Benjamin F. CROASDALE, merchant doing business at Little Sioux, will form the subject of this sketch. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Bucks County March 4, 1837, and is the son of Benjamin and Agnes (HARDING) CROASDALE, both deceased. They were also natives of the Keystone State of English descent, who came to America with William PENN. Our subject”s early life was spent in Pennsylvania, where he received his education in his native county and at West Chester, Pa. He taught school in 1856 in Bucks County, continuing for one year, then spent two years in a lumber office.
He enlisted May 20, 1861, the month after the breaking out of the Civil War, becoming a member of Company C, Third Pennsylvania Reserves, in the Army of the Potomac. He was at the seven days” fight in front of Richmond, Bull Run, South Mountain, and at Antietam, where he was wounded, placed in the hospital, and discharges for disability. June 25, 1863, he returned to Pennsylvania, remained until 1865, and then came to Council Bluffs, where he was engaged as a clerk in a store until the fall of 1866, and then came to Little Sioux and clerked for J. B. TABOR for two years, after which he went into business for himself and continued until 1887. In the fall of that year he was elected Auditor of Harrison County at a closely contested election, in which he received a majority of forty-five over W. H. WOOD, of Logan. He served in this capacity for two years, to the satisfaction of the whole county.
He was married June 1, 1872, at Little Sioux, to Miss Alice E. HALE, daughter of R. C. and S. (BASSET) HALE. The father died in 1868; he came from Erie County, N. Y., in 1857.
Mr. and Mrs. CROASDALE are the parents of two children–Inez, aged fifteen years, and Clara, aged eight years.
Mr. and Mrs. CROASDALE are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he belongs to both the Masonic Lodge and Grand Army of the Republic. Politically, he is a Republican.
Upon coming to the county our subject was a poor man, having a very small capital, but gradually advancing, by his own efforts, he is now comfortably situated.
Currently a resident of Burke, Virginia - I'm originally from the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I have been a student of the Pennsylvania Reserves since 1997 and thoroughly enjoy telling their story. By trade I'm a former IT Professional but presently working as a Letter Carrier for the United States Postal Service.
