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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

HARLES M. CROSWELL was born at Newburg, New York, October 31, 1825, and died in Adrian, Michigan, December 13, 1886. He was the only son of John and Sallie (Hicks) Croswell. His father, who was of Scotch-Irish extraction, was a paper-maker and carried on business in New York City. His ancestors on his mother's side were of Knickerbocker descent. The family of Croswell may be found connected with prominent events in New York and Connecticut in the early days of the Republic. Harry Croswell, during the administration of President Jefferson, published a paper called The Balance, and was prosecuted for libeling the President under the obnoxious Sedition Law. He was defended by Alexander Hamilton, and the decision of the case established the important ruling that the truth might be shown in cases of libel. Another member of the family was Edwin Croswell, the famous editor of The Albany Argus. Also of his family was Rev. William Croswell, early preacher and poet.

When Charles M. Croswell was seven years of age, his father was accidentally drowned in the Hudson River, at Newburg. Within three months preceding that event, his mother and only sister had died. He was thus left the sole surviving member of the family, without fortune or means. Upon the death of his father, he went to live with an uncle, who in 1837 emigrated with him to Adrian, Michigan. At sixteen years of age he commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, and worked at it very diligently for four years, maintaining himself and devoting his spare time to reading and the acquirement of knowledge. In 1846 he began the study of law, and was appointed Deputy Clerk of Lenawee County. The duties of this office he performed four years, when he was elected Register of Deeds, and was re-elected in 1852. In 1854 he took part in the first movements for the formation of the Republican party, and was a member and secretary of the Convention held at Jackson in that year, which put in the field the first Republican State ticket in Michigan.

In 1855 Mr. Croswell formed a law partnership with Chief Justice Cooley, which continued until the removal of Judge Cooley to Ann Arbor. In 1862 he was appointed City Attorney at Adrian. He was also elected Mayor of the city in the spring of the same year, and in the fall was chosen to represent Lenawee County in the State Senate. The Senate elected that year contained a number of experienced men and good lawyers, and it was therefore a high compliment to him when he was made Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, a position requir

ing not only legal ability but good sense and judgment and a careful and laborious attention to details. It was a still higher compliment when the Senate chose him its President, pro tempore. The duties of both these positions he discharged faithfully and to the satisfaction of his fellow Senators. As presiding officer he not only made himself familiar with the technical details of parliamentary law, but he showed a selfpossession, a readiness, and an unfailing courtesy, that seemed to point him out as the natural parliamentarian. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1864, and again in 1866. Among various reports made by him, one adverse to the re-establishment of the death penalty, and another against a proposition to pay the salaries of State officers and judges in coin, which then commanded a very large premium, may be mentioned. He also drafted the act ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, for the abolition of slavery, this being the first amendment to that instrument ratified by Michigan. In 1863, from his seat in the State Senate, he delivered an elaborate speech in favor of Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation and his general policy in the prosecution of the war.

In 1867 Mr. Croswell was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of that year and was chosen its presiding officer. This Convention was composed of an able body of men, and though in the general distrust of Constitutional changes which for some years had been taking possession of the people, their labors were not accepted by the popular vote, it was always conceded that the Constitution they proposed had been prepared with great care and skill. In 1868 he was chosen an elector on the Republican presidential ticket. In 1872 he was elected a Representative to the State Legislature from Lenawee County, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives. For several years he was Secretary of the State Board for the general supervision of the charitable and penal institutions of Michigan, in which position his propositions for the amelioration of the condition of the unfortunate and the reformation of the criminal classes showed the benevolence of his nature and the practical character of his mind.

In 1876 the general voice of the Republicans of the State indicated him as their choice for Governor. At the State Convention of the party in August of the same year he was put in nomination by acclamation, without the formality of a ballot, and at the election in November following he was chosen by a very large majority over all opposing candidates. Governor Croswell always prepared his addresses with care, and as his diction was terse, clear, and strong, without excess of ornament, and his delivery impressive, he was a popular speaker and used his great power in behalf of the true interests of the people.

In his private life, Governor Croswell was as exemplary as in his

public career he was successful and useful. In February, 1852, he was married to a daughter of Morton Eddy, Lucy M. Eddy, a lady of many amiable and sunny qualities. She died March 19, 1868, leaving two daughters and a son.

An orphan at seven years of age, Charles Croswell had before him the prospect of a laborious and inconspicuous life, with no adventitious circumstances whatever upon which he could rely for exceptional success. But he had the industry and the energy which were the sure auguries of success. He had Franklin's love of books, and it was certain from the first that as he grew in years he would find a congenial sphere of action in which his self-acquired learning would be of special value. The life story of Charles M. Croswell affords one of those striking illustrations, of which the history of America is full, of boys without the help of fortune, or education, or influential friends, by the force of native energy and perseverance, raising themselves to positions of eminence and usefulness, and filling them with distinguished honor.

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