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Line CROPSEY: Elexander Cropsey, Mary Rogers, and the New York Origin

Research date: October 25, 2026. Free public records only. No paid sources, no Ancestry, no accounts, no library fee requests. Deceased people only.

Opened by: Jane (Cropsey) Etter's Michigan death certificate, read in full earlier today (Preservica asset 005363576_00943; transcript in line-b2-etter-records.md, section 10.1). It names her father as Elexander Cropsey (born New York State) and her mother as Mary Rogers, informant her husband Lewis Etter. This pass identifies Elexander, enumerates his children, traces Mary Rogers, and follows the family back to Rensselaer County, New York.

Labels:

1. HEADLINE: "Elexander Cropsey" is Alexander Barton Cropsey of Rensselaer County, NY, and Volinia Township, MI

VERIFIED (index level, multiple independent records):

The man Jane's certificate calls "Elexander Cropsey" is the Alexander Barton Cropsey (b. 4 Feb 1824, Rensselaer County, NY; d. 9 Aug 1889, Volinia Township, Cass County, MI) whose compiled record trail sits on WikiTree profile Cropsey-58, last edited the same day (11 Nov 2024) as the rest of this family's Michigan profiles:

Why the identification holds (four legs, not one):

  1. Jane's own death-certificate index entry names her father "Elexander Cropsey" (FamilySearch record KFHW-TRR, Michigan Death Certificates 1921-1952, film 005363576, image 943 — the same image read in full today; a second index, Michigan Deaths and Burials record FHDN-FRZ, also names "Elexander Cropsey" as Jane's father). Both are cited on Alexander Barton Cropsey's profile as "Death of daughter Jane Etter," i.e. the records themselves attach Jane to this man.
  2. In the 1860 census, Volinia Township, Cass County, MI (p. 175), "Lucinda Cropsey," age 1, born Michigan, is enumerated on the same page and image (image 391) as household head "A B Cropsey (36)," born New York (FamilySearch records MWD1-JRS for Lucinda, MWD1-J5R for A. B.). Jane Lucinda Cropsey, born 18 Dec 1858 in Cass County, would be exactly age 1 on that page. Jane's profile (Cropsey-57) carries this 1860 entry as her childhood census.
  3. In the 1870 census, Volinia (p. 18, image 526), "Jane Cropsey (11)" is enumerated on the same image as "Alexander Cropsey (46)," head of household, born New York (FamilySearch records MHHF-LJB and MHHF-LJ5). Father and daughter, same household, two censuses running.
  4. Place and generation fit: Alexander Barton Cropsey died in Volinia Township in 1889 and is buried in the family ground at Crane Cemetery (below); Jane was born, married, and died in that same township.

"Elexander" is simply how Lewis Etter (or the registrar) spelled Alexander on Jane's certificate. The certificate's "born New York State" matches Alexander Barton Cropsey's Rensselaer County birth.

Alexander Barton Cropsey: record trail (all VERIFIED at index level via Cropsey-58's cited FamilySearch records)

Occupation

Farmer (1880 census). No other occupation is recorded for him in the sources read. The "Lumber Inspector" occupation belongs to the conflicting Oswego entry and is NOT his on current evidence.

Land records

No federal land patent (BLM GLO) for a Cropsey in Cass County surfaced in this pass's searches; the searches run are listed in section 7. His father Ananias does have a New York land record (section 5). Whether Alexander bought his Volinia farm from the government or second-hand is NOT FOUND this pass; the Cass County deed books (not online free) would answer it.

2. Jane's siblings: the children of Alexander Barton Cropsey

Enumerated from the records cited on Cropsey-58, Cropsey-57, Cropsey-19, and the WikiTree surname index (https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/CROPSEY). "By Maria Louisa" vs "by Clarisa" is assigned by birth date against the 5 Jun 1869 second marriage, and is labeled inference where no record names the mother.

By Maria Louisa Rogers (m. 1846)

  1. Mary Alice Cropsey (b. 9 Oct 1848, Poestenkill, Rensselaer, NY; d. 9 Jun 1890, Volinia Twp; m. a Huff; buried Crane Cemetery, Find a Grave #101574049) — CANDIDATE as Alexander's daughter. Her WikiTree profile (Cropsey-3, a 2013 GEDCOM import) lists no parents: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cropsey-3. She fits the family exactly on age (eldest child, born two years after the 1846 marriage), birthplace (Poestenkill, where Alexander lived in 1850 and 1855), migration (died in Volinia), and burial (Crane, the family cemetery) — but no record read this pass names her parents. Do not merge yet; her Huff marriage record or the 1850/1860 household images are the test.
  2. George Cropsey (b. 31 Jan 1854, New York; d. 2 Mar 1923, Volinia Twp) — VERIFIED son (see the brother test, section 3).
  3. Jane Lucinda Cropsey (b. 18 Dec 1858, Cass Co., MI; d. 22 Jun 1925, Volinia Twp; m. Lewis A. Etter) — VERIFIED daughter (1860 and 1870 households; death certificate and its index naming Elexander). The line's subject. Profile: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cropsey-57. Note her full name: Jane Lucinda — the "Lucinda" of the 1860 census is Jane herself.
  4. Maria H. Cropsey (d. 29 Jul 1879, Volinia Twp) — VERIFIED as Alexander's daughter at index level: her Michigan death record names "Alexander B Cropsey" as her father (records N3NV-XSH and FHD8-BXZ, cited on Cropsey-58). Birth date NOT FOUND this pass.

By Clarisa Nichols (m. 1869), inferred by dates

  1. Lester B. (Lester Bert) Cropsey (b. 2 Dec 1869, Volinia; d. 2 Jul 1924, Penn Twp, Cass) — VERIFIED as Alexander's son at index level (birth record QP7Q-YLF7 names Alexander B Cropsey; his 1893 Traverse City marriage to Lettie Olive Vanamberg also names Alexander B as father, records Q2S2-WG96, FZ98-TWC, N3NJ-RY9). Mother-by-date inference: Clarisa. The "Elliot Crepsey" father-name on his death records is flagged in section 1.
  2. Alfred Cropsey (d. 25 Jul 1912, Howard Township, Cass) — VERIFIED as Alexander's son at index level: his death record names Alexander Cropsey as father (record FHD6-YVB, cited on Cropsey-58). Birth date NOT FOUND this pass.

The rest of the Crane cluster, placed or unplaced

3. The George test: is George Cropsy of Nicholsville Jane's brother?

ANSWER: YES — VERIFIED at index level.

4. Mary Rogers = Maria Louisa Rogers of Wynantskill, Rensselaer County, NY

The identification

VERIFIED at index level that Alexander B. Cropsey married Maria Louisa Rogers on 13 Aug 1846 in Wynantskill, Rensselaer, New York ("New York Marriages, 1686-1980," FamilySearch record F64G-GPD, FHL film 533485, cited on Cropsey-58). Jane's death certificate names her mother as Mary Rogers (informant Lewis Etter, reporting in 1925 on a woman dead roughly sixty years). "Maria Louisa" and "Mary" are the same woman on the balance of the records: Alexander had exactly one wife before 1869, Jane was born to that marriage in 1858, and a Crane Cemetery stone is inscribed for a Cropsey wife under the name "Mary Louisa Rogers" (below). The certificate's "Mary Rogers" is the short form of Maria/Mary Louisa Rogers.

Her stone

VERIFIED (stone exists and is photographed): the USGenWeb Crane Cemetery photo index lists "Cropsey, Mary Louisa Rogers" with three photo entries (Jim Riggs, Mar 2021; Kathy Londo Barnes, Mar 2007 x2) — the only Crane Cropsey entered under a maiden-name form, matching the Crane family-plot pattern: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/tsphoto/cass/crane.htm

Her death: bounded, not dated

NOT FOUND as an exact date. Bounded by records: she was alive for Jane's birth on 18 Dec 1858 (Jane's certificate names her as mother; whether she survived the birth is not stated) and Alexander remarried on 5 Jun 1869. So she died between Dec 1858 and Jun 1869, almost certainly in Volinia Township, and her Crane stone stands in the family plot.

Her family (the Rogers of Rensselaer County)

Discrepancy flagged

Elvaro Cropsey's WikiTree tree panel shows his paternal grandmother (Alexander's wife) as 1834-1898 (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cropsey-18). That cannot be Maria Louisa Rogers, who married in 1846. Neither George's nor Jane's profile attaches any mother at all, so the 1834-1898 figure is unreconciled with the sourced marriage record; it may be a compiler's error or a confusion with the second wife Clarisa (who was 39 in 1869, b. ~1830). Flagged, not adopted.

5. One generation up: Ananias V. Cropsey of Poestenkill (Alexander's father)

VERIFIED at index level (WikiTree Cropsey-59 and its cited records: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cropsey-59):

New York origin, stated carefully

6. Household reconstructions (index level)

Full member lists live on the census images; the entries below are the individually indexed members with citations, which is what free fetch can reach.

Poestenkill, Rensselaer, NY — 1850 (image 299, film 444301): Alexander B. Cropsey (26) — record MC18-X3T; Ananias V. Cropsey (56) on the same image — record MC18-X36 (neighboring household). The rest of Alexander's household (expected: Maria Louisa ~24, Mary Alice 1) is on the image, not separately captured. Poestenkill — 1855 NY State census (image 320): Alexander B. "Cropsie" (31), head — record K63C-VYP; son George (1) in his household — per Cropsey-19; Ananias (61), head of his own household, same image — record K63C-VB4. Volinia, Cass, MI — 1860 (p. 175, image 391): A. B. Cropsey (36), head, b. NY — record MWD1-J5R; Lucinda (Jane Lucinda) Cropsey (1), b. MI — record MWD1-JRS. (Expected on the same page: George (6) and Mary Alice (11); whether Maria Louisa was still living is the open question of section 4.) Volinia — 1870 (p. 18, image 526): Alexander Cropsey (46), head, b. NY — record MHHF-LJ5; Jane Cropsey (11), b. MI — record MHHF-LJB, same image (household now includes second wife Clarisa and infant Lester by dates). Volinia — 1880 (sheet 600A, image 841): "B Alexander Crapsey" (56), married, farmer, b. NY — record MWSM-HB6.

For comparison, Jane's own married households are already on file in line-b2 (1900 Volinia sheet 9A; 1910 sheet 10A; 1920 sheet 1A, Lewis head, Jane as wife).

7. Searches run and NOT FOUND list

Searches run this pass (web search + page fetch): "Elexander Cropsey" / "Alexander Cropsey" Cass County; Cropsey family Cass County Volinia Crane; WikiTree Cropsey surname index and profiles Cropsey-3, -18, -19, -57, -58, -59; USGenWeb Crane photo index; MIGenWeb Crane page; "Mary Louisa Rogers" Cropsey (several forms); Find a Grave memorial-number lookups for #31069178; Ananias Cropsey family searches; Otis/Samuel Cropsey parentage searches.

NOT FOUND:

  1. Maria Louisa (Rogers) Cropsey's exact death date and stone inscription — stone verified at Crane (3 photos in the USGenWeb index) but the inscription text was not reachable by fetch; death bounded Dec 1858 - Jun 1869 by records (section 4).
  2. Maria Louisa's parents / Rogers family — no Rensselaer Rogers record tied to her (section 4).
  3. The name of Ananias V. Cropsey's wife (Alexander's mother) — her dates (abt 1801 - 21 Mar 1871) appear on the WikiTree tree panels; her name does not appear on any page fetched.
  4. Ananias's parents — the line's current root.
  5. Mary Alice (Cropsey) Huff's parentage — CANDIDATE as Alexander's eldest daughter; unproven (section 2).
  6. Maria H. Cropsey's and Alfred Cropsey's birth dates — both verified as Alexander's children by their death records only.
  7. Otis Cropsey's and Samuel Cropsey's parents — next generation, unplaced (section 2).
  8. Alexander's Cass County land purchase — no BLM patent surfaced; county deeds are not online free.
  9. Alexander's full middle name in a primary record — "Barton" comes from the Find a Grave index and the Crane stone listing ("Alexander Barton"); records proper call him Alexander B. / A. B. Cropsey. "Barton" is adopted here as the FaG/stone form, flagged as such.
  10. The Alexander + Jane marriage-era record for Jane's mother — i.e., any record naming Maria Louisa as Jane's mother directly. The identification rests on: Alexander's only pre-1869 marriage (to Maria Louisa Rogers, 1846) + Jane's 1858 birth into that marriage + the certificate's "Mary Rogers." Solid circumstantial chain, labeled as such.

8. Highest-value next records (all free)

  1. The 1860 census image, Volinia p. 175 (FamilySearch image 33SQ-GBSW-P9): settles whether Maria Louisa was alive in June 1860 and lists the full household (George, Mary Alice?) in one read.
  2. The Crane Cemetery photo description pages for "Cropsey, Mary Louisa Rogers," "Cropsey, Alexander Barton," and "Cropsey, Monument" on USGenWeb (browser session; fetch could not render the description links): her inscription dates and the monument's name list.
  3. Mary Alice (Cropsey) Huff's marriage record (Cass County, ~1865-1875): Michigan marriage returns of that era name parents — the test for the eldest-daughter candidacy.
  4. The WMU Cropsey reunion book (Kaye Centers and Wendy VanderVeen Collection, ArchivesSpace resource 203): the family's own compiled genealogies; likely names Louisa Rogers's people and Ananias's wife. On-site/photocopy only.
  5. Ananias V. Cropsey's wife: the 1850/1855/1860 Poestenkill household images (she should be enumerated with him) and Rensselaer County probate for Ananias (d. 1869) — his will or estate file would name his widow and all children, including Alexander in Michigan.
  6. Maria H. Cropsey's birth record and Alfred Cropsey's birth record (Cass County births begin 1867; both may postdate it).

Source list (URLs used)

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