Santa
Clara County
Biographies
CLINTON PIKE CROW
Various sections in the state of California
have been the home of Mr. Crow, now a retired citizen of San Jose, and to the
material upbuilding of each he gave the force of a strong and earnest
character. He is the youngest son and next to the youngest child in a family of
nine children, eights sons and one daughter, of whom five sons and the one
daughter are now living. His birth occurred in Pike county, Mo., near Bowling
Green, February 26, 1831, whither his father, Walter Crow, had removed from the
place of his nativity, the blue grass region of Kentucky, in 1828. The elder
man was a mechanic and joiner, and also engaged in farming operations in his
Missouri home. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California by ox teams,
bringing with him two sons, Lewis J. and Clinton P., arriving September 10,
when they all became interested in mining at Hangtown. They remained in that
location until December 1, when Walter Crow returned to Missouri via the
Isthmus of Panama, and crossed the plains again the following spring with four
other sons, namely: William, James, Benjamin and Alfred M. They set out with
eight hundred cattle, but lost half of them before they arrived in the western
state. The father died at the mouth of Feather river,
shortly after their arrival. The sons then took charge of the cattle and
locating near Ripon, San Joaquin county, engaged in the stock business and at
the same time carried on dairying and butchering. Their mother, formerly Susan
Pritchett, a native of Kentucky, died in Missouri when our subject was only a
child.
After receiving his preliminary
education in the common school in the vicinity of his Missouri home, Clinton
Pike Crow was permitted to enter the seminary at Ashley, Mo., but on account of
impaired health did not complete the course. He came to California with his
father in 1849, being then a lad of eighteen years, and entered at once upon a
miner’s life. He did not return with his father the following year, but
remained in the state until 1852, when he went home and spent the ensuing two
years. In 1854, he crossed the plains to California with a
drove of cattle, and upon his arrival located in Stanislaus county near
the present site of Crow’s Landing. He remained in that location until 1856
when he returned to Missouri via the Isthmus of Panama and the following year
was married. In the spring of 1858 he brought his wife to California via the
Isthmus of Panama and located at Stockton, where he engaged in the grocery
business and also built the street car line in that city in conjunction with
his brother, James A. Crow, this enterprise being undertaken in 1876, and
though only a horse car line it was still a notable enterprise in the interests
of the city. They also owned and operated the Clara Crow, a steamer which plied
between Stockton and the Upper San Joaquin. Mr. Crow sold out his interests in
1884 and located near Santa Clara, purchasing a ranch of one hundred and twenty-six
acres on Saratoga avenue, sixty acres of which he set
out to fruit. The year following he moved his family upon the ranch where they
lived three years, when he sold out and in 1886 removed to Oakland and engaged
in the commission business. Two years later he returned to Santa Clara county and located in San Jose, where he now lives retired
from active life. He still owns his ranch of thirteen hundred acres at Crow’s
Landing, which he rents, and which is devoted to the cultivation of wheat and
barley.
In October, 1857, in Louisville,
Mo., Mr. Crow was united in marriage with Marguerite Stewart, a native of
Missouri and the daughter of Gen. David Stewart, a resident of Lincoln county, where his death occurred. They are the parents of
five daughters and two sons, namely: Clara, at home; Nellie, the wife of J. F.
Stewart, of Oakland; Lula, the wife of J. C. Williams, of Oakland; Henry, of
San Diego; Mattie, residing at home; Lena, the wife of Dr. J. C. Wasson, of San
Jose; and Stewart, an attorney of Lewiston, Idaho. Mr. Crow is a member and
elder of the First Christian Church of San Jose, and politically casts his
ballot with the Democratic party.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1329-1330. The
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.