Background
John Crane was born on December 07, 1744 at Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of Abijah Crane and Sarah Beverly.
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John Crane
Edit ProfileEducation
Crane entered into his profession of soldiering at an early age. At the time of the French and Indian War, although only fifteen years of age, he offered to serve in place of his father who had been drafted by the Massachusetts provincial government and was in poor health. On his return from the war, he learned the trade of housewright.
About 1762 he helped to set out a famous row of elm trees opposite the Granary Burying-ground, Boston. In 1767 he and his brother purchased a house and shop on what is now Tremont St. , near Hollis. In the years following the passage of the Stamp Act, Crane was identified with the Sons of Liberty. At his shop some of the men who staged the Boston Tea Party disguised themselves as Indians and set out for Griffin’s Wharf, Crane among them. As he was down in the hold of one of the ships, a chest of tea fell upon him and knocked him senseless. His companions believing him to be dead concealed him under a heap of shavings in a near-by carpenter shop, but thanks to a sturdy constitution he recovered. In 1774 owing to the paralysis of trade produced by the Boston Port Bill, he removed to Providence.
He had already acquired some knowledge of gunnery when, as a resident of Boston, he had joined a train of artillery composed of mechanics and commanded by Major Adino Paddock. On the arrival of the news of the battle of Lexington, he was made captain of the train attached to the Rhode Island “army of observation. ”
Marching to Boston, he joined Gridley’s regiment of artillery, and thenceforth saw almost continuous service. During the siege of Boston, he was in charge of a breastwork on the Neck and on July 8, 1775 attacked and routed a British advance post. He also participated in several skirmishes on islands in the harbor. On December 10, 1775 he was commissioned major in Knox’s regiment of artillery and later accompanied the army to New York. He was disabled for a time by a wound in the foot received in September 1776 at Corlear’s Hook while he was bornbarding a British man-of-war.
On January 1, 1777 he was commissioned colonel and proceeded to raise a regiment in Massachusetts, the 3rd Continental Artillery. Detachments of it were present under Sullivan in the Rhode Island campaign—where Crane’s services evoked honorable mention in the dispatches—under Gates at Saratoga, and in the defense of Red Bank. On September 30, 1783 Crane was brevetted brigadier-general. After the war he went into the lumber business on Passamaquoddy Bay, but, the venture not proving successful, he removed to Whiting, Maine, where he had been given a grant of 200 acres for his military services by the legislature of Massachusetts. He was appointed judge of the court of common pleas by Governor Hancock in 1790.
Career
John Crane was highly respected for his service during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. He was noted for his energy, courage, and coolness in the presence of danger. He fought with distinction in the battles of Brunker Hill, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth.
Membership
Crane was an Original Member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati.
Connections
In 1767 Crane married Mehitable Wheeler.
References
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Born
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Died
August 21, 1805 (aged 61) -
Nationality
American