Napa County CA Archives Biographies.....Crouch, Robert 1823 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 18, 2006, 3:40 am Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891) JUDGE ROBERT CROUCH arrived in California in 1853, since which time he has been a resident of Napa County. He was born in Oakdale, Harrison County, Ohio, October 15, 1823, and attended the ordinary public schools of that period, which was of a very primitive order of architecture, in keeping with the then pioneer conditions of settlement of Eastern Ohio, where is now the very center of our advanced civilization. The first school he attended was held in a log building. The desks were made of slabs while the seats were logs flattened. Such were the difficulties of that day in the way of getting an education. In 1844 he made a trip with a two-horse team to Farmington, Illinois, where he settled and remained until 1852. Here he taught school in winter and studied medicine during the summer, commencing practice in 1849, and continuing in it until after he arrived in California. In 1852 he crossed the plains with an ox team, spending the succeeding winter on Mill Creek in the Salt Lake Valley. During the winter, with three fellow-travelers, Gentiles, he lived in the house of a Mormon, a leader in his district, who rejoiced in the possession of six wives. They were pretty well snowed in, and he saw enough of Mormonism to satisfy him of its enormity. That spring the Mormons laid the corner-stone of their Tabernacle at Salt Lake, at which ceremony Judge Crouch was present, and saw Brigham Young and a score of his wives, as well as what was left of the original Mormon legion. Being familiar with the use of carpenters' tools, he was employed during winter in building a saw-mill. On his arrival in this State, having given up the idea of continuing in the practice of medicine, he began work as a carpenter, for which large wages were paid at that time, and followed that business until August, 1855. He then accepted the position of deputy county clerk, auditor and recorder, acting also as clerk for the board of supervisors, District, County, and Court of Sessions, all of these offices devolving upon the one clerk. He was elected Clerk for three successive terms, thus serving two years as deputy and six years as County Clerk. He was elected County Judge at the judicial election in 1863, and held that position for eight years. During his incumbency of the clerk's office, Judge Crouch had studied law, and was admitted to practice in the district courts after his election to the bench. Upon his retirement therefrom he engaged in the practice of law in Napa, in partnership with the late David McClure for about two years, then for a short time with A. J. Hull, when he formed a partnership with F. E. Johnson, which continued for more than eight years. In 1878 he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention which framed the present constitution of the State. During the sessions of this convention Judge Crouch strongly opposed dividing the Superior Court into departments, from the fact that the decisions of those departments are rendered uncertain, as they are still liable to be overruled by the court sitting in bank. Having been elected Judge of the Superior Court in November, 1884, on January 1, 1885, he resumed his seat upon the bench. This position he now fills. He was married in 1862 to Mrs. M. B. Bean, of San Francisco, a native of Maine, who came to California around Cape Horn in 1852. They have two children: Edgar H., born in 1863, who is now attending school in Massachusetts; and Mabel, born in 1871. He is a member of the Masonic order, Yount Lodge, No. 12, and Napa Chapter No. 30, and has belonged to the Republican party since 1864. Judge Crouch has been very successful as an attorney, is profoundly versed in the law, and is possessed of a fine judicial mind. Additional Comments: Extracted from Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California. Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of Prominent Citizens of To-day. "A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendents." – Macauley. CHICAGO THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1891. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/napa/bios/crouch809nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 4.9 Kb