23) John Hugh Crow: Elected mayor for the Town of Welland in 1907, 1908, 1915 & 1916
Vital statistics
Birth: November 21, 1856 at Pelham, Ontario, Canada
Death: November 23, 1943 at Welland, Ontario, Canada (age 87)
Burial place: Fonthill Cemetery (Find a Grave)
Parents: Jacob / Harriett
Spouse: Isabella Jessie
Children: Gordon Wilson / Muriel
Occupation: Hardware business
Religion: Methodist
Political affiliation: Liberal
Community affiliations: High School Board / Town Councillor / Welland County General Hospital Board / Central United Church Board / Worshipful Master of Marritt Lodge / Lieutenant of 44th Lincoln and Welland Regiment
Profile
John Hugh Crow was born on November 21, 1856 in Pelham, to Jacob and Harriett Crow on the family homestead. His parents were descendants of the pioneer residents of the Niagara peninsula. He was educated at the public schools there and the Fonthill grammar school, becoming a teacher when he was seventeen. He was also well known for his proclivity in sports, and he was one of Pelham’s best baseball players. He never lost his interest in baseball and was an avid fan of the Welland clubs up to when he died in 1943 at the age of eighty seven. This gave him a link with the young generations as he kept attendance at baseball and hockey matches at his advanced age.
He moved to Welland in 1884 and two years later began a hardware business with A. E. Taylor. The business introduced John to the citizens of Welland and became an institution, flourishing for about 50 years before John’s retirement.
He first took part in public service by joining the high school board in 1897. Then he was elected as a councillor eight times between 1899 and 1917, with an additional four reigns as mayor in the years 1907, 1908, 1915 & 1916.
He was recalled in the 1958 Welland Centennial book with a couple of interesting notes on his character: he “counted the day lost when he did not get a little bet placed on a running horse, racing somewhere in Canada or the United States. He was a good business man but handicapped a bit by a very sharp temper.” However an editorial reporting on his death gives another impression of his character: he “might truthfully be described as a gentleman of the old school. His courteous and friendly manner was combined with a natural dignity backed by a keen intelligence and enquiring mind. He could, too, on occasions be firm, his strength of character being exemplified by an efficiency which made him a successful business man and by a capacity for public service which found him ably filling the mayor’s chair in Welland during the First World War.”
As noted, he was mayor of Welland in the years of 1915 and 1916, crucial years when Canada had just entered WWI. The war brought personal tragedy to him as well, for his only son Lieutenant Gordon Wilson Crow was killed in action at the battle of Courcelette in 1916. When the news reached Welland it shocked the public and prostrated the Crow home. Many lamentations and regrets were offered to the family, and Mayor Crow “with deep feeling, thanked the council for its thoughtfulness in passing such a touching resolution of sympathy at its last meeting. He felt that the sentiments expressed were shared by the people at large. Mothers whose sons are at the front have a special feeling of sympathy for those whose sons have fallen. “These messages help, to a certain extent to lighten the burden,” said His Worship, “I hope and pray that no more of the boys from Welland will have their remains left on foreign soil, but instead that we may be able to welcome them home.”
He lived to reach the advanced age of eighty seven, becoming known as Welland’s “Grand Old Man” and one of its best loved residents. The current mayor in 1943 Thomas Harry Lewis remarked “He was scholarly, courtly and wise and the city will be the poorer for his loss.” Welland historian Louis Blake Duff said “Few men were so widely known… he had a large acquaintanceship because of his zest, his energy and his interest. He was a good mayor, a good business man, a good citizen, a good churchman and a great sport. Cricket was his first love, then baseball and hockey. A bright and genial man, sound as a dollar, honorable, he leaves a name that will long live after him.”
Sources
- City of Welland, “Welland Centennial: 1858-1958” (1958), 36.
- “J. H. Crow.” Souvenir of the Town of Welland, August 22, 1902.
- “John Crow Dies Two Days After 87th Birthday.” Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, November 24, 1943.
- “Lieut. Gordon W. Crow Killed In Action.” Welland Telegraph, September 22, 1916.
- “Mayor Receives Many Messages.” Welland Tribune, September 28, 1916.
- “Worthy Citizen Passes.” Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, November 24, 1943.