George Croghan - American Revolution

American Revolution

Croghan chaired Pittsburgh's Committee of Correspondence formed in May 1775 after the battles of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. The following month he was hosting an Indian conference to ratify Dunmore's treaty of peace when Connolly was arrested by Pennsylvanians and carried off to prison at Hannastown. Croghan and his committee objected, and Connolly was released. He later joined Lord Dunmore and other Loyalists aboard a British man-of-war and "dream of returning to Pittsburgh at the head of invincible British legions."

On July 10, 1775 Croghan purchased 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km2) between the Allegheny and Beaver rivers from the Six Nations. Two days later, Congress established an Indian Department with the trader Richard Butler as its Pittsburgh agent. When Butler retired in April, 1776, Croghan lobbied for his position, but George Morgan was chosen as Indian agent and he "had absolutely no use for Croghan."

During the summer of 1777, Croghan visited Williamsburg at the expense of the Gratz brothers, to obtain a clear title to land he had sold them. After conferring with Governor Patrick Henry about frontier defenses, he returned to Pittsburgh with dispatches for General Edward Hand, who greeted him with suspicion. A Loyalist conspiracy had been uncovered. Colonel George Morgan, the Indian agent, Alexander McKee; Simon Girty, and others were under arrest. General Hand examined Thomas Smallman's papers and although there was nothing to indicate Croghan was disloyal, Hand ordered him to go to Philadelphia. Two weeks after his arrival, the city was captured by the British. Croghan, too ill with gout to escape, was hauled before General Howe and castigated for chairing Pittsburgh's Committee of Safety and keeping the Lake Indians neutral. Ordered to take lodgings in town, where he was kept under constant supervision by two British officers, Croghan learned that his Monckton Hall was burnt after the battle of Germantown, "another severe financial blow."

When the British evacuated Philadelphia in June 1778, they left Croghan behind on parole. Returning Pennsylvania officials accused him of collaborating with the enemy, but Croghan cleared himself in a November 12, 1778 trial. General Hand refused to let him return to Croghan Hall in western Pennsylvania, and Croghan spent the next two winters in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In an effort to pay off debts, Croghan mortgaged Croghan Hall to Joseph Simon. He deeded 74,000 acres (300 km2) of his Indian grant to the Gratzes, who paid his bills and financed another trip to Williamsburg to have his Indian titles recognized, without success. Bedridden with gout upon his return, Croghan wrote few letters to family and friends. In May 1780, he returned to Philadelphia, where he learned his western properties were within the boundaries of the new state of Pennsylvania.

Croghan died at his home in Passyunk Township, on August 31, 1782. By then he was such an obscure figure that his death was not reported in newspapers. He was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. The marker on his grave was deteriorated by the elements, and the location was unmarked for many years. In 2008, the Sons of the American Revolution added a new marker.