The Crossley family
The term “flower child” has a unique meaning if you are a member of the Crossley family. The five daughters and the one son of Thomas and Marguerite Crossley were all named for blooming plants.
It was Thomas’ idea to christen the girls Jasamine, Verbena, Camelia, Violet and Azalea. When a son finally came along, they named him Mandrake in honor of the medicinal herb, but he was usually called Mandric.
Thomas Crossley was born in England. The family of his wife, Marguerite Carpentier, came from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. The couple met back East, and lived in Joplin, Missouri before moving to Issaquah.
Thomas was a jack-of-all-trades. In addition to being a photographer, he also served as town marshal and had a fix-it shop in Seattle. In Issaquah, the family resided in a house that still stands on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Bush Street.
Most of the girls married and moved away. Only Camelia and Mandrake remained in Issaquah. She married Ernest Pickering and was the mother of Ellsworth Pickering and Reda Pickering Lewis. Both have many family members living here. Mandrake married Carrie Alexander and had three children. His daughter Bernice Crossley McDaniel returned to Issaquah, and her children Robert and Carrieanne now live in the area.
