Crosby, Anna Haines 1842-1926

CROSBY, HAINES

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 9/29/2012 at 11:31:10

The Grinnell (IA) Herald; Aug. 27, 1926

MRS. ANNA HAINES
CROSBY BURIED HERE
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Body of Former Grinnell Woman Now
Rests in Hazelwood
Cemetery
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SHE PASSED AWAY IN
DENVER, COLO., LAST MONDAY.
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Was One of Last of Maine Colony Who
Came Here In The Early
Days.
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The death of Mrs. Anna Haines Crosby at her home in Denver, Colo., last Monday has removed from life one of the few surviving members of the Maine colony who settled here in the early history of Grinnell. Mrs. Crosby was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gideon Haines who moved to Grinnell from Portsmouth, N.H. She was born in East Corinth, Maine, May 10, 1842, and died in Denver, Colo., August 23, 1926, at the age of 84 years, 3 months and 13 days. Her death was the result of a fall in the stairway of her home in which her skull was fractured and death was instantaneous. It is thought that she suffered a stroke which caused the fall.

She was married at East Hampton, Maine, January 1, 1863, to Mr. Geo. H. Crosby, and January 1, 1923, Mr. and Mrs. Crosby celebrated at Long Beach, Calif., the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage.

Mr. and Mrs. Crosby moved to Grinnell in 1868 and for many years their home was here, although part of the time was spent on a farm in Chester Township. To this union were born two sons, Howard P. Crosby who was born in the state of Maine and who died at Spirit Lake, September 20, 1925; and Samuel H. Crosby who was born in this county and who graduated from Grinnell college in 1902.

Mrs. Crosby's ancestry was of Welsh origin and her father, Gideon Haines, belonged to a line of pioneers who settled in New Hampshire in 1635. The name of the town at which they located was known as Greenland but was afterwards merged into Portsmouth. Mrs. Crosby belonged to an ancestry who were notable for their long life. Her father, Gideon Haines, lived to be ninety-two years old and he used to tell with pride of the day when he was but five years old when the first steamboat, which was invented by Fulton in 1810, sailed into Portsmouth Harbor.

The deceased lady was not only of notable ancestry, but she was a woman of strong character and pure Christian life, doing all in her power to elevate and improve the standards of right living.

Mr. Crosby was admitted to the bar in 1877 and became one of the leading factors in the fight of the Barb Wire Company of Grinnell against the patents of Washburn, Moen & Company.

The body of Mrs. Crosby was brought to Grinnell accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. S.H. Crosby. It reached here Wednesday morning and at ten o'clock a few of the old time friends gathered at the grave where a brief service was conducted by Rev. Peter Young.