He taught school, and moved to Maxatawny, Pennsylvania, in 1889, where he engaged in the general merchandise business. He moved to Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1897 and engaged in the retail clothing business and in banking. He was treasurer of Berks County, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1912.
Croll was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-eighth Congress, but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1924. He resumed mercantile pursuits, died in Reading, and was interred in Laureldale Cemetery in Laureldale, Pennsylvania.