Howard D. Crose writes by email:

"I really don't know what William Strib did for a living, I know he could play the fiddle and banjo and liked to drink shine and make babies, haha. They moved around a lot and never really got settled in one place for a long period of time. I can tell you that every time he got drunk he would swear that he was really not a Crose!!! said his last name was Gray!!! Of course his family never took that seriously!! However, upon closer inspection of the Census records, just try and find William Strib as a family member!!!! The 1880 census of Rowan Co. shows a Burnet age 7 but no William Strib.. You figure it out! There was a family story going around at one time that all of us Crose's were really named Gray and that came from Wm Strib... of course that story has been proved false many times, but on occasion I still hear it from some distant cousin.. That story can be directly layed at his feet.. The story goes... there was a orphan boy named Gray that was taken in by the Crose family and he liked them so much he took the Crose name... I think he was relaying his own story, that very possibly could be true."

Rowan Co. marriage register A, p. 95, records marriage of Strib Cross and Nanie M. Kash on 29 May 1895.

1900 census of Rowan Co., Ky, Farmer’s precinct, enumerated 12 June, lists on p. 10A as family #163:
Croase, Wm S., 27, b. Aug 1892 (stet, but an obvious error), day laborer; Nannie M., wife, 22, b. Feb 1878, married 5 years, mother of 2 children, 2 living; Henry, son, 3, b. Sep 1896; William V., son, 1, b. April 1899. All born Ky Ky Ky.

1910 census of Rowan Co., Ky, Farmers precinct, enumerated 28 April, lists on p. 12A as family #208/215:
Crose, Strib, farm laborer, 37; Nannie, wife, 32, first marriage for both, married 14 years, mother of 6 children, 4 living; Henry, son, 13; Wiley G., son, 5; Carrie M., dau, 3; William T., son, 7/12. All born Ky Ky Ky.

1920 census of Rowan Co., Ky, Farmers precinct, enumerated 28 Jan, lists on p. 10B as family #197/198:
Crose, William S., 49; Cash Nannie, wife, 42; Green, son, 15; Carrie, dau, 13; Taft, son, 10; Nida, dau, 5; Paul, son, 3 11/12; Peachie, dau, 4/12. All born Ky Ky Ky.

1930 census of Rowan Co., Ky, Farmers precinct, enumerated 14 Apr, lists on p. 2B as family #102:
Crose, W. S., 59, farmer, age at first marriage 29; Nannie, wife, 52, age at first marriage 17; Henry, son, 31, married, age at first marriage 21; Green W., son, 23, divorced, age at first marriage 18; Taft, son, 21; Nida, dau, 15; Carrie M., dau, 14; Paul, son, 13; Peachie, dau, 10. All born Ky Ky Ky.
(Unless Strib had two daughters named Carrie M., she should be 23, not 14.)