The Titanic and Some Delaware Connections

 

On April 14th 1912 at 11:40 PM (Ship Time) the Titanic, with 2,224 people on board, hit an iceberg and two hours and forty minutes later sank. As to be expected there there are not many Delaware connections as most passengers were going to the Northern United States or Canada. Below are a few who were born in Delaware or ended up in Delaware.


Miss Emily Rugg, 21, was born at Guernsey, Channel Islands. Her father, W.H. Rugg, resided at Bus Road, St. Sampson's, Guernsey. She was on her way to her aunt at Wilmington, Delaware. To reach her destination, she boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a second class passenger. She had bought ticket number C.A. 31026 for £10 10s. She travelled with, amongst others, Lillian Bentham.

Being asleep, a jar aroused her. Looking out, she saw a mass of ice. She went on deck and saw the lifeboats were made ready for lowering. Back in her cabin she dressed and aroused two women friends in the adjoining cabin. On deck a member of the crew dragged her forward to a lifeboat and lifted her into it. This boat was well overcrowded. She saw an Italian jumping from the deck into a lifeboat landing upon a woman. She saw the Titanic go down and seemend broken in half. The stern arose onto the air, the lights went out as it did so. A moment later the ship plunged beneath the surface.

Miss Rugg survived the sinking. She was rescued by the Carpathia in lifeboat 12. In New York, she was awaited by her uncle, Mr F.W. Queripel of 119 South Van Buren Street, Wilmington, a grocer.




Mr Elmer Zebley Taylor, 48, and his wife Juliet were living in London, England when they sailed on the Titanic. They were originally natives of Smyrna, Delaware, USA. The Taylors would spend many summers in East Orange, New Jersey, USA, and they were heading there at the time of the disaster.

Mr Taylor was a business partner of Fletcher Lambert Williams in the Mono Service Company, Paper Cup Manufacturers, and travelled extensively for the business.

They boarded the Titanic at Southampton as first class passengers (Ticket No. 19996, £52), they occupied cabin C-126.

Mr Taylor reported that he was awakened by the impact. He and his wife got up and got dressed. Taylor knocked on his partner's door as he passed on his way to the deck. Williams answered and said he didn't believe it worth while to get up. He was not seen again.

Mr and Mrs Taylor were rescued in either Lifeboat 5 or 7.

After his wife's death in 1927 Elmer remarried, he lived in East Orange until his death on 20th May 1949 aged 85.



Mrs Elmer Zebley Taylor (Juliet Cummins Wright) and her husband Elmer were living in London, England when they sailed on the Titanic. They were originally natives of Smyrna, Delaware, USA. The Taylors would spend many summers in East Orange, New Jersey, USA, and they were heading there at the time of the disaster.

They boarded the Titanic at Southampton as first class passengers, they occupied cabin C-126.

Mr and Mrs Taylor were rescued in either Lifeboat 5 or 7.

A few years after they survived the Titanic, the Taylors returned to live permanently in the United States - settling in East Orange, New Jersey. They continued to travel the world.

Juliet Taylor died in Atlantic City, New Jersey in April of 1927.




Mr Frederic Kimber Seward, 34, was born in Wilmington, Delaware on 23 March 1878, the son of Samuel S. Seward and Crissie Kimber.

A corporation lawyer, he lived in from New York City. He boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a first class passenger (ticket number 113794, £26, 11s).

On the night of the accident Seward played cards with William T. Sloper and his church friend Dorothy Gibson in the first class lounge.

Gibson was able to help her friends to escape with her in lifeboat 7.

Whilst returning to New York on the Carpathia, Seward organised a group of other survivors (Karl H. Behr, Molly Brown, Mauritz Björnström-Steffansson, Frederic Oakley Spedden, Isaac Frauenthal and George Harder) to honour the bravery of Captain Rostron and his crew. They would present the Captain with an inscribed silver cup and medals to each of the 320 crew members.

He died in Queens, New York on 7 December 1943.



In 1987 The Titanic Historical Society (THS) Convention was held in Wilmington, Delaware, with survivors:

Mr. Frank Aks
Mrs. Ruth Becker Blanchard
Mr. Bertram Dean
Mrs. Edith Brown Haisman
Miss Eva Hart
Mrs. Marjorie Newell Robb
Mr. Michel Navratil
Mrs. Louise Kink Pope
Mrs. Eleanor Johnson Shuman

Delmar News August 1897

 

From the Salisbury Advertiser August 1897

DELMAR-DEL. Last Saturday night several negroes gathered in front of F. L. Buck's store to dance and when they refused to clear the sidewalk a rough and tumble fight ensued between them and the resident of the town, who succeeded in running them out of town.

Mr. Joseph Frasier is erecting a new residence at the corner of West St. and Railroad Ave.

The farmers have shipped several carloads of melons during the past few weeks.

Wednesday morning all kinds of vehicles, neatly trimmed with flags and bunting, came rattling in town to carry the M. E. Sunday-School to pic-nic in Mr. C. H. Wood's Grove. They all met at the M. E. Church and at 10 O'Clock they started for the Oaks, where long tables were awaiting the delicacies prepared for the occasion. While dinner was being arranged, the young folks were passing away the time taking straw rides, plating croquet and courting. After everyone had eaten enough for three, they decided it advisable to break camp and be more convenient to their family physician if needed.

Marion High School Class Of 59

 

Today was my afternoon to volunteer at the Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society. Of interest to me was three boxes of donated material that had to do with Marion Station, Maryland. I will have more about them in the future.

One of the interesting items was a couple of year books from Marion Station High School. Somerset County was one of the last Education systems in the area to go with the Central Kiddie Warehousing ideal so prominent in Wicomico County. As such it had a number of High Schools with graduating classes under 20. The 1959 Angler, Marion High School yearbook shows eight graduating that year; Iva Cullen, Carolyn Detwiler, Helen Hall, Robert Hess, Thelma Johnson, William Matthews, Anna Pusey and Ernestine Ward. Since it is small number I am showing all eight below. I think the High School was torn down in 1970. I am not sure which was the last graduating class from Marion Station, maybe 1969. It was still a time when woman put down as their future goal in life: Housewife. Love the little Dickie Collars and those sweaters that button down the back - great stories about them. As usual click on photo to enlarge it.

News of Servicemen - 1944

 

June 20, 1944 Journal-Every Evening Wilmington Delaware
DELMAR
Wesley Short, aviation radioman third class, son of Mr. and Mrs. Leon Short, is section leader in class of aviation radio mechanics at the Navy base in Jacksonville, Fla. Short expects to be at this school for the next eight weeks after which he will begin flying.

Harold Culver, seaman second class, of Bainbridge, Md., spent a few days last week with Mr. and Mrs. Dallas Hastings.

PFC John W. Penuel has returned to Camp Stewart, Ga., after spending a twelve-day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Penuel near Delmar. Another son, Private James A. Penuel of Camp Edwards, Mass., was home on a three-day leave while his brother home.

Seaman Henry Ryall left this week for a few weeks training at San Diego, Calif., before reentering active service with the U. S. Navy. He has been spending two weeks with his family here.

Eugene Ellis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul K. Ellis, entered the U. S. Navy last week. He is stationed at Bainbridge, Md. A brother Tech. Sergt. Paul K. Ellis is now spending a three-week furlough at home after completing 27 missions over Germany. A top turret gunner Ellis is the holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air medal with three oak leaf clusters.

Sergt Tech Oswald W. Green has returned to Camp Phillips, Kan., after spending a furlough here with his wife, and his parents Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Green.

The Freeney Cemetery

 

Some members of the Delmar Historical and Arts Society spent a few hours at the Freeney cemetery Saturday continuing the clean up of the grounds.




This Fox kept an eye on us the whole time. No doubt wondering what we were doing to his home. Much like the drug dealers in Delmar, who go underground when the police do a clean up then the week after they are back in business on their home turf, this Fox knows once we leave we won't be back for a while so he can go back home.

Death Of Wm Parker - 1897

 

From the Salisbury Advertiser July 24, 1897

YOUNG MAN KILLED

Horribly Mangled By a Freight Train Which He Fell Under In An Attempt To Board

A most distressing and fatal accident occurred last Tuesday afternoon on the N. Y. P. & N. railroad in Salisbury near the crossing of the B. C. & A. railway.

Wm. Parker, of Delmar, and a companion, whose name is Lowe, were in Salisbury, and they expected to return to Delmar on the last afternoon passenger train going north. Some business matters kept them down town longer than they expected, and before they reached the station that train had gone.

A special freight train leaves here each afternoon between five and six o’clock, but does not take passengers. Parker and his companion preceded this train up the road to the B. C. & A. crossing where they awaited the train’s arrival, and as she passed by moving at the rate of a dozen or more miles per hour, they attempted to get on board. Parker was thrown under the train and his body was fearfully mutilated. His right leg was cut off at the hip and was picked up several feet from his body. His left leg was cut off between the hip and knee and also at the ankle. The right hand was ground into a shapeless mass of human flesh.

Drs. Slemons & Morris were summoned and speedily reached the scene of the distressing accident. Parker was conscious and requested the physicians to administer something to prevent pain. His torn and severed body was placed on the floor of the freight house where sympathetic neighbors strove to lessen the agony of his expiring hours. It was nearly seven o’clock, over two hours before death brought a welcome relief to his suffering. Until his death the sufferer was conscious and spoke tenderly of his mother.

The victim was twenty-five years old and the son of Scott Parker, Esq., of Delmar, where his remains was taken for interment. He was unmarried, but it is stated, was engaged to a young lady whom he expected to wed, in a very short time. A number of people witnessed the tragedy in which Parker lost his life, and as the accident occurred, the poor fellow was heard to cry “God have mercy on my soul”.

Justice Trader summoned a jury of inquest, with E. S. Adkins as foreman. The jury exonerated the railroad company.

Parker’s death is one of many that happen in the same way, and the wonder is that people have not taken warning. His companion just barely escaped a similar fate. Boarding a train in motion is always attended with great danger. Moreover there is a law which makes it a misdemeanor.

A Look At The Social Security Death Index (SSDI

)

The Death Master File (DMF) from the Social Security Administration (SSA) currently contains over 89 million records and is updated weekly. The file is created from internal SSA records of deceased persons possessing social security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration SSA. The Social Security Administration sells this information to private companies and they in turn create their own Social Security Death Index (SSDI). It is quite useful in Genealogical research.

There are many SSDI search engines on the web, but because each company builds its own SSDI database from the data they purchase from the Social Security Administration, the SSDI Search Engines are not identical.

I use the SSDI to find birth dates or death dates or the last residence of the person I am searching for. It gives you one more bit of information to steer you in a direction to continue your search. In order to use the search engines you have to know at least one or two bits of information about the person you are looking up. The person’s name is obvious but some clue as to where they were born or the year they were born or the date they died etc. If you have a match most SSDI’s will give up; Last Name, First Name, Social Security Number, State Issued, Birth date, Death Date, Last residence.

The issue with the SSDI is the giving of the social security number. This feature has been used often for identify theft. Now the social security number and other information you get from a SSDI will be for a dead person but for documents it is a good number. It is good for illegal aliens. It is a good source for the social security numbers of children who died young and that social security number can be used on someone’s income tax form to claim them as a dependent. One good article on the use fraudulent social security numbers and the SSDI is found here

Some SSDI providers do not give the social security number anymore, some still do. My father died in 2006 so I entered some information on him in the ancestry.com search engine and no social security number was shown when his data was found. I entered some information into the New England Historic Society search engine and it gave the same information from ancestry.com plus the social security number.

So the Social Security Death Index is a handy Genealogical tool. Like any data base it can be used by someone for abuse