Bartholomew County IN Archives Biographies.....Crump, John S. 1843 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 4, 2007, 10:54 am Author: B. F. Bowen (1904) JOHN S. CRUMP. John Smith Crump, capitalist and street railway owner of Columbus, Indiana, was born on the old Crump homestead in Bartholomew county, Indiana, on February 24, 1843, the son of the late Francis T. Crump. Until he reached the age of about twelve years Mr. Crump remained upon the farm and received his education in the schools of the country and of the city of Columbus. He left school in 1861 to enter the army and on August 15th that year, at Madison, Indiana, he was mustered into Company G, Twenty-second Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, as a musician, being at the time of enlistment the youngest member of his company. His regiment was almost immediately ordered to St. Louis and was there attached to the army corps commanded by General John C. Fremont. He was with his command at the bloody battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, and also at the siege of Corinth and the fierce fight at Iuka, Mississippi. After the latter engagement he made application for discharge from the service on account of failing health. After his honorable discharge he returned to Columbus to find the county in intense excitement over the Morgan raid. He at once volunteered his services in helping to drive the rebels from Indiana soil. After a brief stay in Columbus, and his health continuing to be poor, Mr. Crump determined to go west, and on the 1st of March, 1863, he started for Marysville, Kansas, that town at the time being the most remote trading point on the overland route to California. In that frontier village he began merchandising, and continued the same, with success for some time. While there, he was, on April 9, 1865, married to Emma, the daughter of John and Emaline C. Webber. She was born in Delaware county, Ohio, on August 26, 1845. After marrying, Mr. Crump determined to go farther west, and in August, 1865, he and his wife loaded their household goods upon wagons and started for what was then known as the great plains of Kansas and Nebraska, and finally located upon a ranch in the latter state. He spent the fall and winter of 1865-6 upon the ranch, and then returned to Indiana. But in 1867 he again went west, intending to again engage in business at Marysville, Kansas, but, changing his mind, he located at Manhattan, a village at the junction of the Kansas and Blue rivers, where he carried on a grocery business until 1869; then closing out that business he went to Marysville and spent one year. He then returned to his old home in Bartholomew county and took charge of the old homestead near Columbus. He remained on the farm until 1887 and then removed into the city. In 1889 he built Crump's theatre, a structure that today is not excelled by any theatre in any town the size of Columbus in the state. In 1890 he gave to Columbus its first street car line, at first drawn by mules, and in 1893 converted into an electric system. In 1891 he purchased what was then known as the Bissell property. He reconstructed the entire property and made of it one of the modern buildings of the city, occupying more ground space than any other building in the business part of the city. In this building is the Belvidere Hotel, also the offices of Mr. Crump, in the latter being a modern steel burglar-proof safe deposit vault. This vault is fourteen by ten feet in size, the walls thirty-three inches thick, built of granite rock and lined and cased with chrome steel. In 1893 Mr. Crump completed his electric power station, for the purpose of furnishing power for his street car system and lighting purposes. This station is one of the finest in southern Indiana and is equipped throughout with the latest machinery. Mr. Crump's pluck and enterprise have long since been recognized by his fellow citizens and he is regarded as one of the most progressive and up-to-date men in the city, which fact was most forcibly demonstrated on May 29, 1903, when he was made the recipient at the hands of his fellow citizens of Columbus of a handsome and valuable gold medal set with diamonds, upon which is the following inscription: "John S. Crump, by the Citizens, as a Token of Esteem for His Public Enterprise. Columbus, Ind., May 29, 1903." The medal is beautifully embossed and engraved. In the pendant is a large raised "Goddess of Industry," holding a wreath over a street car, while an opera house building appears in the background, the occasion for the presentation having been the recent opening of Crump's street railway line and Crump's Opera House, both individual enterprises of Mr. Crump. Additional Comments: Extracted from BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY INDIANA INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA ILLUSTRATED 1904 B. F. Bowen PUBLISHER File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/bartholomew/bios/crump849gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 5.3 Kb