Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Cresson, Elliott 1796-1854

Philanthropist; born in Philadelphia, Pa., March 2, 1796; was a member of the Society of Friends, a successful merchant, and a man devoted to the promotion of the interests of the Indians and the negroes. He planned a colonization of American negroes in Africa, and was actively engaged in establishing the first colony of liberated slaves at Bassa Cove. Subsequently he was president of the American Colonization Society (q. v.), and in 1838-53 labored in its behalf in New England, the Southern States, and Great Britain. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 20, 1854, and bequeathed property valued at over $150,000 to charitable purposes.