Rough On Rats: The Other Sallie Crump

While looking for any information on the eldest daughter of Henry Davis, Sarah "Sallie" Davis Crump, I came across this story of a doomed and troubled young girl. The tale of her evil deeds was reported far and wide, as far away as Illinois, from the tiny town of Norwood in southern Stanly County, formerly known as Center.





The Decatur Herald
(Decatur, Illinois)23 Mar 1884, Sun • Page 1






The Times
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)22 Mar 1884, Sat • Page 1

Nanny and Infant Victorian Era

The Alamance Gleaner
(Graham, North Carolina)27 Mar 1884, Thu • Page 2


But who was this Sallie Davis, the teenager who poisoned the baby she was hired to sit for?

In 1870, when she was just a baby, she was living in the household of 76 year old John Crump. 1870 was the first census that the majority of African-Americans show up in, if they were held in slavery. Sallie Crump was among the first generation of children born after the Civil War, and born into freedom. The few who showed up in census records prior to 1870 as "Free People of Color" were often Native Americans or persons of mixed heritage. If born to Native American mothers or White Mothers, they were free, even if they bore African-American heritage. It is surprising, actually, how many persons there were, and they are hard to document, as they tended to move often.

Name:	Sarah Crump
Age in 1870:	1
Birth Year:	abt 1869
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1870:	Tyson, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	Black
Gender:	Female
Post Office:	Albemarle
Value of real estate:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age John Crump 76 Jemima Crump 62 Rowland Crump 29 Letha Crump 25 James Crump 10 Sarah Crump 1

John and Jemima Crump may have been the grandparents of Sarah Crump. African-American families were very fluid. Families were not always nuclear, and extended families would board together. This fact made them harder to trace in records as well. While it appears that Rowland and Letha Crump may have been the parents of James and Sarah, Rowland shows up as single a decade later, living alone with his mother, Jemima or "Mima". No wife and no children. John probably passed away by then, and Letha, too, as Rowland is counted as a widower in his mother's home in 1880.

ame:	Rowlin Crump [Rowland Crump]
Age:	40
Birth Year:	abt 1840
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1880:	Tysons, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	Black
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Son
Marital Status:	Widower
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's name:	Mima Crump
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Neighbors:	View others on page
Occupation:	Working On Farm
Cannot read/write: Blind: Deaf and Dumb: Otherwise disabled: Idiotic or insane:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age Mima Crump 68 Rowlin Crump 40

But what of his children? And were they his children? The large space between them was not typical. Perhaps James was a child of one or the other of them by a previous marriage. Perhaps Sallie was placed in the home by an overwhelmed young mother to Letha, who maybe had just lost a baby and could take care of Sallie better and emotionally needed her. That remains and will remain unknown. However, in 1880, Sallie shows up in the home of Thomas and Mandy Crump, not with Jemima or Rowland, and is called a daughter. Was she their daughter, or was she a niece?  This was 4 years before the poisoning incident.

ame:	Sarah Crumps [Sarah Crump]
Age:	16
Birth Year:	abt 1864
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1880:	Center, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	Black
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Daughter
Marital Status:	Single
Father's name:	Thomous Crump
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's name:	Mandy Crump
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Neighbors:	View others on page
Occupation:	At Home
Cannot read/write: Blind: Deaf and Dumb: Otherwise disabled: Idiotic or insane:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age Thomous Crump 60 Mandy Crump 36 Sarah Crumps 16 William Crumps 13 Thomous Crumps 12 Mary Crumps 11 John Crumps 10 Frank Crumps 9 Bettie Crumps 8 M. Crumps 6

The child which Sallie Crump poisoned was that of David Neville Bennett. D. N. Bennett was a respected Civil War Veteran. He served as a Captain.




The following is his service record from Fold3.com information:

Biography:

Captain David N. Bennett, of Norwood, a survivor of the gallant Fourteenth regiment, was born in Chesterfield county, son of Archie E. and Mary Crawford Bennett. His mother's father, David Crawford, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and her grandfather, Jackson, held the rank of general in the revolutionary army. With such a patriotic strain in his blood it is not a matter of surprise that young Bennett was among the early volunteers for the war of the Confederacy, though but sixteen years of age. His enlistment was in the Anson Guards, Capt. C. E. Smith, a volunteer organization which became Company C of the Fourteenth regiment, State troops, of which Junius Daniel was the first colonel. When the latter was succeeded by W. P. Roberts, R. Tyler Bennett became lieutenant-colonel. He enlisted as a private and in 1862 was elected sergeant, and in 1863 appointed ordnance-sergeant, but after serving in that capacity five months, he voluntarily resigned, feeling that it was his duty to stay with the men in the ranks as a private soldier. He was distinguished for bravery on many fields. During the service in southeastern Virginia, when the regiment was in line of battle under heavy fire, and the men were ordered to lie down and two volunteers were called for to go forward and draw the enemy's fire, he and William A. Maner were the daring men who stepped forward. His courage was mentioned in orders end he was recommended for promotion. At Seven Pines, through the Seven Days' campaign, the Maryland campaign, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Kelly's ford, and the campaigns of 1864, he shared the glorious record of his regiment. In 1864, near Charleston, he was shot through the hip and left on the battlefield to die, but fortunately recovered. After the close of the war he was elected to the captaincy of his old company. Since the close of hostilities he has been engaged in mercantile pursuits and in farming. As a magistrate he was one of the first Democrats elected to office in his county after the war, and in 1883, 1885 and 1887 he was elected to the legislature of the State. In 1894 he was appointed a director of the State penitentiary, an office which he held for three years. Captain Bennett was married in 1866 to Agnes C., daughter of Benjamin I. Dunlap, and has six children, John T., Crawford D., Burt E., Mary E., Irene L., and David N. Bennett. Source: Confederate Military History Vol. V

In the end, Sallie Davis was neither hanged nor poisoned.



The Semi-Weekly Citizen
(Asheville, North Carolina)9 Oct 1884, Thu • Page 1







The Farmer and Mechanic
(Raleigh, North Carolina)15 Oct 1884, Wed • Page 1

But what of Sallie after her release from prison?

She took residence in Salisbury, NC and may have tried living the straight life for awhile, but she probably recieved a good education in crime and illegal gain while in prison.

Name:	Sallie Crump
Age:	35
Birth Date:	Apr 1865
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1900:	Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina
Race:	Black
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Boarder
Marital Status:	Single
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation:	View on Image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Jubal Mcconnaughey   Julia Mcconnaughey   Walter Mcconnaughey 9 Otho Rankin 27 George Young   William Watson 27 John Withers 32 Sallie Crump 35

1900 has her living uptown with the McConnaughey family.

By 1910, she had been earning a living in the illegal alchohol trade and was sent to the workhouse again.






The High Point Enterprise
(High Point, North Carolina)30 Aug 1910, Tue • Page 1


After this, Sallie Crump disappears from the records. She may have passed away before death certificates began being issued around 1916.