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The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

CROGHAN, GEORGE - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

CROGHAN, GEORGE (1720-31 Aug. 1782) was a frontiersman, trader, and Indian agent who was born in Ireland and came to Pennsylvania in 1741. He served as a captain under Gen. Braddock, and later as Sir Wm. Johnson's deputy superintendent of Indian affairs. Before the French & Indian War (1754-63), Croghan established trading posts throughout the upper Ohio country in the present states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. When not representing his own interests, he served those of the British, often facilitating negotiations with the Indians that opposed them to the French. Croghan is significant in Cleveland's history as the first identifiable white man to maintain a trading post at the mouth of the CUYAHOGA RIVER. He visited there periodically between 1745-48. Little is known of Croghan's private life. He had one white daughter, Susannah, and later was said to have fathered children with a Mohawk Indian woman. Croghan, an Episcopalian, died in Passyunk, Pennsylvania.


Volwiler, A.T. George Croghan and the Westward Movement, 1741-1782 (1926).

Last Modified: 15 Jul 1997 01:05:57 PM

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