LITMIR.BIZ

      VICTOR HUGO CRUMP.

      A family not only emanating from pioneer stock, but thoroughly Californian, and therefore out and out American, is that of Victor Hugo Crump, a stockman and rancher on the West Side. His father was John Gray Crump, a native of Virginia, who had married Nancy Ann Cox, born in Missouri. He died in 1912, and she passed peacefully away on June 15, 1914.

      When still a young man, John Gray Crump emigrated to Paris, Mo., and there he both went to school and taught school. In 1850, when everybody was talking gold, he crossed the plains with a party of friends, traveling with the slow-going ox teams, and finally reached the goal of their ambition, the practically unexplored and unsettled state of California. He mined in Amador and Calaveras Counties, and then located in Santa Clara County, near Gilroy, where he farmed. In 1860 he settled near Kingston, in Fresno County, becoming one of the very early pioneers there. He followed stock-raising but the flood of 1861-62 drove him out. Believing that Fancher Creek offered still better conditions in that field, he removed to land near Academy, where he homesteaded 160 acres and followed stock raising. In 1872 he located in Warthan Canyon, in the mountains above Coalinga, and there he bought 320 acres, which was later increased to 1,340 acres. There he followed stock-raising the remainder of his life. He was the first post master of Warthan Post Office and was one of the first school trustees of Pleasant Valley school district.

      Mr. Crump was a man of sterling character, supremely honest, openhearted and generous, and especially inclined to help the poor. A good student and a devouring reader, he took up the study of law and medicine, the history of the Bible, ancient history and also political economy; and as he was quite familiar with these subjects, he was a hard man to beat in an argument. He was a stanch Democrat, but refused many offers from fellow-citizens to nominate him for public office. He belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

      John Crump was twice married. His first union was with Mary Cox, and after her death he married her sister, Nancy Ann Cox. Of the children of Mr. Crump, nine grew up and are still living. The eldest is Mrs. California Wier, who makes her home with her brother on the old home ranch. She has two sons — Dillard Spencer, the divisional superintendent of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Portland, Ore., and Cullen Gray of Coalinga. The next in order of birth is Mrs. Anna West, of Coalinga, who has four children. Then comes Robert Hayne, who died in 1890. Mrs. Elizabeth Kreyenhagen, of Coalinga, is the oldest of the second marriage, and whose marriage was blessed with three children; Victor Hugo, the subject of this sketch, and after that Mrs. Virginia Bell Croy, of Los Angeles, who has three children; then there is Frank, who is married and has three children, and Archibald, who is also a father of two children, and Chesterfield who, with Frank and Archibald, is ranching in Sacramento County.

      Victor H. was born on Fancher Creek, twenty-two miles east of Fresno, June 22, 1859, so was only five years of age when his parents moved to the West Side. He attended school in Pleasant Valley, and in Warthan Canyon districts. From a youth he learned the stock business with his father, continuing with him until his death, when he took charge of the place. When twenty-one he had homesteaded 160 acres and also purchased land adjoining his homestead, and leasing the old home, he runs about 2,000 acres in Warthan Canyon, where he engages in stock-raising. It has not all been a path of roses, but has required hard work, energy and sacrifice, so with foresight fortified with the experience of the past, and an enterprising spirit prompting and permitting him to dare, where others falter, and at length to do, Mr. Crump has become one of the leading stock-raisers of Fresno County.

      When Mr. Crump married near Lemoore, June 28, 1906, he was united to Mrs. Annie Belle (Shore) Merrill, a native of Santa Clara County, where she was born into a pioneer family that in 1882 moved to Tulare County. Mrs. Crump is the daughter of Gilbert Edward and Emily ( Bullard) Shore. Born in Missouri, her father crossed the plains in an ox team train with his parents when six years of age and was reared in Santa Clara County. Her mother came by way of the Isthmus of Panama. In 1882 Mr. and Mrs. Shore moved to Tulare County in the portion that afterwards became Kings County. He was a prominent man, served as supervisor of Tulare County and then was supervisor of Kings County, soon after the county was organized, for two terms until shortly before his death. He was a prominent Mason and a past master of Lemoore Lodge. His widow now resides near Lemoore. Annie Belle Shore received a good education in the public schools of Kings County, supplemented by a course at the Santa Clara High. Her first marriage was in 1893, to Strong Merrill, a native son, born in San Francisco. He was the first undersheriff of Kings County and was the nominee for county assessor at the time of his death in 1894. She had one daughter, Mae, by her former marriage, and she is now the wife of Justin Miller, formerly district attorney of Kings County. Mr. and Mrs. Crump have five children, and they are:' Anna Victoria; Cecelia Elizabeth; Laurence Shore, died October 28, 1918; Edward Herndon; and Jeanette Winnifred. Mrs. Crump is a member of the Neighbors of Woodcraft, and clerk of the Circle; she is also a member of the Lilly of the Lake Chapter. No. 41. O. E. S., at Lemoore, of which she is past worthy matron. Mr. and Mrs. Crump are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Coalinga and active in all movements for moral uplift and welfare of the people of the community. The Crumps own a residence in Coalinga where the family reside during the school months but the summers are spent on the ranch.