Contra
Costa County
Biographies
JASPER
NEWTON CROW
JASPER NEWTON CROW, a rancher of the
Sycamore valley, Contra Costa county, was born in
central Missouri, January 22, 1833, the second son of his parents, Lewis
and Nancy (Zumalt) Crow, both of whom were natives of the same state. The father eventually located in Lee county,
Iowa, from which place the entire family crossed the plains with ox teams,
arriving in California in September, 1853.
The first winter was spent in the Santa Clara valley, after which they
located in what has since been known as Crow canyon, where the father and his
five sons each took up a quarter section of land. The father became the owner of two hundred
and ninety acres, which is now in possession of John Lewis. Mr. Crow died at the age of sixty-two
years, while his wife lived to the ripe old age of eighty-seven. Besides Jasper N., they were the parents
of the following children:
William C., John J., Armilda J.,
Francis M., Lewis A., and Olivia A.
Jasper N. Crow pre-empted a
quarter-section of land at the same time that the rest of the family located in
Crow canyon, and improved and cultivated the same for some time. He finally sold out and since then has rented
property in various locations, among them being Haywards, Livermore, San Ramon,
Tassajara, Pleasanton, and in Sycamore valley is now conducted the Owens
ranch. Mr. Crow has been married
twice, his first wife being Adelaide Cline, a native of Oregon, who died at the
age of twenty-one years. In 1868 he
married Josephine Williams, who was born in Oregon, the daughter of David
Williams. She died at the age of
forty-six years, leaving six children, namely:
Lewis D., a farmer, who married Nellie Babbitts,
by whom he has two children, Irving Lewis and Earl; Nancy Jane, who married
Henry Christmann, by whom she has two children,
Gertrude and Henry; William, who married Maggie Jones and lives in Oakland;
Leonor, who married Lewis Eddy and has one child, Lola Evelyn; and two who died
in youth.
[Inserted by D. Toole]
1964
Oct 18, Daily Review, P13, Hayward, California
Crow
Canyon
A
good friend of Daniel Culp was Jasper Newton Crow, whose father and mother
preempted a quarter section of 160 acres in what
became known as Crow Canyon. Each of the
five sons of Lewis and Nancy Zumalt Crow also preempted a quarter section adjacent to each other until they owned nearly 1,000
acres on both sides of the Crow Canyon road.
The elder Lewis Crow died at 62, but his widow survived until she was
87. Most of the Crow family sold their
land in the canyon, and Jasper Crow later moved his farm to a home built in
Hayward proper. Jasper Crow in 1868
married Josephine Williams and their family consisted of six children. The oldest, Lewis Crow, married Nellie Babbits, the next, Nancy Crow, married Henry Christmann, and another daughter, Leonor, married Lewis
Eddy.
The
Crow family of Crow Canyon is sometimes confused with the Clinton Pike Crow
family who founded Crow’s Landing in Stanislaus County. However, the two families were not related. Clinton Pike Crow came to California in 1854,
driving a herd of 800 cattle from Missouri to Stockton, Calif. Here he engaged in the grocery business and
as a sideline operated the “Clara Crow,” a steamer which traveled the San
Joaquin river from Stockton to river towns like Riverbank, Empire City, Crow’s
Landing and Stanislaus City.
Grazing
Land
Clinton Pike Crow acquired land for
grazing and grain growing near the confluence of the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and
San Joaquin Rivers and there operated a trading store called Crow’s
Landing. In later life Clinton P. Crow
retired to San Jose but still operated his 1,300 acre wheat and barley ranch at
the landing. His family home, surrounded
by a fruit orchard, was on Saratoga Avenue in San Jose.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 994-995. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Donna Toole.
Contra Costa County Biographies