The passengers of the Titanic are the high society and the elite who escaped and drowned. Service for two presidents

The Titanic is one of the largest and most luxurious ships of its time. At the time of the crash, there were many wealthy and influential people on board.

Benjamin Guggenheim- American industrialist, heir to the mining magnate Meyer Guggenheim (Meyer Guggenheim).
Starting a career in family business, Benjamin Guggenheim focused on a new direction - smelting, which significantly expanded the scope of interests of his father's company and increased income.
By 1903, Guggenheim had opened several factories in the United States, but his most successful project was a mining equipment plant in Milwaukee. In 1906, the plant was bought by the International Steam Pump Company, a large pumping company that had factories in America and England. In 1909, Guggenheim became head of the International Steam Pump Company.
During the sinking of the Titanic, Benjamin Guggenheim helped women and children into lifeboats. When asked to save himself, he replied: "We are dressed in our best clothes and are ready to die like gentlemen."
Benjamin Guggenheim died at the age of 46, his body has not been found.

Colonel John Jacob Astor IV- American millionaire and inventor, author of the futuristic novel "Journey to Other Worlds" (1894), participant in the Spanish-American War.
Heir to the Astor family, who made a fortune in the fur trade, John Jacob expanded the family business and in 1897 built the luxurious Astoria Hotel in New York (USA), which, together with the hotel of his cousin William Waldorf Astor, entered the hotel complex Waldorf-Astoria (Waldorf-Astoria Hotel). Astor's other achievements include the invention of bicycle brakes and participation in the development of a gas turbine engine.
He died during the crash of the Titanic, a little before he reached the age of 48.

Dorothy Gibson- American film actress.
In 1909, she was one of the favorite models of the illustrator Harrison Fisher (Harrison Fisher), her images adorned the covers of magazines, postcards, packaging of various goods. She starred in a number of films, including the role of American Revolutionary War heroine Molly Pitcher in Hands Across the Sea (1911).
Dorothy Gibson survived the sinking of the Titanic. Shortly after the tragedy, she starred in the film Survivors of the Titanic, where she played herself.
She died in 1946.

Isidor Strauss- American businessman and philanthropist of German origin, member of the US Congress.
In 1874 he became head of the glass and porcelain sales department of R. H. Macy & Co., in 1888 he became a partner in the firm. Under his leadership, the Macy's department store chain has become one of the largest in the United States.
Strauss hosted Active participation in the campaign for the re-election of US President Stephen Grover Cleveland (Stephen Grover Cleveland), was chairman of many philanthropic and charities in New York (USA).
He died in the sinking of the Titanic at the age of 67 with his wife Ida. His body was found by one of the search ships, the body of his wife was never found.
The Strauss are depicted in scenes of the sinking of the liner in the 1958 film The Sinking of the Titanic.

Lucy Christiana Duff Gordon- British fashion designer, known under the pseudonym "Lucille".
Left penniless after her divorce from her first husband in 1888, Lucy Christiana started her own tailoring business. In 1894 she rented office space in London. Her dresses became more and more popular due to their strong personality. By 1900, Maison Lucile was one of the largest fashion houses in London. Her clients included writer and activist Margot Asquith and the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary). In 1910, Lucille opened a branch of her fashion house in New York (USA), in 1912 - in Paris (France), and in 1915 - in Chicago (USA).
Survived the sinking of the Titanic. She died in 1935 from pneumonia.

Major Archibald Willingham Butt- An influential military assistant to US Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Worked as a reporter in Washington (USA) for several newspapers. He began his military career during the Spanish-American War.
While serving in the Philippine Islands, Butt wrote several military articles, one of which caught the attention of US President Theodore Roosevelt. Upon his return from the Philippines, Butt was sent to Cuba, where he made an excellent career. In 1908 he became personal military assistant to President Roosevelt, in 1909 - Taft.
In 1912, Butt was returning on the Titanic from Rome (Italy), where, as a personal envoy of US President William Howard Taft, he negotiated with the Pope. He died in a crash at the age of 51, the body was not found.

Margaret "Molly" Brown- American activist, fighter for the rights of women and children, one of the first women in the United States to run for the Senate long before women received the right to vote.
Margaret Brown was prominent public figure, participated in feminist movements, worked on the creation of a juvenile justice system in the United States, helped raise money for the construction of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver (Colorado).
During the crash of the Titanic, she helped save other passengers, after which she organized the Titanic Survivors Relief Fund.
During the First World War, she worked in France as part of the American Committee for the Reconstruction of the Country. In 1932, Brown was awarded the Légion d'Honneur for her work in France during the war years, for helping the survivors of the Titanic passengers, and for her social work in America.
She died in 1932.

William Thomas Stead- famous British journalist, pacifist, pioneer of "new journalism". Under his leadership, the Pall Mall Gazette has developed into an innovative publication that actively influences the public and political processes in the country. After the publication of his article "The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon", dedicated to the fight against child prostitution, the journalist was prosecuted, and lawmakers raised the age of marriage to 16 years.
Steed was an active fighter for peace: in 1898 he began publishing the weekly "War Against War", promoted the principle of "peace through arbitration", opposed the Boer War, participated in the Hague Conference and advocated the adoption of its recommendations.
Died in the sinking of the Titanic at the age of 62, his body has never been found.
It is noteworthy that in 1886, Steed published the article "How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid-Atlantic, by a Survivor", in which a large number of people due to insufficient number of lifeboats.

Francis Davis Millet- American artist, journalist, one of the founders of the American Federation of Arts, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He began his journalistic career as a reporter, then became the editor of a Boston newspaper. He worked as a correspondent during the Russian-Turkish war, where his courage and help to the wounded were noted by the governments of Russia and Romania. Translated "Sevastopol Tales" by Leo Tolstoy.
Even having decided to devote himself to art and graduating with honors from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp (Belgium), he continued to keep in touch with American and English newspapers, where he periodically sent essays about his travels.
Millet has decorated the Custom House in Baltimore (USA), Trinity Church in Boston (USA), the Capitol in Wisconsin (USA) and Minnesota (USA). His paintings are kept in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (USA) and in the Tate Gallery in London (UK).
He died in the sinking of the Titanic at the age of 65. The body was recovered by a rescue ship.

Archibald Butt
All photos: http://gallery.ru/watch?a=x46-icHV

"The Daily" : TO When the Titanic sank, Major General Archibald Butt (military adviser to President William Howard Taft and former aide-de-camp to Theodore Roosevelt) became one of the heroes of this tragic event.

During the hours of disaster on the night of April 14-15, 1912, Butt fully lived up to the standards of manly behavior, escorting women from cabins to lifeboats and selflessly helping them survive in the face of death.

One of the rescued women, whom he had known since giving music lessons to the Roosevelt children at the White House, later recounted that after he helped her into the lifeboat, Butt covered her with a blanket with such calm thoroughness, as if she would have been going to go in an open car.

William Taft wept when confirmation was received that Butt had died in the icy expanse Atlantic Ocean. Many in Washington were truly saddened. In the words of one reporter, "Major General Archie Butt's name, once synonymous with gaiety and joking, has now become a symbol of heroism; it is repeated by us with tears in our eyes..."

Since 1912, biographers have portrayed Butt as a typical southerner and officer. They did not notice, or tried not to notice, his love story - with the participation of another person, Frank Millais ...

Butt was born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1865, shortly after the surrender of the Confederacy during civil war. He graduated from the University of Tennessee. Was a Washington correspondent for the Southern Newspaper, fought abroad against Spanish influence in Cuba and against rebels in the Philippines. And his portrait of this time impresses with spurs, hat feathers and full dress.

During his years as a presidential adviser, Butt proved his worth to both Roosevelt and Taft. He loved to be helpful, popular and funny. He had a heightened sense of duty. Tips and measures suggested by him to the white house usually lead to excellent results.

He deliberately succumbed to Taft's obsessive golfing, the moments when Taft was dejected, laughed at his boring legal jokes, ate the fatty foods the chubby Taft adored (fried chicken, corn, and melon). for breakfast, fish stew, salty mustard, baked beans, rye bread for lunch), saved the feeling dignity famous politicians who visited Taft, who did not know how to eat artichokes or cucumbers, and calmed Taft when street boys shouted to him: "Hi, fat boy!"

All the while, Butt lived at his home in an old-fashioned Washington, D.C. area with Millais, who was his lover and devoted partner.

Born in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, in 1846, Frank Millais served as a drummer in his youth and then as a military surgeon's assistant during the Civil War. After brilliant career at Harvard, Millais became an international war correspondent before choosing to become an artist in civilian life.

His friend, writer Henry James, recalled Mill as: "magnificent, the very masculinity ... radiating wonderful courage."

Millet's photographs give us an image of a handsome gentleman with an air of unshakable calmness, without rage or bravado.

"Millet, my friend and artist who lives with me," Butt called his friend. Their only known spat involved Millet's choice of home decoration. Batt complained that from the wallpaper, clogged with bright red and pink flowers, his head is spinning.

Their Washington home was truly welcoming. “People come here early to stay to the end, and the house is full of fun while they stay here,” Butt wrote.

For example, for a New Year's Eve party attended by President Taft, cabinet ministers, ambassadors, generals, Supreme Court justices, and a "mob of young fashionistas"—11 gallons of eggnog, whipped by the host's Filipino housekeepers, were once made, hot butter cookies, and ham served. to the table of his black maid.

A young man named Archie Clark Kerr, a frisky, mischievous diplomat from the British Embassy, ​​also lived in the house. Born in Australia, Kerr was incredibly proud of his Scottish heritage. He certainly did not forget to open Butt's eyes to the Scots' hostility to underwear: "Did you know that the kilt is worn on the naked body?" “I never knew this until Archie Kerr, who moved in with me.” (Butt confessed).

Thirty-five years later, Kerr (who became Lord Inverchapel) returned to Washington as the British ambassador and caused a stir among the prudes of the US security service when he decided to travel to Eagle Grove, Iowa, striking up a relationship with a young farmer he found waiting bus in Washington.

People around watched with interest as Millet and Butt went together to Italy in March 1912 on board the steamer Berlin. Their impressive costumes were hard to miss. Butt wore bright, copper-coloured Norfolk trousers and a jacket with many ball-shaped buttons of red china, a lavender tie, high collar wings, a wide-brimmed hat, patent leather shoes with a white top, a bouquet of lilies in the buttonhole and a cambric handkerchief hidden in the left sleeve.

Both also returned home to America together. They had separate cabins on the Titanic, mainly because of the large luggage: Butt landed in Southampton, England with seven trunks of clothes and various purchases.

... After the last lifeboat was lowered from the sinking ship, and the liner tilted and was ready to disappear at the bottom of the ocean, Butt was seen standing on the rear deck. Millais was not a famous or recognizable person, so no one noticed him around. But it is inconceivable even to imagine that he did not stay with Batt to the end.

In the light of catastrophes or natural Disasters headlines, reporters have always tended to choose tragic stories involving separated families... But gay stories often didn't find their narrator.

Butt and Millet's faithful union became a typical “don't ask, don't tell” story.

They stayed together forever - in death as in life...

The memorial fountain, installed at the site of Presidential Park in Washington, is called the Batta Mille Fountain.

The dead passengers included Butt and his lover, Frank Millais.

Many thanks to friends: Victor Solkin ( victorsolkin ) for linking to this material, and tomindar for help with translation. :)

Nothing in this life is eternal. Happy people rest assured that it will always be so. But they cannot know what awaits them tomorrow. Who knows, maybe sweet ignorance is much better than the bitter truth? Fortunately, there are individuals who strive to take everything from life. They are not content with small things and try their best to change the world. Today we are talking about the sinking of the Titanic and remembering the deaths of prominent people whose power could have become limitless. However, their lives were cut short.

What needs to be achieved so that the President of the United States of America not only leaves an obituary after the death of a person, but also calls him his younger brother? As soon as President Taft learned of the death of the Titanic, he did not look for his old friend among the survivors. The head of the country was sure that Major Archibald Butt acted during the crash as executive helping to save women and children. Previously, our first hero served as a personal assistant to President Theodore Roosevelt, but remained in office after the election of William Howard Taft.

In early 1912, the military's health began to deteriorate and he decided to spend a few weeks in Europe. The return home for Major Archibald Butt was fatal. He was on that ill-fated liner, and, according to eyewitnesses, last time he was seen with Francis Millais in the smoking room. When it became clear that disaster could not be avoided, Butt began to help passengers evacuate to lifeboats, and addressed one of his colleagues with the famous phrase: “Women are saved first, or I will break every bone in your body.” His body was not found.

Benjamin Guggenheim

It was one of the offspring of the mining magnate Mayer Guggenheim. The Swiss immigrant bought his first two copper mines in Colorado in 1880 and built his mining empire from the ground up. Benjamin was the fifth son, so he did not inherit his father's business, but he got most of his capital. However, he wisely disposed of it by investing in a company that maintains elevators on eiffel tower. The entrepreneur was married, but was passionate about France and everything connected with it. For most of his adult life, he lived in two houses, so he often traveled across the ocean.

History of it last trip is a classic case of ridiculous coincidences leading to tragedy. Initially, he was supposed to make a trip home on the Lusitania liner, while his ship Carmania needed repairs. He seemed to have a presentiment that he should become part of history, and boarded the Titanic. Although his famous phrase, thrown to his valet, certainly immortalized him. Legend has it that after the gentlemen helped the ladies with the evacuation, they dressed in tailcoats and, slowly sipping whiskey, began to expect their own death. When people around suggested they leave the ship, Guggenheim retorted: "We are dressed in the best costumes and we will die like gentlemen." The body of the 46-year-old businessman was not found. He was famous for his generous donations to charity and the development of museums.

Daniel Warner Marvin

When this young man boarded the Titanic, he was only 18 years old. There is no doubt that he could write his name in history differently. He chose the field of engineer for himself, according to family tradition. Marvin's father was one of the founders of the American company Mutoscope and Biograph. According to various sources, Marvin Sr. fought with Thomas Edison for a patent for the creation of a kinetograph designed to record moving objects on film. Subsequently, the Marvin family developed another movie camera that made it possible to bypass patent restrictions.

One of the first films of the new film studio was the recording of the wedding of young Daniel. The three-week honeymoon was coming to an end, and the newlyweds were returning from a trip aboard the Titanic. Our hero put his pregnant wife in a lifeboat and said: “It's all right, my little girl. You go and I'll stay." His daughter was born a few months later, and footage from the wedding was destroyed by the inconsolable widow. The Marvin family company is still thriving, but is now known as Biograph.

Isidore and Ida Strauss

When you hear about such cases, you believe in the best, in life after death, in true love and self-sacrifice. The couple was incredibly wealthy, but did not spare money for charity. They knew what it was like to be poor, to come to an unfamiliar country from Europe and try to raise their business. In America, they faced civil war and bankruptcy. Gradually, they paid off their debts, moved to New York, where Isidore found a job and later became a congressman.

He rose to the rank of owner of the company, and his subordinates were moved to tears after his death. He felt responsible for the well-being of people and always showed a genuine interest in their lives. Isidor Strauss organized a mutual aid society for workers. At the time of the crash, Ida had a place on a lifeboat, but she refused to leave her husband. The woman put the maid in the boat, giving her coat goodbye. Her body, unlike that of her husband, was not found. When Isidore was buried, it seemed that the whole city came out to the memorial service.

William Thomas Stead

The story goes that little William learned to read Latin at the age of five. He was the son of a British minister and received an excellent education. Becoming a journalist, Stead devoted a lot of time to social activities and single-handedly investigated. He promoted morality through the London newspapers and became the founder of the movement against child prostitution. He believed that journalism could change the world for the better. Stead advocated social reforms, for the formation of an alternative people's government. His work was so large-scale that in 1912 a prominent social activist was nominated for Nobel Prize peace. When the Titanic sank, the body of William Thomas Stead was not found. We do not know what scenario the development of society could have followed if the journalist had not boarded the ill-fated liner.

John Jacob Astor IV

This man was the controversial and controversial heir to the Astor family. Hotel"Waldorf-Astoria" is not the only achievement of our next hero. His great-grandfather created a monopoly in the fur trade and provided his heirs not only with a profitable business, but also with the title the richest people America. However, John Jacob Astor's interests extended far beyond business. A futuristic novel came out from under his pen, and the talent of an engineer helped him invent a bicycle brake and a pneumatic track. He was a member of the Spanish-American War and rose to the rank of colonel, in addition, he tried his hand at motorsport.

The scandal happened when Astor divorced his first wife and got together with a woman who was younger than his own son. Criticism from funds rained down on the millionaire mass media, and he decided to temporarily hide from the attention of the press in Europe. Astor and his young pregnant wife were returning home aboard the Titanic. Madeleine survived and gave birth to a son, whom she named John Jacob. The body of the millionaire was raised from the bottom on April 22 and buried in New York.

"Butt Archibald" - as property value

Unique designation: Butt Archibald (September 26, 1865)
Designation: Butt Archibald
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Description:

Major Archibald Willingham Butt(English) Archibald Willingham Butt, September 26 ( 18650926 ) - April 15) - an influential military assistant to US Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Before becoming Roosevelt's aide, Butt began his career in journalism and served in the Spanish–American War. Died in the sinking of the Titanic.

Biography

Archibald Willingham Butt was born in Augusta, Georgia to Josh Willingham Butt and Pamela Robertson Boggs. He was the nephew of General William Robertson Boggs, who served in the Confederate States Army. The Butt family was prominent in Augusta but suffered financially during the American Civil War. When Archibald was 14, his father died and he had to go to work to feed his mother, sister and younger brother. Thanks to the contributions of the pastor of the church and the mother, who got a job there as a librarian, Archibald was able to go to study at Sevanee South University, Tennessee, from which he graduated in 1888. IN student years Butt was a member of the Delta Tau Delta Club. Butt began his career as a journalist working for The Courier-Journal and later became a reporter in Washington for the Southern newspapers The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Nashville Banner. Although Batt worked in Washington, he was the first secretary of the US Embassy in Mexico under former Senator Mette Ransome.

Military service

By 1912, as Taft's first term drew to a close, Butt's health began to fail. His friend, the painter Francis Davis Millet, asked President Taft to give Butt a leave of absence to recover before presidential elections. Taft agreed and ordered Archibald to go on leave.

While serving with two presidents, Butt wrote letters to his fiancée Clara in Augusta. These letters are valued by modern researchers as the main source of information about privacy two presidents, as well as an invaluable contribution to the understanding of the characters of Roosevelt and Taft.

Accompanying President Taft as he throws a baseball

On board the Titanic

In the early spring of 1912, Butt's health deteriorated. President Taft gave him a six-week vacation to Europe. Also, Butt was supposed to personally deliver the message to Pope Pius X. He was accompanied on leave by Francis Davis Millet. On April 10, 1912, Butt boarded the Titanic to return to the US, Millet boarded the ship at Cherbourg the same day. On the night of April 14–15, when the Titanic collided with an iceberg, Butt was playing cards in a class 1 smoking lounge. The ship sank at 2:20 am.

Butt's actions that night are not known for certain. According to some reports, Captain Edward John Smith informed him that the ship was doomed, and there were not enough boats. Butt immediately began to act as another officer, helping women and children. One officer said that the major helped desperate women up on deck. Walter Lord, in A Night to Remember, disagreed that Butt acted as an official, arguing that he was simply watching the evacuation. Butt died in a shipwreck; the body was not found.

memorial service

Since Butt's body was not found, a cenotaph was erected in section 3 of the Arlington National Cemetery. On May 2, 1912, 1,500 people, including President Taft, attended a memorial service at the Butt family home. He said:

In 1913, the Batta Millet Memorial Fountain was erected in Presidential Park near the White House. In Augusta, in 1914, Taft dedicated the Butt Memorial Bridge.

in Washington cathedral a large memorial plaque dedicated to Major Archibald Batt was opened. It can also be found in the Store Museum.

In literature

Butt is playing important role in Jack Finney's novel Between the Three Times. In it, the President of the United States sends Butt to Europe for secret meetings with European leaders. After that, Butt goes on the Titanic to the USA with documents addressed to the president, ensuring the prevention of a world war. During the crash of the ship, Batt is offered a place on the boat, but he refuses and dies along with the ship.