Frederic Beers Crossley was born in Glen Eyre, Pennsylvania on December 2, 1872. After attending Harvard College for two years (1895-1897), he entered the Northwestern University Law School, receiving his LL.B. in 1899. Crossley was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1899 and practiced in Chicago for over 20 years. In 1901 he joined the faculty of the Northwestern University Law School as Secretary and Librarian and held those positions until his retirement in 1934. In 1922 he was appointed Professor of Professional Ethics and Legal Bibliography. Crossley also served as Secretary of the Northwestern University Press.
A three-volume work, Courts and Lawyers in Illinois, edited by Crossley, was published in 1916. From 1917 to 1921 he was Justice of the Peace in Wilmette, and he then became the village attorney. Northwestern awarded Crossley an honorary M.A. in 1921.
Crossley married Susan E. Jenkins on August 2, 1904. The couple had three children. Crossley died in San Francisco on August 9, 1938.
From the guide to the Frederic B. Crossley (1872-1938) Papers, 1905-1930, (Northwestern University Archives)
