"An Illustrated History of Whitman County, state of Washington." San Francisco:
W. H. Lever, 1901.  p. 462.
 
JOHN FRANKLIN McCROSKEY

     Among the thrifty and prosperous agriculturists of the vicinity of
Oakesdale must be numbered the man whose name appears above.  He belongs to an
esteemed pioneer family, well known in this county and he is himself a worthy
representative of that honored household.  But to speak in more specific terms,
Mr. McCroskey is a native of east Tennessee, born January 9, 1860.  He spent
there the years of his early youth, acquiring his education in the local public
schools, and developing his physical manhood in the wholesome and invigorating
discipline of farm work.  In 1879 he accompanied the remainder of the family to
the west. They remained in California a short time, but before the year was over
made their way to Whitman county, where they have ever since lived. The father
located on land eight miles north of Colfax, but the son, with whom this article
is primarily concerned, took land three miles northwest of Oakesdale. During the
years 1881, '2 and '3, he was engaged principally in railroad contracting, but
in 1884 he engaged energetically and assiduously in the effort to subdue his
homestead, develop its natural fertility, and establish there a comfortable
dwelling place. As time went by and he became able, he increased the acreage of
his farm until he now has three-quarters of a section.  He has good substantial
buildings and other improvements which add very materially to the value of his
land, and about the premises is a healthy air of thrift, such as characterizes
the abode of enterprising and successful farmers.
      In religion Mr. McCroskey is a member of the Presbyterian church.   In
Olympia, Washington, on December 25, 1899, he married Virginia Avery Bushnell, a
teacher in the Spokane city schools.
 

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Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in August 2008 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.