58 [Assembly 



membership, which was continued to the close of his life, require 

 at our hands at least the tribute of a passing notice. 



Col. Crolius was a native of the city of New-York, descended 

 from German ancestors, who settled here one hundred and fifty 

 years since. His grandfather established the first stone- ware 

 manufactory in the United States, and his descendants have con- 

 tinued the business, with much credit, to the present time. 



During our Revolutionary war, the father of Col. Crolius, a deci- 

 ded whig, was compelled to leave the city after the defeat of the 

 American troops on Long Island, when Sir William Howe took 

 possession of the city of New- York. His property fell into the 

 hands of the British, and did not come into possession of the 

 family again until the peace of 1783. The two elder brothers 

 of Col. Crolius took part in the Revolutionary war ; one in the 

 commissary department, the other as a volunteer, was in the bat- 

 tles of Brooklyn, White Plains, and Monmouth. On the day of 

 the last battle he attached himself to the company of his friend. 

 Captain John Van Dyke, in Colonel Lamb's regiment of artillery, 

 which regiment bore its full share of the brunt of the battle. 

 This was John Crolius, who died a few years since, having reached 

 the age of eighty years. 



It will readily be perceived that our friend Colonel Crolius, 

 born of whig parents and nurtured amidst the trying scenes of 

 the Revolution, could not be otherwise than deeply imbued with 

 the principles of Republicanism. He commenced his career in 

 political life at the time our country became divided between 

 federalism and democracy. Although some portion of his 

 family adhered to the views of the former, he early avowed his 

 predilections for the latter, which he supported with great energy 

 and devotion. He was elected a member of the common council 

 from the sixth ward, in which he was born, about the commence- 

 ment of the present century, and at the time of his demise wa8 

 the oldest ex-member of our city commonalty. In 1803 he offi- 

 ciated at the laying of the corner stone of the City Hall in the 

 Park, then called the Fields, and was the last surviving member 

 of the common council that performed that ceremony; he was a 



