Bertha Crouch Chase
American athlete
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Bertha Crouch Chase Wrightsman (August 16, 1874 – July 8, 1957) was an American tennis player and golfer, active in California in the 1890s.
August 16, 1874
Bertha Crouch Chase | |
|---|---|
Bertha Crouch, from an 1892 publication | |
| Born | Bertha Crouch August 16, 1874 California, U.S. |
| Died | July 8, 1957 (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Bertha Wrightsman |
| Occupations | Athlete, socialite |
Early life
Crouch was raised in Oakland, California, the daughter of farmer and rancher Elisha Crouch and Emily Rose Corbin Crouch.[1][2][3]
Sports career
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
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]