CRISP, Charles Frederick

Fast Facts

• Charles F. Crisp of Georgia led Democrats in the House for much of his time on Capitol Hill and served as Speaker in the 52nd and 53rd Congresses (1891–1895).
• During his first term as Speaker, Crisp and House Democrats largely rolled back the rules instituted under Speaker Reed that empowered the majority.
• As Speaker, Crisp hired his son, Charles Robert Crisp, to serve as Parliamentarian. Charles Robert Crisp later served in the House from 1913 to 1932.

Biography

CRISP, Charles Frederick, (father of Charles Robert Crisp), a Representative from Georgia; born in Sheffield, England, January 29, 1845; later in that year his parents immigrated to the United States and settled in Georgia; attended the common schools of Savannah and Macon, Ga.; entered the Confederate Army in May 1861; commissioned lieutenant in Company K, Tenth Regiment, Virginia Infantry, and served with that regiment until May 12, 1864, when he became a prisoner of war; upon his release from Fort Delaware in June 1865 joined his parents at Ellaville, Schley County, Ga.; studied law at Americus, Ga.; was admitted to the bar in 1866 and commenced practice in Ellaville; appointed solicitor general of the southwestern judicial circuit in 1872, and reappointed in 1873 for a term of four years; appointed judge of the superior court of the same circuit in June 1877; elected by the general assembly to the same office in 1878; reelected judge for a term of four years in 1880; resigned that office in September 1882 to accept the Democratic nomination for Congress; president of the Democratic gubernatorial convention at Atlanta in April 1883; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served until his death (March 4, 1883-October 23, 1896); chair, Committee on Elections (Fiftieth Congress); chair, Committee on Rules (Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congress); Speaker of the House (Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses); nominated for United States Senator in the State primary of 1896; died in Atlanta, Ga., October 23, 1896; interment in Oak Grove Cemetery.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

Georgia Department of Archives and History

Massachusetts Historical Society