Biographies A

Abbott (nee Hunt), Rhoda Mary ‘Rosa’, 35. Third Class.

 

Rossmore, 16.

Eugene, 13.

Originally from St Albanshurst, England, she lived at Providence, Rhode Island, with her husband, Stanton Abbott, a former middleweight champion of England. They had two sons, Rossmore and Eugene. Early in 1911 she separated from her husband and kept the boys by sewing and serving in the Salvation Army.

In August 1911 Rosa took her sons on the Olympic and crossed to England to stay with her mother. The boys became homesick for Providence, so she decided to return on the Titanic, third class. They met Amy Stanley who had a steerage cabin close to theirs.

As the ship sank she and her sons kept together and jumped from the deck. She lost her sons in the confusion, but managed to scramble onto the swamped Collapsible A. The occupants had to balance standing in knee-deep water. After Fifth Officer Lowe transferred them to Collapsible D he opened the sea cocks and Collapsible A drifted away with three bodies in it, their faces covered by lifebelts.

According to Amy Stanley, “… So she and her sons kept together. She was thankful that [the] three of them had stayed with her on that piece of wreckage. The youngest went first then the other went. She grew numb and cold and couldn’t remember when she got on the Carpathia. There was a piece of cork in her hair and I managed to get a comb and it took a long time but finally we got it out.”

Rosa’s legs were badly damaged from the immersion in the icy water. A bed was made for her in the smoking room and she didn’t leave it until the ship reached New York, where she was hospitalised for a further two weeks. Thereafter her church, the Grace Episcopal Church of Providence, looked after her.

Aks (née Rosen), Leah, 18. 3^rd Class.

Frank Philip, 10 months.

Leah Rosen was born in Warsaw, Poland, on 18 March, 1894. She move to London with her parents and married a tailor, Samuel Aks. They had a son, Frank Philip ‘Filly’ on 7 June, 1911. Samuel Aks went to live in the USA and established a tailor shop in Norfolk, Virginia. Leah and the baby followed him as third class passengers on the Titanic.

On the night of the 14^th Leah found herself on the boat deck alongside Madeleine Astor, who removed her shawl and wrapped it around Filly. The baby was then grabbed and thrown into Lifeboat 11. He was caught by Elizabeth Nye, who wrapped him in a steamer blanket. Leah tried to join him but was stopped by crewmen, who thought she was trying to rush the boat.

Leah was in a state of shock and was pushed into Lifeboat 13, alongside Selena Cook. After the rescue by the Carpathia, Leah and Selena were walking on the deck when an Italian woman (possibly Argene del Carlo) passed them carrying Filly. Leah appealed to Captain Rostron, who called both women and had to copy the wisdom of Solomon to determine who the mother was.

Leah described a birthmark on Filly’s chest, some say it was because he was circumcised, in any event the baby was returned to her. The following year when Leah gave birth to a girl she wished to show her gratitude to Rostron by naming her baby Sarah Carpathia Aks. The nuns at the hospital completed her birth certificate with the names Sarah Titanic Aks.

Leah had suffered severely from the cold in the lifeboat, which damaged her eardrums, permanently causing partial loss of hearing. She died on 22 June, 1967, aged 74, and was buried at Forest Town Cemetery, Norfolk, Va.

The shawl and blanket that Filly was wrapped in are on display at the Mariner’s Museum, Newport, Va. In 1977 at Albert Caldwell’s funeral, Filly met Alden who had also been a 10-month-old baby on the Titanic. Frank Aks died aged 80 on 15 July, 1991, and was also buried at the family plot at Forest Lawn cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia.

Allen, Elizabeth Walton, 29. 1^st Class.

Born in St Louis, Missouri, on 1 October 1882, she became engaged to Dr James  Mennell in England, then boarded the Titanic to return to the USA to collect her belongings. Her aunt, Mrs Edward Roberts, the latter’s daughter from a previous marriage, Georgette Madill, 15, and Mrs Roberts’ maid, Emilie Kreuchen, accompanied her.

After the collision Emilie told Elizabeth that the baggage room and her cabin were flooded, so their party went on deck. They saw an officer order a group of men out of Lifeboat 2, one of the last to leave, then they boarded and were lowered with 4^th Officer Joseph Boxhall in charge. After the Titanic sank they went back looking for survivors, but in vain. When the Carpathia arrived Elizabeth was the first survivor to climb the ladder and inform an officer that the Titanic had sunk.

She returned to England in July 1912 and was married in a double ceremony, together with her sister. Elizabeth lived at Tunbridge Wells, where she died on 15 December, 1967, aged 85.

Allen, William Henry, 35. 3^rd Class.

He was a toolmaker from Birmingham, England. Allen died in the sinking. In the 1990’s his satchel was recovered from the wreck and was exhibited at the Atlanta Artifacts Exhibition in 2007.

Allison, Hudson Joshua Creighton, 30. 1^st Class.

Allison (nee Daniels), Bessie Waldo, 25.

Helen Loraine, 2.

Hudson Trevor, 11 months.

He was born in Chesterville, Ontario, Canada, on 9 December 1881 and had a sister and two brothers. He was nicknamed ‘Hud’. His uncle hired him as a clerk in a Montreal brokerage firm, then he worked as an insurance agent for his uncle in Winnipeg. Bessie Daniels was born on 14 November 1886 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was the youngest of three girls. On Allison’s  26^th birthday he married  Bessie Daniels in Milwaukee and they had a daughter, Helen Loraine on 5 June 1909, and a son, Hudson on 7 May, 1911, in Westmount, Quebec.

 

The family sailed to England for Allison to attend a board meeting of the British Lumber Corporation. While there they had their son baptised, visited Scotland where he purchased Clydesdales and Hackney stallions and mares for his stock farm. They recruited staff for their Canadian residences: George Swane as chauffeur, Mildred Brown as cook, Alice Cleaver as nursemaid and Sarah Daniels as a lady’s maid.

They all sailed together on the Titanic. On the night of the collision the Allisons had dinner with Major Peuchen and Harry Molson. After the Titanic hit the iceberg Alice Cleaver took baby Trevor with her in Lifeboat 11. Bess and Loraine, 2, were placed in a boat but she took her daughter out as she refused to leave without her baby, Trevor. Someone told her that her husband was boarding a boat on the other side of the ship, but she never found him. She boarded a collapsible lifeboat and was seen by Major Peuchen falling out of the half-swamped boat. Hud, Bess and Loraine Allison were lost in the sinking.

Allison’s body was later found and buried in Maple Ridge Cemetery, near Winchester, Ontario. Loraine was the only child in first or second class to die. Baby Trevor, the only survivor of the family, was returned to Canada where he was raised by his uncle and aunt, George and Lillian Allison. He died in Maine, USA, of ptomaine poisoning on 7 August, 1929, aged 18, and was buried alongside his father.

Andrews, Kornelia Theodosia, 63. 1st Class.

She was born in Hudson, New York, on 12 August, 1849. She graduated there and became a leading figure in society and charities, serving as a manager of the Hudson City Hospital since its founding. She toured Europe and returned on the Titanic with her sister, Anne Hogeboom, and their niece, Gretchen Fiske Longley.

On the night of the collision she had been ill and was reading while the other ladies slept. Gretchen woke when the ship struck and asked Kornelia what had happened. “We must have struck an iceberg,” she replied. “Go and ask the steward if we are in danger.”

Gretchen went to the stewards three times but on each occasion was assured that there was no danger. Kornelia didn’t believe this and found their day steward, who told them to don their lifebelts and report to the Boat Deck. They dressed, put on fur coats and headed upstairs. The first three boats apparently didn’t have room for them, for they then boarded Lifeboat 10.

Kornelia soon became annoyed with the boat crew. “When we got out on the water we realised that the crewmen had only claimed they could row only for the purpose of saving themselves. My niece had to take an oar. In a boat alongside of ours, a sailor lighted a cigarette and flung the match carelessly among the women in our boat. We screamed with protest, to which he replied, ‘Ah, we’re all going to the devil anyway, and we might as well be cremated now as then’.”

Miss Andrews recalled the Titanic’s last moments. “We were a mile away from the Titanic when there was a great explosion. It appeared to me as if the boilers had blown up and the Titanic had been lifted up amidships and broken in half. This is the way it appeared to me.”

They were rescued by the Carpathia and reached their homes in Hudson, New York. Kornelia claimed for fur coats, dresses, brass antique lamps and a velvet hat with ostrich plumes. She died of pneumonia on 4 December, 1913, aged 65. Her sister, Anna Hogeboom, died in 1947 and her niece, Gretchen (who had married a Leopold) in 1965.

Andrews, Thomas, 39. Ship designer, 1^st Class.

Thomas Andrews Jnr was born at Comber, Northern Ireland, on 7 February, 1873, son of the Right Hon Thomas Andrews and nephew of Lord Pirrie, the major owner of Harland & Wolff who built the Titanic. He joined the Belfast shipbuilding firm in 1889, aged 16, and worked his way up to managing director, in charge of ship designing. He became a member of the Institution of Naval Architects.

Andrews married Helen Reilly Barbour on 24 June, 1908, and two years later they had a daughter, Elizabeth. He was in the habit of sailing on the maiden voyages of ships launched by his firm, in order to note their performance and recommend improvements for future ships. While of the Titanic he walked about, making notes and assisting the crew whenever necessary. For this reason he was very popular and Baker Joughin baked him a special loaf of bread.

During the evening of 14 April he had dinner with Dr O’Loughlin, the ship’s surgeon, then returned to his stateroom to pore over his notes. He never noticed the jar when the iceberg scraping against the ship. Captain Smith sent for him and together they toured the forward sections and saw the flooded mail room and squash court. On the bridge Andrews told Captain Smith that the ship was mortally damaged and he did not expect it to stay afloat for another two hours.

He then spent his time wandering the decks, advising passengers to don their lifebelts and make their way to the boats. He was last seen in the first class smoking room, without a lifebelt on, staring at a painting of the Titanic entering the New World. His chief ship’s draughtsman, Roderick Robert Chisholm, and manager of the electrical department, William Parr, were among the nine strong Guarantee Group that Andrews had aboard. Neither survived.

Appleton (née Lamson), Charlotte, 53. 1^st Class.

Charlotte Lamson was born in New York City on 12 December, 1858. Her father would become senior partner of the Black Ball Line of Liverpool packet ships. In 1894 she married Edward Appleton, but had no children.

In early 1912 Charlotte and her two sisters, Caroline Brown, 59, and Malvina Cornell, 55, travelled to England to attend the funeral of another sister, Lady Victor Drummond. They returned on the Titanic with an unaccompanied friend, Edith Evans, 36. Colonel Archibald Gracie knew them well, so offered his ‘protection’ during the trip. They introduced him to Edith Evans.

After the collision he shepherded them to the boat deck, then left them. They became separated, Charlotte and Malvina boarded Lifeboat 2 and left the Titanic at 1.45 am. Charlotte sat beside a third class passenger, Anton Kink, who was accompanied by his wife and four-year-old daughter.

Mrs Walter Douglas and Elisabeth Allen commented that, “Mrs Appleton and Mrs Cornell had been rowing and rowed all the time.” The three sisters were reunited aboard the Carpathia,  where they found that their uncle, Charles Marshall, was a passenger.

Charlotte continued living in Bayside, New York, until her death on 25 June, 1924, aged 65. Her husband died on 29 January, 1942.

Asplund, Carl Oscar Vilhelm Gustaffson, 40. 3^rd Class.

Asplund (née Johansson), Selma Augusta Emilia, 38.

Filip Oscar, 13.

Clarence Gustaf Hugo, 9.

Lillian Gertrud, 5.

Carl Edgar, 5.

Edvin Rojj Felix, 3.

Carl Asplund was born on 7 May, 1871, at Jonkoping, Sweden. He farmed at Alseda Village, Smaland, then visited America where he married Selma Johannson on 9 May, 1896. They live in Worcester, Mass with their children, Filip, Clarence, Carl and his twin Lillian, both born on 21 October, 1906, at Worcester. He had three sisters living in Worcester and Selma had one.

They returned to Sweden in 1907 to settle his father’s estate. A further son, Felix, was born in Alseda on 19 March, 1909. As Filip wished to return to the USA the family decided to travel back to Worcester, Massachusetts, as third class passengers on the Titanic.

When the collision occurred Asplund put all important papers and cash in his pockets. Selma, Felix and Lillian managed to board Lifeboat 15, but the rest of the family was lost. Lillian was in future haunted by the sight of her father and three brothers looking down at the lifeboat. Asplund’s body was found but no papers or money. He was buried in the Swedish Cemetery in Worcester, Massachusetts. A collection was started in Worcester for Selma and her children, from which she was paid monthly. In 1951 the family moved to Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. She died on 15 April, 1964, the 52^nd anniversary of the sinking. Two others to die on 15 April were Bertha Moran and Meyer Moor.

Felix remained a bachelor and died in Shrewsbury on 1 March, 1983, aged 73. Lillian was the last survivor of the Titanic who could remember it, however she decline to discuss it. Her principal hobby was gardening and flowers, especially roses. Lillian died on 6 May, 2006, aged 99, the last American survivor of the Titanic’s sinking.

Asquith, Raymond, 35.

He was born on 6 November, 1878, the eldest son and heir of H H Asquith the later British prime minister and his first wife who died in 1891. Raymond was educated at Winchester College, then studied law and was called to the bar in 1904. As a barrister he was junior council to the North Atlantic Fisheries Arbitration and in the investigation of the sinking of the Titanic.

Asquith was commissioned in the London regiment in December 1914, then was transferred to the 3^rd Bn Grenadier Guards as a staff officer before the Battle of the Somme. He volunteered for front-line service and was mortally wounded on 15 September 1916 at Ginchy. He is buried in the Guillemont Road Cemetery.

Astor, Colonel John Jacob, 47. 1^st Class.

Astor (nee Force) Madeleine Talmage, 18.

John J Astor IV was born in New York on 13 July 1864, the great-grandson of his namesake and fur trader who had founded the dynasty. John Astor attended Harvard then travelled abroad from 1888-91. That year he married Ava Willing from Philadelphia and they had a son, William Vincent, and a daughter, Ava Alice. In 1894 he wrote ‘A Journey in Other Worlds’ and developed mechanical devices such as a bicycle brake. In 1897 he built the Astoria Hotel in New York.

During the Spanish-American War of 1898 he served as a lieutenant-colonel, equipping a mountain battery of artillery and placing his yacht at the disposal of the US government. In 1909 Astor divorced Ava, and two years later married Madeleine Force, 18, who was a year younger than his son, Vincent. They were vilified by society, so wintered abroad until the furore died down. They visited Egypt and Paris, then when it became apparent that Madeleine was pregnant, decided to return to the USA aboard the Titanic. Their servants were Victor Robbins his manservant, Rosalie Bidois her maid and Caroline Louise Endres, her private nurse. Their pet Airedale ‘Kitty’ accompanied them.

After the ship struck Astor investigated and told Madeleine that the damage didn’t appear serious. Later, as they waited on the boat deck Madeleine lent Leah Aks her shawl to wrap her son in. They then sat in the gymnasium where he cut the lining of a lifebelt to show his wife what it consisted of. At 1.45 am on A Deck he assisted Madeleine to board Lifeboat 4, then asked Second Officer Charles Lightoller if he could accompany her in view of her ‘delicate condition’. He was refused, so stood back, asked what lifeboat it was, then assisted others in trying to free the remaining collapsible boats. The forward smokestack probably collapsed on him as he swam, for when his body was found later it was covered in soot.

Astor was buried at Trinity Cemetery, New York. Madeleine inherited five million dollars and the use of two homes. In August 1912 she had a son, whom she named John Jacob Astor. During the First World War she married William Dick, thereby relinquishing claims to the Astor money. They divorced in Reno, Nevada, in 1933. She then married the prize-fighter, Enzo Fiermonte, but they divorced in 1938 and she reverted to her Dicks surname. She died at Palm Beach, Florida in 1940, aged 47.

Aubart, Léontine Pauline ‘Ninette’, 24. 1^st Class.

She was born in Paris on 20 May, 1887. Ninette became a singer in Paris, and later the mistress of Benjamin Guggenheim. She boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg with her maid, Mlle Emma S‹gesser, 24. Mme Aubart went to bed at 11 pm on the 14^th. was woken by two small bumps. Emma thought that the Titanic had stranded, so stayed in bed, but Ninette investigated. They put on nightgowns and went to Guggenheim’s stateroom. His valet, Giglio, said, “Never mind, icebergs! What is an iceberg?”

Ninette entered Lifeboat 9 reluctantly, as she did not want to leave Guggenheim. After being rescued by the Carpathia, Ninette had a nervous breakdown and was comforted by Emma. Ninette sent a Marconigram in French from the Carpathia, “I’m saved but Ben lost.” On reaching New York she was paid by the Guggenheims to keep quiet. They returned to Europe on the Adriatic.

Ninette gave lavish parties in the twenties, some of which were ended by the police! She died on 29 October, 1964, aged 77. Emma died the same year.