Titanic Passengers with Penn Connections
Wonka0217
I tried going to "The University of Pennsylvania and the RMS Titanic" site this
morning at http://www.library.upenn.edu/~toccafondi/upenn/titanic.html.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to access it, as was the case with the
Cunard/White Star Line site which had a listing of the passenger liners of the
WS Line and the C line, in addition to detailed descriptions of their birth,
death, and career. Perhaps some of you can recommend what to do next about the
Penn site. When I first visited the site a couple of months ago I was
fascinated by the number of passengers aboard the RMS Titanic who had a
connection to the university, and I'd like to get a refreshment on who they
were. :-)
10376...@compuserve.com
wonk...@aol.com (Wonka0217) wrote:
> Perhaps some of you can recommend what to do next about the
> Penn site. When I first visited the site a couple of months ago I was
> fascinated by the number of passengers aboard the RMS Titanic who had a
> connection to the university, and I'd like to get a refreshment on who they
> were. :-)
Hello, Wonka0217.
I can't comment on the U of P connection, but George has compiled a short
(and undoubtedly incomplete) list of passengers who were headed for
Pennsylvania. These were: Keane, Yazbeck, Moncarek, Thayer, Faunthorpe,
Moss, Finoli, Earnshaw, Murphy, Potter, Carter, Widener, Williams, Endres,
Osman, Hervonen, Hiekkinen, Hakkurainen, Jussila, Lindquist, Phillips,
Ryerson, Stephenson, Ward.
Hope you'll be able to pick a few U of P alumni out of the crowd. <grin>
Sincerely,
Patricia Behe
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KDAD40
Patricia Behe (10376...@compuserve.com) says:
>wonk...@aol.com (Wonka0217) wrote:
>
>> Perhaps some of you can recommend what to do next about the
>> Penn site. When I first visited the site a couple of months ago I was
>> fascinated by the number of passengers aboard the RMS Titanic who had a
>> connection to the university, and I'd like to get a refreshment on who they
>> were. :-)
>
>Hello, Wonka0217.
>
>I can't comment on the U of P connection, but George has compiled a short
>(and undoubtedly incomplete) list of passengers who were headed for
>Pennsylvania. These were: Keane, Yazbeck, Moncarek, Thayer, Faunthorpe,
>Moss, Finoli, Earnshaw, Murphy, Potter, Carter, Widener, Williams, Endres,
>Osman, Hervonen, Hiekkinen, Hakkurainen, Jussila, Lindquist, Phillips,
>Ryerson, Stephenson, Ward.
>
>Hope you'll be able to pick a few U of P alumni out of the crowd. <grin>
>
Jack Thayer attended Penn, and, if I remember correctly, also was part of its
administration for a number of years. I think R. Norris Williams, his father
C. Duane Williams, and possibly one of the Ryerson family may also have
attended Penn. Harry E. Widener was a graduate of Harvard; his mother donated
the Widener Memorial Library located there.
If I get a chance I'll poke around the local libraries and check out the Penn
Alumni Directories--some names should pop up.
Reg Pitts
KDA...@aol.com
MikFindlay
Dear Wonka0217,
In addition to the information already supplied, you may be interested to know
that Boulton Earnshaw, a purchasing agent for the University of Pennsylvania,
had a Titanic connection. His wife, Olive Potter Earnshaw, was aboard the
Titanic with her mother, Mrs. Lily Potter. Both were returning from a trip to
the Middle East. Olive's schoolchum from Briarcliff College, Miss Margaret
Hays, joined them.
Boulton and Olive's marriage was failing, and a divorce was planned for later
in 1912. Mrs. Potter took her daughter abroad to take her mind off the divorce
proceedings. After the Titanic disaster, Olive and Boulton did obtain a
divorce but both remained cordial friends until they died.
Hope this will be of some assistance to you.
Michael A. Findlay
Titanic International Society
Wonka0217
>Boulton and Olive's marriage was failing, and a divorce was planned for later
>in 1912.
I have heard quite a few mentions of Titanic passengers getting divorces or
having been divorced. What was the divorce rate in 1912?
MikFindlay
I do not know what the divorce rate was back in 1912, but it was not very
common. A friend of mine who has researched the Canadian passengers on the
Titanic, and just recently had his book published, offers a good example of
what it must have been like.
Mrs. Frederick C. Douglas, nee Mary Helene "Suzette" Baxter, who was aboard the
Titanic with her mother and brother, divorced her husband shortly after her
mother's death in 1923. According to Alan, "In those days, divorce proceedings
in Canada involved a humiliating public hearing before a Canadian Senate
Committee and a special act of the Canadian Parliament before the decree was
final."
If divorce proceedings were in any way similar in the United States as they
were in Canada, it must not have been a too common practice.
Many Titanic couples divorced after the sinking. In addition to William and
Lucile Carter, Olive Earnshaw and Mrs. Douglas, a number of others also
followed. In first class, Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson Bishop, returning from their
honeymoon, divorced just a few years later. In second class, Albert and Sylvia
Caldwell divorced a short time after their rescue from the sinking, and in
third class, Anton and Louise Kink also divorced after their rescue. Anton and
Louise were one of only two couples in steerage to survive.
Michael Findlay
M
KDAD40
OK, folks, courtesy of the "Directory of Matriculates of the University of
Pennsylvania", here's our list--
Passengers--
John Borland Thayer, class of 1883
John Borland "Jack" Thayer, class of 1916, took degree in 1920
Thomas Drake Martinez Cardeza, class of 1900
Family Relationships to Passengers--
George D. Widener's brother Joseph E. Widener was class of 1893; also George's
grandson, Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr. (Eleanor's son), attended Penn, but I don't
recall offhand when he graduated.
Charles Duane Williams, Esq., who died in the sinking, and his son R. Norris
Williams II, who survived, did not attend Penn; however, Duane Williams, Sr.,
the father and grandfather, was class of 1854, and his son Richard Norris
Williams (brother and uncle) was class of 1880.
Thomas Cardeza's father, James Warburton Martinez-Cardeza was class of 1875; he
married Charlotte Wardle Drake, who was on the voyage, and survived, with her
son.
Also Boulton Earnshaw, mentioned elsewhere in this strand, was class of 1902.
Picked this all up at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania--1300 Locust
Street, Phila.-- located up the street from Clarence Moore's house at 1314
Locust.
Hope this helps.
Reg Pitts
KDA...@aol.com