The Amazing Story of Five Generations,

And Eight named Roguer Crouse

The first known of the name was Roguer Paul Crouse, born ca. 1832. Little is known of the man except that he was Dutch, and that he had three wives. Altogether he had 17 children with his three wives, only 5 are known to have reached adulthood and married. Tragically most of his children died, within weeks of each other, from a “fever” epidemic in the 1860’s.

The story passed down through the generations is that Roguer Crouse, Jr. survived the “fever” epidemic because his parents were so concerned he was going to be taken by the “fever”, like so many of his siblings. Sarah, Roguer, Jr.’s mother, wrote in her diary, “Little Roguer was taken away in the cutter by father. They are going to brother Wm’s. Its late and very cold. At least he will be safe.”

Roguer Crouse, Jr. had only two children, Roguer Crouse III and his sister Permelia. Roguer the III went on to be a professor of history and the author of many historical papers. Roguer the III was a remarkable man in other ways as well. He was known for his incredible strength. It was said he could grab onto a flagpole with both hands and hold his body straight out from the flagpole like a flag. This legendary strength would make him a hero, as well as seal his fate.

One terrible day in the spring of 1924, Roguer Crouse III was with his family in a rented pleasure boat on Lake Serenity when a sudden freak squall hit them. Their boat was capsized along with a nearby tour boat full of tourists. Roguer the III is credited with personally saving the lives of his family and 14 of the 16 people on the tour boat, before succumbing to exhaustion and drowning.

Famous in his family for this selfless act, each of Roguer Crouse III’s four sons, John “Jack”, William, Albert and Labaron, named one of their sons Roguer. John had Roguer Crouse IV, Albert had Roguer Crouse V, William had Roguer Crouse VI and Labaron had Roguer Crouse VII.

To add to the difficulty in keeping the names straight, all four Roguer’s were born in 1956. Also, three of them lived in Tracyton, Washington, at one time or another. At times they even lived together and shared the same address. This made mail deliveries very interesting!

The name lives on. In 1995 Roguer Crouse VI was blessed with a son, which was promptly named, Roguer Paul Crouse VIII. ...