Crosman, Charles F.–(1802-1865)–Rochester, New York–Crosman was born in Vermont in 1802 and moved to New York in 1818 and settled in a Shaker settlement.  Crosman was a peddler of seed grown in a Shaker community in Columbia County, New York.  The Crosman Company was established in 1838.  Crosman then became a partner with Michael Bateham in his seed business.   They developed a “seed garden” but a year later the partners severed their relations.  Crosman took the garden and Bateham took the seed store.  In November 1842, Bateham sold the store to Crosman.  In 1852, C. F. Crosman was listed a the owner of American Seed Store in Moore’s Rural New Yorker.  At his death in 1865, his two sons, George and Charles, took over the business.  By 1880 the Crosman firm had become one of the largest seed houses in the world.  Their original seed plots had expanded to 1,200 acres.  The firm became known as the Crosman Brothers and in 1901 received a gold medal at the Pan-American Exposition.
Sources:  Naylor/RHS; NYPA; Parks