Oscar J. Crozier (b. circa 1844 - d. 1915)
MSA SC 5496-51755
USCT Soldier, Kent County, Maryland
Biography:
Note: These are excerpts from the biographies on Oscar J. Crozier's life. Two extensive biographies written by Washington College students are accessible on this page. Please consult the attached essays for a more complete and descriptive case study.
Oscar James Crozier was born around 1844 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Robert and Susan Crozier, the younger brother of Miriam and older brother of Albert.1 Although his father was described as black, Crozier himself, as well as his mother and siblings, were described as mulatto.2 Crozier had black hair and dark eyes, and was about 5'6” as an adult.3 Crozier, had been born free; although certainly not affluent, he had held a steady job, lived in a stable home with his family, who were also free, and been surrounded by a community of other free blacks like him. As a young man, Crozier spent the nine months before his enlistment working about seven blocks away from his home as a hostler at the William Penn Hotel, a lower middle class establishment in the 300 block of Market Street, which at that time was known for its small businesses.4
Crozier enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts on the rendezvous date of February 21 a scant fourteen days after recruiting opened.5 Crozier enlisted for a 3-year term at the rank of Private in Company B, and was assigned as a bugler to the Drum Corps.6 Crozier's service in the 54th exposed Crozier to a diverse sample of his fellow African-Americans, many of whom—for example, former slaves—he would likely not have met in the free black community of Philadelphia. Notably, Frederick Douglass' sons Charles and Lewis served in the 54th as well.7 Shortly after his enlistment into the 54th Massachusetts, Crozier was promoted to Corporal, a non-commissioned rank in a regiment in which African-Americans could not hold commissions and so represents a substantial leap in the army hierarchy for him.
Although, every soldier, enlisted and officer, was aware of what might befall him if he should fall into enemy hands, the 54th began its southern trek on May 28, 1863, when it was ordered to South Carolina.8 Once they finally reached the south, Crozier and the 54th faced yet more challenges. Rather than being sent immediately to the front lines to act, as they had been trained, as soldiers, they were assigned to discriminatory, menial duties such as “constructing fortifications, digging trenches, and loading and unloading wagons and ships...cleaning latrines and ship bunkers.”9 Following training, the 54th Massachusetts was deployed to the South, to initially Georgia, where they were involved in the torching of the Georgian town of Darien, before being redeployed to South Carolina to face the regiment’s most famous involvement: the siege of Fort Wagner.10
It is not until 1864 that there is a definitive military record left by Oscar J. Crozier, with there being evidence of an injury received at the Battle of Olustee, Florida, to the left eye.11 Crozier, following the Battle of Olustee and his wound, which led to the loss of sight in his left eye, would subsequently receive a wound to the back in the course of duty in July of that year: both of these would be mentioned in his pension application as justifying his application with the wounds precluding him from working.12 The Battle of Honey Hill was the last engagement in which Crozier is recorded as having engaged in: it is believed that he spent the remainder of the war on garrison duty in South Carolina before being mustered out, sent to Boston where they received their final payment and disbanded in August 1865.13
After the war, in 1867, Crozier's fortunes took a drastic turn for the worse. On the evening of Saturday, January 25, Crozier went—drunk—to the house of Amanda Minton, with whom he was romantically involved and possibly living with.14 The two began to argue, and Crozier started beating Minton, at which point Minton's mother rushed him and demanded he leave the house. Instead, Crozier stabbed Minton twice with a pocket knife, once in the lower abdomen and once in the side under her left arm. Minton was well enough to go upstairs, at which point Oscar helped her mother and her friend dress her the wounds. Crozier stayed at the house that night, as well as all of Sunday and Monday; although Minton was able to speak to a friend on Monday evening without giving any indication she was dying, she must have worsened quickly as the night went on, as Crozier felt the need to go for a doctor.15 At this point, Crozier was arrested, and Minton presumably was taken to the hospital, as she was still alive at the time of the arrest.16 She died that Saturday, January 26, a week after she had been stabbed.17 Crozier was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 10 years in the Eastern State Penitentiary, which was only 3 miles away from his Lombard Street home.18
Regardless of the exact date of his release, Crozier left Pennsylvania quickly after he became a free man again. Crozier was certainly living in Quaker Neck, Kent County, Maryland around 1876, with a man named Mr. Watts, although no explanation is known for why he chose to move south, or how he was connected to his housemate.19 By 1900, Crozier had moved from Quaker Neck into Chestertown and had married, marrying a Mary E. Harris in 1895.20 Crozier lived on East Front Street as part of a small African-American community located on Front Street, what is now Water Street, in Chestertown.
Into this tense social atmosphere stepped the Charles Sumner Post #25 of the Grand Army of the Republic, a national organization for veterans of the Civil War. Across the country, the G.A.R. was a powerful force, successfully campaigning in the late 1800s for improvement of the pension system.21 Common membership in the post provided these veterans with a mutual support system, and members developed close friendships with each other. Crozier, for example, was was an affiant to Hamilton Frisby's 1909 pension application, even though Frisby—who served in the 9th USCT—was not in his regiment.22 Crozier himself was supported by G. W. Thomas Carmichael, a veteran of the 9th USCT, in Crozier's 1897 application for a pension.23 Oscar himself became post-commander of the Charles Sumner post in 1904 when there were twenty members of the post. The fact that he was promoted to what was a relatively large post of the G.A.R. by the standards of rural towns suggests that Oscar had become well-established in the town and was trusted sufficiently by his community to become what would have been an important leader of his community.24
In his last years, Crozier suffered from rheumatism that caused “pain of motion in all joints, very severe in the hips;” he was also blind in one eye (which he attested to the wound gained at Olustee), and suffered intense pain from atrophied muscles in his back.25 Interestingly, this back pain was evident as early as 1897, when a medical examination found Crozier had “cupping scars” covering the lumbar region.26 Cupping, an ancient Chinese medicinal practice, involved using a flame to create a vacuum in a small glass cup that was then placed against the skin.27 Regardless of the source of an attempted treatment, Crozier certainly was in ill health in the last years of his life, and he passed away at 5:55 A.M. on May 1, 1915, at the age of 71, due to “cardiac asthma.”28 He left his widow, Mary, who was 45 years old; his adopted daughter, Sarah, who was 25; and Sarah's grandchildren, who were between the ages of 9 and 2.
For extended biographies written and shared by Washington College students enrolled in the course "Chestertown's America" HIST 394, Spring 2013, taught by Adam Goodheart, please follow these links:
"Oscar James Crozier: Veteran, Convict, Family Man, Human" by Rachel Brown
1. Year: 1850; Census Place: Philadelphia Middle Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M432_814; Page: 38A; Image:81.
2. Ibid.11. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. Oscar J. Crozier. Page 14.
12. Ibid.Written and Researched by Rachel Brown and Jamie Mansbridge, 2013.
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