JOHN ARCHIE CROSIER – The practical everyday history and proceedings of the district court of Hampshire County is the field of activity in which Mr. Crosier has been engaged as clerk since 1904, and during which period he has been a witness of the many remarkable changes that have taken place in the legal personnel and procedure. The most familiar leading figure in this long-established court, and one of the most erudite men in the profession as regards the local judicial customs and usages, Mr. Crosier is an official held in regard and honor in county and State by his colleagues and by the public in general. Industry, patriotism, and probity in all their business and social affairs have marked the generations of his family, whose early scions had much to do with establishing and with preserving the national fabric. The line of descent from the early comers is thus set forth:
(I) Joseph Crosier was the immigrant ancestor; he is recorded as having resided in Dorchester, Roxbury and Dedham.
(II) Lieutenant John Crosier, his son, who lived in the vicinity of Boston and was a blacksmith by trade, was born in 1750. He responded to the Lexington “Alarm” April 15, 1775, and was a lieutenant under Washington in the War of the Revolution. In 1788 he removed to Peru, Massachusetts, where he became one of the early settlers, and was a man of considerable prominence. Later he migrated to Euclid, Ohio, and he was also one of the pioneer settlers of that State, where he died May 2, 1823, aged seventy-three years. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married, in 1775, Fannie Whiting, of Dedham, born in 1753, daughter of Joseph and Lucy (Fisk) Whiting, and they were the parents of: John, of whom further; Joseph; Jason; Andrew; Paul; and Lucy.
(III) John Crosier was born in 1778 and died in 1859. He married Susan Randall, who was born in 1778, and died December 8, 1843. They had one son, John, of whom further, and six daughters.
(III) John Whiting Crosier was born in 1812, in Peru, and he died there in 1868. He was a farmer. He married (first) Emily Smith. by whom he had one son, Leavett E., of whom further. He married (second) Julia Booth, and had one son, George, of Dalton, and four daughters.
(IV) Leavett E. Crosier was born in 1837, in Peru, and died in September, 1921, in Northfield. A carpenter by trade, and a contractor and builder, he removed to Northampton, where the years of his greatest activity were spent. Here he built many residences, and he erected some of the buildings in Mount Holyoke. The last years of his life were spent in Northfield with his son, Homer H., where he died at the age of eightyfour years. He was a quiet, retiring, home-loving man; and he was a prominent member of the Congregational Church. He married Agnes W. Gibson, who was born in Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and she died in Hadley, in 1901, aged sixty-three years, daughter of Rev. Hugh and Grace (Hamilton) Gibson. Rev. Hugh Gibson was one of the first pastors of the Brooklyn (New York) Tabernacle. Grace (Hamilton) Gibson was a direct descendant of the Duke of Hamilton. The children of Leavett E. Crosier and Agnes W. (Gibson) Crosier: Homer H.. of Northfield; Louis E., of Hadley; John Archie, of whom further.
(V) John Archie Crosier was born October 24, 1877, in Northampton, and he was graduated at Hopkins Academy, at Hadley, with the class of 1895. For two and a half years he was employed as a carpenter and painter; he then turned his attention to the law, and becoming associated with the office of judge John W. Mason, at Northampton, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1901; and he practiced law with Judge Mason from that date to 1904. Mr. Crosier was then appointed clerk of the District Court of Hampshire County, which office he has held continuously since. His fraternal affiliations are with Jerusalem Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; the Royal Arch Chapter; William Parsons Council, Royal and Select Masters; Northampton Commandery, Knights Templar; and he has taken sixteen degrees in the Consistory of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; he is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. His religious faith is that of a Christian Scientist.
John A. Crosier married, May 25, 1904, Helen E. Smith, daughter of George T. and Lucy (Cornwell) Smith. They have one son, John Archibald Hamilton Crosier, who was born April 30, 1905; he attended the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, taking the course in chemical engineering.