This interesting and detailed account
of Lt. McCrone's life was supplied by his family members, now in Harrisburg,
PA.
Alexander Fox McCrone was born in Ellicott Mills, Baltimore County, Maryland on February 15, 1828. His father, John, was born in Scotland and his mother, Sarah Fox McCrone, was a native of Ellicott Mills.
Alexander worked with his father in a foundry on the east bank of the Patapsco, and property in John's name appears to be adjacent to the Maryland Machine Manufacturing Company's Foundry & C. (I have not been successful in locating the deed although his name appears on the 1850 Baltimore County Map.) In 1850 John McCrone purchased the Avalon Nail and Iron Works between Avalon and Elkridge and died in 1852. The 1862 flood destroyed the works, and it did not return to production.
He married Elcinda Miranda Aldridge, 1830-1892, daughter of Alfred and Nancy Selby Aldridge of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. They had seven children: John Alexander, William H., Sallie A., Charles, Mary A., George Thomas, and Cora E.
From January 25, 1858 to June, 1858. Alexander was Master of the Masonic Lodge in Elkridge, Maryland. A picture of him hangs in the lodge hall. Records there credited him with developing "etheral oil for lamps to replace candlesticks" (Whatever that may be!).
About 1870 Alexander and his family moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he was employed by the Chesapeake Nail Works as a nailer.
He died May 19, 1909, at age 81 and is interred in East Harrisburg Cemetery, Harrisburg, PA.