CRUM, WILLIAM H., a well known resident of the vicinity of Literberry, Morgan County, Ill., who is successfully engaged in the breeding of high grade horses, was born on his father's farm near the place March 15, 1855. He is a son of John W. Crum, a record of whose life appears elsewhere in this volume. When a boy William H. Crum attended the district schools in his neighborhood, and afterward pursued a three years' course of study in the Illinois Wesleyan University. Subsequently he entered Browns's Business College, where, at the age of twenty years, he acquired a thorough mercantile training. Two years later he assumed charge of his father's extensive farm, and was engaged in stock raising and the breeding of Percheron and standard road horses until 1897, when he moved to his present farm.

In 1901, Mr. Crum formed a partnership with his cousin, Albert Crum, in the same line of business, under the firm name of Crum & Crum. At the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, they were awarded eleven prizes on their exhibits, aggregating about $1,000. Mr. Crum has also been a breeder of fine Berkshire hogs for about twenty years. In this enterprise, J. W. Liter and J. L. Campbell are associated with him, and the concern is known as the Morgan County Berkshire Association. Its transactions are of considerable magnitude, and it is widely and favorably known for the quality of its product.

On October 22, 1895, Mr. Crum was united in marriage with Martha Gilpin, and their union has resulted in two children - Wilma, aged seven years, and Alta, two months. Politically, Mr. Crum is a supporter of the Republican party, and has creditably filled several township offices. He is a man of sound judgment and excellent business qualifications, and commands general confidence by reason of these qualities and the absolute integrity of his character.