October 8th, 1872 - February 11th, 1942

She is a Libra.

Henriette Rebecca Crosby was born in Montague, Muskegon, Michigan and was named for her maternal aunt Henriette (1855 - 1947) and paternal aunt Rebecca (1840 - 1923). She was the daughter of Edward Gifford Crosby (born 1842) and Catherine Elizabeth Halstead (born 1847), both natives of New York who had moved to Michigan and married in 1866. One of 3 children, Henriette's siblings were: Martha (1870 - 1880) and Frederic Gifford (1881 - 1966). Henriette and her family appear on the 1880 census living in Lakeside in Muskegon.

She was married there on November 8th, 1893 to Marvin Persons Gills (born 1865), a salesman from Flint, Michigan and the couple lived in Detroit close to the Henry Ford factory. The marriage was reportedly an unhappy one and remained childless and they were divorced in 1897 which Gills was apparently guilty of several acts of "extreme cruelty..." Henrietta thereby reverted to her maiden name. Around the same time as her divorce, Henriette moved with her parents to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, appearing in that city on the 1900 census. Henriette later travelled to Paris to study music together with her friend Lily Brand and whilst there she had tuition from the noted pianist Louis Philippe.

Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912:
Whilst at a party in Paris Henriette met a man named Edouard Bourdois and they became lovers, with Henriette later falling pregnant with his child. How long that relationship lasted isn't clear but they were never married. With her parents joining her in Paris in early 1912 she gave birth to a baby girl, Andrée Catherine. The family returned to France and, while they prepared to travel home to the USA, Andrée was left behind to be cared for by a nanny at a Paris boarding school; the child couldn't be reunited with her mother for over a year. Boarding the RMS Titanic at Southampton on April 10th, 1912 as 1st class passengers. She occupied cabin B-26 whilst her parents took cabin B-22.

At the time of the collision, it appears that Henriette had been in her cabin and had been alerted to the problem by her father who had come to rouse her. It wasn't clear if she or her mother ever saw Captain Crosby again after that, but the 2 ladies dressed and headed to the boat deck where they were rescued in one of the earlier lifeboats to leave the ship forward on the starboard side. Although Henriette and her mother survived the sinking, her father was among the lost; his body was later recovered.

After The Sinking/Later Life/Death:
Rescued aboard the RMS Carpathia and upon their arrival New York, Henriette and her mother were met by a Frank Walsh of the Crosby Company. They travelled to Chicago where they were met by Frederic. The Chicago Record-Herald (April 23rd, 1912) records that Henriette was critical of the conduct of the crew of the Titanic, opining that they were reckless during the evacuation, placing women and children into lifeboats without making basic safety checks such as checking the lifeboat's plugs were in place. Henriette and her mother later travelled to Europe to fetch Andrée, returning to the USA aboard the Laconia which arrived in Boston in May of 1913.

Her 920 passport describes Henriette as standing at 5'8 and with brown hair, grey eyes, a full face and with a round chin and straight nose. Henriette lived for many years In Milwaukee, her 1920 passport being Marshall Street in that city, but by the 1940's was living in Los Angeles, California where she continued to pursue her musical interests and move in artistic circles. She died there on February 11th, 1941 at the age of 68 in Los Angeles General Hospital. Interestedly, her death certificate lists her "husband" as "Edward B. Boudoise". It was Harriette's wish to be interred with her parents but at the time  Andrée could not afford the cost of reopening the crypt.

Therefore Harriette's body was cremated and her ashes interred in an adjacent crypt in Fairview Mausoleum, Milwaukee. In 1995 the mausoleum, which had fallen into disrepair, was opened. In 1997 the remains of Captain Crosby, his wife and daughter were re-interred together at Graceland Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Andrée was married in California in 1934 to Hanson Hathaway (born 1899) and had two sons, Edward and William, but was later divorced. She lived Los Angeles and worked as an actor and dancer, standing at over 6' tall. She was remarried, becoming Mrs Charles H. Presley and remained living in California. Widowed in January of 1994 Andrée died in Glendale on April 17th, 2002 at the age of 90.

Sources:
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Rest In Peace Harriette Rebecca Crosby.