Sägesser, Emma, 24. Maid, 1st Class.
She was born on 16 August, 1887, in Aarwangen, Switzerland. She had six siblings and lost her mother in 1898. After living with a sister in Geneva Emma moved to Cannes, France. At the beginning of 1912 she was working in Paris for the singer Leontine ‘Ninette’ Aubart. She accompanied her employer on the Titanic as a first class passenger, paid for by her lady’s lover, Benjamin Guggenheim.
Emma and Mme Aubart went to bed at 11 pm on the 14th and were woken by two small bumps. She 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?”
They went on deck, where Guggenheim said to Emma in German, “We will soon see each other again! It’s just a repair. Tomorrow the Titanic will go on again.” Emma and Ninette entered Lifeboat 9 and the boat was lowered at 1.30 am. Ninette entered the lifeboat reluctantly as she did not want to leave Guggenheim. After being rescued by the Carpathia, Ninette had a nervous breakdown and had to be comforted by Emma.
Ninette sent a Marconigram in French from the Carpathia, “I’m saved but Ben lost.” On 3 May, 1912, they returned to Europe on the Adriatic. Emma left Madame Aubart shortly afterward. In 1917 she moved from St Gallen to Zurich, where she worked as a saleswoman. In March 1926 she married Karl Ernst Arnold, but they had no children. They ran a cigar shop in Zurich. Emma died a month after her husband, on 24 May, 1964, aged 76. Ninette Aubart died the same year.
Schabert (nee Mock), Emma, 35. 1st Class.
Emma Mock was born in New York City on 23 May, 1876. Her parents, Richard and Emma, were from Germany so she and her brother, Philipp, were educated in Europe. She married Paul Schabert and had two children, Beatice and Kyril, but they didn’t accompany her on the Titanic from Cherbourg, while her brother did.
She was woken by the crash. “Boy (Philipp) and I had spoken of how we should die as stoics if the ship went down, so when I heard the crash I immediately thought of how we might be called upon to verify our words. Philipp came to her cabin and told her to dress warmly. They then went on deck.
“Boy and I had resolved to stay together. As the boat was rapidly sinking the order soon came: ‘Ladies only into the lifeboats.’ So one boat after the other left with women who were leaving their husbands behind. The great Mr Ismay tried to make me enter the last boat on the upper deck; when I refused and it had gone, he said, ‘You made a great mistake not to get into that boat.’ I answered: ‘It does not matter. I prefer staying with my brother.’
“Meanwhile the boat was sinking lower. Then someone said there was a boat (Lifeboat 11) on the lower deck and we went down to find it nearly crowded. There were just a few women left on deck so I risked it and went in, and after the other women were put in there was room for one man and Boy was allowed to enter.
“The officers had pistols to shoot any man who entered without permission. Can you realise my joy when we were both in the lifeboat?” Emma and Philipp were rescued by the Carpathia. On board she wrote to her sister-in-law, Countess Martha Butler-Clonebough, which letter was reprinted in the Titanic Commutator Issue 22 of 1979.
She later married Baron Curt von Faber du Faur (1890-1966) and lived in Italy, then later returned to the United States. They settled at New Haven, Conn., where the Baron became a professor at Yale. Emma died in New Haven on 18 April, 1961, aged 84, and is buried in St James Cemetery, Long Island. Her son Kyril died in St James, New York in 1983, aged 74. His son, Kyril, lives in Oakham, Mass,
Seward, Frederic Kimber, 34. 1st Class.
Fred Seward (Wikipedia).
Seward was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on 23 March, 1878. He became a corporate lawyer and settled in New York City. On the 14th April he played cards in the first class lounge on the Titanic with his church friend, the actress Dorothy Gibson, and William Sloper.
Dorothy was able to get him and Sloper aboard Lifeboat 7 with her and her mother. While returning to New York on the Carpathia he organised a committee to recognise the bravery of Captain Rostron and his crew. An inscribed silver cup was presented to the captain and a medal to each of his 320 crew members.
Seward died of heart failure in Queens, New York on 7 December, 1943, aged 65. He was buried at Fresh Pond Crematory in Queens. A picture of him with the Rostron Committee is in the Titanic Commutator No 176 p 224.
Simonius-Blumer, Colonel Alfons, 56. 1st Class.
He was born on 23 October, 1855, in Basel, Switzerland. He and his wife, Alice, had three sons. He became a colonel in the Swiss army and in 1906 president of the Swiss Bankverein. He and his lawyer, Dr Max Staehelin-Maeglin, 32, were travelling on the Titanic for business to New York.
They were acquainted with Max Frölicher-Stehli. On Sunday evening the three men played cards in the first class smoking room until shortly after 11 pm. They then retired to their staterooms. After the collision Simonius and Staehelin met outside and later boarded Lifeboat 3.
They were met in New York, where they concluded their business, then returned on 7 May aboard the Victoria Luise. Simonius retired from the army in 1913. He died in Lucerne on 26 May, 1920, aged 64.
Simpson, John Edward, 37. Assistant Ship’s Surgeon.
The son of a doctor, he was born in Belfast in 1875. Simpson, who had five sisters, graduated from Queen’s University Belfast. He married Annie Peters from Astley, Lancashire, in 1905 and they had a son, John Ralph Simpson.
Simpson had health problems so decided to go to sea, as the air would do him good. He served as medical officer, initially with the Peninsula and Oriental Steamship Company, then with the White Star Line on the Olympic. He signed onto the Titanic as assistant surgeon to Dr O’Loughlin, being responsible for 2nd and 3rd class passengers. He was a captain of the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving with the 1st Volunteer Regiment of the Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment). He wrote to them for leave of absence as he would be going to sea.
After the collision Dr Simpson stood on C Deck with Dr O’Loughlin, Purser McElroy, Assistant Purser Barker and briefly with 2nd Officer Lightoller. As the latter was sweating from his exertions Simpson joked, “Hello, Lights. Are you warm?” When Lifeboat 14 was being lowered he gave an electric torch to 5th Officer Lowe, saying “Here is something that will be useful to you.” He died in the sinking. His son died in London in 1961.
Sloan, Mary ‘May’, 28. Stewardess.
Born in 1884 May lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After the collision Dr O’Loughlin said to her, “Child, things are very bad.”
On 27 April she wrote to her sister, Maggie: “I never lost my head once that dreadful night. When she struck at a quarter to twelve and the engines stopped I knew very well something was wrong. Dr Simpson came and told me the mails were afloat. Things were pretty bad. He brought Miss Marsden and me into his room and gave us a little whiskey and water. He asked me if I was afraid, I replied I was not.
“He said, ‘Well spoken like a true Ulster girl.’ He had to hurry away to see if there was anyone hurt. I never saw him again.
“I got a lifebelt and I went round my rooms to see if my passengers were all up and if they had lifebelts on. Poor Mr Andrews came along. I read in his face all I wanted to know. He was a brave man. Mr Andrews met his fate like a true hero realizing the great danger, and gave up his life to save the women and children of the Titanic. They will find it hard to replace him.”
Thomas Andrews cautioned her, “It is very serious, but keep the bad news quiet, for fear of panic.”
May continued in her letter, “I got away from all the others and intended to go back to my room for some of my jewellery, but I had no time. I went on deck. I saw Captain Smith getting excited; passengers would not have noticed but I did. I knew then we were soon going. The distress signals were going every second. Then there was a big crush from behind me; at last they realised the danger, so I was pushed into a boat.”
She was standing alongside a boat which was being filled, possibly Lifeboat 16, when Andrews saw her again and asked why she was still there. “All my friends are staying behind,” she replied, “It would be mean to go.” Andrews was insistent, “It would be mean for you not to go. You must get in.” Mary reluctantly assented and was saved.
Regarding the lifeboat she recalled, I believe it was one of the last ones to leave. We had scarcely got clear when she began sinking rapidly. We were in the boats all night until the Carpathia picked us up, about seven in the morning. Mr Lightoller paid me the compliment of saying I was a sailor.”
Sloper, William Thompson, 28. 1st Class.
He was born on 13 December, 1883, in New Britain, Connecticut. His father was president of the New Britain National Bank. Sloper became a stockbroker and estate manager and embarked on a three month vacation to Europe. While there he met the Fortune family and became enamoured of Alice Fortune, so cancelled his passage on the Mauretania to join them on the Titanic.
When the Titanic collided with the iceberg he had just finished playing bridge with Dorothy Gibson, Fred Seward and another. He went to the boat deck where Dorothy insisted that he join her in Lifeboat 7, thereby saving his life.
When they arrived in America a New York Herald reporter wrote that Sloper had dressed in women’s clothing in order to escape. On the advice of family and friends he didn’t sue the reporter, hoping that the matter would be forgotten, yet spent the rest of his life denying the charge.
Sloper married Helen Lindenberg, 30, on 26 February, 1915, in Columbus, Ohio, and raised her three daughters from a former marriage. In 1949 he wrote a biography of his father and the history of New Britain’s industries. He died on 1 May, 1955, aged 71, and was interred at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in New Britain. His widow, Helen, died on 30 July, 1967, aged 82.
Smith, Edward John, 62. Captain.
Edward J Smith (Wikipedia).
Born in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent in January 1850, he went to work at the Etrurua Forge at 13 years of age. In 1871 he went to sea and had his master’s certificate by age 24. Smith joined the White Star Line in 1880, rising to command in 1887. Among the ships he captained were the Republic, Coptic, Majestic, Adriatic and Olympic. He was awarded the Transport Medal for commanding troopships during the South African War and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration in 1908.
Smith became commodore of the Line in 1904. He was popular among passengers and nicknamed “EJ”. As commander of the Royal Naval Reserve he could fly a Blue Duster, instead of the Red Duster of the merchant marine. He married Eleanor, they had a young daughter Helen Melville, and lived at Lichfield, Staffordshire. In 1911 the Olympic, under his command, was rammed by HMS Hawke, and sustained some damage.
As the Titanic departed from Southampton the water displacement caused the New York to snap her mooring lines and swing out. Quick action by Smith averted a collision. On Sunday, 14 April, Captain Smith officiated at the morning service. In the evening a party was given in his honour by George Widener. As the ship was approaching the ice zone, Smith excused himself early and went to the bridge where he discussed the dropping temperature with Lightoller. He told his Second Officer to call him immediately if he was at all concerned. He then went to bed.
Smith was woken by the collision and went to the bridge. Murdoch told him what had happened and he told Boxhall to check the forward part of the ship. The carpenter then advised him that it was flooding. Smith and Thomas Andrews, the ship’s designer, then inspected the forward holds and Andrews told him that the ship would sink within two hours. This must have traumatised Smith, for he knew that there were sufficient lifeboats for less than half on board. He thereafter seemed indecisive, as if in a state of shock.
He ordered the boats to be prepared but hesitated in lowering them, so Lightoller had to get his permission to begin. Smith erred in not ensuring that all lifeboats were filled to capacity. He was seen on the bridge after giving the order to abandon ship. His last words were apparently “Be British”. Occupants of Collapsible B said that he swam to the side of their lifeboat, then saw it was full and left. Some contend that he handed over a baby in his arms, then floated away. His body was never found.
A statue was erected of Captain Smith in Lichfield, and unveiled by his daughter. The sculptress was Lady Kathleen Scott (1870-1947), the widow of Scott of the Antarctic. Smith’s widow later moved to London, where she was knocked down and killed by a taxi in 1931, aged 70.
Their daughter Helen, known as Mel, married Captain Gilbertson who died of black water fever on a voyage back from India. In 1922 she married Sidney Russell-Cooke (1892-1930) and they had twins, Simon and Priscilla. Simon was killed during the war on 23 March 1944, while Priscilla, who had married, died of polio in Scotland on 7 October 1947. Mel’s husband died in a hunting accident and her mother the following year. She moved to Leafield, Oxfordshire in 1934.
Mel was adventurous, drove a sports car and flew a plane. In 1958 she visited the set of ‘A Night to Remember’ and remarked that Lawrence Naismith, who played her father, resembled him strikingly. She died in August 1973 and is buried close to her mother and husband.
Smith, James Clinch, 56. 1st Class.
He was from Long Island, New York and boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg. Smith had served as a lieutenant in the Third Cavalry, US Army. In June 1906 he was witness to the murder of Stanford White, his sister’s husband, by Harry Thaw, the recent husband of White’s mistress of five years, Evelyn Nesbit. Clinch Smith and Gracie were together when the wave swept up the deck as the ship plunged. While Gracie survived Smith died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, wasn’t identified.
Smith, Lucian Philip, 24. 1st Class.
Smith (nee Hughes), Mary Eloise, 18.
He was born on 14 August, 1887, and lived in Huntington, West Virginia. He married Mary Hughes, the daughter of Congressman James Hughes, on 7 February, 1912, and they went on honeymoon to Europe, returning on the Titanic from Southampton. She was pregnant at the time.
During the evening of 14 April Smith was playing cards in the Café Parisien with Alfred Omont, Paul Chevrẻ and Pierre Marẻchel. After the collision the three Frenchmen were saved while Smith, rushed to their cabin to wake Eloise. They reached the Boat Deck as the third lifeboat was being lowered. Eloise did not want to leave him, but he insisted that she board Lifeboat 6. He later perished. On the Carpathia she met a fellow survivor, Robert Daniel, who was to be her future husband.
Her son was born in December 1912 and named after his father. She was forced to go to court to obtain part of her late husband’s estate for her son. On 18 August, 1914, Eloise married Robert Daniel in New York and they lived in Philadelphia. She went to live abroad, died on 3 May, 1940, aged 58, and is buried in Huntington, England.
Smyth, Julia, 20. 3rd Class.
She boarded at Queenstown as a third class passenger and was rescued in Lifeboat 13. Julia remained in New York, where she married Thomas White. She attended the 1958 premier of ‘A Night to Remember’ in New York, where she was reunited with fellow Irish survivors. Julia died on 27 April, 1977, aged 95, and is buried in St Raymond’s Cemetery, Bronx, New York, but has no gravestone. Other survivors buried there are Bridgett O’Driscoll and Eugene Daly.
Sowden, W Rex.
He was a captain in charge of the Salvation Army Corps in Kirkudbright, Scotland. He had retired on the evening of 14 April, 1912, when there was a knock on the door and he was asked, “Will you please come at once, captain. Jessie is dying.”
He went to the room of the dying orphan, who said, “Hold my hand, captain. I am so afraid. Can’t you see that big ship sinking in the water?” He said that she was having a bad dream, but she added, “No. the ship is sinking. Look at all those people who are drowning. Someone called Wally is playing a fiddle and coming to you.”
He sat with the dying child for a few hours, then heard the sound of the latch on the door. He opened it but no one was there, then had the impression of someone passing by him into the bedroom. He rushed back to Jessie to find her eyes open. She said that her mother had come to take her to heaven. He held her hand as she died.
Hours later he heard of the sinking of the Titanic. The bandmaster Wally Hartley was among the drowned. Rex had known him as a boy and had no knowledge of his going to sea or having anything to do with the ship. (From ‘Psychic Forewarnings of a Tragedy?’ by George Behe).
Spedden, Frederic Oakley, 45. 1st Class.
Spedden (née Stone), Margaretta Corning ‘Daisy’, 40.
Robert Douglas, 6.
He was born at New York City on 9 January, 1867, while Daisy Stone was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1872. They were married and had a son, Douglas, who was born on 19 November, 1905. A wealthy family, they lived at Wee Wah Lodge, Tuxedo Park, NY, and devoted themselves to their son, their travels and their hobbies.
They generally spent summers in Bar Harbour, Mine, and winters at resorts throughout the world. In late 1911 they sailed for Algiers on the Caronia, taking Daisy’s maid, Helen Wilson, and Douglas’s nanny, Elizabeth Burns. At the end of their European holiday they boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg.
Spedden was woken by the collision. When they noticed that the ship was tilting they woke Douglas and the servants, then made their way to the starboard boat deck. After all the women and children had been loaded into Lifeboat 3 about 20 men were allowed to board, including Spedden.
When Douglas woke at dawn he saw the icebergs all round and said to Ms Burns, “Oh, Muddie, look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it.” While on the Carpathia Spedden joined the committee which honoured the bravery of Captain Rostron and his crew.
Thereafter the Speddens returned to their charmed lifestyle. A year later Daisy wrote and illustrated a small book for Douglas, called ‘My Story’. It recounted their trip and Titanic experience through the eyes of a toy bear.
On 6 August, 1915, Douglas, aged 9, was struck by a car near the family’s summer camp in Maine. He was concussed and died two days later, in one of the first automobile accidents in the state. He was buried in a New York City cemetery. After his death Daisy stopped writing her diaries, but continued with photography and travelling.
Spedden died of a heart attack in a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida, on 3 February, 1947, aged 80. Daisy died three years later on 10 February, 1950, aged 77. Forty years later a relative found her diaries, photo albums and the storybook in a trunk in their attic. The book was illustrated and published as ‘Polar, the Titanic Bear’.
Spencer, William Augustus, 57. 1st Class.
Spencer (nee Eugenie), Marie Eugenie, 45.
He was born in New York on 7 January, 1855, and became a resident of Paris, France. Spencer married Marie Eugenie. They boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg with her maid, Miss Eugenie Elise Lurette, 59.
After the Titanic struck Marie and Elise boarded Lifeboat 6 and were saved, whereas Spencer died in the sinking. Marie died in Paris on 26 October, 1913, some 18 months after the sinking.
Staehelin-Maeglin, Max, 32. 1st Class.
Born in Basel, Switzerland, on 18 February, 1880, he was to qualify as a lawyer and marry a lady named Martha. In 1907 Staehelin became director of the Swiss Trust Company. Arnold B Hein & Company in New York needed to be subsidised, so he boarded the Titanic with two friends, Maximilian Frolicher-Stehli and Alfons Simonius-Blumer as first class passengers.
On Sunday evening the three men played cards in the first class smoking room until shortly after 11 pm. They then retired to their staterooms. After the collision Simonius and Staehelin met outside and boarded Lifeboat 3 at 12.50 am. The rowed later in order to keep warm.
They were met in New York, where they concluded their business, then returned on 7 May aboard the Victoria Luise. In 1928 Staehelin became president of the Swiss Bankverein, following Leopold Dubois, who in turn had followed Alfons Simonius. In 1944 he became president of the Swiss multi CIBA.
Staehelin’s wife died in 1955 and he retired as president the following year. He died on 3 August, 1968, aged 88, and was buried in Basel.
Stanley, Amy Zillah Elsie, 24. 3rd Class.
Her parents ran a public house and grocery in Leadwell, Oxfordshire, and had 12 children, three of whom died young. Amy was born on 4 January, 1888. She became a dressmaker and worked in Oxford, then went into domestic service at Wallingford.
In 1912 she decided to move to New Haven, CT, USA to become a children’s maid. The coal strike delayed her, then on the Titanic “My two cabin mates were a nurse and an 11-year-old [sic] child. Her name was Elizabeth. The child was alone, because her parents were still in Europe and she was going home to America.” [They were probably Elizabeth Dowdell, 30, and Virginia Emanuel, 5].
Of the disaster she later wrote, “… I was writing a postcard the night that the boat struck the iceberg. It was about 11.30 pm. I got out of bed and put my coat on and went out on deck and asked the steward what was the matter. He told me it was only the engines stopped, and ordered all the women back to bed.
“But I did not go. I shared a cabin with an American lady and a child. I assisted them to dress, and then we went up on deck. We tried to reach the boats. Then I saw two fellows (whom we met at meals, the only men we really made friends of) coming towards us, who assisted us over the railings into the lifeboat [Collapsible C].
“As we were being lowered a man about 16 stone jumped into the boat almost on top of me. I heard a pistol fired – I believe it was done to frighten the men from rushing the boat. This man’s excuse was that he came because of his baby. When we rowed off the child must have died had I not attended to it.
“We were rowing for several hours. I seemed to have extra strength that night to keep up my nerves, for I even made them laugh when I told them we had escaped vaccination, for we were all to have been vaccinated that day (meaning the Monday)
“I will say no more of that awful row, except that I was able to fix the rope round the women for them to be pulled up on the Carpathia while the men steadied the boat – the women seemed quite stupefied – yet when I was safe myself, I was the first to break down. The sight on board was awful, with raving women – barely six women were saved who could say they had not lost a relative. Oh! The widows the Titanic has made!
“The last three days have been terrible. I attended to a woman (Rosa Abbott) who was picked up on a raft with four men. The latter died, but she lived. She has lost two sons on the Titanic. Their cabin was next to mine. She was the last woman I spoke to on the ship’s deck… “
“… I was the only one that she could talk to about her sons because I knew them myself. She told me that she would get [sic] in the lifeboat if there hadn’t been so may people around. 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 son 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.”
Amy found that her cabin mates had also survived. She was given $200 by the American Red Cross to start her life in New Haven. She married Eugene Tanner on 1 November, 1918, after he had got an honourable discharge from the US Navy. She had two sons, Alfred in 1921, and Eugene in 1926. Amy died in Providence, Rhode Island, on 21 April, 1955, aged 67, and is buried at Oakland Cemetery, Cranston, RI.
Stap, Sarah Agnes, 46. Stewardess.
The daughter of Captain Henry Stap, Sarah was born at sea about 1865. Her father had once worked for the White Star Line, so she joined it as a stewardess and served on the Baltic, Adriatic, Celtic and Olympic. Her home was Birkenhead, from where she joined the Titanic as a first class stewardess. Her great nephew contends that she was the ship’s matron.
When the lifeboats were being loaded Sarah was told by a crewman to get into Lifeboat 11. She stood back and offered her seat to a young cabin boy, saying that as she was into her ‘thirties’ and had had her life, he should take her place. His answer was to pick her up and put her in the boat.
Sarah died at Birkenhead on 27 March, 1937, aged 72.
Stead, William Thomas, 62. 1st Class.
William Thomas Stead (Wikipedia).
Born at Manse, Northumbria on 5 July 1849, he was the son of a congregational minister. When aged 14 he was apprenticed to a merchant counting house in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1871 he was appointed editor of the ‘Northern Echo’. Two years later, aged 24, he married Emma Wilson and they had six children. He listed his interests as cycling, boating and playing with children.
In 1880 Stead moved to London to be assistant editor of the ‘Pall Mall Gazette’, and became editor three years later. In 1884 he interviewed General Gordon and urged the government to send Gordon to Khartoum – where he was killed! In 1885 he published ‘The Maiden tribute of Modern Babylon’, in which he exposed vice and child prostitution – resulting in the age of consent being raised to 16. Stead was attacked for having pornography among his research papers and was jailed for three months.
He published an article ‘How the Mail Steamer went down in mid-Atlantic, by a Survivor’ in 1886. The steamer collided with another ship and due to the few lifeboats there was much loss of life. He added, “This is exactly what might take place and will take place if liners are sent to sea short of boats.”
In 1890 he left the Gazette and founded ‘Review of Reviews’. He became interested in spiritualism and in 1892 published a fictional story ‘From the Old World to the New’, in which a White Star Liner, the Majestic, which carried a clairvoyant who sensed a disaster to another ship which had struck ice. The survivors were rescued and the Majestic, captained by E J Smith, avoided the ice. Twenty years later he was on the Titanic, captained by E J Smith!
He visited the Tsar of Russia in 1898, then founded a weekly paper ‘War against War’. His pacifism was apparent at the Hague Conference. His opposition to the war in South Africa resulted in an article ‘Shall I slay my brother the Boer’. In 1900 he supported the Union International to combat militarism. Stead travelled on the Titanic to take part in a peace congress at Carnegie Hall at the request of President William Taft. While the ship sank he sat in the First Class Smoking Room, reading a book.
Stengel, Charles Emil Henry, 54. 1st Class.
Stengel (nee Morris), Annie May, 43.
He was born on 19 November, 1857, at Newark, New Jersey. He worked in the leather trade and lived in Newark. Stengel married Annie Morris, who was 11 years younger than him. They boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg. The collision woke him, but he thought it was merely a dropped propeller.
After taking Annie to Lifeboat 5 he went forward to Emergency Lifeboat 1. Due to the high bulwark he had to roll into the boat. First Officer Murdoch said, “It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all night.”
Meanwhile Annie had several ribs broken when the burly Dr Henry Frauenthal leaped into her boat and landed on top of her. Stengel later denied that Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon had bribed the crew of Lifeboat 1 to row away from other survivors. He had said, “You take care of us safely and I’ll make you all a present.” This was because they weren’t rowing properly due to smoking and joking. Lady Duff-Gordon had also offered them money.
On the Carpathia he had been approached by the gambler George Bradley (aka Brereton) who was upset as he had lost all his money. Stengel advised him to claim his fare back from the White Star Line. After docking he was telephoned by Bradley who thanked him for his advice. Stengel invited him to dinner at his Newark home. When there Bradley told him that his brother-in-law worked for Western Union and would be finalising a deal which could interest Stengel.
Some weeks later they met in a New York hotel where it was disclosed that the man could fix transmission of the results of horse races so that bets could be laid when the race had concluded. Stengel would be included for $1,000. He wasn’t interested and a scuffle ensued, but the con-men escaped before the police arrived.
Stengel died on 19 April, 1914, aged 56, being the 8th survivor to die. He was buried in a private mausoleum in Fairmount Cemetery, Newark. Annie died of pneumonia on 22 January, 1956, aged 87.
Stephenson (nee Eustis), Martha, 52. 1st Class.
Martha Eustis was born in Boston on 13 March, 1860. She married Walter Stephenson, lived in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and had a number if children. Martha survived the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 while staying at the St Francis Hotel. She and her sister, Elizabeth Eustis, boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as first class passengers.
They were rescued in Lifeboat 4. When the ship’s lights failed Martha covered her eyes. Someone cried, “She’s broken!” but Martha never looked. After a long while she looked up to see the stern outlined black against the starry sky. The stern sank and the cries of those in the water commenced.
Boat 4 pulled some men from the sea, then was lashed to Fifth Officer Lowe’s flotilla. Martha later claimed for her lost property. She died on 24 December, 1934, aged 74. Her son, George, became president and assistant treasurer of the Boston Transcript, which had been founded by her grandfather. In 1966 her daughter, Martha Cookman, died aged 81 in Englewood, New Jersey. Another daughter, Helen LeBoutillier, died in Haverford Pennsylvania, in 1975, aged 87.
Straus, Isidor, 67. 1st Class.
Straus (nee Blun), Rosalie Ida, 63.
He was born in Rhenish, Bavaria, on 6 February, 1845. His family immigrated to the United States in 1854 and settled at Talbotton, Georgia. His father, Lazarus Straus, established a dry goods store, at which he worked. In 1862 the family moved to Columbus.
Isidor Straus (Wikipedia).
During the Civil War Isidor worked for a firm that was engaged in blockade running for the Confederacy. He married Rosalie Ida Blun, who was four years younger than him. After the war Isidor and his brother, Nathan, moved to New York and worked for R H Macy & Co. They acquired ownership of the company in 1896. Straus served as a congressman for New York State from 1895-7.
The Straus couple and their daughter, Beatrice, travelled to Europe on the Amerika,
then returned on the Titanic without Beatrice. They were accompanied by his manservant, John Farthing, and her maid, Ellen Bird.
Isidor and Ida Straus (Wikipedia).
After the collision when about to enter Lifeboat 8, Ida gave her shawl to Ellen and returned to her husband’s side, saying, “We have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go.” Colonel Gracie and others tried to persuade her to leave but she was adamant. The Straus couple then sat together on a pair of deck chairs.
His body was recovered and buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York. There is a memorial to Ida on his grave. Over 40,000 people gathered for the memorial service, at which eulogies were read by Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). Straus Square on Broadway and 107th Street is named after them, as is a Freshman Dormitory in Harvard Yard called Straus Hall.
Sutehall, Henry, 25. 3rd Class
The son of a plasterer, Harry Sutehall was born in England on 23 July, 1886. He had a sister and brother born in 1889 and 1890, before his family emigrated to Buffalo, New York, in 1895. His father plastered the cathedral there, which was designed by Edward Kent, later a fellow Titanic passenger.
Sutehall worked as a ‘trimmer’, repairing upholstery, when he met Howard Irwin, a fellow musician who became his best friend.
In January 1910 they embarked on a world tour. They worked their way across America, then to Australia. Sutehall’s girlfriend, Pearl Shuttle, 21, died of pneumonia in October 1911. While working in Sydney, Sutehall met and fell in love with Ruth Allcock. Irwin left for South Africa, leaving a love-smitten Sutehall, who had become engaged, to follow.
They reunited in Southampton and booked passage on the Titanic to complete their trip. Howard Irwin became involved in a brawl with American students at a pub on the eve of their sailing, so was shanghaied on a ship to the East to work off the damage he had caused. He eventually escaped in Egypt, but the Titanic had long since sailed.
Irwin’s luggage went aboard the Titanic with Sutehall’s. It is not known how Sutehall died, whether still in steerage or on deck. Ruth Allcock never recovered from Sutehall’s death. She wore black for the rest of her life. She had a marriage of convenience in 1918, but had no children. Ruth died of Bright’s disease in 1940.
In 1993 American salvagers, RMS Titanic, brought up Irwin’s steamer trunk containing his personal possessions and love letters from Pearl Shuttle. The contents of his trunk were on display at the Atlanta Titanic Artifacts Exhibition in 2007. The above story emerged from documents found 81 years later in his trunk, a telling argument for retrieving artefacts.
Sutton, Frederick, 61. 1st Class.
He was born in Suffolk, East Anglia, on 15 June, 1850. He emigrated to America and became a real estate developer in Haddenfield, New Jersey. Sutton made a fortune by developing the fishing village of Wildwood at the turn of the century.
While he had a large house built for himself he toured Europe, then returned on the Titanic as a first class passenger. After the sinking his body was recovered and he was buried at sea.
Swift (nee Barron), Margaret Welles, 46. 1st Class.
Margaret Barron was born at Bath, New York, on 30 September, 1865. She had two sisters. Margaret married Fred Joel Swift, who died in October 1907, when she was 42. She boarded the Titanic in Southampton, shared a cabin with Dr Leader and made friends with Mr and Mrs Kenyon. The three ladies were rescued in Lifeboat 8.
Margaret returned to Brooklyn, New York, and continued participating in church and charitable work, as well as being president of a Library Club. She later moved to Nyack, NY, where she lived with her two sisters until her death on 29 April, 1948, aged 82. She is buried in North Tarrytown, NY.
Symons, George Thomas Macdonald, 24. Lookout.
He was born at Weymouth on 23 February, 1888. Symons transferred as a lookout from the Oceanic to the Titanic. He was put in command of Emergency Lifeboat 1.