Henry Crewell was born around 1817 in New York to John Crewell and Elide Lenke. His father was a farmer who owned $4,800 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property by 1860. He married a woman named Eliza, and they had at least six children: Hannah, born around 1838; John, born around 1841; David, born around 1843; Jacob, born around 1848; William, born around 1855; and Francis, born around 1858. They lived in Columbia, New York, and Crewell worked as a farmer. By 1870, he owned $1,000 of personal property. He remained in Columbia for the rest of his life, and he died there on March 16, 1895.