This family was anciently of Poland, where they were people of marked prominence. For political reasons members of one branch removed to Germany, where Frederick, the founder of the American branch, was born. In Poland the family name was Kroutzky.
(I) Frederick Crounse, the emigrant to America, was born in Germany, died in the Helderberg region, now the town of Guilderland, Albany county, New York, April 16, 1828. He was a shoemaker by trade; he settled first at Rhinebeck, New York. He married Anna Barbara ————, who died March 6, 1823, aged seventy-six years, two months and twenty-three days. Becoming dissatisfied with conditions and prospects he broke up his home and started to find a new one north or west. On foot, with perhaps one team of oxen, they traversed the wild region west of the Hudson until finally under the rugged rocks and mountains of the Helderbergs the mother's fortitude and courage gave way. She refused to proceed further and compelled her husband to choose a location in that valley, which he did, not far from the present village of Altamont. He secured a tract of land containing several hundred acres from the Van Rensselaers, paying a nominal lease; later his descendants came into soil possession by title and deed. He cut logs on his own land with which the first house was built, making a little clearing to which field by field was added as the years rolled on. He did not live to accomplish a great amount himself, but he laid the foundations on which six succeeding generations have built, and founded a race of hardy men and women, who have honorably borne the Crounse name. Wherever in this narrative the "old homestead" is referred to, the tract first reclaimed from its wild conditions by the sturdy German emigrant and his plucky wife is meant. Frederick Crounse was drafted in the revolution and rendered service. At the first town meeting held in Guilderland, April 5, 1803, he was chosen commissioner of highways. He left sons and daughters. The family were members of the German Lutheran church and clung to their church and mother tongue always, speaking German in their personal intercourse for two and three generations. The family religion has remained Lutheran through all the generations, while the family politics have been Whig and Republican, the latter day Crounses being particularly strong in their Republican sentiments.
(II) Frederick (2), son of Frederick (1) and Anna Barbara Crounse, was born January 12, 1769, died August 22, 1847. He was a weaver by trade; he owned six hundred acres of land in Guilderland, which was in part inherited from his father and partly purchased in the same locality, and practically part of the original homestead. He was a hard worker and greatly advanced the family interests, firmly establishing the name among the substantial men of the town. He was a Whig, and reared his family in the Lutheran faith. Children:
- John, of further mention.
- Conrad, died, aged eighty years; was a farmer of Guilderland; married Mary Livingsteen, who also lived to be eighty years of age; children: Frederick, Peter, Abram, John, Jacob, Henry, Conrad, Jr., Maria, Barbara, Nancy, Margaret, Rebecca.
- Frederick (3), a farmer of Guilderland, later of Schoharie county, but returned to the old home where he died; married ———— Steinberg.
- Jacob, a well-educated man; removed to Schoharie county; was a merchant and hotel keeper; children:
- Dr. Frederick Crounse, an old-time physician of Guilderland;
- Hiram and
- Conrad, physicians;
- John I., tanner;
- Elisha, tanner;
- Christopher, mechanic;
- James A.;
- Henry, veteran of rebellion;
- Lydia and
- Barbara Ann.
(III) John, son of Frederick (2) Crounse, was born on the old homestead, died March 23, 1854, aged eighty-five years. He inherited part of his father's six hundred acres, and in connection operated a tannery in partnership with his brother. He was a Whig in politics, and a Lutheran in religion. He married (first) Elizabeth Livingsteen, of Guilderland, who died April 16, 1831, aged sixty-three years, four months, three days. He married (second) Elizabeth Keenholts, died April 24, 1840, aged sixty-seven years. Children, all by first wife:
- Frederick, a farmer of Guilderland; died past eighty years of age; married Elizabeth Freyer; children: John, Jacob, George, Augusta, Barbara and Margaret.
- John, a farmer and tanner: settled in Schoharie county, New York, in the town of Seward, died over eighty years of age; married Margaret Van Norman.
- Peter, see forward.
- Conrad, a farmer of Guilderland, died very old; married Nancy Ogsbury; children: Alexander, John, Margaret Ann, Nancy, Mary and Orthelia.
- Alexander, a tanner and farmer of the town of Knox, Albany county, New York; lived to be over eighty years of age; married Margaret Crounse; children: Eugene, Margaret, Eliza, Nancy, Catherine and Lucinda.
- Barbara, married (first) ———— Van Valkenburgh; children: John, Catherine; married (second) Rev. Adam Crounse, pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, of Guilderland, for thirty five years, and at that time the church was one of the strongest in the synod. He died "in the harness" May 13, 1864. Children of second marriage: Christopher, Margaret and Aurelia; Rev. Crounse had children by a first wife: John, Barbara and Judith Ann.
- Maria, married Peter Wormer, and later moved to Little Sodus, Cayuga county, New York; children: Henry, Riley, John and two daughters.
- Margaret, married Tunis Hallenbeck, of Guilderland; children: Margaret, Eliza and Agnes.
- Henry, tanner of Sharon, New York, later of Guilderland; died aged eighty years; married Elizabeth Ward, of Guilderland; children: John, George, Norman, William, Peter, Tunis, Elizabeth, Sarah, Margaret and Gertrude.
(IV) Peter, son of John and Elizabeth (Livingsteen) Crounse, was born on the Crounse homestead in the year 1800, died in 1889. He was a successful farmer of Guilderland, owning three hundred acres, part of the original Crounse estate. He was prosperous and influential, a Whig and Republican in his later years, and was a devoted member of the Lutheran church. He married, in Guilderland, Margaret Smith, born in Rhinebeck, New York, daughter of John Smith, died in Broome county, New York. Children:
- Henry, died in 1906; a substantial farmer; married Susan Crounse, who survives him, aged seventy-four years; children: Leonard, Oakley, Cyrus, Peter, a son died in infancy; Elizabeth, Sarah and Etta.
- James, died in 1884; a farmer of Guilderland; married Christian Livingston; child, Edgar P., a farmer of Guilderland.
- John, born in Guilderland in 1834, died 1906; a farmer, married Lydia Truax; children: Peter, Gilbert, Arthur, Alexander, Elizabeth and Emily.
- William P., see forward.
- Alexander, a farmer, died unmarried, aged twenty-four.
- Eliza, married John Freyer, a farmer; children: Abraham, Albertus, and Emily, now Mrs. Waggenor.
- Mary, widow of John Freyer of Guilderland.
- Sarah, born 1836, died 1909; married Charles Showdy; children: Margaret and Mary, both married, former has one child.
- Barbara.
(V) William P., son of Peter and Margaret (Smith) Crounse, was born at the Crounse homestead farm in Guilderland, Albany county, New York, March 10, 1836. He was educated in the district schools. He lived on the old farm until 1860, when he purchased his present farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Guilderland. He has a well-improved property with abundant orchards and modern improvements. He is a man of substance and bears a high character among his townsmen. He is an ardent Republican, and has done yeoman service for his party. He has been an official of the Lutheran church for twenty-five years, and his family are all members of that denomination; the sons are all Republicans.
He married, on December 21st, 1859, Mary A., born in Guilderland, November 17, 1840, died November 4, 1909, daughter of James and Nancy (Ogsbury) Keenholts, and granddaughter of Christopher and Rebecca (Dyer) Keenholts, of Albany county. The founder of her family was a Hessian soldier who came to America in the pay of Great Britain, and after the war remained in this country, settling in Albany county, where he died. James Keenholts was a hotel man and railroad contractor. Children of William P. and Mary A. (Keenholts) Crounse:
- James P., born July 6, 1860, now of Schenectady, York; married Sarah La Grange; children:
- Lansing, born November 26, 1882;
- Lena, November 11, 1885;
- Louise, June 14, 1889;
- Walter, June 6, 1892.
- Margaret, born June 21, 1862, died November 30, 1887; married John H. Gardner; no issue.
- Mary Ella, November 23, 1863, died, unmarried, February 20, 1884.
- William Leslie, September 25, 1865, died May 7, 1890, unmarried.
- Franklin A., March 9, 1869, now of Meadowdale, New York; married Lona, daughter of Stephen V. Frederick, granddaughter of Christopher Frederick.
- Henry Wilson, August 21, 1872; now a farmer of the homestead acres; married Grace Adele, born September 16, 1877, daughter of Irving and Dora (Levingston) Comstock, granddaughter of Solon and Lucinda (Fairbanks) Comstock; children:
- Mary Ruth, born March 28, 1907;
- Dorothy L., born August 31, 1909.
- Anna, September 23, 1876; married Alexander Van Guysling, now of Schenectady, New York; no issue.
- Annetta, July 14, 1886; a graduate of Altamont high school, class of 1905.