Zélie Bancroft Crosby

aka Zélie de Lussan Porter

1899-1962

Zélie Bancroft Crosby
Painting of Zélie

In the 1930s while her two children were growing up, Zélie was the proprietor of an interior decoration shop around the corner from her home in Rutherford, New Jersey. After moving to a farm near Flemington, New Jersey, Zélie became well known for the fine Dachshunds she bred under the kennel prefix of "Hihope". She was also a well-known and respected judge of the breed.

It was while she was acting as a steward at the Westminster Dog Show in Madison Square Garden in New York City that she suffered a heart attack and died later that evening at the military hospital at Fort Dix, New Jersey. She had a heart condition—hypertension—but at the time (1962) effective high blood pressure medication was still under development.

She was named "Zelie Bancroft Crosby" at birth, but later her name was changed to "Zélie de Lussan Crosby" in honor of Zélie de Lussan, godmother to Zélie Crosby and a dear friend of Zélie's mother, Josephine. Zélie de Lussan was a famous metropolitan opera singer noted for singing Carmen. When Josephine re-married, Zélie Crosby took on her step-father's name becoming "Zélie de Lussan Porter". She always wrote her name with an E-acute.

Father: Thomas Gresham Crosby (1880-1932)
Step-Father: David Burroughs Griswold Porter (1881-1977)
Mother: Josephine Florence Buckingham Cable (1879-1942) 

Spouse: Hiram Baldwin Ely, Sr (1896-1987) 

Children: 

Timeline

  1. 1899

    August 2 - Born in New York City. The only child of Thomas and Josephine (nee Cable) Crosby, whose marriage does not last. [1]

  2. 1904

    October 7 - Her parents officailly divorce.[2]

  3. 1905

    April 23 - Her mother marries Owen Brian Murphy in Manhattan NYC, but his marriage does not last long.[3]

  4. 1908

    July 9 - Her mother marries David Burroughs Griswold Porter in Washington DC. He becomes a father figure for Zelie.[4]

  5. 1917

    August 30 - Marries Hiram Baldwin Ely at West Point, New York.[5]

  6. 1919

    March 24 - Daughter Hope Brewster Ely born at West Point, New York.

  7. 1919

    October 1 - Departs New York with her infant daughter on the USA Transport “Siboney” to join her husband in France. Arrives 10 October at Brest, France.[6]

  8. 1919

    November 3 - Departs Brest, France, with husband and infant daughter on the US Army Transport Service ship "Northern Pacific". Arrives November 9 at Hoboken NJ.[7]

  9. 1921

    August 2 - Son Hiram, Jr, born at Army Hospital, Fort Banks, Winthrop, Mass.

  10. 1922

    Trains at Denishaw (Ruth St. Denis dance school), then dances with Vanda Hoff with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra in a New York City night club.[8]

  11. 1923

    Dances in the Broadway show "The Clinging Vine" which closed June 2 after 188 performances.[9]

  12. 1924

    September 22 - Dances in the Broadway play "Hassan" which closes on October 1 after only 16 performances.[10]

  13. 1930s

    Runs an interior decoration shop in Rutherford, New Jersey.

  14. 1962

    February 13 - Dies in Fort Dix, New Jersy, aged 62 years, from a heart condition. [11]

Stories

Zelie Crosby Porter & Hiram B. Ely, Sr. 1917 - A West Point Wedding

August 30, 1917

A West Point Wedding
Zelie Crosby/Porter 1930s The Little House of Interior Decorations

1930s

Zélie's Little House of Interior Decorations

Footnotes and Sources

  1. [1] Birth Certificate for Zelie Bancroft Crosby, 2 Aug 1899, #28967, State of New York, County of New York, City of New York. Informant J. Husson, MD. The report was made 8 Aug 1899.
  2. [2] Index to Matrimonial Actions, 1784-1910, Index, A-H 1784-1910, index to divorces, annulments, and separations, New York County (Manhattan) only; records on file in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York in the Hall of Records, re-indexed by the Commissioner of Records of the County of New York. Film # 007903312. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHM-6STW?cat=235832&i=170&lang=en image 171 of 522 for Josephine F.B. Crosby, individual plaintiff, and Thomas Gresham Crosby, Defendant.
  3. [3] New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24MY-1PC : Thu Jul 24 19:39:28 UTC 2025), Entry for Owen Murphy and Josephine Crosby, 23 April 1905. [image unavailalbe]
  4. [4] District of Columbia, Compiled Marriage Index, 1830-1921, Ancestry.com
  5. [5] New York, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936, Film number 000829655, 1917. Ancestry.com
  6. [6] U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939, Ancestry.com, 2016. From The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Lists of Outgoing Passengers, compiled 1917-1938; NAI Number: 6234477; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92.
  7. [7] U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939, Ancestry.com
  8. [8] Hiram B. Ely, Sr, The Saga of the Walnut Beds [unpublished], 25 June 1979, page 2, copy held by Hope Stewart.
  9. [9] Hiram B. Ely, Sr, The Saga of the Walnut Beds [unpublished], 25 June 1979, page 2, copy held by Hope Stewart.
  10. [10] Hiram B. Ely, Sr, The Saga of the Walnut Beds [unpublished], 25 June 1979, page 2, copy held by Hope Stewart.
  11. [11] Death Certificate for Zelie DeLussan Ely, 13 Feb 1962, New Jersey State Department of Health. Informant was her husband, Col. Hiram B. Ely.

Last updated: 2 May 2026

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