William Croghan, Irish immigrant, British and Continental Army officer, surveyor, and community leader, died at his home in September 1822. He left behind a large family and distinguished farm, more than fifty thousand acres scattered across several states, and the admiration of a nation. His widow, Lucy Clark, lived another sixteen years, much of it as witness to the tragedies of her children, but she endured, as a frontier woman ought, and welcomed Andrew Jackson, James Monroe, Meriwether Lewis, and, of course, Zachary Taylor to her home.
Three children married brilliantly; son, George, a War of 1812 hero, married New York’s Serena Livingston, niece to Robert. Eldest daughter, Ann, married Thomas S. Jesup, newly appointed quartermaster general of the US Army; and son, William, married Mary O’Hara, one of the nation’s wealthiest heiresses. Lucy lived to see Locust Grove secured by eldest son, Dr. John Croghan, and died peacefully in the home she had known for more than forty years.
Retention and the US Army Officer in Europe