Representative Jeremiah Crabb

Jeremiah Crabb (1760 – February 19, 1800) was a United States Representative from Maryland and a militia officer who served in both the American Revolutionary War and in the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion. He was born in the Province of Maryland in 1760, the son of Henry Wright Crabb, into a family established in what later became Montgomery County. Little is recorded about his early childhood, but his later residence near Rockville, Maryland, and his family burial site in nearby Derwood indicate that his life and activities were closely tied to this region.

Crabb’s formal education is not well documented, which was not uncommon for colonial Maryland gentry of his generation, but his subsequent military and political roles suggest that he received the level of schooling and training typical of young men preparing for public service in the late colonial and early national periods. By his late teens, he had entered military service in the struggle for American independence.

During the American Revolutionary War, Jeremiah Crabb served in the Continental Army as a second lieutenant in the First Maryland Regiment. He was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant on December 15, 1777. His conduct attracted favorable notice from General George Washington, who specifically commended Lieutenant Crabb’s service and recommended his promotion to general. Crabb’s active service continued through the difficult winter encampment at Valley Forge, where the Continental Army endured severe shortages and exposure. The hardships of that winter undermined his health, and he resigned his commission on April 1, 1778, citing ill health occasioned by the winter hardships endured at Valley Forge.

After the Revolution, Crabb returned to Maryland, where he became a landowner and local figure in what would become Montgomery County. By the 1790s he had resumed military involvement at the state level. In 1794, he held the rank of brigadier general in the Maryland Militia. That same year, he served under General Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee in Pennsylvania during the Whiskey Rebellion, when federal and state forces were mobilized to enforce the excise laws and assert federal authority in the western counties. His role as a brigadier general in this campaign reflected both his Revolutionary War experience and his standing in Maryland society.

Crabb entered national politics as a member of the Federalist Party. He was elected as a Federalist to the Fourth Congress and served as a United States Representative from Maryland from March 4, 1795, until his resignation after June 1, 1796. His tenure in Congress coincided with the administration of President George Washington and with contentious debates over foreign policy, fiscal measures, and the consolidation of federal power, although specific details of his committee assignments and floor activity are not extensively recorded. His relatively brief service suggests that he chose to return to private life and local affairs rather than pursue a prolonged national political career.

Following his resignation from Congress, Jeremiah Crabb returned to his home near Rockville, Maryland. There he lived as a member of the local gentry, engaged in the management of his property and family interests. He was married to Elizabeth Ridgely Griffith (1764–1828), who survived him by nearly three decades. Crabb died at his home near Rockville on February 19, 1800. He was buried in the family burial site in Derwood, Maryland, a location that underscores the enduring connection of the Crabb family to that part of the state.