Etta was born nineteen days after her father died from diphtheria which also claimed the lives of two siblings: Emily and Ernest.

She was adopted by her Aunt Hannah and Uncle Frank Brannack who had no children, and moved to Cheboygan, Michigan to live with them.

On December 28, 1898 Etta married 34 year old Elmer Cook. Elmer was the captain of the tug boat Clayt. Etta was only 21 at the time of their marriage.

In 1903, they moved back to Cheboygan after living in Tacoma, Washington for a short while.

By 1910 their three children were born. After a sudden illness, Elmer died in 1912 at the age of 48.

Her adopted father Frank Brannack died two years later. Henrietta and the children moved in with her adopted mother Hannah. She took on the job as a District School Teacher.

Henrietta died in 1964. She is buried in Pine Hill Cemetery in Cheboygan.