Edward Hull Crump was born on October 2, 1874 in Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States. He was the son of Edward Hull Crump, a planter, and Mary C. Nelms Crump. After the elder Crump died in 1878, the family tried to continue running the farm but finally moved back into Holly Springs and lived on the income secured from some inherited land.
Crump attended the local public schools until the age of fifteen.
Crump worked at various jobs before setting out in 1894 to make his fortune in Memphis. Crump had a few temporary jobs in Memphis before securing a permanent position as a bookkeeper for a carriage and harness concern in 1896.
Eight years later, indicating the ambition and business ability that were to characterize his career, he was able to buy out the then bankrupt owners and make a success of the company.
Crump's rise in the business world made him a well-known and respected figure in the city.
Crump soon entered politics, at first to aid his business but later to benefit Memphis. The city at this time was poorly administered and was plagued by a number of problems. Various criminal figures were strongly influential in the municipal government and Crump, who was elected to his first position in 1902 as his ward's representative to the local Democratic convention, became part of a reform movement and rose to power on this basis. In 1905 a successful reform campaign put Crump on the city council.
In 1909 Crump was elected mayor for the first time. Two of his four administrations were short-lived, however. After winning reelection for a third term in 1916, Crump resigned to avoid being ousted, for failing to enforce prohibition, gambling, and other laws during his previous administration. He was nonetheless strong enough to pick his successor, Thomas C. Ashcroft, and immediately to secure election for himself as county trustee.
In 1939, as a result of a conflict over mayoral nominees, Crump decided to run again himself. Having won, he resigned just after the swearing in and allowed the city council to select his choice, Walter Chandler, as the mayor.
He was also twice elected congressman, in 1930 and 1932.
But if Crump was a benevolent dictator, many were critical of his rule. As with any big-city political machine, the Crump operation governed with an iron hand and was accused by critics of indulging in such practices as ballot stealing and false registrations. Citizens, it was charged, were not able to vote freely and without fear and were not allowed to choose the candidates for office. Public officials who refused to work within the Crump machine were either fired or driven out of office. As Crump grew older some also began to wonder what would happen to the city when he died. There was a feeling that he held too much power, and concern grew over who would control his organization when his rule came to an end. It was at this point that significant opposition to his domination emerged.
Crump's power--which had extended to the state level, and through collaboration with Senator Kenneth D. McKellar to some influence over federal patronage--remained undiluted until 1948 when his candidates for governor and United States senator were defeated in the primaries. In that campaign Estes Kefauver won the senatorial nomination and Gordon Browning the gubernatorial nomination by directing their fire against the Crump machine. By 1952, however, his organization indicated a recovery from its earlier defeat when Crump's candidate for governor, Frank Clement, won the primary. Although his machine never regained its former power, Crump himself remained a potent figure. A few months before his death in Memphis at the age of eighty, he was making plans for the next election.
He founded the E. H. Crump Company, which became one of the South's largest insurance-writing agencies, and grew rich from this enterprise as well as from interests in Mississippi cotton land and in a soft-drink bottling plant in New York State. He was responsible for improving the city's public health program. There is little doubt that he brought order out of chaos. The citizens of Memphis annually celebrated "Crump Day" at the fairgrounds at the expense of their "boss. "
He built a political machine that brought order and economy to Memphis and great power to himself.
Crump was a colorful and outspoken politician who was not afraid to express his opinion on controversial issues. For example, he opposed the Ku Klux Klan in his city and defended Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith against anti-Catholic arguments in 1928. He also was in many ways a benefactor of Shelby County and Memphis, fighting hard for what he believed would benefit the city. He was an early supporter of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
On January 22, 1902 he married Bessie Byrd McLean, who was a member of a wealthy and socially prominent family. Crump and his wife had three sons.
