Hugh W. Cross

Hugh Ware Cross (born August 24, 1896 in Jerseyville , Illinois , †  October 15, 1972 in Jerseyville, Illinois) was an American politician . Between 1941 and 1949 he was lieutenant governor of the state of Illinois.

Career

Hugh W. Cross comes from a farming family who has lived in Illinois for over 100 years and originally immigrated from New Jersey. He attended the public schools in Jerseyville. After studying law at the University of Illinois , he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and was admitted to the bar in 1921. He began working in this profession in a law firm in Jerseyville and later in Alton. He also ran the family farm.

Politically, he became a member of the Republican Party . Between 1933 and 1940 he was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives . From 1939 he was President of this Chamber, succeeding Louie E. Lewis .

In 1940, Cross was elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois alongside Dwight H. Green . He held this office, including a re-election in 1944, from January 13, 1941 to January 10, 1949. In each case, he was Deputy Governor . In 1944 and 1948 he took part as a delegate at the respective Republican National Conventions .

On March 8, 1949, US President Harry S. Truman nominated him for the vacant seat of George M. Barnard in the Interstate Commerce Commission with a remaining term until December 31, 1950. On April 7, 1949, the confirmation by the Senate took place of the United States . He took office on April 11, 1948. In 1950 there was a new nomination for a term until December 31, 1957.

In 1955 he became its regular chairman. On November 25, 1955, he resigned after he had become the subject of a committee of inquiry, which accused him of illegal taking advantage of the office in connection with a contract for the bus company that handled the transport of passengers between the various stations in Chicago . The committee found that there was no violation of existing laws, but that it had acted unwise. He justified his resignation with his health and that of his wife and to prevent possible harm from the Interstate Commerce Commission. He was succeeded by Rupert L. Murphy on the Interstate Commerce Commission .

After that, Cross no longer appeared politically. From 1957 to 1962 he was President of the Jersey County Abstract and Title Company.

Hugh W. Cross had been married to Helen McGovern of Galesburg since 1924 and had two children.

literature

• Nancy Weatherly Sharp, James Roger Sharp: American Legislative Leaders in the Midwest, 1911–1994 . Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997, ISBN 0-313-30214-6 ( full text in Google Book Search).

Web links

• Hugh W. Cross at The Political Graveyard
• ICC practitioners' journal. v.16 no.8 (1949). Retrieved July 1, 2019 . 
• Jersey County ILGenWeb: Jersey County Obituaries. February 7, 2015, Retrieved July 1, 2019 (American English). 
• Michael S. Mayer: The Eisenhower Years . Infobase Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4381-1908-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
• ICC practitioners' journal. v.16 no.8 (1949). Retrieved July 1, 2019 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ 9 Mar 1949, 10 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com. Retrieved July 1, 2019 . 
2. ↑ 26 Nov 1955, Page 7 - The Troy Record at Newspapers.com. Retrieved July 1, 2019 .