HISTORY OF MITCHELL AND WORTH COUNTIES, IOWA, VOL. II, 1918, page 454

Business activity at Hanlontown finds a worthy representative in Warren A. Crosby, whose keen sagacity and enterprise have constituted important features in the up building of a large trade in his chosen line, resulting in the attainment of a substantial measure of success. Mr. Crosby comes to Iowa from New England. He was born in Watertown Massachusetts, on the 30th of June, 1843, his parents being Albert and Nancy J. (Boynton) Crosby. The original American ancestor of the family came from England early in the seventeenth century, settling in Billerica, Massachusetts, about seventeen miles from Boston and eight miles from Lowell. The Boyntons settled in New Hampshire. Members of the Crosby family took part in the Revolutionary war and one of the representatives of the name served at one time as governor of Maine. In the maternal line the ancestry is traced back to the Mayflower, one of the Boyntons having crossed the Atlantic on that historic little vessel, while another member of the family served as an aide on the staff of General Washington and it was otherwise represented in the war for independence, so that in both the paternal and maternal lines Warren A. Crosby is eligible to membership with the Sons of the American Revolution.

Warren A. Crosby acquired his education in the public schools. At the age of sixteen years he took up the study of pharmacy by entering a drug store in Lowell, where he gained practical experience as well as technical knowledge. There he remained for five years, completing his apprenticeship and becoming recognized as an expert pharmacist. In 1864 he went to Boston and was employed as a pharmacist there for four or five years. About 1869 he made his way westward to Rock Island, Illinois, where lived his uncle, Thomas M. Hooper, and from there went to Nevada, making his way into the mountains, where he prospected for gold and silver. He spent three years there and during that time was justice of the peace, was also mining recorder and acted as family physician for the scattered settlers over a radius of a hundred miles. In the outdoor life he regained his health, and in 1872 he retraced his steps eastward as far as Mason City, Iowa, where he became identified with the drug trade in partnership with an uncle, Del Thompson, with whom he was associated for between ten and fifteen years. On leaving Mason City he removed to Kansas, where he was employed as a pharmacist for sixteen years. In the spring of 1909 he went to Joice, Iowa, where he became established in business on his own account. He continued at Joice for six years and in October, 1915, purchased his present drug store in Hanlontown and in the following November removed to Hanlontown to take charge of the business.

On the 5th of January, 1876, Mr. Crosby was united in marriage to Miss Ada L. Eaton, a direct descendant of John and Abigail Eaton, who set sail on the Elizabeth and Ann, an English vessel bound for New England, on the 27th of April, 1635. They took up their abode in Dedham, Massachusetts, and their descendants have lived in New England through many generations, members of the family participating in the Revolutionary war. I

n politics Mr. Crosby is a republican. He belongs to Benevolence Lodge, No. 145, A. F. & A. M., of Mason City, Iowa. He is a loyal follower of the craft and of its teachings, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit upon which the order is founded. County, his progressive efforts and laudable ambition bringing him to the position which he occupies as a leading merchant at the present time.

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Transcribed by Gordon Felland - July 2005