Catherine Crosby
Catherine Elizabeth Crosby was a First Class passenger aboard Titanic.
Early life[]
Catherine Crosby (née Halstead) was born in Waterloo, New York, United States on 26th October 1847. She was the daughter of J. Y. Halstead and his wife (née Cook).
She married Edward Gifford Crosby and had three children with him. Her first child, Martha, was born in around 1870, followed by Harriette Rebecca on 8th October 1872 and by Frederick in around 1882. Tragically, Martha suffered from Appendicitis and died soon afterwards
By the time they sailed aboard Titanic, Catherine and her family lived at 474 Marshall Street, Milwaukee, and her husband was the owner of a cargo ship company operating on Lake Michigan.
Titanic[]
Traveling home from Europe to her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, She boarded Titanic at Southampton on 10th April 1912, occupying cabin B-22 along with her husband Captain Edward Gifford Crosby and their 39-year old daughter Harriette Rebecca Crosby, who had cabin B-26. Her son didn't come along.
On Sunday 14 April, Catherine had gone to bed more than an hour earlier, when she was awakened by a sort of 'thump'. Her husband then left to investigate. He reported to his wife and daughter that the ship was badly damaged. That was the last time they saw him. Her daughter was quickly up on deck, but soon came back to tell her mother than one officer had sent her back to get life jackets. Catherine was just about ready to go, and they went up and boarded lifeboat 5.
Catherine said that in the lifeboat, after Titanic had sunk, she was suffering from the cold, and a sail was put around her to keep her warm. It is a possiblity that Third Officer Pitman had given her the sail, and after that she was transferred to lifeboat 7. But there's no certainty about this. She had complaints about the lack of provisions in the initial lifeboat. There were no lights and the sail blocked her vision as well.
Aboard Carpathia she had several interesting conversations, in perticular a talk she had with one passenger about Titanic's speed. Around the time she had gone to bed, 10:30 P.M, this person had noticed that Titanic was going full speed. She also heard passengers talk about what Look Out Man Frederick Fleet reported. He had stated that the officers didn't respond to him when he reported 3 or 4 times that the ice was near. Mr. Elmer Taylor talked about the banquet that was arranged for Captain Smith, just before the collision, and the wine was 'flowing freely'.
In her written affidavit to the Titanic Inquiry following the disaster, Catherine Crosby noted that, while she and her husband were walking up and down the Promenade Deck during the afternoon of 14th April 1912, the day Titanic struck the iceberg, members of the crew aboard the ship were taking the temperature of the water, and she said that it was stated that the temperature of the water was cold and it indicated that Titanic was in the vicinity of ice fields. She had also heard explosions on the ship during her final moments, and stated that the screams of the people in the water were horrible.
Later life[]
Catherine Crosby died in her home, still at 474 Marshall Street, Milwaukee, on 29th October 1920. Her death certificate notes her cause of death as being probably Cerebral Thrombosis, but very possibly a form of Encephalitis Lethargica.
Her funeral was held at her home on 31st July 1920; before she was laid to rest within Fairview Mausoleum, Milwaukee. By 1996, Fairview Mausoleum had fallen into disrepair and it had been decided that those laid to rest there should be moved and the mausoleum be demolished. The remains of Catherine Crosby, of her husband Edward Crosby and her daughter Harriette Crosby (who died in 1941) were moved from there to be buried at Graceland Cemetery, Milwaukee.