California Biographies, San Joaquin Valley

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


 JAMES THOMAS CROW. One of the best conducted ranches in the vicinity of Crow's Landing is 
that owned by James Thomas Crow, three miles east of town, and comprising over four 
hundred acres of land. Mr. Crow's family is too well known in this section to require more than 
passing mention, for on every hand are evidences of the high regard in which his father 'was 
held, one of the most ambitious and resourceful of the grain raisers of the county. Mr. Crow 
was born in Pike county, Mo., December 13, 1855. In 1865 he came to California with his father. 
In addition to his public school training he had the advantage of a course at Heald's Business 
College. After leaving college he farmed his father's land, and in 1884 purchased his present 
farm in partnership with his brother, B. T. Crow, which then comprised thirteen hundred acres. 
The tract was subsequently divided between the brothers, and in addition to the portion which 
James T. Crow owns he also has one hundred and sixty-six acres on the creek, and eight 
hundred acres of grain land in the Cottonwood district. His home farm is under a high state of 
cultivation, and the greater part of it is rented out, its owner at present devoting much of his 
attention to the management of a cheese factory erected on his farm in 1903, which has 
already proved a paying enterprise. 

December 13, 1877, Mr. Crow was united in marriage with Mary D. Riggs, who was born in 
Ashley, Mo., and is a daughter of Ambrose D. and Ann Eliza (Purse) Riggs, natives of Kentucky 
and New York City, respectively. Mr. Riggs moved from Kentucky to Missouri with his parents 
when six years of age, and at Ashley followed his trade of saddle and harness making for the 
balance of his life. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Crow, of whom Jessie, the eldest, is 
the wife of W. W. Bruner, a coffee plantation owner of Honolulu, and Ralph, Walter and 
Georgia are living at home. Mr. Crow has voted the Democratic ticket ever since attaining 
manhood, but has never sought nor been willing to accept public office. He is a quiet, 
unassuming, home-loving man, a model husband and father and an excellent business man. He 
has the confidence of his neighbors and associates in the county, and his lifework maintains the 
agricultural prestige established by his father. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church.