Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur A French agriculturist, b. at
Caen, France, 1731; d. at Sarcelles, near Paris, 1813. At the
age of sixteen he went to England, whence in 1754 he emigrated
to America, and for many years resided on a farm. In 1780 he was
obliged to return to France to settle some of his affairs, and
when he went to New York to take passage he was arrested by the
English on suspicion of being a spy. After being in confinement
for several months he was released and permitted to proceed on
his journey unmolested. During his stay in his native land he
succeeded in interesting the farmers of Normandy in the
cultivation of the potato, and its culture was taken up by them.
After a stay of about three years he once more came to America.
It was largely due to his description of the wonderful
productiveness of the land that several hundred of his
countrymen emigrated to America. They established a colony in
Pennsylvania, which for a time flourished. It was at last
destroyed by the savages and its inhabitant