Thomas Gresham Crosby

known as T. Gresham Crosby

1880-1932

As a 37 year old, Gresham was described on his WWI draft registration card as having blond hair and blue eyes and being tall with a stout build. The average height for American men at that time was only 5' 8", a bit shorter than what is considered average now-a-days.

Gresham started his career as a bookkeeper and later became a Certified Public Accountant. He move frequently but lived most of his life in the New York City metropolitan area, including Bergen County, New Jersey.

Gresham was 18 when he married his first wife, Josephine. They had one child, Zelie, but the marriage did not last long. Like his first wife, Gresham was then married two more times.

His second marriage was to artist Adelaide "Addie" Harrison (nee Jones) who was ten years his senior. This was also Adelaide's second marriage.

His last marriage was to Mary O'Rourke, and they had one child, Joan Carew Crosby, but Gresham died when Joan was only 8 years old.

Joan was a few years younger than the children of Gresham's daughter Zelie from his first marriage. I don't know whether Zelie knew she had a half-sister. Zelie's children, Hope and Hiram, were not aware of Joan's existence until January 1979 when Joan phoned Hiram's home.

Father: Hiram Benjamin Crosby (1831-1900)
Mother: Margaret Anna Ackerman (1843-1924)

Spouse 1: Josephine Florence Buckingham Cable (1879-1942)

Children:

Spouce 2: Adelaide Harrison (nee Jones) (1871-1934)

  • (no children)

Spouse 3: Mary Margaret O'Rourke (ca1891- ? )

Children:
  • Joan Carew Crosby (1924-2002)

Timeline

  1. 1880

    November 26 - Born in New York City. The 6th of ten children of Hiram and Margaret (nee Ackerman) Crosby.[1]

  2. 1898

    September 14 - Marries Josephine F.B. Cable in New Rochelle, NY.[2]

  3. 1899

    August 2 - Daughter Zélie born in New York City.[3]

  4. 1904

    October 7 - Gresham and Josephine officially divorce.[4]

  5. ~1905

    Marries Adelaide Harrison (nee Jones).[5]

  6. 1922

    January 25 - Marries Mary O'Rourke in St Patrick Catholic Church, Jersey City, NJ. He is baptised on the same day.[6]

  7. 1924

    February 14 - Daughter Joan born in Baltimore, Maryland.[7]

  8. 1932

    April 9 - Dies in Babylon, NY, aged 51 years.[8]

Newspaper Clippings

Wedding announcement of Josephine Florence Buckingham Cable to Thomas Gresham Crosby appearing in The Paragraph (Mamaroneck, New York), Sat 15 Oct 1898, and the New York Daily Tribune, Thur 13 Oct 1898:
Image of newspaper article which reads: Announcement has just been made of the marriage of Miss Florence Josephine Cable daughter of H.L. Cable of Florida to Thomas Gresham Crosby of Bay Chester. The ceremony was performed by the Rev Francis E. Smith of the Second Presbyterian Church on September 14.

Photo Galleries

Hiram & Margaret Crosby family photos

1880s Hiram & Margaret Crosby Family Photos

Joan Crosby and Hope Ely Cochran
Joan Crosby with her half-niece Hope Ely Cochran, 1979
(Gresham's daughter and granddaughter)

Footnotes and Sources

  1. [1] Sources:
    • “World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6482/images/005263072_03305 : accessed 21 April 2018), registration card for Thomas Gresham Crosby, serial no. (illegible), order no. 4062, Local Board, Div. 129: 15 West 77th St, New York City, NY; citing NARA microfilm publication M1509. This record gives a date of birth but not place of birth.
    • Hazen and Spear, A history of the class of 1854 in Dartmouth college, page 20. This record gives a date of birth but not place of birth.
    • State of New York, County of New York, City of New York, Bureau of Records, Dept. of Health, Certificate and Record of Birth #28967, Zelie Bancroft Crosby, born 2 August 1899; certified copy of record issued 26 May 1926. This record gives a place of birth but not a date of birth.
  2. [2] Sources:
    • "New York State, Marriage Index, 1881-1967," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61632/images/48722_556202-00182 and https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61632/images/48722_556202-00116 : accessed 30 August 2026), marriage index, Thomas G. Crosby and Josephine F.B. Cable, 14 September 1898, New Rochelle, New York, certificate no. 15762; citing New York State Marriage Index, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY.
    • "Married," New York Tribune (New York NY), Tuesday 11 October 1898, p7; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/468672119/ : accessed 17 Sep 2025).
  3. [3] State of New York, County of New York, City of New York, Bureau of Records, Dept. of Health, Certificate and Record of Birth #28967, Zelie Bancroft Crosby, born 2 August 1899; certified copy of record issued 26 May 1926. Informant J. Husson, MD. The report was made 8 Aug 1899.
  4. [4] Manhattan, New York County, New York, Index to Matrimonial Actions, 1784-1910, Index, A-H, (index to divorces, annulments, and separations, 1784-1910), divorce record, Josephine F.B Crosby, individual plaintiff, and Thomas Gresham Crosby, Defendant, divorced 7 October 1904; imaged, “Records on file in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York in the Hall of Records, re-indexed by the Commissioner of Records of the County of New York,” FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHM-6STW?cat=235832&i=170&lang=en image : downloaded 6 October 2025); citing FHL microfilm 007903312, image 171/522, Family History Library, Salt Lake City.
  5. [5] The April 1910 U.S. census lists Gresham Crosby as head of household and Adelaide Crosby as his wife and each having been married for 5 years and each having been married twice. The New York 1905 State census (1 June), however, lists Adelaide in the household of her first husband, Sam Harrison and Gresham in his mother's household. So, Gresham and Adelaide are likely to have married some time after 1 June 1905. Sources:
    • U.S. 1910 Census, Manhattan Ward 12, New York, NY, National Archives Microfilm T624_1024, page 2A, Enumeration District 631, house no. 439, family no. 42; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4450086_01036 : accessed 2 September 2026).
    • Various County Clerk Offices; New York; New York, State Census, 1905. Population Schedules; Election District: A.D. 31 E.D. 21; City: Manhattan; County: New York; p61, house no. 235, Sam Harrison household; Ancestry, "New York, U.S., State Census, 1905" (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7364/images/004518328_00194 : accessed 2 September 2026), image 31/33.
    • Various County Clerk Offices; New York; New York, State Census, 1905. Population Schedules; Election District: A.D. 31 E.D. 23; City: Manhattan; County: New York; p38, house no. 2322, Margaret Crosby household; Ancestry, "New York, U.S., State Census, 1905" (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7364/images/004518328_00235 : accessed 2 September 2026), image 21/25.
  6. [6] Sources:
    • "New Jersey, Marriages, 1678-1985," index, Thomas Gresham Crosby (1922), FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VK1X-6MS : accessed 7 April 2012).
    • "New Jersey, Births and Christenings, 1660-1980," index, Thomas Gresham Crosby (1880), FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCVD-34F : accessed 7 April 2012).
  7. [7] Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, form SS-5, application for a Social Security account number by Joan Carew Crosby, 12 Sep 1944, New York, Number 069-22-8386; Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD, copy of the original application issued March 2003 to Hope Stewart.
  8. [8] "New York, U.S., Death Index, 1852-1956," T. Gresham Crosby died 9 Apr 1932, certificate no. 27029, ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61535/records/3407077 : accessed 1 September 2026); citing New York Department of Health; Albany, NY, "NY State Death Index".

Last updated: 2 September 2026

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