George Crouser/Crouse
1806–1864
George Crouser/Crouse, born ca.1806; died 16 March 1864 and was buried in the Simons Cemetery in Barbour County, West Virginia; married Mary “Polly” Simon, daughter of Anthony Simons. When Jacob Christlieb drafted his will in 1821, he bequeathed $5.00 to his grandson, George Crouse. It is unknown why Jacob favored this particular son of Elizabeth.
When George married, a marriage bond was signed by him and the uncle of his wife-to-be, Samuel Chrislip. The marriage bond was procured 22 January 1835. Harrison County Marriage Bonds, Book 5, p. 435. According to Harrison County Marriages, George and Mary were married on 31 January 1836. (The marriage entry incorrectly stated that Mary’s maiden name was Lymans, a simple misreading of old style handwritten capital letters.) George Crouser died 16 March 1864 and was buried in the Simon’s Cemetery, near Peel Tree, West Virginia.
“1862 – At the George Crouse farm near Peeltree, in Barbour County in northwestern Virginia, events of the war and the progress of the Union Army were daily conversations. With the new year the father, George, age 54, and his two eldest sons, Cyrus Squire Crouse, age 23, and Anthony Hamilton Crouse, age 19, decided to volunteer, because Major General George McClellan needed help. All three were expert shots and used to long hours in the saddle. They, too, thought it would be easy to defeat the South, put the ‘union back together’ and free slaves. If they left in January, they told other members of the family, they should be back in time for spring planting. On January 22nd, the three men rode toward Philippi, the county seat, bragging and laughing about what they would do to the ‘Rebs.’ Galloping over the ten-year-old covered bridge spanning the Tygart River, they headed for the recruitment center. They had hoped to be in the Cavalry, and although they were expert horsemen, more volunteers were needed in the Infantry, so that was where they were assigned. The pay was the same in the infantry as the Cavalry – $13 a month for a private.”
“Anthony Hamilton Crouse, along with his father and brother and cousins, George Washington Crouse and Johnson B. Crislip, along with other ‘raw recruits’ from the western counties, were sent east across the mountains to a Union camp, near Martinsburg to learn the art of war. There was a great deal to learn from the experienced soldiers of the Mexican War (1846-1848) who were volunteering for their second conflict. Soon, it was found that George Crouse had served a seven-year apprenticeship with a well-known gunsmith and had drilled his sons since they were old enough to hold a rifle. Their training period was short, because the three of them were not only expert marksmen, they knew how to repair and care for guns. George and Squire were to stay in Virginia as part of the Army of the Potomac. Anthony was sent to Illinois. A year and a half later, it was recognized that sleeping on the ground in all kinds of weather, plus daily marches of 15 to 30 miles, in addition to medical problems like dysentery, was more than a man of George’s age could handle. He was given an honorable discharge, on March 17, 1864, and was sent home.” Excerpted from Myrtle Crouse Reul’s, “He Wore Blue", Christlieb-Chrislip-Crislip Family Association Newsletter, Jacob’s Ladder, Vol. XVII, No. 4, Fall 2000, pp. 3-15.
Children of George Crouser and Mary Simons
Cyrus Squire Crouser/Crouso (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Jacob Christlieb2, Elizabeth Crislip3, George Crouser4) [127], born 15 August 1837; died 2 November 1901; married Rebecca Ward. With his cousins, Squire was a part of the Barbour Light Horse Cavalry in what became known as the First Land Battle of the Civil War that took place at Philippi.
Remaining loyal to the Union Cause, he enlisted in Company H, 10th West Virginia Infantry, afterward.
Elizabeth Crouser (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Jacob Christlieb2, Elizabeth Crislip3, George Crouser4) [128], born 27 February 1840; died 15 January 1906; married, 1861, George Gould.
Anthony Hamilton Crouser/Crouse (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Jacob Christlieb2, Elizabeth Crislip3, George Crouser4) [128], born 16 March 1842; died 27 October 1902, Harrison County, West Virginia; married, 11 November 1869, Taylor County, West Virginia, Rebecca Ruth Robinson.
Catherine Crouser (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Jacob Christlieb2, Elizabeth Crislip3, George Crouser4) [137], born 1844; died 1845.
Isaac Stricklar Crouser (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Jacob Christlieb2, Elizabeth Crislip3, George Crouser4) [137], born 12 October 1846; married, 26 February 1871, Taylor County, Virginia, Nancy Ann Robinson.
John Nelson Crouser (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Jacob Christlieb2, Elizabeth Crislip3, George Crouser4) [137], born 1848; died 1908; married 19 February 1872, Elizabeth Hanegar, born 1850.