The Crousers in Missouri

Pierce J. Crouser and his wife, Edna Mae Pierce J.Crouser was born 18 August 1896 in Wood County, West Virginia, to Benjamin Crouser and his wife, Frances Wilkinson. For further information about Pierce's origins, see "The Crousers of West Virginia." He married Edna Mae ___ who was born 19 September 1911. Pierce died 7 May 1971 and Edna Mae died 14 January 1994. She lived her entire life in the Kansas City area. Edna had previously been married to a Mr. Heck and was the mother of Barbara, Carol, Charlene, Charles and Bill Heck. Pierce and Edna Mae had the following children: Corinne Crouser James Crouser Delbert Crouser JoAnn Crouser A series of articles appeared in the Kansas City BEACON featuring Kansas City's best chefs. One was about Pierce Crouser. It said in part: PIERCE J. "JOE" CROUSER We met the "Slim Summerville" of culinary art the other day when we visited with Chef P. J. Crouser at Sol Lapin's restaurant and bar at 1713 Grand Avenue. A member of Cooks Local No. 266 for the past 12 years, Joe Crouser has been employed at Ed's Lunch since 1948, and as every newspaper man and woman in the midwest knows the hospitality of the Lapin enterprise, they know Joe, too, for his excellent cuisine. A native of West Virginia, Chef Crouser came to Kansas City from the Barney Allis hotel in Joplin in 1941. Prior to his association with the Lapin family at 1713 Grand Avenue, he worked at the Continental Hotel, the Phillips Hotel, Putsch's 210 Club, Adrian's and the Union Station. He's 56 years of age and has been "in the kitchen" as long as he can remember... "from the time I had to stand on a beer case to reach into the dishpan and scrub the dishes." He's an army veteran of World War I and spent 18 months in France. However, he did no cooking then, just plain fighting. The Crouser family lives at 2426 Drury Avenue and as this was written there were Mr. and Mrs. Crouser and three boys and five girls. However, by the time the Beacon goes to press there probably will be another Crouser added to the family rolls. There are also three granchildren. Joe says his only hobby is his home and garden, and with that many mouths to feed, we can certainly understand why. Incidently, none of the Crouser boys followed in their father's footsteps, as far as cooking is concerned, but Chef Joe says that three of his daughters are first class waitresses and it was Paw who taught 'em. Chef Crouser takes extraordinary pride in his work and says that while everybody can cook a bit and putter around the kitchen, a first class chef must have some ingenuity and imagination... it takes more than just a recipe." Information courtesy of JoAnn Crouser.

Caroline Crouser and Benjamin Funk Caroline Crouser and Benjamin Funk were married on 30 November 1859 in Iron, Missouri, by J. T. Ake, Justice of the Peace. Their marriage was recorded in Iron county, Missouri, marriage records, Book A, page 34.

Levi Crouser and Mary Ann Henry Levi Crouser was born in Clinton County, Ohio, on 13 August 1827, and died in Oregon, Holt County, Missouri, on 18 March 1886. He was in Company D 65th Indiana Infantry during the Civil War, and, apparently, when he returned to civilian life he became co-owner of a gold mine in Missouri. THE CROUSER GOLD MINE An article appeared in a Holt County newspaper describing an 1875 visit to a local gold mine. It went on to say: "Returning to the residence of Mr. Levi Crouser, one of the proprietors of the mines, we were favored by that gentleman with an opportunity of viewing several rich and beautiful specimens of quartz and wire gold taken from the first mine. Mr. Crouser said Doctor Hayes, of Boston, the celebrated assayist, had pronounced the samples to be the richest specimens that had come under his observations. Mr. Crouser showed us several minerals said to be ruby and sapphires of unusual richness. "We were also shown a remarkable fossil, evidently the tooth and gum of some strange animal. "In the first tunnel was an aperture of unsounded depth. This is unmistakably the crater of a volcano, extinct probably thousands, perhaps millions, of years before Crouser & Co. began to bore for gold or anything else. No one seems to know if the gold mine really existed although the original 1875 write-up about the visit there said it was located "near the waters of Swank Branch, a tributary of Tarkio Creek, and is about two and one-half miles due south of Oregon." HAPPY HUNTING, FOLKS! The book "Gone Home" by Eileen Derr quotes Levi's obituary as saying: "Levi removed to Missouri in 1864 and soon after his arrival was called upon to to mourn the death of his wife, Mary Ann, who died in 1864." Some people believe she was buried in Indiana. Levi married Mary Ann Henry who died in 1864 shortly after they moved to Missouri. Their children were: Benjamin Everett Crouser was born 4 February 1860 in Indiana. He was married in Holt County, Missouri, on 8 March 1885 to Adeline Kirk who was born 26 December 1863. She was the daughter of Thomas and Ellen Brown Kirk. Benjamin died 14 October 1932, and Adeline died 24 March 1943, both in Oregon, Holt County, Missouri. Their children were: Alice Crouser was born 27 November 1885. She married Louie Stalcup. Emma Crouser was born 4 June 1888 and died the same day. Nellie Crouser (no dates known) is said to be buried with her sister Emma in unmarked graves in the Kirk plot at Forbes Cemetery. Leona Crouser was born 18 April 1892 and married Arthur Miller on 5 July 1909. George Everett Crouser was born 4 May 1895. He married Mary Kiefer. Barton Bruce Crouser was born 1 September 1897 and died 7 February 1899. William Truman Crouser was born 27 August 1901 and died 9 August 1926. He was married on 30 November 1922 to Frances Leona ______ . Their children were: Darlyn Ruth Crouser Truman Lyle Crouser William Truman Crouser died when Lyle was only four months old, leaving Frances a 19 year old widow with two children. She returned to high school, got her degree, and then went to Business School in St. Joseph, Missouri. She got a job with International Harvester and worked for them for 41 years. Flora Elizabeth Crouser was born 9 July 1862 in Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana. She died 6 July 1946 in Oregon, Holt County, Missouri. She was married twice - to Philip Schlotzhauer and then John Schlotzhauer. Information courtesy of Barbara Crouser

Louis Crouser

Henry Crouser Henry Crouser was listed in the 1850 Federal Census of St. Louis, Missouri. He was a 30 year old laborer born in Germany.

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The Flower Images courtesy of the Santalady