History of Upland, (Delaware County) Pennsylvania United States of America

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John Price Crozer, philanthropist, was born in Springfield, Delaware county, Pa., Jan. 13, 1793, in the house which had been the home of Benjamin West, the painter. He acquired a large fortune in the manufacture of cotton goods and in 1847 removed to Upland, Pa., where he built a Sunday-school building, and in 1652 a church for the use of the Baptists. In 1858 he erected a college building at a cost of $45,000, the use of which he gave for hospital purposes during the civil war. In 1866 he consecrated the institution as a "School of the Prophets," afterward known as the Crozer theological seminary, under the patronage of the Baptist churches. He was president of the Pennsylvania Baptist education society (1855-66) and endowed seven scholarships of $1500 each. As a member of the American Baptist publication society he endowed a Sunday-school library fund of $10,000 and a ministers' library fund of $5000. He was one of the founders and a working member of the United States Christian commission. His widow and children continued his benefactions by giving over $275,000 to the Crozer theological seminary, of which his son, Samuel A. Crozer, was president of the board of trustees. They also established a memorial fund of $50,000, to be used by the American Baptist publication society in mission work among the freedmen. He died at Upland, Pa., March 11, 1866.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Upland, (Delaware County) Pennsylvania

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