34
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
delphia, and he was, like many others, as-
saulted by a mob, and obliged to fly for his
life. He succeeded in reaching Richmond,
and was soon afterward appointed register
ol the treasury by President Davis, and dis-
charged the duties of the position with con-
sjjicuous ability until the close of the war.
He afterwards made his residence in Alont-
gomery, Alabama, where he was editor of
the "Mail and Express," and chairman of
the Democratic state central committee. He
v/as an impassioned and eloquent speaker,
and won the respect of all by his high and
delicate sense of personal and official honor.
In 1839 he married Priscilla, daughter of
Thomas A. Cooper, the famous tragedian.
He died, in Montgomery, Alabama, Decem-
ber 3, 1877.
Crump, William Wood, born in Henrico county, \'irginia, November 25, 1819, a son of Sterling Jamieson Crump, a well known importing merchant of his day, and Eliza- beth Wood, his wife. William Crump, American progenitor of the family, settled in York county, Virginia, and his descend- ants lived for many generations in New Kent county, which had been cut from York county. William \\'ood Crump jjassed his early life in Richmond, where he was a pupil in the well known school conducted by Dr. Gwathmey. Subsequently he prepared for college at Amherst Institute, .'\mherst, Mas- sachusetts, then entered William and Mary College in 1835, and was graduated from this institution in the class of 1838. He stud- ied law under the preceptorship of Professor K. Beverley Tucker, to whom he was tied by the bonds of sincere friendship until the death of the latter. He was admitted to the bar in 1840, and at once entered into the
practice which was to make him so famous.
He was a most effective speaker on the sub-
ject of states rights, supported John C. Cal-
houn in 1844, strongly advocated the annex-
ation of Texas, and was a leading spirit in
enrolling Virginia with those states which
sujjported James K. Polk. In the next presi-
dential canvass he was equally prominent in
the support of Lewis Cass. Early in 185 1,
Mr. Crump was elected by the legislature
tc succeed Hon. John S. Caskie, who re-
signed as judge of the circuit court of Rich-
mond City; July I, 1852, the new constitu-
tion of the state terminated all these judge-
•ships, and he retired from the bench. Prior
to the civil war he was an important figure
in the city council of Richmond, and was the
author of many ordinances which tended
greatly to improve the city. When the civil
war broke out, he was ardent in his support
of the Confederacy, and was appointed as-
sistant secretary of the treasury of the Con-
federate States, the duties of which office he
discharged with his usual ability. At the
close of the war he was elected a delegate
of the city of Richmond to the first general
asscmldy, was chairman of one of the most
important committees of this body, and was
an active participant in all the debates.
\\'hen all the members of the legislatures of
the southern states were retired by the
Shellabarger bill, Judge Crump resumed his
practice of the law, and was successfully
identified with this until the close of his
life, with the exception of a term of service
again spent in the legislature. Prior to the
war he had been appointed a member of the
board of visitors of William and Mary Col-
lege an<l was president of its board of vis-
itors. He was always an active worker in
the interests of this college, and it is largelv
