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NEWSPAPER: Washington Post
           May 14, 1905
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Last Survivor of 1812 War
Hiram Cronk Passes Away at Ava, NY
At the Age of 105

Ava, NY, May 13 - Hiram Cronk, the only survivor of the war of 1812, died
today at the age of 105 years.

Hiram Cronk for years occupied a unique place in American History. As the
last survivor of the first foreign war in which his country engaged after
securing its independence, he had been honored by the national government
and by his native state as well. The aged veteran also had another unique
distinction. Months before his death, and when he pronounced himself to be
in almost perfect health, despite his more than 104 years, the board of
aldermen of New York City outlined and practically perfected elaborate
plans for disposition of his body after death. Signal honors were to be
shown him according to these plans, and even the spot where his body would
find its last resting place was selected.

Born at Frankfort, Herkimer County, N.Y. on April 29, 1800, Hiram Cronk
became a member of Capt. Edward Fuller's Company of the 157th infantry when
only a little more than fourteen years of age. His term of service was
short, however, scarcely five weeks, and nearly all of it was spent in camp
near Lake Ontario. He had hardly "smelled powder" up to that time. On the
day following his discharge, however, while at Watertown on his way to his
home, there came the sounds of cannonading at Sackett's Harbor, where a
British warship was bombarding the fortifications. In less than a month he
was back in the ranks serving with his father, James Cronk, and his
brothers, John and Caspar, at Sackett's Harbor. There he served forty days
as a private, assisting in the construction of barracks. In November 1814,
he was honorably discharged from the service.

At the close of the war Mr. Cronk learned the trade of shoemaker, at which
he gained a livelihood for many years. He was married in 1825 to Miss Mary
Thornton, of Western, NY, and they lived together for sixty years on the
old farm in this town. They had seven children. During the last years of
his life Mr. Cronk received from the state of New York a special pension of
$72 per month, in addition to the pension granted by the federal government
to all survivors of the war of 1812. He was an honorary member of Fort
Stanwix chapter, Sons of the Revolution, and also of the State and National
chapters.

Under a resolution passed by the New York City board of aldermen in
December of last year, the body of Mr. Cronk will lie in state in the City
Hall there, and will be buried in Mount Victory, Cypress Hill Cemetery, in
Brooklyn, where more that half a hundred of his fellow soldiers in the war
of 1812 have been laid at rest.

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