1870-1929
Offsite Storage Inventory
Restrictions on Access
The Crosby family papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Abstract
This collection consists mainly of family correspondence of the Crosby family of New York, New Jersey, and later from many parts of the world.
Biographical Information
Henry Ashton Crosby (1843-1917) married Mary "May" Leavitt (1850-1929) in late 1878. Between 1879 and 1886, they had the following children: John Player Crosby, Sheldon Leavitt Crosby, Beatrice Wells Crosby, Josephine May Ashton Crosby, and Henry Ashton Crosby, Jr. Henry "Harry" A. Crosby, Sr. was a businessman who tried his hand at finance, real estate, and railroads, mostly in New York City.
Harry and May had a troubled marriage. In October 1894, she took the children to Dresden, Germany. They lived in Dresden until the fall of 1897, traveling a little to other places in Germany, and then returned to the U.S. in late 1897, when Harry and May were apparently reconciled. Harry Crosby died in 1917, and Mary Leavitt Crosby died in 1929.
On 30 September 1909, in New York City, New York, Beatrice "Betty" Wells Crosby married Daniel Ammen de Menocal, a banker of Cuban descent and a son of Commander A. G. de Menocal of the United States Navy. They traveled frequently and lived abroad, eventually settling in Newport, Rhode Island, and Boston, Massachusetts. They lived in Peking, China, from 1909 until 1914. The de Menocals had four children: Beatrice Crosby de Menocal (a.k.a. "Babs"); Richard Ammen de Menocal (a.k.a. "Dickie"); Esmée de Menocal; and Daniel Crosby de Menocal (b. 1926).
Josephine May Ashton Crosby married in 1913 to Allan Forbes, a banker and trust manager at State Street Trust Company, Boston, Massachusetts. They had five children: Phyllis Forbes (b. 1915), Robert Bennet Forbes (1916-1945), Allan Forbes (b. 1919), James Murray Forbes (b. 1922), and Henry Ashton Crosby Forbes (b. 1925).
John "Jack" Player Crosby (d. 1953) did not marry and resided in New York City, Washington, D.C., and later lived with Josephine's family. He worked in the finance and real estate industries.
Sheldon "Chuffy" Leavitt Crosby, a diplomat, although in business in New York for 10 years, was appointed third secretary of the embassy at London, 1910; secretary of the legation and consul general at Bangkok, 1912-1914; second secretary of the embassy at Madrid, 1914-1915; second secretary of the embassy at Vienna, 1915-1917; first secretary of the embassy at London, 1917-1919; first secretary of the embassy at Rome, 1919-1920; counselor of the legation at Stockholm, 1920-1921; first secretary of the embassy at Rio de Janeiro, 1921-1924; first secretary of the embassy at Istanbul, 1924-1930; counselor of the embassy at Madrid, 1930-1932; counselor of the embassy at Warsaw, 1932-1935; and retired in 1935. He died at Paris on 10 July 1936.
Henry Ashton Crosby, Jr. (1886-1930) graduated from Harvard in 1909. He married in 1910 to Rosalie de Forest and worked as a stockbroker and then an insurance broker in New York City. The couple's children were: Henry A. Crosby III (b. 1912), Rosalie de Forest Crosby (b. 1915), and Cynthia de Forest Crosby (b. 1922). He died suddenly in a single-car accident near Mt. Kisko, New York, in 1930.
Collection Description
This collection consists mostly of family correspondence centering around Mary "May" Leavitt Crosby. Papers dating from before her marriage are almost all letters to May from family and friends, including her brothers Sheldon and Frank K. Leavitt, as well as her father, who must have died shortly before her marriage. Correspondence from the 1890s, particularly 1894-1897, discusses her marital troubles and life in Dresden. Included are letters from the children to their father describing their education and activities there. May's letters contain complaints about Harry and pleas for more money for rent, food, and clothing, as well as accounts of their social life, relatives in Germany, and the children's education and activities. Harry's letters describe his activities at work and home and his leisure time with his friends and relatives. In his letters to his children, he often discusses morality and religion.
Later correspondence (after 1897) consists mostly of letters from the children to May from various places of travel and work, including letters beginning in 1913 from Sheldon "Chuffy" L. Crosby at various diplomatic posts.
Acquisition Information
Gift of H. A. Crosby Forbes, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1992.
Restrictions on Access
The Crosby family papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Summary Description of the Collection
1870-1884
Contains undated correspondence, including letters of Henry A. Crosby to various people, and various people to Henry A. Crosby; Mary L. Crosby to Henry A. Crosby, and Mary L. Crosby to her children; Mary L. Crosby to various people, and various people to Mary L. Crosby; miscellaneous undated items of Mary L. Crosby; and various people to the Crosby children.
Contains undated letters of the Crosby children to various people; undated letters to and from the Crosby grandchildren. Undated newspaper clippings, miscellaneous items, and unidentified items. Will of Mary Leavitt Crosby. Poetry. Invitations. Postcards. Calling cards and business cards. Miscellaneous printed matter. Genealogical notes. Letters to Mary Leavitt before her marriage to Henry A. Crosby in late 1878.
1885-1897
Contains correspondence of the Crosby family, including letters from William B. and Edward F. Crosby (brothers of Harry). Correspondence showing the gradual breakdown of the Crosby marriage; family correspondence between Dresden and New York from October 1894. Correspondence between Dresden and New York (between Harry and the rest of his family).
1898-August 1922
Correspondence between Dresden and New York, and after the family's return in the fall of 1897, mostly letters between May and her children when they are off visiting relatives and friends; and family correspondence.
There are 1913 letters from Beatrice written from China (Peking and Peitaiho). Josephine marries Allan Forbes in 1913. Letters from Chuffy from Bangkok (1913), Madrid (1915), London (1918), with much commentary on World War I, Rome (1920), Rio de Janeiro (1922). Some papers relating to the estate of Henry A. Crosby (1917-1918). There is a note from Theodore Roosevelt to Mary L. Crosby, 30 July 1918. Letters from Allan Forbes as Mary's financial agent begin in 1919. There is a note from Charles Lewis Slattery (1867-1930) to Mary L. Crosby, 9 January 1922.
September 1922-1925
Letters from Chuffy in Rio de Janeiro (1922-1924) and Turkey (1925). In 1924, Mary L. Crosby travels to Paris with the de Menocals, and there a few of her letters home, along with some receipts for purchases in Paris. Other correspondents include Mary Ball Chappell and Mary Elizabeth How.
Letters from Chuffy in Turkey (1925-1929). He often mentions his colleagues Joseph C. Grew and Mark L. Bristol. There are letters of Mary L. Crosby from Aiken, North Carolina, where Josephine and Allan apparently had a winter retreat. Also, letters from Robert Bennet Forbes, Jr. from the Aiken Preparatory School, from 1928. This box also contains financial statements of Mary L. Crosby for 1919-1922.
Bank statements for the estate of Henry A. Crosby, 1921-1922, Bank of America (NYC). Issue of Country Life, Vol. LVIII, No. 1500, 3 October 1925. Broadside [Dresden, in German], "Dresden Altstadt. Konigliches Hoftheater."
Preferred Citation
Crosby family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.