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
editCrouch was raised in Oakland, California, the daughter of farmer and rancher Elisha Crouch and Emily Rose Corbin Crouch.[1][2][3]
Sports career
editCrouch 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
editCrouch 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
edit- ^ "Elisha Crouch, Pioneer of Butte, Dies in South". Chico Record. October 20, 1918. p. 5 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "Personals". The Oakland Times. June 17, 1895. p. 5. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Rites Conducted for Mrs. Crouch". The Los Angeles Times. November 10, 1932. p. 32. Retrieved July 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Stephenson, D. "On the Golf Links with California's Fairest Athletes" The Sunday Call (February 18, 1900): 8.
- ^ "Gathering of Golfers". Los Angeles Herald. November 4, 1899. p. 5 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ Inkersley, Arthur. "Golf in California" Outing 35(2)(November 1899): 201.
- ^ "The Tennis Tournament". Oakland Tribune. August 21, 1891. p. 1 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Tennis Topics". Oakland Enquirer. July 29, 1891. p. 3. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Tennis Topics". Oakland Tribune. June 14, 1893. p. 8. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "She Still Goes in for Sports". Town Talk. 10: 9. September 7, 1901.
- ^ "Women's Golf at Long Beach". Riverside Daily Press. October 3, 1922. p. 10 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Miss Bertha Crouch is to Wed Mr. Van Camp". Oakland Tribune. June 11, 1898. p. 6. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Chase-Crouch". The Press and Horticulturist. December 16, 1899. p. 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.
- ^ "Martin Chase Dies". Chico Record. September 19, 1913. p. 8 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Date and place of death from the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997, via Ancestry.