The Deceased

Major Archibald Butt

* Major Archibald Butt was the military aid to the President of the United States, William Howard Taft. Butt in his time had also been a novelist, a soldier, a news correspondent and a diplomat. Butt was returning home from a visit to Italy where he was on a mission to the Vatican for the President. For many years Butt had been a close friend to Theodore Roosevelt and had become close friends with Taft while Taft was Roosevelt's vice president. Roosevelt and Taft were friends, however they began feuding almost as soon as Taft had filled Roosevelt's spo. The feud put Maj. Butt in a bad spot since he was friends with and loyal to both men. The strain put on Butt was too much for him and he asked to be transferred to another posting. Taft instead gave him the mission to the Vatican hoping that the feud between he and Roosevelt would die down while Butt was gone and that Butt would agree to come back to his post when he returned. Butt brought along with him on his trip to the Vatican his good friend Frank Millet. When the collision with the iceberg occured, Butt, Millet, Clarence Moore and Arthur Ryerson were all in the Smoking Room playing bridge. They had heard of the commotion going on the Boat Deck but chose to continue playing cards. Around 1:00am, Maj. Archibald Butt escorted Miss Marie Young, who was once the music governess to Roosevelt's children, to lifeboat #8. Miss Young later recalled how Butt wrapped her in blankets and put her into the lifeboat. Then Butt stepped back and lifting his hat to her, and gave her a message for his family. "Goodbye Miss Young. Good luck to you and don't forget to remember me to the folks back home." He then went back to the Smoking Room to continue his bridge game with Millet, Ryerson and Moore. Despite the tilting deck at around 1:45am, the four continued to play cards, uninterrupted until a little before 2:00am when they gathered on the Boat Deck talking quietly. The last anyone ever saw of Maj. Butt was shortly before 2:00am. Butt was standing quietly on the Boat Deck, not helping lower or fill the lifeboats but accepting his fate as a typical soldier. A worried President Taft sent out the cruiser USS Chester specifically to contact the Carpathia about his friend Maj. Butt. The Chester's inquiry was ignored however, just like all the rest of the inquiries about survivors from other wire services and newspapers. Taft's fear was later confirmed however that his friend had perished in the Titanic disaster. He erected a marble fountain in Washington D.C., dedicated to Maj. Archibald Butt. It was paid for out of Taft's private funds in memory of his friend.

John Jacob Astor

* Colonel John Jacob Astor IV was the great grandson of the first John Jacob Astor who was a poor Schwabian who emigrated to the United States in 1783 and who had built a fortune in fur trade, in turn investing his money in and around New York. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Astors owned some of the most expensive real estate in the world, including the Astoria Hotel, where coincidently, was the holding of the Senate Hearings after the Titanic disaster. J.J. Astor IV was very ambitious as well at ruthless when needed. Astor had raised a regiment of volunteers during the Spanish-American War, with himself as colonel. Thereafter, he preferred to be addressed by his rank. Astor had a mansion in Newport with an 18 car garage. Once he even drove a train on his private railway that drew a coach filled with only millionaires. His attitude toward money was cavalier. He once remarked, "a man who has a million dollars is almost as well off as if he were wealthy." In 1909 Astor had divorced his wife of 18 years, Ava Willing Astor, to marry his 18 year old girlfriend Madeline Force who was actually younger than his son Vincent. Divorce was highly looked down upon during the Edwardian Era, something only the lower orders indulged in. Astor was visciously cut by all his friends and socialites and therefore thought it best to take a trip with his new wife to spend the winter elsewhere. They had married in the late 1911's and found it rather hard to even find a clergyman to perform the ceremony.

To create even more scandal, the new Mrs. Astor, who now had been married for four months, was now four months pregnant as well. In the Edwardian Era, many men had mistresses, but would never divorce their wives. With Astor doing so, he may never have been able to regain his formal social standing. He was now returning on the Titanic to New York after spending four months in Egypt and Paris, hoping that his status would be salvaged when he returned. When the Titanic reached Queenstown, many vendors had small boats set up with handmade items to sell. Some of the more respectable sellers were allowed aboard the Titanic and for an hour or so, the Promenade Deck had become an open air market for Irish lace and linens, ceramics and etc. J.J. Astor was so taken by an Irish lace jacket that he paid $800 for it on the spot. On the night of April 14, 1912, J.J. Astor heard of the collision with the iceberg and went on deck to take a look around. Not alarmed, Astor went back to his suite and explained to Madeline that the ship had struck some ice but it didn't seem serious. Hearing this, she wasn't alarmed either. Shortly after, a steward notified the Astors to put a lifebelt on and get on deck. Since Colonel Astor seemed unalarmed earlier, Mrs. Astor took her time dressing. When Mrs. Astor finally arrived on deck, she was dressed in a black broadtail coat with sable revers, a diamond necklace and carried a muff. As the crew were loading and sending off the first lifeboats, the Astors gathered in the gymnasium off the Boat Deck. There, J.J. and Madeline were sitting side by side on the mechanical horses where J.J. took his penknife out and sliced open one of the lifebelts to show Mrs. Astor what was inside. A half hour later the Astors left the gymnasium and went back on deck. There was still little urgency in loading the lifeboats as most passengers still thought the fuss was just precautionary. Colonel Astor remarked while watching lifeboat #5 being lowered, "We are safer on board the ship than in that little boat." At 1:45am, Astor realized the situation was more serious than earlier believed. He helped his wife into a lifeboat. He asked Lightoller if he could join his wife, explaining that she was in "delicate condition." Lightoller responded, "No, sir. No men are allowed into the boats until the women are loaded first." Astor said, "Well, what boat is it?" Lightoller informed him, "Boat #4 sir." With that, Astor turned to his wife and said, "The sea is calm. You'll be all right. You're in good hands. I'll meet you in the morning." Then Astor stepped away and returned back up the Boat Deck. As the Titanic began its final plunge, Dr. Washington Dodge reported seeing J.J. Astor standing on the bridge with Maj. Butt. When Astor's body was recovered, it was crushed and covered with soot. Astor had been one of the people crushed by the forward funnel as it collapsed. In fact, Astor's body was the first to be claimed and released. Number 124, as was his body recovery number, was fairly easy to indentify. Number 124 wore a blue serge suit, a blue handkerchief, a gold buckled belt, brown shoes with red rubber soles, and a brown flannel shirt with the initials "J.J.A." on the collar. The body also carried $2,440, had a gold watch, gold cuff links, and a diamond ring with three stones. Colonel Astor's body was claimed by his son Vincent, his lawyer Nicholas Biddle, and the skipper of Astor's private yacht, Captain Roberts. Mrs. Astor gave birth to a baby boy 5 months later. She inherited Colonel Astor's fortune, with the understanding that she never remarried. She did however re-marry many years later and gave up the Astor fortune.

Charles Hays

* Charles Hays was president of the Grand Trunk Railway. Charles was born and raised in Canada. Hays built the Grand Trunk into the dominant railway around the Great Lakes and into the northern Midwest states and the Canadian provinces. He was looking to expand into the hotel business. Hays was studying first hand management training in Europe and was returning home to Canada on the Titanic to launch a new chain of hotels owned by the Grand Trunk. When the Titanic hit the iceberg there was some ice chunks that fell onboard the Titanic's steerage decks. A few First Class passengers watched the Third Class people play with and kick around the ice. Hays was one of them, standing with Maj. Peuchen. Suddenly Maj. Peuchen shouted, "Why, she's listing! She should not do that! The water is perfectly calm and the ship has stopped!" Hays simply stated, "Oh, I don't know. You cannot sink this boat." Shortly after, Hays saw his new friend Maj Peuchen helping lower Boats 2 and 4 and shouted, "Peuchen, this ship is good for another 8 hours yet! I have gotten this information from one of the best old seamen, Mr. Crosby of Milwaukee." Little did Hays know that Crosby had hastily put his wife and children off in a lifeboat. Now it was approximately 1:45 am and there were few lifeboats left. Hays, realizing the seriousness of the situtation now, put his wife off into lifeboat #3. Charles Hays stood off to one side of the Boat Deck, probably recalling a conversation he had with Colonel Gracie only hours earlier. Hays had remarked to Gracie, "The White Star, Cunard, and the Hamburg-Amerika are now devoting their attention to a struggle with supremacy in obtaining the most luxurious appointments for their ships. But the time will soon come when the greatest and most appalling of all disasters at sea will be the result." Hays never went near a lifeboat and remained on deck until the end.

Isador Strauss

* Isador Strauss was a former Congressman and advisor to the President Of The Untied States and was also part owner of Macy's department store. Isador was returning from vacation on the French Riviera with his wife Ida. As Lightoller was loading lifeboat # 8, the Strauss's were walking by. Just before Lightoller was about to give the order to lower way, Ida stopped and began getting into the lifeboat. At the last second she changed her mind and turned to her husband and stated, "We have been living together for many years; where you go, I go." Colonel Gracie and Hugh Woolner overheard Mrs. Stauss and tried to persuade her to go but she would not. Finally Woolner said to Mr. Strauss, "I'm sure no one would object to an old gentleman like yourself getting in." Mr. Strauss replied firmly, " I will not go before any other men." The issue was settled. Mrs. Strauss then turned to her maid and helped her into lifeboat #8. Ida gave the maid her fur coat saying, "Here, take this. I wont be needing it." Isador and Ida then backed away and sat on a couple of deck chairs to await the end together. At Broadway and 106th Street in New York City there is a monument erected in the memory of Isador and Ida Strauss, funded by Macy employees.

William T. Stead

* William T. Stead was born on July 5, 1849 in Embleton, Northumberland, England. His father was a Congregational minister with a large family and was very poor. At 14 years old, William was entered into severe poverty. He found a position as errand boy in a merchant's office. His salary went to the family, all except 6 cents a week which he could spend on whatever he would like. Instead of spending it however, William saved it. Penny by penny he saved until every so often he would splurge on a cheap edition of a book of his desire. At 17, the Boy's Own Magazine was offering prizes for an essay contest. Stead wrote one on Oliver Cromwell and won. The prize was not in money however but in books. He was probably most pleased with the prize of books rather than anything else. He soon became assistant editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, then virtual editor. At that time, London had alot of white slavery going on. There were many, many young girls that were being sold and bartered. London knew of this but did nothing to investigate further. William T. Stead knew however and exposed it all in an expose which would make the public aware and would force to abolish it all. Stead found indisputable evidence of everything he wanted to proove. Stead had names upon names and incident after incident recorded and then one day, he blew the story wide open. He had called his story, "The Maiden Tribute Of Babylon." Stead explained of how he was able to purchase the services of a 13 year old prostitute for only 5 pounds. Stead was arrested on the grounds of committing an infraction of the laws. Stead did not mind-he knew he had won and that the parliament would be forced to abolish the white slavery, and they did. The public outcry demanded he be released and he was. The Parliament also was forced to raise the age of consent from 13 to 16 due to Stead's breaking story. In 1890, Stead founded his own monthky journal, 'The Review Of Reviews.' Quickly, it became one of the most influential publications of its day. In 1893, after he was out of prison, he had come to Chicago where he would write a book that would make him more famous than ever around the world. The book was called," If Christ Came To Chicago." It swept the country. William T. Stead would become the writer who interviewed more celebrities than any other writer in history. In April of 1912, William T. Stead was traveling to New York, at President Taft's personal invitation, to speak at an invitational peace conference scheduled to open April 21st. The night of April 14,1912, Stead had taken a stroll around deck at the time of the collision. He then went down below to his cabin, unaware anything had ahppened. He only resurfaced when he heard the engines had stopped. William saw Frank Millet standing nearby and asked him, "What do they say is the trouble?" Frank replied ,"Icebergs." Stead then said," Well, I guess it's nothing serious, I think I'll got back to my cabin to read." A short while later, Steward Cunningham knocked on Stead's door. The steward asked him to put on a lifebelt and come up to deck. Stead protested but eventually went. Waiting, he then went to the First Class Smoking Room where he sat in a leather armchair and began to read. The commotion outside never disturbed him one bit and there he sat, absorbed in his book, never puting on his lifebelt or showing any concern about the state of the ship. It is there, that is believed, to be where Stead had met his ill fate.

Thomas Andrews

* Thomas Andrews was overseeing the immense task of the building of Titanic as the shipyard's managing director. Andrews, born in February 1873, was the second son born to Thomas Andrews Sr. and Eliza Pirrie, Lord Pirrie's daughter. Thomas Jr. had always had a fascination for ships and at the age of 16 became a premium apprentice at Harland and Wolff. His apprenticeship lasted 5 years, beginning with 3 months in the joiner's shop, a month in the cabinetmaker's shop, then two months actually working on ships. After that came two months working in the warehouse, then 5 months spent with the shipwrights, two in the molding loft, two with the painters, 8 months with the iron shipwrights, 6 months with the fitters, three with the patternmakers, and 8 with the smiths. Andrews then completed his apprenticeship with a year and a half in the drawing office. He learned not only what was needed to build a ship but how to perform the tasks as well. In the spring of 1910, Andrews brought his wife Helen, who he had married in June of 1908, to the yard to see the progression of Titanic. There they stood on the half finished decks of Titanic as they stared out into the sky. Helen was then pregnant with their first and only child that was born in 1910-Elizabeth.

As a perfectionist, Thomas Andrews sailed on the Titanic on it's maiden voyage to check for any faults, problems or breakdown that always plague new ships. After dinner on the night of April 14,1912, Andrews retired to his cabin, A-36, looking over blueprints. At the time of the collision, Andrews was unaware they had hit an iceberg. He received a call from Capt. Smith informing him of the collision. He then went on deck to meet with Capt. Smith and they began an inspection of the ship. They found the forward cargo holds flooded as well as the mailroom and the squash court floor. Smith and Andrews went back to Andrews' cabin to look over the structual diagram of the ship to assess the damage made. Andrews outlined the problem as he explained to Capt. Smith how the watertight bulkheads worked. He explained how water would fill one then flow over to the next until the ship eventually sank. Andrews informed Smith the Titanic had only about an hour and half before she sank. Only Andrews, Smith and a handful of officers had the knowledge that there were not enough lifeboats for all aboard.

Thomas Andrews helped to get women together to board the lifeboats, yelling out for more women and children as he walked past each lifeboat. At approximately 2:10am, a steward rushing by the First Class Smoking Room, glanced in and noticed Thomas Andrews standing in the center of the room with his arms folded across his chest, standing motionless before the fireplace with a face of no expression. Steward Stewart stopped and asked Andrews, "Aren't you even going to try for it, Mr. Andrews?" Thomas Andrews never replied, as if he never even heard the question asked to him. He simply continued to stare at the painting before him-"The Approach to Plymouth Harbour", his lifebelt lay carelessly tossed across a card table. That was the last time he was seen.

Benjamin Guggenheim

* Benjamin Guggenheim was one of seven sons of Meyer Guggenheim. Benjamin and his brothers had ran a family enterprise from banking and financing to mining and smelting. Benjamin had taken a close interest in smelting, as new industries were demanding more refined metals than just simple iron and steel. Benjamin had invested heavily in the smelting business and transformed the American smelting industry, leaving all other of the interests of the family secondary. Benjamin had just finished an extended trip in Paris with his mistress, Madame Aubert, while his wife was back in New York. In cabin B-84, after the collision with the iceberg, Steward Etches was helping Mr. Guggenheim into his lifebelt. Etches persuaded Benjamin to wear a heavier sweater before going out onto the Boat Deck. Somewhere between the hours of 12:30am and 1:00am, Guggenheim disappeared from the Boat Deck. He was seen again around 1:30am, no longer wearing the heavier sweaters Etches had talked him into wearing and missing also was his lifebelt. Benjamin Guggenheim was now wearing a white tie and tails along with his secretary. Standing calm and dignified on the Boat Deck, he gave a message to Steward Johnson to give to Mrs. Guggenheim: "I think there is grave doubt that the men will get off. I am willing to remain and play the man's game if there are not enough boats for the women and children. I won't die here like a beast. Tell my wife, Johnson, if it should happen that my secretary and I both go down and you are saved, tell her I played the game straight out and to the end. No woman shall be left aboard this ship because Benjamin Guggenheim was a coward." When he was asked why he lay his lifebelt aside and dressed in evening clothes, he simply stated, "We've dressed in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen."