Henry Frederick Cropp was born on July 4, 1849 in Hanover, Germany, to Henry and Wilhelmina Cropp. He arrived in the United States in 1868, and settled in Pittsburgh as a teamster. He later worked for 20 years as a dedicated foreman for Carrie Furnace Company, which later became the United States Steel Company. He belonged to the Royal Arcanum, a fraternal society, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Swissvale.
On March 17, 1874, he married Ida Permilla "Millie" Perkins, the daughter of Aflam and Lucinda Perkins of Westmoreland County, who owned a large grist mill at Webster. Together Henry and Millie had 5 children, Frederick William in 1876, Elizabeth in 1877, Elmer in 1879, Paul in 1881, and Carrie in1886, who died just eight years later in 1895.
The Cropps were ardent Presbyterian churchgoers and residents of Swissvale. All the men in the Cropp family were involved in the ministry on some level, including a nephew who was a Presbyterian missionary in India.
Elizabeth Rinard, the wife of Dr. Charles C. Rinard, established two funds with the Pittsburgh Foundation to benefit both her and her parents' churches. This fund supports the First Presbyterian Church of Swissvale, honoring her parents' dedicated commitment to its ministry.