He returned to Cleveland to pursue a business career in steel and mining, and married Julia Cobb in December 1904.

As the First World War loomed, he rose quickly through the ranks of the United States Army Reserve, being made first an honorary major on his entry in 1916, and eventually a brigadier general before being tapped for political positions.

[1] He remained influential and active in politics between the wars, serving as a principal framer of the National Defense Act of 1920, and was president of the Army Ordnance Association, a lobbying group, for a quarter of a century.

[1] In December 1922 he was indicted with six others for conspiracy to defraud the US Government on contracts for construction of war camps.

[5] On 8 October 1919, Crowell was involved in an aviation accident at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York.