite a "cut-throat" businessman of the time.

If he could not buy a competitor outright, he made sure that his children married into the family! Through this method he "acquired" the Platts Cutlery Company, the Crandall Cutlery Company, the Unique Knife Company, and the Robinson Knife Company!

Case’s daughter, Theresa, married Herbert Etsel Crandall, and W.R. Case bought out the Crandall Cutlery Company of 125 Barbour Street, Bradford, PA November 15, 1911.

Original Crandall Cutlery Co. knives are a rare treasure. They frequently come up at auction on the Internet at such places as E-Bay.

After Wm. Russell Case died, the Case Cutlery Co. ended up in the hands of a Crandall again, Rhea (Crandall) Osborne O’Kain (b ~1900), his granddaughter. There were no male heirs; hence it passed on to her in the mid-50s. She and her husband and her son were in charge until about 1973.

Over the years there were many other businesses bought out by the Case Co., but in 1989 Case was bought out by Smoky Mountain Knife Works of TN. Smoky Mountain sold the company to Zippo of Bradford, PA, and it is Zippo that still owns it.

 

© 2005 - S.W. Florida Knife Collectors Club

Case family members, including Rhea Crandall and J. Russell Case (seated on stairs); Job Case & W.R. Case (seated in chairs); and Harvey Platts (wearing suit coat behind Job).

Mineral -

Crandallite,
Formula: CaAl3(PO4)2(OH)5 · H2O Crystal System: Rhomboedral (Trigonal) Strunz Nr: 7/B.36-10
Brooklyn mine, near Silver City, Tintic district, Juab County, Utah, USA
Named for Milan L. Crandall, Jr., engineer, Knight Syndicate, Provo, Utah, USA

Toys -

10578. Jesse Armour(8) Crandall (Benjamin Potter⁷, Potter⁶, Jesse⁵, Simeon⁴, Joseph³, Joseph², John¹) was born 20 Oct 1834 in Westerly, Washington Co., Rhode Island, and died 03 Aug 1920. He married Mary DAWSON. She was born 1835 in England, and died 19 Mar 1918.

Doll Carriages, Crandall Blocks, Figures and Rocking Horses (Benjamin, his son Jesse and cousin Charles Martin) - One of the earliest American manufacturers was Crandall's, which, like other early toymakers, got into the business almost by accident. Crandall's made boxes, and someone noticed that children were playing with the leftover scraps of wood. So the company started making building blocks. Crandall also marketed Masquerade Blocks showing people in costumes; and Noah's Dominoes. Many collectors consider Jesse Crandall as the most important of all 19th-century manufacturers of children's blocks. His company possessed over 400 toy patents and produced a very large variety, including some interesting innovations.

Charles M. Crandall's various building blocks were perhaps the most popular toys in the world throughout the 1870s. They received a great boost in sales after P.T. Barnham featured them in his "museum." The set on the right was called "Fortifications for Fairyland" and was designed for the English market. Similar sets were handed out by Stanley to the natives as he searched for Dr. Livingston....

In the 1830s the toymaker Benjamin Potter Crandall sold doll carriages billed as "the first baby carriages manufactured in America" for $1.50. The first model was a simple carriage with two wheels and no rear axle. Later carriages were elegant four-wheeled machines with springs and fringed tops. A Crandall doll carriage made in 1867 even had a leather hood. The Crandalls were at work virtually throughout the century improving their carriages, as is evident from their many patents, including one which may have been the first folding carriage.

This rocking horse was made between 1853 and 1856 by Benjamin P. Crandall of New York City; his name appears on the under surface of the horse. Like many other toy makers, Crandall did not produce toys exclusively and was listed also as a carpenter and maker of wagons, carriages, and perambulators.

Typewriters -

Manufactured by the Crandall Machine Co. of Groton, New York. The Crandall Typewriter was patented in 1881 by Lucien S. Crandall and manufactured by the Crandall Machine Company of Groton, New York. Ornately decorated with inlaid mother of pearl, painted roses and gold scrollwork, the New Model Crandall was one of the most extravagantly decorated typewriters ever manufactured. The Crandall printed from a type sleeve, with inking being accomplished by a ribbon. It also used an unconventional two row keyboard with square key tops.

Collectors often call the Crandall, or more precisely the New Model Crandall, the most beautiful of all typewriters. This reputation is fully justified by the somewhat overdone yet elegant effect of the painted flowers with inlaid mother-of-pearl above the keyboard, the filigreed golden pinstripes, and the flower motifs that are found even on the back of the frame.

 

7600. Lucien Stephen(8) CRANDALL (William Pierce⁷, Daniel⁶, Christopher⁵, Peter⁴, Peter³, John², John¹) was born May 04, 1844 in Portlerane, Broome Co., New York. He married (1) Carrie Minturn. She was born June 08, 1851 in Locke, Cayuga Co., New York, and died July 1867 in Cortland, Cortland Co., New York. He married (2) Mary E. Root. He married (3) Catharine Shercliffe. He married (4) Florence M. Tallman.

Notes for Lucien Stephen Crandall: listed in JCC as #2313. It states - Note: Probate 6 Apr. 1909 Smyrna, N.Y. Mary E. Crandall, left all to her daughter, Abbie May Bachmann; only other heir Lucien S. Crandall, husband.

Lucien Stephen Crandall: He was an inventor of typewriters, adding machines and electrical devices. He was President of the Crandall (Crandell) Assoc. formed in the Hotel Astor in New York City. He was a private in Co. D 109th Inf.; three years in the Civil War; was in twelve major battles and came out unhurt. He also organized the Crandall Typewriting Co. in 1879. In 1875 he obtained the patent for a typewriter for the use of the blind. One of his patents is fundamental in the Remington Typewriters today. On his maternal side he is a descendant of General Warren, whose glorious acts have never faded from Bunker Hill.

The Crandall New Model is one of the most impressive machines in typewriter history, if only for its appearance. The machine was invented by Lucien Crandall, who patented his first typewriter invention in 1875. In 1879 he was granted a patent for a down strike type sleeve machine, much like the one that was finally introduced in 1884.

Detail from the 1879 technical specs of the Crandall
The New Model that appeared in 1886, and that is presented here, is one of the most elaborately decorated machines in typewriter history, apart from the very first Sholes & Glidden. (pic 6). Particularly notable is the use of mother of pearl.

The upright type sleeve was the first in its kind. The Crandall was the first typewriter using a single element type sleeve, that turned into position when a key was pressed, similar to the later Chicago and the much later and much simpler Mignon index typewriter.

The Crandall was quite a successful machine. The serial number of the machine presented here is 17705, and two later models were produced also. However, only very few Crandall's seem to have survived. The machine is very rare today.

The Crandall Typewriter was patented in 1881 by Lucien S. Crandall and manufactured by the Crandall Machine Company of Groton, New York. Ornately decorated with inlaid mother of pearl, Pennsylvania painted roses and gold scrollwork, the New Model Crandall was one of the most extravagantly decorated typewriters ever manufactured. The Crandall printed from a type sleeve, with inking being accomplished by a ribbon. It also used an unconventional two row keyboard with square key tops

Recently, one of our new members, Douglas E. Crandall (#174) of Williamsville, New York, contacted me and mentioned that one of Lucien's typewriters was at the Smithsonian Institute, and he has provided me with further information, forwarded to him by the Smithsonian, from a book by Michael H. Adler entitled The Writing Machine, which describes the Crandall Typewriter on pp 262-263.

"This was the first type-sleeve machine and was patented in 1879 (Great Britain) and 1881 (US) by Lucien Stephen Crandall; it was one of a number of instruments designed by this pioneer typewriter inventor. Manufacturer was the Crandall Machine Co. of Groton, N.Y. The type-sleeve had six circles of characters around it and was mounted obliquely horizontal on the first model and vertical on the two subsequent models. Depression of a key rotated it and moved it along its axis to select the corresponding letter, bringing it down to the platen and locking it by engaging a pin in a hole. Printing by ribbon ... "

Article by Berthold Kerschbaumer;
Collectors often call the Crandall, or more precisely the New Model Crandall, the most beautiful of all typewriters. This reputation is fully justified by the somewhat overdone yet elegant effect of the painted flowers with inlaid mother-of-pearl above the keyboard, the filigreed golden pinstripes, and the flower motifs that are found even on the back of the frame.

However, Lucien Stephen Crandall gave his name to several typewriters, and he was previously also involved in the development of other machines, such as the project to produce the Hammond design at the Remington factory, or later the International typewriter. The first device that bears Crandall's name was manufactured in 1881 in Syracuse; Ernst Martin calls it "the first American visible and practically useful typewriter." This three-bank machine with straight keyboard and a type cylinder located directly in front of the platen, with six rows of letters, is supposed to have been produced in fairly large quantities. But I am aware only of the specimen pictured at left, which is in the Smithsonian Institution. However, this machine already incorporates essential characteristics, such as the type cylinder and ribbon inking, that were also employed in subsequent designs.

The reworked design, called the New Model, came on the market in 1885, was produced in Groton, New York beginning in 1887, and was sold in Europe starting in 1886 by a subsidiary in Amsterdam. The most striking changes from the previous model can be recognized at first glance: the lightly curved, two-bank keyboard with 28 keys, and the type cylinder that stands straight up, with 6 rows of 14 characters each. The first specimens of this model were not yet decorated so elaborately with mother-of-pearl, and the key legends were enclosed in nickel frames.

The process of typing is described as follows by Friedrich Müller: "Each of the 28 key levers, with a fulcrum in the middle, has at its back end a penlike tip, which when the key is depressed engages one of the curved grooves in segment H. This causes the segment to turn, along with the axis of the arm A, which ends in the toothed arc F. In the course of this turning motion, the 14 teeth of arc F engage the lower portion of the type cylinder and turn the cylinder. The keys in the middle of the machine cause the cylinder to turn only a small distance, because the curve is then very small. The keys on the sides of the machine cause a significant turn in the cylinder, half of the arc F, and this corresponds to the distance that the tip of the type lever must travel in the curve of the segment." As contemporary critics already noticed, many parts of this mechanism are subjected to special abuse, such as the toothed segment H, which is not made of metal, and whose outer teeth are subjected to particular strain; the consequence of this is that the characters on the sides of the keyboard can be brought to the paper only with increased force, if at all. This may be the reason why in its time, the Crandall supposedly received more curses from its users than any other typewriter.

The type cylinder, which featured small holes in which pins were inserted for alignment upon typing, and which could easily be exchanged, was only a small consolation. The typist shifted to capitals with the "CAPS" key, which raised the type cylinder by two rows; the "F&P" key raised the cylinder by four rows, and was used for typing figures and punctuation. The lever between these two keys serves as a shift lock; by pushing it backwards, one can type in capitals only. One special feature is that the period and comma each have their own key, and can always be typed regardless of the shift. The ribbon mechanism always advances the ribbon from the loosened to the screwed-down spool.

A further development is the Universall Crandall No. 3 . This model came on the market in 1893, and was still built on the same principles as the New Model. It was now equipped with a straight, three-bank QWERTY keyboard, and in Model No. 4 it offered as a further innovation the possibility of a two-color ribbon. The elaborate decoration has yielded to a relatively sober design -- for the layman, the Universal Crandall looks rather less spectacular than the New Model, although the Universal is found much less often than its predecessor. The New Model was regularly advertised for years, even in Europe; for the Universal Crandall, I was able to find only one advertisement from 1899, which is at least an indication that it was sold in Europe as well as in the United States.

A further machine invented by L. S. Crandall and known by his name is the Improved Crandall of 1895. This design is completely different from the machines described above, and it is questionable whether it ever went into production.

I had to wait several years before "collector's luck" brought me a Crandall, but my joy over this exceptionally beautiful machine is just as great today as it was years ago. This is a typewriter that is well worth hunting down. Crandalls keep appearing in the collecting community and at various auctions. Two tendencies can be noticed in the general coloration of the flower motifs: one that tends more towards red, and another that tends towards blue. The machine pictured at the top of this page belongs to the second type.

 Children of Lucien Crandall and Mary Root listed in JCC on page #436 are:

14195 i. Abbie May CRANDALL, born 23 Dec 1872. She married ? Bachman. 14196

 ii. Carene CRANDALL, born 01 Feb 1890 in Pulaski, Pulaski Co., New York. 14197

 iii. Hazel M. CRANDALL, born 09 Apr 1894 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Crandall typewriter stamps – (Real, legal postage featuring a beautiful New Model Crandall of the 1880s!

"This was the first type-sleeve machine and was patented in 1879 (Great Britain) and 1881 (US) by Lucien Stephen Crandall; it was one of a number of instruments designed by this pioneer typewriter inventor. Manufacturer was the Crandall Machine Co. of Groton, N.Y. The type-sleeve had six circles of characters around it and was mounted obliquely horizontal on the first model and vertical on the two subsequent models. Depression of a key rotated it and moved it along its axis to select the corresponding letter, bringing it down to the platen and locking it by engaging a pin in a hole. Printing by ribbon ... "

Antique New Model Crandall typewriter, circa 1881, serial number 3272.  It has mother of pearl of inlay gold scrollwork.  It is in fair to good condition.  The case and typewriter ribbon is included and in good condition.  This typewriter was used in a village clerk’s office.  It is a wonderful piece of history.  (Sold for $4,494.44 on E-Bay April 22nd, 2006.)

The Crandall Visible No 4 was the last of the Crandall’s. The machine appeared with a red and black ribbon. It was sold under different names, as the Crandall 4, the Crandall Visible and the Crandall Visible 4. In 1906 this machine was apparently offered for sale in the Sears & Roebuck catalog.

This work is compiled from those earlier works of Ruth Elrod and Ron Rightley as well as additional research using sources such as the internet, biographies, burial records, census records, newspapers and other material. It is not complete and there could be some errors.  If you notice any record that need to be changed, please let me know. I have tried to include as many credits and references as available for each individuals contained within this work, with attention to burial and census records. The early records on Elder John Crandall are taken from the Crandall Family Genealogy by Earl P. Crandall.  Most of the reference numbers are the same as the index numbers used in the Crandall Family Genealogy.             

 Jack and Leatrice (Crandall) Jenkins (2006)

You may print one copy of this Book.  Please E-Mail after you have copied the book. lljjfj@aol.com