Early Life and Career
Little is known of Croghan's early life, including the names of his parents He was born in Ireland, around 1718. The best evidence for Croghan's age is found in the Filius Gallicae letters written early in 1756 by an anonymous author. He claimed to be nearly 38 years old, as part of an attempt to cast suspicion on Croghan. His father apparently died young and Croghan's mother married Thomas Ward.
Croghan emigrated from Ireland to the province of Pennsylvania in 1741; his mother and her family, including his half-brother Edward Ward, also emigrated to the colonies. Relatives remaining in Dublin included Nicholas Croghan (likely a brother of George) a Dublin merchant; their cousin Thomas Smallman's mother; and their paternal grandfather Edmund Croghan. George later claimed Edmund Croghan's land in Ireland by inheritance. (Robert G. Crist concludes that, given the Gaelic origins of the surname, it was most likely pronounced “Crone.”)
Within a few years after arriving in the British colonies, Croghan became one of Pennsylvania's leading fur traders. A key to his success was establishing trading posts in Native American villages, as the French traders did. At the time, the usual British practice was to wait for the Indians to come to a trading post they set up for their own convenience, in major crossroads. He learned at least two Native languages, Delaware (an Algonquian language) and probably Mohawk (an Iroquoian language), which were spoken by the two major groups of people in the region.
During this time, Croghan's primary business partner was William Trent, a trader. The son of the founder of Trenton, New Jersey, he likely supplied the capital to set up their trading. Their partnership was temporarily suspended when Trent joined the military to serve in King George's War (1744–48). The two men bought property on Conedogwinet Creek in present-day Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Croghan developed a plantation there which served as his home and base of operations from about 1745 until 1751.
Read more about this topic: George Croghan
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