08/03/2026
There are 18 members of the Crossett family buried at Oak Ridge. One would think there would be an abundance of information, news stories, and interesting facts “out there” to discover about some of their members, but after many hours of digging, the results were thin. All we found was one photo, a mention of their family in the 1910 History of Rice County book, 2 obituaries, and some minor mentions in the old papers, usually about social visits.
Still, we did learn how some of their close-by “neighbors” in Section D are connected to them through marriage, such as the Sheffields, Tupper, Seagraves, and Sime families. These families bought numerous “6-gravesite lots” near each other for $10 each in the early days which turned out was rather smart.
The Crossett family line started with the arrival of Samuel and Eunice Crossett to the area around 1867. At that time Samuel was already 70 and Eunice 62. They came with 4 of their 5 adult children and their spouses. Most farmed near Medford, Walcott and Cannon City.
Son Hobart Henry Crossett was the most noted family member in the 1910 History book:
“Hobart Henry Crossett , retired farmer, living on First Street, in Faribault, was born in Enosburg, Franklin County, Vermont, December 4, 1836. He received his earlier education in the schools of his native state, came to Wisconsin as a youth, farmed with his parents for a time, and in 1867 took up farming for himself near Owatonna.
From 1879 to 1888 he engaged in farming in Walcott township, Rice County, and then went to Mower county, remaining until 1904, when he purchased a farm in Cannon City township. One year later he retired. Mr. Crossett is an estimable citizen in every respect and has done his share in promoting the agricultural interests of southern Minnesota. At one time he served on the school board.
Mr. Crossett was married in October, 1860, at Juneau, Wis., to Jane Ely, daughter of Calvin Ely, of that place. Four children crowned this union: Mrs. Victoria Lukens lives with her father; Charles lives in Cannon City Township; John lives in West Concord, Minn., and Julia is a stenographer in Spokane. The family religion is that of the Congregational church.
The parents of H. H. Crossett were Samuel and Eunice (Barber) Crossett, the father a native of New York State and the mother of Vermont. The father was a hotel man and farmer in Canada about twenty-five years, but later followed dairy farming in Vermont until 1853, when he brought his family to Juneau, Wis., where he engaged in farming until 1866. Later he came to Faribault and here ended his days.”
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Father Samuel died in 1881 and Mother Eunice passed-on in 1903 at age 94. Hobart's brothers Horatio and Elihu share their plot, but sadly they both died while Mother Eunice was still alive. The last Crossett family member to be buried with us was Frances Crossett in 1996 at age 88. Hobart was her Grandfather.
We went through Find-A-Grave listings for each of the 18 Crossett family members and did our best to link children, parents, and spouses together as the information allowed. A few new discoveries resulted.
One discovery was regarding Carrie Crossett, a daughter of Hobart's older brother Horatio and his wife Angeline. Carrie met and married Benjamin B. Sheffield in 1889, the only son of Milledge and Rachel Sheffield. They were both age 19. Benjamin's father came to Faribault in 1865 and was very active in the milling business before and after he arrived.
In 1880 Milledge bought the Walcott Mill specifically for his 20 year-old son Benjamin to own and manage. Sadly the mill burned down in 1895 as many of you know, but Milledge and Benjamin persisted by taking over other local mills including the Polar Star Mill and the King Mill.
Sadly in 1899 Father Milledge died. Then in 1901 Benjamin's wife Carrie Crossett fell sick and died at just age 41, leaving their 2 young daughters for him to raise. See pic for her obituary.
Carrie was buried in the Sheffield plot at Oak Ridge which is located very close to the Crossett plot.
By 1905 Benjamin moved his family and his business interests to a major milling operation in Minneapolis, never to return. He remarried in 1910 to another fine Faribault girl, 49 year-old Flora Matteson, and lived to age 73.
A similar story was discovered about Effie Blake Crossett, who is also buried with us. She was the 28 year-old wife of Hobart's son John C. They were living and farming in Taopi MN, near Rochester, when she fell sick in late 1893. She returned to her parent's Faribault home for treatment but died a few months later, leaving their 2 year-old son for John C. to raise.
Incidentally, it turns out their farm at Taopi MN was noted as being one of the largest in the State at the time, and was being jointly managed by Hobart's sons John and Charles.
John remarried, moved to Texas to farm, and lived a long life there.
Charles and his wife Evalyn returned to Faribault to farm and are both buried at Oak Ridge. Their daughter Frances is the one mentioned earlier who was the last of the line to be buried with us (1996).
Hobart lived to 1918 and his wife Emma to 1924.
And finally, we did a quick search of “Crossett-named” burials since the early days in Minnesota and it indicates only 30 souls are buried here, 20 of which are in Rice County. This is somewhat surprising compared to most other family lines dating back to the late 1800s which have 100s of descendants. This may be due to most of the children born from those early Crossett families being girls. Rather interesting!
Everyone deserves to be remembered.
