Carlton Bernard Cross was born July 11, 1850 in Bangor, Maine. When but three years of age the family moved to Lacrosse, Wisconsin. Here Carlton grew up and attended school and here he married Waite Soule, who was born at Oswego, New York in 1855. Her grandmother was Louise Loomis, who was a descendent of John Adams.
Carlton Cross was a lighthouse keeper on the Mississippi river and taught school at West Salem, Wisconsin as well as managing a department store in Lacrosse. Here their three oldest children were born. In the early 1880s the family decided to migrate to Barnes County and settled on a homestead in the Southwest ΒΌ of Section 20, Skandia Township. Carlton built a substantial home and it became the center of the rapidly growing community. He applied for a post office and it was established in the farm home on May 13, 1890. While his name was still listed as the postmaster, the real postmaster was his wife Waite Soule Cross. She selected the name "Hastings" for the post office since they were from the vicinity of Hastings, Minnesota. The postmaster's job remained in the Cross family for a little over a year and then a neighbor, Andrew A. Gusaas, assumed the position.
In 1885 Carlton Cross built a house in Valley City so that his children might have the educational advantage afforded by the larger high school and a college.
The following children were born to Carlton and Waite Cross: Delbert born in 1876 in La Crosse, Wisconsin; Delia (Wylie) born August 30, 1877 in LaCross; Estella (Gruff) born November 19, 1879 in Lacrosse; Roy Emerson born February 27, 1887 in Valley City; Mandie L. (Fain) born July 15, 1889 in Valley City; Blanche (Phillips) born December 16, 1891 in Sanborn, North Dakota; Marjorie (Kane) born April 13, 1895 in Valley City.
Estella, Roy and Marjorie Cross attended school in Valley City and later all taught schools there. Roy taught manual training at the Valley City Normal School and was director of the City Band. He passed away in 1973. Estella taught school in Svea and at Lucca where she met and married William Harrison Gruff. Waite Soule Cross died October 28, 1921 at Bemidji, Minnesota, at the home of her son Roy. Carlton Bernard Cross died August 18, 1935, at Salina, California.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 51