Jhine, you are so right. In the past I would cringe whenever I saw the cross. The WT made it so taboo. I never thought about it being a tool to keep former members from joining other churches. Good observation.
I don't know if it has already been said but there is another interesting fact to prove that it had a cross beam. John 21:18-19 has Jesus describing Peter's future death. "...But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and another man will clothe you and carry you where you do not wish. He said this to indicate by what sort of death he would glorify God."
Peter was going to stretch out his arms on a cross beam and be crucified per the scripture above. This sounds as if the common torture device being used in Peter's day was a cross. Peter and Jesus were similar in age so Jesus had to have been put on the same type of device.