Portrait courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Another "old guard" strange name political figure is four-term Michigan congressman Rousseau Owen Crump, who was discovered via the politicalgraveyard website way back in the fall of 2000. Since that time, a fair amount of reading has been done on Crump, revealing him to be one of the standout business and political figures residing in Michigan's Bay County area at the turn of the 19th century. Following his permanent settlement in Michigan in the early 1880s, Crump would build up one of the largest box and package manufacturing facilities in America, and in the 1890s turned his attention to politics. He would win two terms as mayor of West Bay City, Michigan, and followed that post with his election to four consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, dying in office in April 1901.
Born in Pittsford, New York on May 20, 1843, Rousseau Owen Crump was the son of Samuel (1817-1884) and Sarah (Cutting) Crump (1823-1863), natives of Kent and Suffolk County, England who had settled in New York a year prior to his birth. Crump's early education occurred in schools local to Pittsford and Rochester, and for a time joined his father in the latter's construction business. In young adulthood, Crump learned the trade of wagon and carriage building, as well as ship carpentry. After helping in the construction of a large vessel that would soon sail the Great Lakes, Crump went aboard as a ship-joiner in late 1864, work that would take him through Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan.
In the year following his time on the Great Lakes, Crump relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana, and in the spring of 1865, he took work as a salesman in the lumber yard of A.D. Strait. His stay in Indiana extended into 1866, after which he returned to New York and was soon employed by the Dart Bros. of Buffalo as a lumber buyer. This period of employment saw Crump do business with lumber dealers in Ontario, Canada, and after resigning from that business in 1868 married to Phebe Ann Tucker (1847-1923), a native of Craigsville, New York. The couple were wed until Crump's death and had five children, Shelley Chester (1869-1919), Mildred (1872-1906), Mabel (1875-1924), Enid (born 1883), and Susan Marion (1887-1919).
Not long after his marriage, Rousseau Crump left New York to seek new opportunities in the midwest. He found one in Winona, Minnesota, and in 1868 began employment with the Laird Norton and Co. planing mill and lumber yard. His time here proved to be short, and in 1869 had moved to Plainwell, Michigan, where he went into the lumber business for himself. His time here extended until at least 1872 when due to health concerns, he returned to his old home in Pittsford. Here he would build up his own planing and lumber mill, and in 1877 entered into a consortium that erected a powder mill in Syracuse. After the mill was destroyed in an explosion that same year, Crump lost the capital he had put into the business, and looked to Canada for a new financial opportunity.
In 1878 Crump sold off his New York business interests, and, after partnering with his maternal uncle, established himself in Simcoe, Ontario. Here the two men would build up "a general lumber, sash and door factory", and later added a stave and shingle business to their enterprise. Crump remained in Canada until 1881, and in that year took an extended tour of the Great Lakes region in Michigan with his wife. Crump's visit saw him favorably impressed with the business sagacity of Michigan's two Bay cities, and with that, the opportunity to move his business stateside. By September 1881 Crump and his uncle had moved their lumber mill to West Bay City, and in 1883 purchased his uncle's interest in the company.
From the Congressional Memorial Address for Rousseau Crump, 1902.
After permanently removing his business operations to Michigan, Crump branched out into manufacturing in 1884 with the incorporation of the Crump Manufacturing Co. This concern would grow to become one of the largest box and package producing businesses in the nation, and by 1900 could boast of employing over 100 workers. Crump himself would serve as its secretary and manager, with his brother Shelley Goodwin Crump (1846-1926) serving as company president. After purchasing more land in 1891, the company was expanded with the "erection of one of the largest and best built factories of its kind in the state", with Crump overseeing and supervising the construction himself. In addition to his box manufacturing enterprise, Crump returned to lumber dealing when he and his son Shelley established a sawmill and lumber plant in Roscommon, Michigan, operating under the firm name R.O. Crump & Son.
"A Republican of the Stalwart type", Crump turned to politics in the late 1880s with his election to the West Bay City board of aldermen. Following an unsuccessful run for the Michigan legislature in 1890, Crump's name was put up for mayor of West Bay City, and in 1892 was elected by "a one hundred and fifty majority." He would win a second term in 1894, and in that same year received the Republican nomination for Congress from Michigan's 10th district. After winning the primary, Crump's previous business successes and mayoral tenure were prominently featured in a number of area newspapers, including the Gladwin County Recorder and Bay City Tribune. In a glowing character assessment, Crump was lauded by those papers, who noted:
"Mr. Crump possesses the faculty of making friends among all classes, and as the canvass progresses he is bound to increase his popularity to a great extent. Among the working classes he is well known, and every man who has worked for him is earnest in supporting his candidacy. Up the shore particularly, Mr. Crump has an extensive acquaintence, and great enthusiasm has resulted over his nomination. Mr. Crump will always be found working the interests of his district."
From the Gladwin County Record, August 5, 1898.
Opposing Crump in that year's general election was another oddly named man, Worthy Lovell Churchill. Like Crump, Churchill was a leading politician in his region, having served two terms as mayor of Alpena, was Democratic presidential elector in 1892, and from 1876-77 had been a member of the Michigan house of representatives. In a unique contest that pitted a man named Rousseau against a man named Worthy, it was the more unusual name that won out, with Crump besting Churchill by a vote of 16,304 to 12,456.
Taking his seat in January 1895, Crump resigned as mayor of West Bay City and during his first congressional term sat on the committees on Manufactures, and Mines and Mining. He would win a second term in November 1896, besting Democrat Charles Hampton by a nearly 2,000 vote margin. During the 1897-99 session he continued service on the committees on Manufactures, and Mines and Mining. This period of Crump's service occurred during the Spanish-American War, and following American occupation of the Philippines, Crump sounded off on his favoring a liberal policy as to their governing, remarking:
"We have got the islands and now it is a problem to provide for them. As a member of the committee on Manufactures I would like to see the islands brought into closer trade relations with the United States, and I think, as I said before, a liberal policy should be observed"November 1898 saw Crump coast to a third term in Congress, defeating Democrat Robert J. Kelly by over 3,200 votes, the "largest majority ever polled in the district" up to that time. Crump increased that margin two years later with his defeat of Lee E. Joslyn by over 8,000 votes and began his fourth term in January 1901. Despite an impressive victory, health concerns troubled Crump early in 1901, and after a trip to Florida failed to improve his health, he underwent treatment in Baltimore. The Alpena Evening Times noted Crump's affliction as possible stomach cancer, and after returning to West Bay City, Crump died at his home on April 18, 1901, aged 57.
The loss of the popular Michigan congressman was widely lamented, with newspapers as far away as Maryland taking notice of his death. Crump was survived by his wife Phebe and his children, and following funeral arrangements was interred at the Elm Lawn Cemetery in Bay City. Crump was subsequently memorialized by a number of Michigan newspapers, including the Coleman Independent, which acknowledged that:
"In the death of Congressman Crump the people of this district have lost an earnest, consciencious Representative, one who was ever ready to do anything in his power for the people he represented. As a friend he was most loyal, and throughout the district, during his long term as Congressman, he made many personal friends, who learned to respect and admire him for his many noble qualities, and his death has brought deep regret to all."
From the Alpena Evening Times, May 1, 1901.
Portrait from the Handbook of the Kansas Legislature, 1903.
One of the more unusual names you'll find while perusing a roster of past Kansas state supreme court justices, Rousseau Angelus Burch served thirty-five years on that court, and for his last two years on the bench sat as its Chief Justice. Defeated for reelection in 1936, Burch continued to serve the law in a different capacity after leaving the court, being named as Dean of the Washburn College School of Law. A native Hoosier, Rousseau Angelus Burch was born in Williamsport, Indiana on August 4, 1862, the son of Isaac and Mary (Schoonover) Burch.
Removing with his family to Salina County, Kansas in 1869, Burch was a student in schools local to that county, and after graduating high school followed a teaching career for three years. Like many of the men previously profiled here, Burch entered into law studies at an early age, first taking a "special course of study" in Valparaiso, Indiana for two years. This was followed by enrollment at the University of Michigan Law School, where he earned his degree in 1885.
Returning to Salina, Burch established a law practice there, partnering with W.H. Bishop in the firm of Bishop & Burch. In September 1889 Burch married Clara Louise Teague (1860-1928), to who he was wed until her death. The couple had two children, Winnifred Teague (1890-1921) and Angelus Teague Burch (1895-1967). Following the dissolve of his previous firm, Burch and his brother Charles Wilkes partnered in the firm of Burch & Burch, which would continue until Rousseau's appointment to the supreme court.
After nearly two decades of practicing law in Salina, Burch's name was put forward to succeed state supreme court justice Abram Halstead Ellis, who had died in office in September 1902. This honor came about "without his solicitation", and after being appointed to fill the vacancy by Governor William E. Stanley, he was nominated for a term of his own on the court by the Kansas Republican Central Committee and was elected that November.
During his near four decades on the court, Burch authored over 1,900 opinions, many of which were progressive for the time. Amongst these opinions was the 1910 case Caser v. Lewin, in which Burch opined that:
"An employee could recover damages from his employer from injuries sustained when the employer failed to provide safeguards on machinery required by statute."Early in his court tenure, Burch would vote to uphold a then-existing law that allowed county boards of education to segregate elementary schools in the state. Despite this action, he later issued a dissenting opinion in a court case that upheld a statute centering on the segregation of the Kansas City, Kansas high school system. Burch proved progressive against the racial animus of the time, and during his early years of practicing law is recorded by the Yale Biographical Law Review as being one of three lawyers who rescued a black man from a lynch mob in Kansas. After being elected to the court, Burch continued this attitude of racial equality, opposing a bill proposed by the Kansas legislature that would have made interracial marriage a crime.
Burch would continue to win reelection to the court and in 1921 was even talked of as a potential candidate for district court judge for Kansas, his name prominently mentioned by the Topeka State Journal. Burch's name achieved further notoriety in July 1935, upon the resignation of Chief Justice William Agnew Johnston (1848-1937), who had served on the court for fifty-one years (thirty-two of which had been as Chief Justice). Burch, as senior associate justice, was appointed to succeed him, and his tenure in that post extended until January 1937.
From the Topeka Daily State Journal, September 16, 1921.
Burch's long tenure on the court came to an end when he was defeated for reelection in November 1936 by Harry Kyle Allen (1873-1959), a former Dean of the Washburn College Law School. Burch would be afforded a measure of consolation following his loss when he was appointed to succeed Allen as Washburn Law School Dean and served in that role until his injury in a car accident in 1938. He would resign that year, and in 1939 was dealt another blow when he suffered a paralytic stroke while visiting New York. This stroke affected Burch's speech and movement in his left arm, and after being removed back to Kansas is reported to have shown marked improvement in recovery.
The latter period of Burch's life saw him as a member of the American Law Institute's National Governing Council, from which he retired in 1942. A 32nd degree Mason and Elks Lodge member (amongst other club memberships), Rousseau Angelus Burch died at his Topeka home on January 29, 1944, aged 81. Widowed in 1928, he had also been preceded in death by a daughter and was survived by his son Angelus. He was interred alongside his wife Clara at the Gypsum Hill Cemetery in Salina, Kansas.
From the Michigan Alumnus, 1944.
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