The Crowe Family
Author: Unknown
Publication Date: 1965
Edited: 2021
The first John Crowe came to Guelph in 1832 with his wife, Harriet Aldous. He was a tailor by trade, and she taught school. They came from either Bradford of Laxton in Yorkshire. They had three sons, William, Robert, and John, and one daughter, Ann.
William was a wagon-maker or carriage-builder. He married Emma Masters and they had a very large family. Their descendants include Mrs. Emma Hastings and Mrs. Irene Webber of Chatham and Mr. Harold Brown of Islington.
The second John went to Amaranth township to farm. If you drive through Orangeville, you will see Crowe’s Hardware, which is owned and operated by his grandson, Neil Crowe. He has a brother, Dr. W. R. Crowe of Lindsay. These two are the only male descendants of the second John Crowe. Neil Crowe had six aunts.
Ann Crowe married Thomas or John Watkins. Evidently, she lost all touch with her nieces and nephews, for no one today knows where she lived or when she died.
Robert Crowe was a carpenter or wagon-maker by trade. He married Susan Clutton, a relative of Samuel Wright. Robert’s dates are 1817-1894; Susan’s are 1823-1897. Their family included: William Barrett Crowe (1843-); John Aldenby Crowe (1845-1930); Joseph Clutten Crowe (1847-1906); Richard Henry Crowe (1849-1904); Caroline Elizabeth (Mrs. Frank Swann)(1854-1923); Phoebe Harriet (Mrs. John Kerr)(1857-1943); Annie Mahalah (Mrs. Frank Armstrong)(1861-1933); and two daughters who died in infancy.
Of interest in Guelph are the families of Richard, John and Joseph. Richard’s daughter, May, married Fred Sleeman. He is still living in Toronto, in his eighties, with his son Richard Sleeman.
Joseph Crowe, who lived on Mill Street, has two grandsons living in Guelph, Robert, and Donald. They operate the Crowe Foundry in Hespeler. Another Robert, only surviving son of Joseph, associated with the Page-Hersey firm for many years, lives in Toronto.
John Crowe married Emma Raymond, elder daughter of Charles Raymond, noted manufacturer of sewing machines. Charles Robert (1867-1953), was their eldest son. Two daughters, Ida and Mary, died in childhood. Mabel married Ernest Alker; her daughters are Lois (Mrs. John Robinette) and Eleanor (Mrs. Harry O’Neill) Emma Louise was a nurse in the First World War. She died in 1930. Aymond, the second son, married Helen Jardine; his daughters are Katherine (Mrs. Donald Davison) and Barbara (Mrs. Herbert Coleman) John Aldenby Crowe married for the second time Ada Raymond Miner, sister of his first wife; their daughter, Marie Crowe, lives in Guelph. The late Florence Miner (Mrs. Frank Martin) was the daughter of Ada Raymond by her first marriage to John Miner.
Dr. Ernest W. Crowe is the only surviving son of Charles R. Crowe. His sister is Greta (Mrs. D. B. Shutt). She has seven nephews and one niece, ten grand-nephews and eight grand-nieces. As none of these live in Guelph, there is no point in listing them; there are two Davids, two Douglases and two Christophers, so it is very confusing, even for a fond aunt.