newspaperman, b. Waterford, N.Y. He graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y. (1838), studied law, and was admitted to the bar. In 1846 he moved to Milwaukee where, at the request of a group of prominent Democrats who desired newspaper support for their party, he purchased the Milwaukee Courier in partnership with Joseph Curtis (1847). The paper was renamed the Evening Wisconsin, publishing weekly, triweekly, and daily editions, and soon became one of the leading newspapers in the Northwest. In 1856 Cramer's paper joined the antislavery ranks and switched its support to the Republican party. Although he lost his hearing and eyesight, Cramer continued to edit the paper until his death. HARRIET LAURA CRAMER, b. Waupun, who had worked as a typesetter and proofreader on the Evening Wisconsin in her youth, became president of the newspaper company after the death of her husband, and held this position until 1918 when she sold the paper to W. H. Park. A prominent suffragist, lecturer, and philanthropist, she donated many objects of art and large sums of money to churches and colleges. Milwaukee Sentinel, May 21, 1905; CoIumbian Biog. Dict. . . . Wis. (Chicago, 1895); J. G. Gregory, Hist. of Milwaukee (4 vols., Chicago, 1931); Who's Who in .Amer., 10 (1918); WPA field notes.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]