Cross family.

The Cross family originally settled in Nottingham, N.H. Around the year 1760, three brothers, Joseph (1785-1815), Thomas ( - ), and Nathan ( -1842), removed to Swanzey, N.H., and settled near each other in the northwest corner of the town. Joseph married, on 10 March 1785, Hannah Olcott (1764-1817). They had nine children. Their fifth child, Benjamin (1793-1846), married, on 2 February 1816, Susanna Foster (1798-1878). They had ten children: Hannah, Joseph, Augusta, Levi, Philemon W., Sarah, Benjamin, Martha J., Ira, and George H.

Around 1841, Benjamin removed, along with other members of his family, including his second child, Joseph (1818-1896), to Manchester, N.H. Joseph bought a farm and also worked as a watchman for the Amoskeag Corporation.

The Wilder family originally settled in the part of Lancaster, Mass., which is now Bolton, Mass. Col. Abel Wilder (1760-1806) removed to Dublin, N.H., in 1780. He had married, on 28 March 1779, Hannah Green (1759?-1831), of Bolton. They had eleven children. Their first child, Abel (1779-1858), married, in 1801, Deborah Perry (1794-1862). They had ten children: Keziah, Mary, Mark, Abel, Emmeline, Ivory Perry, Deborah Perry, Franklin, John, and Benjamin Franklin.

Joseph Cross married, on 6 May 1845, in Peterborough, N.H., Deborah Perry Wilder. Their three children, Joel Foster, Emma Augusta, and Henry Clay, all born in Manchester, N.H., became artists.

Joel Foster Cross (1846-1925), or Foster, as he was known, left home as soon after the end of the Civil War as he could. For the years 1867 and 1868, he was in business and travelling to New York. By the end 1868, he settled in Boston, Mass., where he was employed as a wood-engraver in the shop of Samuel S. Kilburn. He was joined by his brother, Henry, the following year. Foster married, on 22 July 1889, Christine MacPherson (1868?-1897). Foster was forty-four at the time, while Christine was only twenty-one. Their first child, Robert Laurence, was born on 15 April 1891, but died nine months later. Their second child, Edward Adrian, was born on 29 October 1892. Christine died on 6 September 1897, and two years later Foster was released from the firm of Kilburn & Cross. He went to California seeking gold, leaving his son with his sister Emma in Merrimack, N.H. He eventually returned to Merrimack where he was elected as a Selectman for a time. Foster died in 1925.

Emma Augusta Cross (1850-1933) graduated from the Manchester High School in 1868. She was elected to serve as an assistant teacher for the intermediate school the following year. In 1870, after attending training institutes, the Manchester School Committee awarded her a teaching certificate for the intermediate school, entitling her to a position as a full teacher. She remained in that position until 1875, when she gave up her job to help her parents set up a farm in Merrimack, N.H. In 1884, she removed to Boston, where she was employed as a photo-retoucher. Also while in Boston, she attended Boston's Evening Drawing Classes, which she successfully completed and was presented with a diploma in May 1886. Around 1895, she returned to Merrimack, where she made the farmhouse the temporary home for her two nephews and her often traveling brothers. She established Merrimack's first public library in her house and was appointed library director (once the library was moved to a more public building). Emma also served on the school board. She died on 7 November 1933.

Henry Clay Cross (1852-1913) knew at the age of sixteen that he wanted to become a wood-engraver. He graduated from the North Grammar School (Manchester, N.H.) on 25 June 1868, but only attended Manchester High School on an irregular basis. He removed to Boston in 1869, where he was hired by the firm of Samuel S. Kilburn as a wood-engraver. He married, on 9 October 1890, Elizabeth M. Eames (1863?-1894). Henry was forty at the time, while Elizabeth was only twenty-seven. Their only child, Julian Richard, was born on 6 September 1892. Elizabeth died on 4 June 1894.

In 1891, Henry had been offered a partnership with Kilburn, which he accepted. The firm, renamed Kilburn & Cross, was successful until around 1899, when Henry was released from the firm. He followed Foster to California, stopping to paint Yosemite, and, for a time, meandered from place to place. In 1901, he shipped his belongings to Merrimack and made his home with Emma when not away on painting trips. He died in 1913.