Verna's birth name was Helen Crosby. She was born to John Ferguson Crosby and Caroline "Carrie" Francis Van Meter on March 12, 1903 in Belleville, Michigan. On April 8, 1907, at the age of 4, Helen's mother placed her in the Ladies Protestant Orphan Asylum (LPOA) of Detroit to be put up for adoption. Mr. John Crosby (FAG #146345784), Helen's father, was a mean, drunken, violent and abusive man who never actually raised any of his own children. He was divorced three times. Helen's mother, Carrie, had married John in 1901 and had four children with him by 1906. She divorced John on July 26, 1906 and later that year, Carrie remarried and proceeded to have 11 more children with a Jesse Collyer.
Helen was given to the LPOA on April 8, 1907 by her mother and as soon as April 17, 1907, she was sent out to a home for a trial adoption with the Harlow Greene family. It did not work out and the Greene's returned Helen to LPOA on August 19, 1907. On August 29, 1907, she was taken in by the Simon Baker family for a trial in their home and returned to the LPOA after a very short time. Finally, she found a home with the Mr. & Mrs. Jesse A. Braun family of Ann Arbor. The Braun's adopted Helen on January 4, 1908 and her name was changed to Verna Helen Braun. Later, the Braun's divorced and the child remained in the custody of Mrs. Braun. Mr. Jesse Braun eventually moved to Windsor, Ontario. Correspondence in January 1917 between Mrs. Braun and the LPOA, indicates that the child was in poor health and Mrs. Braun was seeking any medical history or records that the LPOA might have. When Verna (Helen) was 18, she crossed the border into Canada with the intention of living with her father, Mr. Jesse Braun.
On August 17, 1924, Verna Helen Crosby Braun passed away in Ann Arbor at the tender age of 21. Cause of death was carcinoma of the brain which had been diagnosed three months earlier. It was a tragic end to a young life that had gone through a difficult childhood.