William Henderson Crozier (1875-1953) and Myrtle English Crozier (1875-1949)

Will and Myrtle Crozier circa 1910

Will was my great-uncle, and Myrtle was his wife. The Croziers, my mom’s paternal side of the family, lived in the small unincorporated town of Dutch Mills in northwest Arkansas. 

I know next to nothing about Will and Myrtle, but one of the fun things about researching family history is looking at the Census records for family members. Not only do you find out about their lives (ages, schooling, professions, addresses) but also about who their neighbors were. The 1910 Census, for example, shows that the Croziers lived next door to the Whites. The Whites’ daughter Mary Clem ended up marrying Will Crozier’s little brother Roy. That’s right, Cousin Susan Reimers and Cousin Annie Marquez, your grandfather was Will Crozier’s little brother. Sometimes I feel as if I’ve dropped into a production of “Our Town” as I learn these stories.

The Croziers' roots run deep in Arkansas. The little homestead where my grandfather Joe Crozier grew up still stands, as does the church his preacher/farmer father, James Knox Polk Crozier, founded. I hope to visit there someday and look up some of my kinfolk who still live in the area.