| Stephen Crane | |
| Office1: | Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly |
| Term Start1: | 1770 |
| Term End1: | 1772 |
| Predecessor1: | Cortlandt Skinner |
| Successor1: | Cortlandt Skinner |
| Governor1: | William Franklin |
| State Assembly2: | New Jersey |
| District2: | Essex County |
| Term Start2: | 1766 |
| Term End2: | 1775 |
| Alongside2: | John Ogden, Henry Garritse |
| Office3: | Member of New Jersey Legislative Council |
| Term Start3: | 1776 |
| Term End3: | 1778 |
| Predecessor3: | Office created |
| Successor3: | Abraham Clark |
| Term Start4: | 1779 |
| Term End4: | 1780 |
| Predecessor4: | Abraham Clark |
| Successor4: | James Caldwell |
| Birth Date: | 1709 |
| Birth Place: | Elizabethtown, New Jersey |
| Death Date: | July 1, 1780 |
| Death Place: | Elizabethtown, New Jersey |
| Restingplace: | First Presbyterian Churchyard, Elizabeth |
| Nationality: | American |
| Spouse: | Phebe |
Stephen Crane (1709 – July 1, 1780) was an American politician from Elizabethtown (Elizabeth, New Jersey) who was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776 and signed the Continental Association. He also served in the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, New Jersey General Assembly and New Jersey Legislative Council. Stephen did not attend the next Congress in Philadelphia as he needed to attend to divisions in his own state between East Jersey and West Jersey. He felt deeply about the taxes that Britain had imposed upon the Colonies and had made sure of his protest upon his journey to England with Matthias Hatfield.
Crane was born in Elizabethtown. He served as sheriff of Essex County and was elected as a member of its town committee in 1750. He was also a judge of the court of common pleas. From 1766 to 1773, he was a member of the colony's general assembly from 1766 to 1773 and served as speaker in 1771. He was also mayor of Elizabethtown before he became a member of the Continental Congress. Until his death in 1780, Crane held several public offices in New Jersey.
Crane was bayoneted by Hessian soldiers passing through Elizabethtown on their way to Battle of Springfield on June 23, 1780, and he died of his wounds on July 1, 1780.[1] He was buried at the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth with his wife and father, Daniel Crane.[2]