John married Hannah Crabtree on Nov 8, 1835 in Halifax, England and they had six children. The Crossley family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometime later when Elder Joseph F. Smith labored as a missionary.

After the death of Hannah in 1855, John began preparations to move west to live among the Saints in Utah. He also married Ann Brown on March 3, 1856 in Bradford, England and they had four children. He, along with his children Mary, Hannah and Levi, sailed on the Antarctica on Sep 25, 1963. However, Ann it shows that Ann and their children did not go west.

The Crossely family joined the Captian Peter Nebeker company to travel the plans, and settled in Bountiful, Utah soon after. At some point before 1870, the Crossley family moved to Richmond.