While family documents show Cronkhite spelled a half dozen ways, my father, grandfather and great-grandfather were Cronkhite with an h.  According to letters in my grandmother's archives, my grandfather's brother, Ted, attended a family gathering in Missouri where Walter Cronkite showed him his father's geneology chart. That chart was on the wall of his dental office and showed how our families were connected.  Since then, the wall chart has disappeared.  To those of you who wonder and ask... Maybe, I am related to Walter Cronkite, but we do not know which brother or generation makes the direct link or why in the world our ancestors took this name in America.  

The Cronkhite name is also spelled Krankheydt in early New Amsterdam writings, indicating that all of us have connections to Holland.  Anyone with information tracing the origin of this very unusual choice of name in the US, please contact Kaci. 

Last updated on February 19, 2009 by Kaci Cronkhite