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Bertha Crouch Chase

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Bertha Crouch Chase
Bertha Crouch, a young white woman with hair in a curly updo, wearing a drawn-on shirtwaist and necktie
Bertha Crouch, from an 1892 publication
Born
Bertha Crouch

August 16, 1874
California, U.S.
DiedJuly 8, 1957(1957-07-08) (aged 82)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesBertha Wrightsman
Occupation(s)Athlete, socialite

Bertha Crouch Chase Wrightsman (August 16, 1874 – July 8, 1957) was an American tennis player and golfer, active in California in the 1890s.

Early life

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Crouch was raised in Oakland, California, the daughter of farmer and rancher Elisha Crouch and Emily Rose Corbin Crouch.[1][2][3]

Sports career

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Crouch played in golf tournaments in the 1890s, as a member of the Los Angeles Country Club and the Southern California Golf Association.[4][5] She won the Ladies' Championship at a tournament in Santa Monica in 1899.[6] She also competed in tennis tournaments in California.[7][8] As a member of the Washington Tennis Club of East Oakland, she won a mixed doubles tournament in 1891, with partner Sam Lovett.[9] She won the Pacific States women's singles championship in 1891, in San Rafael.[10] She was also an avid cyclist[11] and rower.[12]

In 1922, Wrightsman returned to competition, as captain of the Virginia Country Club's team at a golf tournament in Long Beach.[13][14]

Personal life

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Crouch was expected to marry wealthy Sam Van Camp, a member of the Van Camp canned beans family, in 1898;[12][15] instead, she married citrus grower Martin Aquila Chase in 1899, in Van Nuys.[16][17] Martin Chase died in 1913.[18] Her second husband was John Earl Wrightsman; they married in 1920.[19] John E. Wrightsman died in 1951, and she died in 1957, at the age of 82, in Los Angeles.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "Elisha Crouch, Pioneer of Butte, Dies in South". Chico Record. October 20, 1918. p. 5 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  2. ^ "Personals". The Oakland Times. June 17, 1895. p. 5. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Rites Conducted for Mrs. Crouch". The Los Angeles Times. November 10, 1932. p. 32. Retrieved July 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Stephenson, D. "On the Golf Links with California's Fairest Athletes" The Sunday Call (February 18, 1900): 8.
  5. ^ "Gathering of Golfers". Los Angeles Herald. November 4, 1899. p. 5 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  6. ^ Inkersley, Arthur. "Golf in California" Outing 35(2)(November 1899): 201.
  7. ^ "The Tennis Tournament". Oakland Tribune. August 21, 1891. p. 1 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  8. ^ "Madison Opening; A Social Event in Tennis Circles in Oakland". The San Francisco Call and Post. October 4, 1891. p. 12. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Tennis Topics". Oakland Enquirer. July 29, 1891. p. 3. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Tennis Champions; Height and Hubbard Win the Prizes; Miss Bertha Crouch Also a Victor". San Francisco Chronicle. September 13, 1891. p. 6. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Tennis Topics". Oakland Tribune. June 14, 1893. p. 8. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "She Still Goes in for Sports". Town Talk. 10: 9. September 7, 1901.
  13. ^ "Women's Golf at Long Beach". Riverside Daily Press. October 3, 1922. p. 10 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  14. ^ Lick, Nib (October 3, 1922). "Two Women Tie for Honors in Qualifying Play". The Long Beach Telegram and The Long Beach Daily News. p. 13. Retrieved July 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Miss Bertha Crouch is to Wed Mr. Van Camp". Oakland Tribune. June 11, 1898. p. 6. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Chase-Crouch". The Press and Horticulturist. December 16, 1899. p. 17.
  17. ^ Guinn, James Miller (1902). Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California: Containing a History of Southern California from Its Earliest Settlement to the Opening Year of the Twentieth Century. Chapman Publishing Company. p. 918.
  18. ^ "Martin Chase Dies". Chico Record. September 19, 1913. p. 8 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  19. ^ "To Wed in San Francisco". The Long Beach Telegram and The Long Beach Daily News. December 9, 1920. p. 5. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Date and place of death from the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997, via Ancestry.