Alfred Croghan was born sometime between 1819 and 1824. He first appears at Locust Grove as a child, “Al.” in a letter from William Croghan Jr. to his son William Ill written in the fall of 1828.
“If you were only here now to see the dear little calves. & the lambs & little pigs – You never saw so many pigs & only to think how you would find the ducks & your eggs. Little Abe & Al. find the most & Al comes in & says “here old mister here is egg. now give me cake” & then away he runs … “
Alfred eventually came under the ownership of Dr. John Croghan who put Alfred to work at Mammoth Cave. Alfred helped with general jobs around the Cave like hauling lumber. He was responsible for blowing a horn to call the tuberculosis patients to meals, and gave us one of the best accounts of the patients there.
He also served as one of the four enslaved guides at the cave along with Stephen Bishop, who was also owned by John Croghan, and Mat and Nick Bransford who were leased by John. Alfred and the other cave guides had a unique form of agency that would have been rare for an enslaved person, as the the enslaved guides were in a position of authority over the guests while they were in the cave because it was important for guests to stay close to the guides.
Alfred would eventually marry a woman named Hannah and they would have at least four children together: Ellen, Charles, John, and Charlotte
.