Benedict Crowell (October 21, 1869 – September 8, 1952) was a United States

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

particularly influential in

military organization Military organization (American English , AE) or military organisation (British English , BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a State (polity), state so as to offer such military capability as a military policy, national defense pol ...

during and following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was

United States Assistant Secretary of War The United States assistant secretary of war was the second–ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940. According to thMilitary Laws of the United States "The act of Augus ...

from 1917 to 1920.

Biography

Benedict Crowell was born on October 21, 1869, in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, to Mary (née Benedict) and William Crowell.CROWELL, Benedict
in ''

Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

'' (14th edition, 1926); p. 537 He attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity, graduating in 1891 with both a Ph.D. and M.A. He returned to Cleveland to pursue a business career in

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

and

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

, and married Julia Cobb in December 1904. As the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

loomed, he rose quickly through the ranks of the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

, being made first an honorary

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on his entry in 1916, and eventually a brigadier general before being tapped for political positions. During the war he went on to serve as Assistant Secretary of War and Director of Munitions, founded the Army Ordnance Association in 1919, and eventually became a special consultant to the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He remained influential and active in politics between the wars, serving as a principal framer of the

National Defense Act of 1920 The National Defense Act of 1920 (or Kahn Act) was sponsored by United States Representative Julius Kahn (congressman), Julius Kahn, Republican Party (United States), Republican of California. This legislation updated the National Defense Act ...

, and was president of the Army Ordnance Association, a lobbying group, for a quarter of a century. In December 1922 he was indicted with six others for conspiracy to defraud the US Government on contracts for construction of war camps. The indictment was dismissed on January 30, 1925. He served as president of the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

1930–1931.Rodengen, Jeffrey L. (2002). ''NRA: An American Legend''. Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Write Stuff Enterprises, Inc. 304 pp. . ("The Presidents of NRA", p. 276). Crowell married Julia Cobb of Cleveland in December 1904. They had two children, Florence and Benedict. He died in Cleveland on September 8, 1952. He is buried with his wife in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

Air crash

On 8 October 1919, Crowell was involved in an aviation accident at

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, on Long Island, New York, United States. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aero ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, New York. : “ MINEOLA, L. I., Oct. 8. – Benedict Crowell, assistant secretary of war, narrowly escaped injury this afternoon when an airplane in which he was riding, fell 50 feet to the ground here and overturned. Both Crowell and his pilot, Maurice Cleary, were buried under the machine, but escaped with a shaking up. The accident occurred when Cleary tried to avoid striking a hangar. Crowell announced his intention at once of going up in another machine.”Wire service, “Two Accidents Mar Air Flight,” Riverside Daily Press, Riverside, California, 8 October 1919, Volume XXXIV, Number 240, p. 1.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowell, Benedict 1869 births 1952 deaths United States Army generals of World War I United States Army generals Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Politicians from Cleveland American lobbyists United States Assistant Secretaries of War Presidents of the National Rifle Association Activists from Ohio Yale University alumni Military personnel from Cleveland