C.A. Crommelin was born on March 1, 1840 in Amsterdam, Holland, the only child of Claude Daniel Crommelin and Alida Maria Wolterbeek to survive childhood. His father, Daniel, was a principal in the firm Daniel Crommelin & Soonen while also being affiliated with the Nederlandsche Bank.

In 1866 C.A. Crommelin was sent 'on assignment' to Minnesota, USA for the firm Daniel Crommelin & Soonen to scout out new investment opportunities with the fledgling railroad industry that was then in progress. During this business trip, Claude kept a diary, excerpts of which were later published in the December, 1960 (Volume 37, No. 4) journal of the Minnesota Historical Society called "Minnesota History".

Claude August was a jurist in Utrecht in 1865 and later became a member of the Council in Amsterdam 1868-1874, and a member of the Provincial States of North Holland 1868-1874.

An article (in Dutch) mentions the Art collection (water-colour drawings) of the rich Mr. Claude August Crommelin who lived on the Herengracht no. 132. This collection was inherited by his half-sister Elisabeth Maria Tutein Nolthenius-Weymar [Person #7] in 1874, when Claude August died, single, at the relatively young age of 34 years.

Claude August was the name given to another family member who was notable in the study of cold-temperature physics in Leiden, Holland and is not to be confused with this earlier one.

Claude August Diary in America

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