Career
Born in Kentucky in March 1808 Crow entered into the dry goods business at the age of 12, as an apprenticeship in a general dry goods store. Eight years later Crow started his own dry goods business. He soon became a successful businessmen and moved to Saint Louis in 1835.
In 1840 Crow was elected as a Whig to the Missouri state senate.
In 1846 he secured the charter for the Saint Louis Mercantile Library Association, the oldest library west of the Mississippi River. In 1853 he secured the charter for Eliot Seminary, the precursor to Washington University.
He is buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery.