Benedict Crowell

Benedict Crowell was born on October 21, 1869, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Mary (née Benedict) and William Crowell. He attended public schools and the Case School of Applied Science. He attended Yale University, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity, graduating in 1891 with both a Bachelor of Philosophy and a M.A. in 1918. ==Career==

Crowell returned to Cleveland and became a chemist in the laboratories of Otis Steel Company. He was promoted to superintendent. He then organized the firm Crowell & Murray, metallurgists and chemists. He worked there as a mining engineer and chemist. He then formed Crowell & Little with Bascomb Little, a firm associated with testing reinforced concrete. The company disbanded after both men entered military service. The indictment was dismissed on January 30, 1925. On January 24, 1931, he was nominated as brigadier general of the United States Army Reserve by President Hoover. He was regional director of the National Recovery Administration, Ohio director of the National Emergency Council, and regional director of the Federal Housing Administration and Social Security Board. He was also chairman of the Ohio Repeal Council, which fought against prohibition in Ohio. In 1938, he resigned as the regional director of the Social Security Board for Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky. He then became president of Central National Bank. In 1941, he was director of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. In 1940, Crowell conducted a preliminary survey of the War Department's defense program for Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. The effort was extended and he remained in Washington, D.C., as a special defense consultant under Secretary Stimson throughout his tenure through World War II. On June 4, 1946, he received the Williams Medal for his contributions to national defense. Crowell wrote or assisted in the compiling of a number of books, including: • How America Went to War (1921), co-written with Robert Forrest Wilson • Munitions of War • Iron Ores of Lake Superior, co-written with Charles B. Murray ==Personal life==

Air crash On October 8, 1919, Crowell was involved in an aviation accident at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, 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.” Family life and death Crowell married Julia Cobb, daughter of one of the founders of drug firm Strong, Cobb & Company, of Cleveland in December 1904. They had two children, Florence and Benedict Jr. ==References==