Early in its history, Welland was a town full of burgeoning industries, which included metalworks, mills and lumber yards. One such yard was located along what is now Niagara Street and belonged to the Crow family. The roots of the Crow-Groh family stretch back to the Mennonite families of Pennsylvania that were forced to immigrate to Canada for refusing to take part in the American Revolution.
The Grohs came from Lancaster County as part of a second wave of Mennonite families that came to settle the Niagara Peninsula in 1788, two years after the first wave. In order to receive a land grant from the Crown, the family’s last name was anglicized to Crow. Fifth-generation descendants of the family in Canada, brothers John and William Crow were born in Pelham in 1856 and 1859, respectively, to Jacob Crow, one of the town’s prominent lumber merchants.
Jacob and his family moved to Welland in June 1874. While John would later enter the grocery and hardware business that would eventually take on his name, and later become mayor of Welland, Jacob and William followed a different path. Shortly after moving, Jacob decided to buy a lumber mill and yard at 52 North Main St.
(later Niagara Street). Formerly owned by a Mr. Crosby, the mill was powered by water, but Jacob converted it to run on steam, expanded the number of workers to run it and brought William into the trade to assist him.
In October of the same year, the mill and an adjoining yard were badly damaged by fire. The Crows.