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Draft:Thomas Crane (1803-1875)

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Thomas Crane (October 18, 1803 – April 1, 1875) was an American businessman whose family funded the building of Thomas Crane Public Library for the town of Quincy, Massachusetts as a memorial to him after his death. He was an original Trustee of Crane Theological School at Tufts University, which was eventually named after him in 1906 after the school received donations from his family in his name.

Early life

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Thomas Crane was born on George’s Island in Boston Harbor on October 18, 1803 to Sarah Baxter Crane (1771-1824) and Thomas Crane (1771-1818)[1]. He was the third of six children. In 1810, the family relocated to Quincy Point and Thomas spent his childhood in Quincy.  He walked to school in Quincy Center and on Sundays would walk to the Universalist Church in Boston. His father died when Thomas was a teenager so he began working in the granite quarries and learning the stone trade.[2]

In 1829, Thomas followed the footsteps of his brother Joseph and moved to New York City to continue working in granite. Thomas joined a co-operative with other stonecutter journeymen and eventually bought the entire yard. The 1835 Great Fire of New York caused extensive damage to the city, and Thomas was able to build his fortune supplying granite to those rebuilding the city. Thomas expanded his fortune by buying land in Manhattan, and also worked in the fields of banking, insurance, and street railways.[1][1]

Personal life

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Family

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Thomas married Sophia Sarah Munn of Gill, Massachusetts in 1832 but she died a short while later of cholera on August 15, 1834.[3] [1]In 1936, Thomas married Clarissa Starkey of Troy, New Hampshire and they had eight children.[1][4]

  • Thomas (1837-1875)
  • Benjamin Franklin (1841-1889)
  • Albert (1842-1918)
  • Frances Adelaide (1846-1849)
  • Sophia Angela (1847-1852)
  • Henry Clay (1850-1869)
  • Ada Augusta (1852-1855)
  • Ella Florence (1856-1857)

Although he was never a permanent resident of Quincy as an adult, Thomas often vacationed there during summers and stayed connected to the community.  His main residence was in Stamford, Connecticut at an estate called Rock Acre.[1]

Personal beliefs

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Thomas was a faithful member of the Universalist Church and a close friend of Universalist minister Thomas Jefferson Sawyer of the Orchard Street Universalist Church. Both Thomas Crane and Thomas Sawyer became involved in Tufts College, Sawyer as the first Dean of the Divinity School and Crane serving as a Trustee from its founding until his death.[1] In 1910, he Divinity School was renamed to the Crane Theological School after a donation from Albert Crane in his father's memory.[5]

According to the address given by Charles Francis Adams, Jr. at the dedication ceremonies of Thomas Crane Public Library, Thomas was greatly influenced by Horace Greeley and the New-York Tribune, and therefore had political leanings aligned with the Whigs. This claim was made by Adams as he noted that Thomas named one of his sons after Henry Clay. Thomas was not deeply involved with politics as he focused more on business.[1]

Death

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Thomas Crane died at his home in New York City on April 1, 1875. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Greenwood Heights, New York.[6] In 1880, his remaining family approached the town of Quincy to dedicate a memorial hall or building in memory of Thomas Crane, and that resulted in the Thomas Crane Public Library.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Adams, Charles Francis, Jr. (May 30, 1882). Address of Charles Francis Adams, Jr. : and proceedings at the dedication of the Crane Memorial Hall, at Quincy, Mass., May 30, 1882. Cambridge, Massachusetts: J. Wilson (published 1883). pp. 3–25.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Hill, L. Draper, Jr. (1962). The Crane Library. Quincy, Massachusetts: Trustees of the Thomas Crane Public Library. pp. 15–17.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Died". The Recorder (Greenfield, Massachusetts). August 26, 1834. p. 2. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  4. ^ Crane, Clarissa Starkey (1931). Albert Crane, 1842-1918. Genealogical and Biographical Records of American Families.
  5. ^ Schaff, Philip (May 1908). The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Vol. 11. Funk & Wagnalls. p. 393.
  6. ^ "Thomas Crane (1803-1875)". Find A Grave. Retrieved September 9, 2025.


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