Croco, Peter Calvin

The following data is extracted from A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans.

Peter Calvin Croco. With the exception of several years spent in Missouri, Peter Calvin Croco had been a resident of Kansas since 1876, and as he had carried on operations in most every part of the state few men are better informed as to agricultural conditions here. At the present time he is the owner of a good property in Tecumsch Township, Shawnee County, which he is cultivating along modern lines, and on which he had up-to-date improvements that make the farm of 155 acres a model which many agriculturists might copy.

Mr. Croco was born in Holmes County, Ohio, May 17, 1853, and belongs to a family which had a most interesting history. His great-grandfather, Peter Croco, was born about 1750, in Poland, and in his young manbood joined the Polish army, where he recalved a strict and thorough military training. Later, he joined the army of Frederick the Great, king of Prunsia and after a few years of service onlisted in the English army, with which he came to America to fight against the Colonists. It was not long, however, before the principles for which the forces of Washington were fighting became known to him and he transferred his allegiance to the patriot army, with which he served bravely during the rest of the struggle. He joined the army of the American commander-in-chier just prior to the battle of Brandywine, in which he was wounded. After the close of the war he located a government elaim just south of Pittsburgh, on which he resided for some years and which is still in the family name and possession. He was there engaged in farming during the remainder of his life and there died. Among his children was Peter Croco, the grandfather of Peter Calvin, of whom little is known save that he was a farmer for some years in Holmes County.

John Croco, the father of Peter Calvin Croco, was born in 1820, in Holmes County, Ohio, and was reared as a farmer, a vocation which he followed throughout his life. Previous to the Civil war he was an ardent anti-slavery man and an active conductor in the service of the Underground Railroad, and his son still remembers having seen many strange black men and boys hiding in the neighborhood on their way to Canada and freedom. The slavery sympathizers, learning of his activities in this direction, threatened him with death, and finally, after he had evaded several mobs, he was finally captured, overpowered and his skull crushed. Four surgeons proved his wound a fatal one, but he was a very powerful man, with a wonderful constitution and physique, and, after a gold plate had been placed over his brain, he fully recovered. He sent a substitute to the Union army during the Civil war.

Mr. Croco was not a college-bred man, but was well educated and versed upon all matters of importance. He had a most wonderful memory, and his son contends that he had more geographical knowledge than any other man he had known, having never failed once in his life to correctly answer questions asked him. In his personal conduct he was almost puritanical, and never failed to have family worship whatever the conditions might be. He was a man highly esteemed by his neighbors, and, although very firm, was possessed of a sweet temper. During a life of industry and good management he ascumulated considerable means, of which he gave generously to charitable movements, and contributed $500 to his local church and $500 to Wooster College. In 1880 he left Ohio for Kansas and here passed the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1902 at the home of his daughter at Sterling, Rice County. In 1842, in Holmes County, Ohio, Mr. Croco was married to Miss Barbara Bair, of that county, and they became the parents of eight daughters and three sons, namely: Martha, Anna, Mary, Rebecca, Barbara, Melancthon, Peter, Sarah, Susan, Emma and John.

Peter Calvin Croco was reared in Holmes County, Ohio, where he received a public school education, but as a young man moved to Franklin County, in the same state. Next, he returned to Holmes County for one year, and in 1876 came to the West, locating in Cowley County, Kansas. During his career, Mr. Croco had made twenty-nine moves. From Cowley County, where he lived four miles southwest of Winfield, he moved to the county seat itself, and spent four years there, his next move being to Rice County, where he spent one year. He then lived for a time in Clinton County, Missouri, and in Jackson County, that state, for two years, when he returned to Kansas and lived at Olathe for two years and northeast of that place on a farm for eight years. From that property he went to Thomas County, Kansas, then to Oakland, Shawnee County, and later to a farm in Tecumsch Township, on the East Sixth Street road. Later Mr. Croco went to Topeka for two years, but eventually returned to the farm in Tecumseh Township, where he now makes his home.

Mr. Croco is one of his communlty's publicspirited citizens as well as good farmers. He faithfully supports movements for the welfare and advancement of his township and county and through intergrity and honorable dealing had won the respect and confldence of his fellow-citizens. In politles he is a republican. He had been a member of the Presbyterian Church since he was 17 years old.

Source: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans

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