George J. Crump (1841–1928)

George J. Crump was an officer in the Civil War and the Brooks-Baxter War. He was a prominent attorney in Carrollton (Carroll County) and Harrison (Boone County). He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives, as county clerk of Carroll County, and as a Democratic delegate for the Third Congressional District to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention of 1917–1918. He was also a U.S. marshal for the Western District of Arkansas.

George James Crump was born in Harlan, Kentucky, on June 13, 1841, to John Gray Crump and Elizabeth Gaither Watkins Crump. In 1854, he moved with his family to Carroll County, where his father farmed and practiced law in Carrollton. Crump attended private schools there.

Crump fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Historian T. Lindsay Baker, in his book Confederate Guerrilla: The Civil War Memoir of Joseph Bailey, states that on July 5, 1861, Crump joined a home-guard unit of Arkansas troops as a fifth sergeant, but the unit soon disbanded. Crump’s compiled military service record shows that he enlisted in Carrollton on October 19, 1861, as a private in Company E, Sixteenth Arkansas Infantry (CS), and was elected as junior second lieutenant in Company H of the Sixteenth Arkansas Infantry (CS) on June 28, 1862.

T. Lindsay Baker wrote that on October 6, 1862, Crump was captured by Union troops at Corinth, Mississippi. He swore not to take up arms against the federal government and was paroled. He ignored his oath and rejoined his Confederate unit. He was captured a second time while fighting during the siege of Port Hudson in Louisiana but escaped by jumping from a steamboat destined for a Union prison.

In Centennial History of Arkansas, Dallas T. Herndon states that during the Engagement at Jenkins’ Ferry in April 1864, Crump oversaw the infantry post of the Sixteenth Arkansas, Northwest Fifteenth, and Stirman battalions. However, several sources conflict with Herndon’s account, which obscures the role that Crump may have played in this battle. John H. Reynolds, in History of the University of Arkansas, also asserts that Crump was in command of a regiment at Jenkins’ Ferry. However, Reynolds declares that this regiment was formed in the fall of 1864, which was months after this battle took place. Unfortunately, Crump’s compiled military records do not provide any information about his service after July 1863.

On October 21, 1866, Crump married Josephine Boneparte Wright Greenlee. The couple had several children, including Archibald McKennon Crump, who became an attorney and assisted with the 1913 prosecution of Odus Davidson in Harrison for the 1912 murder of Ella Barham. He also served as the county clerk of Carroll County from 1864 to 1868.

Crump studied law, was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1869, and opened a law practice in Carrollton. He was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives and served one term from 1871 to 1872. He moved to Harrison in 1873 and established a law practice with J. H. Patterson.

During the Brooks-Baxter War in 1874, Crump served as a lieutenant colonel, earning him the lifetime moniker Colonel George J. Crump. Contemporary sources do not indicate which man he supported. However, a letter written by Crump in Harrison on April 27, 1874, and printed in the Arkansas Gazette on May 2, 1874, implies that Crump may have supported Governor Elisha Baxter.

Crump was an advocate for education. In 1873, he and others in Harrison attempted to create a college in Harrison, without success. In 1883, he was appointed as a member of the board of trustees of the Arkansas Industrial University in Fayetteville (Washington County), which later became the University of Arkansas, and served for two years.

On April 15, 1893, President Grover Cleveland appointed Crump to serve a four-year term as a U.S. marshal for the Western District of Arkansas. Crump carried out sentences imposed by Judge Isaac Parker. He presided over the execution of twelve men, including the notorious outlaw Cherokee Bill, and transported thirty-two bank robbers, train robbers, and other outlaws from Arkansas to a Detroit prison. He also facilitated the arrest of members of the infamous Cook Gang.

On May 1, 1901, Governor Jeff Davis appointed Crump as a member of the board of directors of the Louisiana Purchase Centennial International Exposition, also known as the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. On April 18, 1902, Gov. Davis removed Crump from this position and replaced him with J. C. Rembert of Helena (Phillips County). The Arkansas Democrat on April 19, 1902, explained that the governor had replaced Crump because he believed Crump favored his political opponent, and quoted the governor as saying, “I want none but my political friends in my official family.”

Crump was appointed general attorney for the St. Louis and North Arkansas Railroad Company (which would soon become the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad) in 1903.

Crump was a Democratic delegate for the Third Congressional District to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention of 1917–1918 but resigned in April 1918 due to the ill health of a family member.

In 1922, Crump ran in the Democratic primary for the Arkansas Senate, Third District, against Roy W. Milum. Milum defeated him. The Arkansas Gazette claimed the race between the two men was “the bitterest contest perhaps held in any district in the state.”

Crump enjoyed hunting and fishing. He was known to be an excellent marksman. According to the Arkansas Democrat, he could “rip a squirrel’s eye at 40 yards, two times out of three.”

In the summer of 1928, Crump had a stroke and never fully recovered. He died on December 4, 1928, in Harrison. He is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Harrison.

For additional information:
“Appoints J. Sam Rowland.” Arkansas Gazette, April 14, 1918, p. 12.

Baker, T. Lindsay. Confederate Guerrilla: The Civil War Memoir of Joseph Bailey. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2007.

Compiled Military Service Record, Crump, George J. U.S. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Arkansas, 1861–1865. National Archives Publication Number M317, Content Source NARA, Catalog ID 586957, Record Group 109, Arkansas, Roll 0150.

“Confederate Veteran to Be Member of Arkansas Senate.” Arkansas Democrat, March 12, 1922, p. 12.

Crump/Garvin Family Papers (MC 846). Special Collections. University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

“Death Claims Colonel Crump.” Yellville Mountain Echo, December 13, 1928, p. 1.

Gould, Nita. Remembering Ella: A 1912 Murder and Mystery in the Arkansas Ozarks. Little Rock: Butler Center Books, 2018.

Harmon, S. W. Hell on the Border: He Hanged Eighty-Eight Men. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.

Herndon, D. T. Centennial History of Arkansas, Vol. 3. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1922.

Josephine B. Crump Papers (MC 845). Special Collections. University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Finding aid online at https://uark.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/57 (accessed May 8, 2024).

Logan, Roger V., Jr. History of Boone County, Arkansas. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Company, 1998.

“Official Returns.” Harrison Daily Times, August 15, 1922, p. 1.

Rea, Ralph R. Boone County and Its People. Van Buren, AR: Press-Argus, 1955.

“Rembert Succeeds Crump, Lake Succeeds Cohen.” Arkansas Democrat, April 19, 1902, p. 5.

“Report of Carroll County, Arkansas.” Berryville Carroll County Advocate. September 23, 1876, p. 1.

“Republicans May Oppose Democrats.” Arkansas Gazette, August 16, 1922, p. 9.

Reynolds, John H. “Crump, George J.” History of the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 1910.

Rose, Sammie, and Pat Wood. “Keepers of ‘The Gates of Hell’: A Narrative on George J. Crump, U.S. Marshal.” Boone County Historian 15 (October, November, December 1992): 514–519.

“Third Legislative District Convention.” Arkansas Gazette, October 19, 1870, p. 4.

Nita Gould
Tulsa, Oklahoma