Josiah Crump ( – February 15, 1890) was an African American postal clerk and at one point in 1879, was the only one in the city of

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. Crump also served as a military captain in one of Richmond's militias and served on the city's council for about ten years. He was also an ally of

Elizabeth Van Lew Elizabeth Van Lew (October 12, 1818 – September 25, 1900) was an American abolitionist, Southern Unionist, and philanthropist who recruited and acted as the primary handler of an extensive spy ring for the Union Army in the Confederate ca ...

, a Virginia

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

that also operated a

spy ring Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or Confidentiality, confidential information (Intelligence (information), intelligence). A person who commits espionage on ...

during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Biography

Little is concretely known about Crump's early life, although it is known that he was born in Richmond to Johanna and Josiah Crump around 1838. It is also unknown whether he was born enslaved or free, but records have him marked as "free" by 1860, when he was living in Richmond with his mother and her new husband, James Robinson. Crump was employed for a time hauling freight with his stepfather until 1871, when he began working with the postal system. He served as the head of the mailing division of the Richmond Post Office for 16 years. On December 19, 1883, he married Fernella Meriweather, with whom he had three children. In his later life Crump opened a grocery store. He died in his home on February 15, 1890, of

pyaemia Pyaemia (or pyemia) is a type of sepsis that leads to widespread abscesses of a metastatic nature. It is usually caused by the staphylococcus bacteria by pus-forming organisms in the blood. Apart from the distinctive abscesses, pyaemia exhibits th ...

. His funeral was extremely well attended and Crump's desk and chair at the council building were draped in black as a memorial.

Political career

In the early to mid 1870s Crump began showing an interest in politics and in May 1876 he was elected to Richmond's

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

city council. Crump served on the board of aldermen for about eight years from 1876 to 1884, then again a few years later from 1888 to 1890, his death. During his tenure he addressed issues that were important to the people he represented in the

Jackson Ward Jackson Ward, previously known as Central Wards, is a historically African-American district in Richmond, Virginia, with a long tradition of African-American businesses. It is located less than a mile from the Virginia State Capitol, sitting ...

area and served on the city's Committee on Ordinances, a committee typically staffed entirely by whites. Crump, along with others, managed to greatly improve the lives for many African Americans in their area by establishing a

night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The scuol ...

and by effectively putting an end to the

body snatching Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from t ...

of African-American

cadavers A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a liv ...

. In 1880 Crump served as a member of the Republican State Committee and during that same year he tried to nominate

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

for a third term as president. Crump was also a supporter of the Readjusters and in 1881, he was elected as a temporary chair for a factio of the Republican State Committee that endorsed a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

with this group. The following year Crump was elected to serve on the board of Petersburg's Central Lunatic Asylum, where he served in various capacities.

References

External links

1890 deaths Richmond, Virginia, city council members Virginia Republicans United States Postal Service people Year of birth uncertain {{Virginia-politician-stub