John Cropper, soldier, was born in Virginia in 1756. Almost a boy at the opening of the struggle of the colonies with the mother-country, and filled with patriotic ardor, he joined the revolutionary forces of 1775, as captain of the 9th Virginia regiment. He was promoted to be major of the 5th, which he lead with great gallantry in the battle of Brandywine under heavy losses, and as colonel of the 7th, he took part in the battles of Germantown and Monmouth. He was made lieutenant colonel of the 11th regiment, May 15, 1778, and subsequently its colonel. He died at Bowman's Folly, Virginia, January 15, 1821.

[From National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, v. 2, p. 189]

The John Cropper correspondence consists of 18 letters written by John Cropper to Marget Cropper, his wife, and George Abbot, as well as letters received by him from George Corbin, his uncle, or other individuals. The letters deal with domestic issues of his family life as well as glimpses of the war effort during the Revolutionary War.

These letters were given to the Rare Book Room of Smith College Libraries in memory of John Spencer Bassett by Josephine Whitney Nixon (Smith College Class of 1909) through her daughter, Elizabeth Nixon Roseberry (Smith College Class of 1935) in June 1953. The letters had been preserved by Mrs. Nixon's grandmother, Emma Hopkins Stevenson. There is no known relationship to any of the Cropper family.

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

John Cropper Correspondence, Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College.

Processed by Melvin Carlson, Jr., 2006