The next account of the Crotser family comes with the birth of two more children, both daughters. Mary Ann in 1854 and Caroline two years later. David's death occurred shortly after Caroline's birth, most probably in 1858. An Abstract of Estate is found in the Fayette County records in this year. (Fayette Facts Vol. X, No. 1, page 18). It reads as follows;
Pack 14. Crotzer, David, guardianship of minor heirs. 3 Jan., 1859 Nancy A. Crotser was appointed guardian of Henry aged 17, David C. aged 13, Gilbert H. aged 9, and Mary Ann 4, children of David Crotzer dec’d. They had $200 personal property and 2/3 interest in 96 acres of land. J.W. Ross and Henry Haller were on her bond. Report had been made 22 Aug. 1867. There were no receipts and final settlement in the pack except for the court fees. Note that the last name is spelled both ways in this document.
 Son Jacob would still have been living at this time, according to the materials gathered. Why he was not listed in this pack is not known. If his birth year is correct in the records used, he would have been about 16 years old. Was he living on his own at this time, or, perhaps, with other family members?
 No record has been found of this family in the 1860 census. The Fayette County Genealogical Index to this record says that their copy is not complete because of the poor quality of the original writings. This census needs to be more thoroughly checked out if possible. Nancy and her children may be in these unreadable listings, or she may have been living at a different location since the death of her husband, David. Very little is known about the family for several years.
 James Buchanan was in the White House from 1857-1861. The country was beginning to have more and more internal conflict over the slavery issue. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in November of 1861. This led to the secession of the Southern states and, eventually, to the beginning of the Civil War. Jefferson Davis became the first President of the new Confederacy, being elected in 1862.
 This Civil War again affected the Crotser's in a personal way. Henry, son of David and Nancy, was enrolled on August 9, 1862 in Fayette County, Company F, 97th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteers. He was to serve three years and mustered in as a private on September 8, 1862 at Camp Butler near Springfield, Illinois. He was honorably discharged along with the rest of his company in Galveston, Texas on July 29, 1865.
 During his duty, the company left Pensacola, Florida on March 3,1965 and marched to Alabama, arriving at Blakeley on April 2. Henry claimed that on this particular march he contracted a severe cold that ended in his having “lung fever”. He also stated, in his request for his pension, that he also developed “inflammatory rheumatism”.
 It appears from his military papers that Henry was at first turned down for his pension, but that he later reapplied. In a later form from the Department of the Interior, it is stated that his name has been dropped from the pension roll due to his death on October 8, 1917. It says that the last payment of $30.00 was made just 4 days prior to this date. His second attempt to receive his payments must have been successful. Although this document gives his death as having occurred on the 8th, his death certificate list the 6th of October.
 Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which declared all slaves in states fighting against the Union were to be freed. Slaves in the bordering states were not affected. The XIII Amendment then became a part of the Constitution.
 After Lincoln's assassination in 1865, Andrew Johnson took over the Presidential office. He was impeached in 1869 for “high crimes and misdemeanors” but was acquitted of the charges. He served out his term in the same year.

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