CHARLES H. CROWNHART
Lawyer, jurist, educator Charles Henry Crownhart was born on April 13, 1863, on a farm near Newcastle, Wisconsin, to Napolean and Mehitable (Burgess) Crownhart, one of six children. The family moved to Pierce County and Crownhart received his early education in the county's public schools. He attended River Falls Normal School, taught for a few years, then enrolled in the University of Wisconsin and graduated in 1889 with a law degree. For a year and a half, Crownhart practiced law at Ellsworth, Wisconsin, and moved to Superior, Wisconsin, where he was a member of the firm of Crownhart, Owen and Foley. Crownhart served for a time as attorney for Douglas County.
Crownhart was appointed in 1905 by Governor Robert M. La Follette regent of the Superior Normal School. Before his resignation from the Board of Regents for Normal Schools in 1911, Crownhart was instrumental in the planning and construction at Superior of the first dormitory in the normal school system which was later named in his honor. He also served as president of the Board from 1910 to 1911.
Governor Francis McGovern named Crownhart chairman of the newly created Industrial Commission of Wisconsin in 1911. While serving on the Board with such notables as John R. Commons, he led the body in pioneering work in the field of industrial law and workmen's compensation.
Crownhart was not reappointed to a second term on the Industrial Commission in 1915. Later that year he joined Fred M. Wylie to create the legal firm of Crownhart and Wylie in Madison. Among the many cases handled by the firm, one of the most notable was the case of Atwood vs. Johnson and Strope (1919), which was a challenge of the constitutionality of Wisconsin's Soldiers' Bonus Act.
In 1914, Crownhart considered the possibility of running for governor but later in the year rejected the proposition. He ran in 1918 for a term to the state Supreme Court but lost to Marvin B. Rosenberry. In 1920 Governor John J. Blaine appointed Crownhart Reviser of Statutes, a position he held until 1922 when Blaine asked him to fill the seat left vacant on the state Supreme Court by the death of Justice Robert G. Siebecker. In the election to fill the seat in 1923 Crownhart won the ten-year term. He served on the court until his death in 1930.
An active Progressive Republican, Charles Crownhart served as campaign manager of the 1910 and 1916 senatorial election efforts of his close personal friend and political ally, Robert M. La Follette Sr. Crownhart also assisted in planning the strategies of the Progressive campaigns in 1922. He was a speaker at the La Follette funeral services in 1925 and at the memorial ceremonies held at the United States Senate in 1929. Interested in the history, costumes, culture, and lore of the Indians of northern Wisconsin as well as the general history of the region, Crownhart authored a series of articles on those topics for the Superior Telegram in the early 1920s. For most of the year he and his family resided in Madison; however, they maintained their summer home at Solon Springs (Douglas County) and spent as much time there as possible in the summer months.
On July 17, 1895, Charles H. Crownhart married Jessie Elizabeth Evans of South Superior, Wisconsin. They had two children, Jesse George, born on October 6, 1897, and Charles H. Jr., on October 2, 1905.
Charles H. Crownhart died on May 2, 1930, of a heart attack.
JESSIE EVANS CROWNHART
Born on October 13, 1865, Jessie Elizabeth Evans was the eldest daughter of Jesse George and Sarah A. (Coleman) Evans of Buffalo, New York. Jesse Evans moved his family to Wisconsin in the early 1870s and settled at Mauston, Wisconsin, probably under the Homestead Act. Jessie Evans attended public school at Mauston and in 1881 was sent to a school at Gilroy, California. She probably returned to Wisconsin sometime in 1882 and first taught in that year. She attended Whitewater Normal School probably in 1887 and later the University of Wisconsin Summer School. Jessie Evans taught for one year in Juneau County schools, 1885-1886, and served for a year as assistant principal at Necedah High School, 1886-1887. She held similar posts at Stoughton High School from 1888 to the 1890s and at Nelson Dewey High School at Superior from 1890 to 1892. Evans was then appointed principal of the William Cullen Bryant School at South Superior from 1892 to 1895. Her marriage to Charles Crownhart in 1895 ended her active teaching career.
John Q. Emery, state superintendent of schools, appointed Jessie Crownhart superintendent of schools for Douglas County in 1897. Following a very close election in 1898, she served one full term which expired in 1901.
In 1892 Jessie Evans and Charles Crownhart began courting and on July 17, 1895 were married. They had two sons, Jesse George, born on October 6, 1897 and Charles H. Jr., born on October 2, 1905. After completing her term as superintendent, Jessie Crownhart remained at home, raising her family, and was professionally inactive for the next thirty years.
After her husband's death, Governor Philip La Follette named Jessie Crownhart to the Board of Regents of Normal Schools where she served from 1931 until her death in 1943. During her tenure she visited and lectured at various teaching colleges and sought ways for the normal schools to cope first with the worsening depression and then with the influx of federal building programs.
Jessie Crownhart was a member of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants and assisted Anna C. Blaine and Isabel La Follette with various functions at the Governor's Mansion during their terms as the state's first ladies. She died on January 9, 1943.
J. GEORGE CROWNHART
Jesse George Crownhart was born on October 6, 1897, at Superior, Wisconsin. He entered the University of Wisconsin in 1915 but withdrew in 1917 for health reasons. After serving in the military from February to December 1918, he enrolled in summer school at the university in 1919 and in 1921 graduated with a bachelor of arts degree after completing the commerce course.
From 1921 to 1923 he was employed by the Holmes News Service as a legislative correspondent. The State Medical Society of Wisconsin hired Crownhart in 1923 to serve as its executive secretary and managing editor of the society's publication, the Wisconsin Medical Journal, positions he held until his death.
Crownhart served on several committees and organizations in his lifetime. He was secretary of the Northwest Medical Conference, secretary of the Wisconsin Hospital Association from 1932 to 1936, and published the state medical blue blook from 1928 until his death. In 1920 he served as joint author of Who's Who in Wisconsin and authored Sickness Insurance in Europe (circa 1928). From 1936 to 1937 he was chairman of the Governor's Subcommittee on Health and Disability of the Citizen's Committee on Public Welfare. Between 1919 and 1926, Crownhart was an officer in the Wisconsin National Guard.
He also belonged to numerous clubs and organizations including the American Hospital Association from 1930 to 1941, the Wisconsin Press Association, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, National Collegiate Players, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Epsilon Delta, Chi Phi, White Spades, University Club of Milwaukee, Madison Club and the Madison Rotary. Crownhart also actively participated in the Progressive Republican campaigns of 1922.
George Crownhart married Hildegarde Lucretia Wooll of Janesville, Wisconsin, on October 30, 1926. They had two children, Elizabeth Ann and George William. At the time of his death, he and his family resided in Madison, Wisconsin. While attending the American Medical Association convention at Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, George Crownhart suffered a heart attack and died on June 6, 1941.
CHARLES CROWNHART Jr.
Charles (Henry) Crownhart Jr., was born on October 2, 1905, at Superior, Wisconsin. He attended grade and high schools at Madison and in 1923 entered the University of Wisconsin. He completed a bachelor of arts degree, and graduated from the university's law school in June 1931. Shortly after commencement, Crownhart practiced law with Frank Kuehl, an assistant attorney general of Wisconsin, and in 1932 joined with Robert Murphy in creating the firm of Crownhart and Murphy.
In January 1942, following the death of his brother, J. George Crownhart, Charles became the executive secretary of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin and managing editor of its journal. The following year, he quit private legal practice in order to devote his full energies to the Society. He retired on December 31, 1970 after twenty-nine years of service. He was instrumental in the creation of Wisconsin Physicians Service-Blue Shield.
Among his many other activities, Crownhart served as campaign manager to John J. Blaine in his unsuccessful 1932 re-election bid to the United States Senate. Fred M. Wylie asked Crownhart to hold the same position in his ill-fated campaign for the office of Attorney General of Wisconsin in 1934.
Besides his political activities, Crownhart belonged to numerous organizations and clubs. Among them were the Madison Club, the University Club of Milwaukee, Athletic Club of Milwaukee, Dane County Bar Association, Wisconsin Bar Association, American Bar Association, American Judicature Society, American Public Health Association, Chi Phi, Phi Alpha Delta (a legal fraternity), and the National Collegiate Players.
Charles H. Crownhart Jr., married Marion Palmer of Columbus, Wisconsin, on May 19, 1934. They made their home in Madison and raised four daughters, Mary Ann, Sarah Alice, Virginia Jean, and Gretchen. He died on January 21, 1974.
