Born: May 11, 1839

Helpston, Northamptonshire, England

Married: 1861

Emigrated: 1866 to Nebraska

Died: May 12, 1925

"Grandma (Betsy)Crosby": Virginia Elkins identifies this picture as "Betsy Bradford Crosby, 1818"

From Virginia Elkins’ narrative (beginning on page 1):

David Crosby woh was born in England November 14, 1829, was a man of high standing in England and was well-educated and of the well-to-do class. His brother, Sir Thomas Crosby was a medical doctor, and in 1912, Lord Mayor of London. Betsy Bradford, too, was from an upper class family. An old clipping about her brother, Sir James, states that he was knighted on the Queen's birthday. We also learn from the clipping that the family came from Northhamptonshire. George's Bible lists members of Betsy's family, fifteen in all; Betsy was the eighth child listed, with her birth date May 11, 1839. When in 1861 she married David, a widower ten years older than she, and the father of two sons, it was looked upon as a "good match" for Betsy. The two sons were attending an English prep school at the time of the marriage and never lived as a part of the Crosby family.

Crosby family home.

Gosberton (Lincolnshire) is southwest of Boston (nearly on the east coast), and 6 miles northwest of Spalding. It is on the A16.

There is a webpage for the St. Peter & St. Paul church where William Crosby, David's father, is buried:

http://www.spaldingchurches.org/scorg/parishes/gosberton.htm.

Bradford family home.

Helpston is in Northamptonshire (SW of Lincolnshire). Betsy's parents, William and Millicent Bradford, are buried in the Helpston Churchyard. William and Millicent kept a "public house", The Blue Bell, that still exists today. He is listed in the 1841 census as "inkeeper", aged 45; Millicent was 30.

The Bluebell Pub (Helpston, Northampshire) from a photo by Peter Wordsworth, about 2000. Just past the pub is the birthplace of the poet John Clare. Clare worked at the Blue Bell in the early 1800's.