Memoir of William Crotch

This collection consists of one manuscript account of the late life and suicide of William Crotch, a Quaker minister, and a set of photocopied newspaper clippings with context on Crotch’s character and early life. The manuscript begins with an account of Crotch’s “seer” abilities (visiting Friends and talking to them about unknowable things) and how his reputation among Friends was very high. The author proceeds to describe a period of “extreme despondency” during which Crotch returned to Philadelphia from travelling in New England. According to the author Crotch was accused of “being addicted to the vice of intemperance,” but that and other rumors about Crotch’s character were dispelled. The author continues by mentioning a conversation where Crotch remarked on the suicides of other men and describing the plans for Crotch’s return to England. The final pages describe Crotch’s suicide and include remarks by the author on how depression and suicide may have been because God was punishing people’s overestimation of Crotch.

The clippings include an account of Crotch’s early life from Gleanings at Seventy-Five by Susan Lukens (published in 1873), a note in a column from 1928 on Crotch’s seer ability, and two excerpts from a book on the case of John Evans--one of which is John Evans’ concerns about William Crotch’s conduct (published in 1805) and one is Evans’s “Memorandum on the death of William Crotch.”