Elmer Beach

Elmer Ellsworth Beach (December 19, 1861 – March 17, 1950) was an American football player and lawyer. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1882 to 1883. He later became a lawyer in Chicago, established the Beach & Beach law firm, and practiced law from 1887 until his retirement in the 1930s. He was also grand master of the grand lodge Illinois Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

Early years
Beach was born in 1861 in Civil Bend, Fremont County, Iowa, the son of Henry W. Beach and Eva E. (Canfield) Beach. At age six, he moved with his family to Atwood in northern Michigan where he was raised on a farm. He received his primary education in the public schools of Antrim, Michigan. At age 15, he left the family farm to attend school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He attended Grand Rapids Grammar School and Grand Rapids High School, graduating 1880 in the German course and 1881 in the classical course.

University of Michigan
He enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1881 and graduated in 1884 at age 22. While attending Michigan, he played college football for the 1882 and 1883 Michigan Wolverines football teams as the quarterback and a forward, respectively.

Legal career
After graduating from Michigan, Beach began "reading law" with Judge Shorey of Chicago. He was admitted to the bar in 1887. They resided at 1140 Lunt Avenue in the Rogers Park section of Chicago. In 1889, Beach formed a law partnership with his brother, Raymond Walter Beach. The firm engaged in a general law practice under the name Beach & Beach with offices on the Ashland Block in Chicago. In 1908, the "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois" wrote: "Mr. Beach's success shows what can be accomplished by energy and perseverance, rising, as he has done, from a farmer's boy to the position of one of the leading attorneys at the Chicago bar." In 1921, he was elected grand master of the grand lodge Illinois Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

Family
In July 1889, he married Jessie E. Taylor of Ann Arbor, Michigan. They had two children, Elizabeth Clara Beach and Eva Mae Beach. His brother, Rex Beach, was a noted novelist and playwright. Beach moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in approximately 1940. In March 1950, he died at his home in Raleigh at age 88 after a long illness.