Crissey is a local name in Normandy, and is found on the roll of Battle Abbey. Members of the family came over with William at the conquest of England, and obtained a high position in that country. The American progenitor, William Crissey, was born in England in 1630, and came to America in 1649, settling at Stamford, Connecticut. He had children: Mary, Nathaniel, and John. From these sons sprang the early Crisseys of New England and New York. The family intermarried with the Browns, Belknaps and Flints of the lower Hudson valley, families of wealth and prominence. They served in the early colonial and revolutionary wars, some of them holding high military and official rank. The name first appears in New York records in connection with the census of 1790, when Isaac Crissey appears as a resident of Westchester county, along with others of the name. He was a descendant of the Connecticut family.
(II) Gilbert Reynolds, son of Isaac Crissey, married Eliza Storm, daughter of John and Lydia (Foster) Graham, and granddaughter of Rev. Graham and of Elnathan Foster. She was of Fishkill, New York. Children:
- Elnathan Foster.
- Lydia Eliza Jane, married Rufus R. Belknap, of Newburg, New York, a descendant of the emigrant Abraham Belknap, who settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1637.
- Isaac Worden, see forward.
(III) Isaac Worden, youngest child of Gilbert Reynolds and Eliza Storm (Graham) Crissey, was born in Newburg, New York. He settled in Troy, where he became an influential citizen. and was engaged in business as a flour merchant and in milling, also establishing an agency for the writing of marine insurance. He was secretary and treasurer of the Troy Savings Bank, resigning November 1, 1887. Under the act of April 13, 1861, creating a board of fire commissioners for Troy, he was one of the first board appointed by the governor of New York. He held this position from 1861 to 1867. Under the act of May 3, 1870, providing for the appointment of a comptroller of the city of Troy by the mayor, he was the third appointee, holding the position from October 7, 1881, to 1883. He resided in the first ward of Troy, and represented that ward on the board of school commissioners. He died August 17, 1891. He married, in Troy, New York, September 10, 1840, Sarah Flint, born at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, July 6, 1817, daughter of William and Olive (Flint) Brown. William Brown appears among the list of field officers of the Massachusetts militia, as colonel of the Essex county militia, 1773-74 (vol. 28, p. 85); adjutant of Colonel Samuel Thatcher's regiment, April 29, 1776 (vol. 41, p. 130); (recommended by field officers First Middlesex County Regiment). He appears with rank of adjutant in muster and payroll of the field and staff officers of the Second Bristol County (Massachusetts) Regiment, Colonel John Hathaway, for service at Rhode Island by order of council, July 22, 1780 (vol. 26, p. 136). Children of Isaac W. and Sarah F. (Brown) Crissey:
- William Gilbert, born May 3, 1842, died at East Orange, New Jersey, February 25, 1891.
- Rufus Belknap, see forward.
- Isaac Henry, January 14, 1848, died in infancy.
- Alfred Foster, May 6, 1849, died in London, England, September 18, 1882.
- Halsey Brainerd, January 11, 1852, died at San Bernardino, California, January 3, 1899.
- Joseph Brown, February 11, 1857, died in infancy.
(IV) Rufus Belknap, son of Isaac Worden and Sarah Flint (Brown) Crissey, was born in Troy, New York, August 5, 1844. He was educated in the Troy public schools, graduating from the high school, class of 1862. He became a bookkeeper and general accountant after an adventurous four years spent in whaling cruises between 1862-66. He was on the first whaler captured by the Confederate privateer "Alabama," September 5, 1862. He was taken prisoner, but released on taking the oath of neutrality, and landed on the island of Flores, Azores group; from thence he was transferred to the town of Horta, island of Fayal; later reached Boston, Massachusetts, and returned to Troy. The following spring he sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts, for a three years' cruise in search of sperm whales. The vessel cruised the Atlantic and Indian whaling grounds, returning to the United States in May, 1866. Mr. Crissey returned to Troy, where he still resides. From 1866 to 1868 he served as assistant clerk of the Troy board of education. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church. He was formerly financial secretary of the fraternal orders: Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Druids. He married, September 15, 1870, at the Church of the Holy Cross, Troy, Harriette Mandeville Benson, born in Troy, December 17, 1847. Children, born in Troy, New York:
- Harry Tucker, January 12, 1874; educated in the public schools, and at St. Paul's school, Troy; married, June 5, 1901, Josephine Austin Bacon.
- Gilbert Worden, October 12, 1876; educated public schools; Troy Academy and Albany Medical College, where he was graduated M.D., April 19, 1899; he married, October 12, 1904, Sarah Cornelia Bacon.
- Jane Helena, June 19, 1879; educated in private schools; now (1910) assistant librarian of Troy Public Library.