Arthur was the second husband of Dr. Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler whom he married in St. John, New Brunswick on May 24, 1865. Arthur was born a slave but escaped and later served with the Union Army during the Civil War. His exact birth year is unknown. His Death and Burial records indicate he was born in 1839 and his Draft Record indicates 1837. Two Census records give his birth year as 1835. The Boston Globe article cited below says he was 74, not 64, in 1898- likely a transcription or interviewer error.
"Arthur was born a slave in Southampton county, near Jerusalem Court House, Va., (now named Courtland, VA) two miles from the Tucker swamp meeting house, on the estate of Robert Adams, a large Virginia land and slave holder. His father, Samuel, was a slave on the estate of Benjamin Crumpler, which adjoined the Adams estate. His mother was a part of the Adams estate, and Arthur Crumpler as well as other brothers and sisters, following the condition of the mother, according to the slave code of Virginia, became at birth also a part of the Adams estate." (1) In the 1880 Census Arthur reported that his father was born in South Carolina and his mother in Maryland.
When the Civil War began, Arthur managed to escape bondage and made his way to the gunboat Cumberland which took him to General Elias Wool's Union encampment at Fort Monroe on the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula. He worked there for 8 months as a blacksmith where he shod horses for the Union Army. "On July 6, 1862 I left Fort Monroe for Boston, and arrived here on 9 July 1862", he reported. There he was taken in and befriended by the educator and philanthropist, Nathaniel Topliff Allen.(1)(2)
"He slept in the barn and did the chores. A neighbor of Mr. Allen, Mr. Ayers, of whom we have already heard, had had his own barn burned by the Irish on account of his having hired one of these contrabands (escaped slaves) to work for him, and the community feared the same for Mr. Allen. But though there was much concealed feeling, no harm was ever done. In November, 1863, Arthur Crumpler cast his first vote, after being challenged on every possible ground that the authorities could trump up, owing to the prejudice against him as a Southern colored man. This attracted much attention at the time, and the Boston papers had articles upon it. Mr. Allen was his firm champion and saw him safely through the ordeal. Arthur Crumpler married a young woman of his own race who later studied at Mr Allen's school. She afterwards took a course in medicine, in Boston, and practiced her profession there, and in the South, dying a few years ago." (2).
By 1869 Arthur and Rebecca had returned to Boston after spending several years as medical missionaries in the post-war South. On their return, both became very active members of the Twelfth Baptist Church where Arthur served as a trustee. Then, in mid-December, 1870, Arthur and Rebecca's daughter, Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler, was born at their 20 Garden Street home. It's likely that Lizzie died in childhood- information about Lizzie is so far limited to her birth record- and when Arthur died in 1910, he left his estate to his niece, Maggie King, of 50 Hickory Street, Orange, New Jersey, including "all of property, real estate, and personal property." (3) A niece (probably Maggie) is mentioned by Arthur as having traveled to Boston to find him at the close of the Confederate War.(1)
Above quotations from:
(1) “Boston’s Oldest Pupil: He’s 74, and He Goes to the Evening School,” The Boston Sunday Globe, April 3, 1898, p. 25.
(2) Greene, Mary Anne. 1906. Nathaniel T. Allen: Teacher, Reformer, Philanthropist. Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press. p.174.
(3) Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991. Suffolk. Probate Record Book, Vol 971-981, 1910-1911. [Arthur Crumpler].
Bio by H. Lee Price
NOTES: Date of Burial: May 11, 1910, Undertaker: Samuel H. Perkins.
"Arthur was born a slave in Southampton county, near Jerusalem Court House, Va., (now named Courtland, VA) two miles from the Tucker swamp meeting house, on the estate of Robert Adams, a large Virginia land and slave holder. His father, Samuel, was a slave on the estate of Benjamin Crumpler, which adjoined the Adams estate. His mother was a part of the Adams estate, and Arthur Crumpler as well as other brothers and sisters, following the condition of the mother, according to the slave code of Virginia, became at birth also a part of the Adams estate." (1) In the 1880 Census Arthur reported that his father was born in South Carolina and his mother in Maryland.
When the Civil War began, Arthur managed to escape bondage and made his way to the gunboat Cumberland which took him to General Elias Wool's Union encampment at Fort Monroe on the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula. He worked there for 8 months as a blacksmith where he shod horses for the Union Army. "On July 6, 1862 I left Fort Monroe for Boston, and arrived here on 9 July 1862", he reported. There he was taken in and befriended by the educator and philanthropist, Nathaniel Topliff Allen.(1)(2)
"He slept in the barn and did the chores. A neighbor of Mr. Allen, Mr. Ayers, of whom we have already heard, had had his own barn burned by the Irish on account of his having hired one of these contrabands (escaped slaves) to work for him, and the community feared the same for Mr. Allen. But though there was much concealed feeling, no harm was ever done. In November, 1863, Arthur Crumpler cast his first vote, after being challenged on every possible ground that the authorities could trump up, owing to the prejudice against him as a Southern colored man. This attracted much attention at the time, and the Boston papers had articles upon it. Mr. Allen was his firm champion and saw him safely through the ordeal. Arthur Crumpler married a young woman of his own race who later studied at Mr Allen's school. She afterwards took a course in medicine, in Boston, and practiced her profession there, and in the South, dying a few years ago." (2).
By 1869 Arthur and Rebecca had returned to Boston after spending several years as medical missionaries in the post-war South. On their return, both became very active members of the Twelfth Baptist Church where Arthur served as a trustee. Then, in mid-December, 1870, Arthur and Rebecca's daughter, Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler, was born at their 20 Garden Street home. It's likely that Lizzie died in childhood- information about Lizzie is so far limited to her birth record- and when Arthur died in 1910, he left his estate to his niece, Maggie King, of 50 Hickory Street, Orange, New Jersey, including "all of property, real estate, and personal property." (3) A niece (probably Maggie) is mentioned by Arthur as having traveled to Boston to find him at the close of the Confederate War.(1)
Above quotations from:
(1) “Boston’s Oldest Pupil: He’s 74, and He Goes to the Evening School,” The Boston Sunday Globe, April 3, 1898, p. 25.
(2) Greene, Mary Anne. 1906. Nathaniel T. Allen: Teacher, Reformer, Philanthropist. Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press. p.174.
(3) Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991. Suffolk. Probate Record Book, Vol 971-981, 1910-1911. [Arthur Crumpler].
Bio by H. Lee Price
NOTES: Date of Burial: May 11, 1910, Undertaker: Samuel H. Perkins.
Arthur was the second husband of Dr. Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler whom he married in St. John, New Brunswick on May 24, 1865. Arthur was born a slave but escaped and later served with the Union Army during the Civil War. His exact birth year is unknown. His Death and Burial records indicate he was born in 1839 and his Draft Record indicates 1837. Two Census records give his birth year as 1835. The Boston Globe article cited below says he was 74, not 64, in 1898- likely a transcription or interviewer error.
"Arthur was born a slave in Southampton county, near Jerusalem Court House, Va., (now named Courtland, VA) two miles from the Tucker swamp meeting house, on the estate of Robert Adams, a large Virginia land and slave holder. His father, Samuel, was a slave on the estate of Benjamin Crumpler, which adjoined the Adams estate. His mother was a part of the Adams estate, and Arthur Crumpler as well as other brothers and sisters, following the condition of the mother, according to the slave code of Virginia, became at birth also a part of the Adams estate." (1) In the 1880 Census Arthur reported that his father was born in South Carolina and his mother in Maryland.
When the Civil War began, Arthur managed to escape bondage and made his way to the gunboat Cumberland which took him to General Elias Wool's Union encampment at Fort Monroe on the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula. He worked there for 8 months as a blacksmith where he shod horses for the Union Army. "On July 6, 1862 I left Fort Monroe for Boston, and arrived here on 9 July 1862", he reported. There he was taken in and befriended by the educator and philanthropist, Nathaniel Topliff Allen.(1)(2)
"He slept in the barn and did the chores. A neighbor of Mr. Allen, Mr. Ayers, of whom we have already heard, had had his own barn burned by the Irish on account of his having hired one of these contrabands (escaped slaves) to work for him, and the community feared the same for Mr. Allen. But though there was much concealed feeling, no harm was ever done. In November, 1863, Arthur Crumpler cast his first vote, after being challenged on every possible ground that the authorities could trump up, owing to the prejudice against him as a Southern colored man. This attracted much attention at the time, and the Boston papers had articles upon it. Mr. Allen was his firm champion and saw him safely through the ordeal. Arthur Crumpler married a young woman of his own race who later studied at Mr Allen's school. She afterwards took a course in medicine, in Boston, and practiced her profession there, and in the South, dying a few years ago." (2).
By 1869 Arthur and Rebecca had returned to Boston after spending several years as medical missionaries in the post-war South. On their return, both became very active members of the Twelfth Baptist Church where Arthur served as a trustee. Then, in mid-December, 1870, Arthur and Rebecca's daughter, Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler, was born at their 20 Garden Street home. It's likely that Lizzie died in childhood- information about Lizzie is so far limited to her birth record- and when Arthur died in 1910, he left his estate to his niece, Maggie King, of 50 Hickory Street, Orange, New Jersey, including "all of property, real estate, and personal property." (3) A niece (probably Maggie) is mentioned by Arthur as having traveled to Boston to find him at the close of the Confederate War.(1)
Above quotations from:
(1) “Boston’s Oldest Pupil: He’s 74, and He Goes to the Evening School,” The Boston Sunday Globe, April 3, 1898, p. 25.
(2) Greene, Mary Anne. 1906. Nathaniel T. Allen: Teacher, Reformer, Philanthropist. Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press. p.174.
(3) Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991. Suffolk. Probate Record Book, Vol 971-981, 1910-1911. [Arthur Crumpler].
Bio by H. Lee Price
NOTES: Date of Burial: May 11, 1910, Undertaker: Samuel H. Perkins.
"Arthur was born a slave in Southampton county, near Jerusalem Court House, Va., (now named Courtland, VA) two miles from the Tucker swamp meeting house, on the estate of Robert Adams, a large Virginia land and slave holder. His father, Samuel, was a slave on the estate of Benjamin Crumpler, which adjoined the Adams estate. His mother was a part of the Adams estate, and Arthur Crumpler as well as other brothers and sisters, following the condition of the mother, according to the slave code of Virginia, became at birth also a part of the Adams estate." (1) In the 1880 Census Arthur reported that his father was born in South Carolina and his mother in Maryland.
When the Civil War began, Arthur managed to escape bondage and made his way to the gunboat Cumberland which took him to General Elias Wool's Union encampment at Fort Monroe on the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula. He worked there for 8 months as a blacksmith where he shod horses for the Union Army. "On July 6, 1862 I left Fort Monroe for Boston, and arrived here on 9 July 1862", he reported. There he was taken in and befriended by the educator and philanthropist, Nathaniel Topliff Allen.(1)(2)
"He slept in the barn and did the chores. A neighbor of Mr. Allen, Mr. Ayers, of whom we have already heard, had had his own barn burned by the Irish on account of his having hired one of these contrabands (escaped slaves) to work for him, and the community feared the same for Mr. Allen. But though there was much concealed feeling, no harm was ever done. In November, 1863, Arthur Crumpler cast his first vote, after being challenged on every possible ground that the authorities could trump up, owing to the prejudice against him as a Southern colored man. This attracted much attention at the time, and the Boston papers had articles upon it. Mr. Allen was his firm champion and saw him safely through the ordeal. Arthur Crumpler married a young woman of his own race who later studied at Mr Allen's school. She afterwards took a course in medicine, in Boston, and practiced her profession there, and in the South, dying a few years ago." (2).
By 1869 Arthur and Rebecca had returned to Boston after spending several years as medical missionaries in the post-war South. On their return, both became very active members of the Twelfth Baptist Church where Arthur served as a trustee. Then, in mid-December, 1870, Arthur and Rebecca's daughter, Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler, was born at their 20 Garden Street home. It's likely that Lizzie died in childhood- information about Lizzie is so far limited to her birth record- and when Arthur died in 1910, he left his estate to his niece, Maggie King, of 50 Hickory Street, Orange, New Jersey, including "all of property, real estate, and personal property." (3) A niece (probably Maggie) is mentioned by Arthur as having traveled to Boston to find him at the close of the Confederate War.(1)
Above quotations from:
(1) “Boston’s Oldest Pupil: He’s 74, and He Goes to the Evening School,” The Boston Sunday Globe, April 3, 1898, p. 25.
(2) Greene, Mary Anne. 1906. Nathaniel T. Allen: Teacher, Reformer, Philanthropist. Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press. p.174.
(3) Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991. Suffolk. Probate Record Book, Vol 971-981, 1910-1911. [Arthur Crumpler].
Bio by H. Lee Price
NOTES: Date of Burial: May 11, 1910, Undertaker: Samuel H. Perkins.
Inscription
Front: “Arthur Crumpler 1835-1910.” || Back: “Enslaved at birth/ Escaped to Freedom/ Man of Faith / “Boston’s Oldest Pupil“ / Boston Globe April 3, 1898.
Gravesite Details
No grave marker existed here until July 16, 2020. Friends of Hyde Park Library and the Hyde Park Historical Society launched a fundraiser to place these headstones honoring Dr. Rebecca Crumpler and her husband Arthur.
