Lyscum Elbert Crowson

Reverend Lyscum Elbert Crowson (June 26, 1903 - August 26, 1993) was a Methodist preacher who gained notoriety in the 1960s for leading West Virginia's "dry" movement, aimed at prohibiting the sale of "liquor by the drink."[1][2] As the chairman of the West Virginia Citizens Committee for Defeat of the Liquor Amendment, Crowson frequently engaged in high-profile debates with politicians,[3][4] the press,[5] and citizens alike. Crowson was fiery and unwavering in his politics, which also included opposition to West Virginia's use of capital punishment.

Reverend

Lyscum Elbert Crowson
BornJune 26, 1903 (1903-06-26)
DeKalb, Mississippi
DiedAugust 26, 1993 (1993-08-27) (aged 90)
West Virginia
EducationAsbury College
MovementProhibition of alcohol in West Virginia

Personal life

L.E. Crowson was born in De Kalb, Mississippi in 1903 to Frederick Lawrence Crowson, a Methodist preacher and Elizabeth S. Pope. Frederick was active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Crowson and his family moved often around the South, spending large amounts of time in Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama.

At 18, Crowson received his license to preach. He subsequently graduated from Asbury University (then Asbury College). After returning to Florida from Asbury, he married Aline Purdom in 1927; they had two daughters. Crowson established his influence in West Virginia from the 1930s to the 1980s while serving in across the state. He retired, and lived until his death, in Moorefield, West Virginia.[6]

Politics

Throughout his adult life, Crowson was often involved in the insider politics of the wider Methodist church. On multiple occasions, Crowson made waves within annual Methodist Conferences with his conservative beliefs.

At the 1960 Methodist General Conference in Denver, Colorado, Crowson presented a resolution aimed at discrediting the presidential aspirations of then-candidate John F. Kennedy, on the grounds that Kennedy's Catholicism caused fundamental problems for American sovereignty. The resolution was overwhelmingly rejected, and Crowson was strongly rebuked by fellow ministers.[7]

In 1962, Crowson was the leader of a successful statewide campaign to defeat a constitutional amendment in favor of loosening alcohol laws for restaurants. Crowson's actions ranged from engaging in high-profile debates to going undercover to liquor establishments, as well as regularly preaching the evils of drink from the pulpit.[8] Crowson frequently clashed with West Virginia newspapers throughout the 1960s, notably with John Hodel and Roy Lee Harmon of the Beckley Register-Herald.[9] Harmon described Crowson as "militant" and "fanatical" and compared Crowson to a "plague of locusts," while Crowson criticized the newspaper over journalistic integrity.[10]

While it was the newspaper coverage in the Beckley Register-Herald and the Charleston Gazette that made him a familiar figure in West Virginia politics, it was more often the stories about Crowson's undercover exploits that delighted the public. The most famous of these stories circulated in West Virginia for decades. Crowson had told reporters about one of his covert visits to an illicit bar, where he ordered a drink and began conversing with another patron. As a teetotaler unable to drink the alcohol, Crowson said, he discreetly poured it out on the floor. A letter-writer to the Charleston Gazette reported having discovered Crowson's ruse when Crowson accidentally poured his drink into the man's shoe. The letter-writer's claim about his alcohol-soaked shoe proved to be a spoof, but the tale circulated in West Virginia for decades.[11][12]

Crowson was a lifelong opponent of capital punishment, notably testifying in a 1969 state Senate hearing against a proposal to reinstate the death penalty in West Virginia.[13]

References
  1. "Crowson and Hubbard Clash: Liquor by the Drink Debated Before Small City Crowd". Beckley Post-Herald. May 15, 1962.
  2. Haught, James A. "Recalling Long-Vanished Taboos". holysmoke.org. Charleston Gazette. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  3. Toren, J. Richard (April 8, 1962). "Panhandle Debate: Dry Leader Going into "Lion's Den"". Beckley Post-Herald and Register.
  4. "Crowson Asks Governor To Act". Raleigh Register. November 4, 1962.
  5. "Dry Lashes Out at City's Press". Beckley Post-Herald. September 15, 1962.
  6. ""Local Area Obituaries: Dr. L.E. Crowson, Moorefield, WV," The Cumberland (MD) Times, August 28, 1993 · Page 8". Newspaperarchive.com. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  7. Cornell, George W. (1 May 1960). "Methodists Block Slap at Kennedy". The Gadsden Times. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  8. "The Weirton Daily Times". 31 October 1962.
  9. Hodel, John (January 14, 1967). "Salute to Kanawha's Rev. L. E. Crowson!". Beckley Post-Herald.
  10. Harmon, Roy Lee (February 23, 1964). "Hypocritical Legislators Represent Hypocritical Constituents Well". Beckley Post-Herald and Register.
  11. "Minister Finds The Shoe is On the Other Foot". Sarasota Herald Tribune. 12 Jan 1967. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  12. Haught, James A. (21 September 1993). "Recalling Long-Vanished Taboos". Charleston Gazette. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  13. ""Ministers Oppose Death Penalty," The Weirton (WV) Daily Times, February 10, 1969 · Page 16". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
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