{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Alvah Crocker | image = Alvah crocker.png | office1 = Member of the<br />[[U.S. House of Representatives]]<br /> from [[Massachusetts]] | term_start1 = January 2, 1872 | term_end1 = December 26, 1874 | predecessor1 = [[William B. Washburn]] | successor1 = [[Charles A. Stevens]] | constituency1 = [[Massachusetts's 9th congressional district|9th district]] (1872–73)<br />[[Massachusetts's 10th congressional district|10th district]] (1873–74) | office2 = Massachusetts State Senate | term_start2 = 1862 | term_end2 = 1864 | preceded2 = | succeeded2 = | order3 = Massachusetts House of Representatives | office3 = | term_start3 = 1842 | term_end3 = 1843 | preceded3 = | succeeded3 = | office4 = Massachusetts House of Representatives | term_start4 = 1835 | term_end4 = 1836 | preceded4 = | succeeded4 = | birth_date = October 14, 1801 | birth_place = [[Leominster, Massachusetts]] | death_date = December 26, 1874 (aged 73) | death_place = [[Fitchburg, Massachusetts]] | resting_place = Laurel Hill Cemetery | party = Whig, [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | spouse = | relations = | children = Charles Thomas Crocker | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | signature = Signature of Alvah Crocker (1801–1874).png | website = | footnotes = }} '''Alvah Crocker''' (October 14, 1801 – December 26, 1874) was an American manufacturer and railroad promoter. He served in the [[Massachusetts General Court]] and was a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. representative]] from [[Massachusetts]].
==Biography== Born in [[Leominster, Massachusetts]], Crocker attended the public schools and [[Groton Academy]]. He was first employed in a [[paper mill]] at [[Franklin, New Hampshire]], in 1820. In 1823, he borrowed the money necessary to establish a paper mill at [[Fitchburg, Massachusetts|Fitchburg]] and served as proprietor of paper manufactures there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Crane|first=Ellery Bicknell|title=Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal ..., Volume 4|year=1907|publisher=Lewis Publishing Company|page=244|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ByzhgLUOIRIC&q=Alvah+Crocker+fitchburg+ma&pg=PA244}}</ref> His paper mills became the largest in the United States and he built extensive machine shops and foundries in the neighborhood of his mills. In manufacturing white paper he was the first to use cotton waste and also the first to use palm leaf fibre in wall papers.<ref name="biodictgoog">[https://books.google.com/books?id=mFEDAAAAYAAJ ''The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans'', by John Howard Brown]</ref>
He was elected to the [[Massachusetts legislature]] in 1835, where he advocated steam communication with [[Boston]]. He returned to the legislature in 1842, and obtained a charter for a new railroad between northern Massachusetts and the seaboard, which was completed through his exertions in 1845. He afterward engaged in building the [[Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad|Vermont and Massachusetts]], the [[Troy and Boston Railroad|Troy and Boston]], and the [[Hoosac Tunnel]] railroads, and in 1847/8 lectured in behalf of the tunnel project.<ref name=acab>{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Crocker, Alvah|year=1900}}</ref> The [[Science Channel]] documentary ''Driven to Invent: Killer Tunnel'' called Crocker "The Father of Modern Tunneling" for his influence in advancing the use of [[geologist]]s, [[explosives]], [[pneumatic tool]]s, [[Boring (earth)|boring]] technology, and said, "He laid down the rules for tunnel construction even to the present day."<ref>[http://science.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=48.13783.109418.27620.x Driven to Invent: Killer Tunnel]</ref>
He served as president of the [[Fitchburg Railroad]]. During the [[American Civil War]], he was a member of the [[Massachusetts State Senate]] for two terms.<ref name=acab/>
Crocker was elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to the [[42nd United States Congress|Forty-second Congress]] to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[William B. Washburn]] (who was elected Governor). He was reelected to the [[43rd United States Congress|Forty-third Congress]]. He served in Congress from January 2, 1872, until his death in [[Fitchburg, Massachusetts]], on December 26, 1874. He was interred in Laurel Hill Cemetery.<ref>{{CongBio|C000916}}</ref>
==See also== *[[List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)]]
==References== {{reflist|2}} ;Attribution {{Bioguide}}
==Future reading== *Wheelwright, William Bond, ''Life and Times of Alvah Crocker'' 1923, Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1981.
==External links== * Crane, Ellery Bicknell: [https://books.google.com/books?id=ByzhgLUOIRIC&pg=RA2-PA243 ''Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester County Massachusetts''], page 241.
{{S-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box |state=Massachusetts |district=9 |before=[[William B. Washburn]] |after=[[George Frisbie Hoar|George F. Hoar]] |years=January 2, 1872 – March 3, 1873}} {{US House succession box |state=Massachusetts |district=10 |before=[[Henry L. Dawes]] |after=[[Charles A. Stevens]] |years=March 4, 1873 – December 31, 1874}} {{s-end}}
{{USRepMA}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Alvah}} [[Category:1801 births]] [[Category:1874 deaths]] [[Category:People from Leominster, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Politicians from Worcester County, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Massachusetts Whigs]] [[Category:Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]] [[Category:Massachusetts state senators]] [[Category:19th-century American business executives in rail transportation]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]