Titanic 2013: First Class

Titanic 2013: First Class by ric gustafson


Each first class passenger on Titanic had a story. William Carter was a thirty six year old polo player who with his wife Lucile traveled with their two children, valet, maid and chauffeur. Clarence Moore, master of the Chevy Chase hunt was in England buying foxhounds. Moore was a stockbroker who farmed in Maryland.
Charlotte Cardeza traveled with 14 steamer trunks, four suitcases, three crates and a medicine chest. She was the daughter of Thomas Drake who founded the Fidelity Trust Company. Helene Baxter was the widow of Diamond Jim Baxter who built the first shopping mall in Canada. Presidential Aide Archie Butt took with him seven trunks.
The richest first class passenger was John Jacob Astor. He was forty seven, had a trim moustache and wore a bowler hat. In 1891, he married Ava Willing but the marriage did not last. It was his idea to build the Waldorf- Astoria Hotel. He divorced Ava in 1909 and married Madeleine Force in 1911. She was eighteen years old and the daughter of a Brooklyn businessman. By April 1912, she was four months pregnant and they were returning to the States.
Margaret Brown was born in 1867 in Hannibal Missouri to Irish immigrants. In 1886, she married J J Brown an Irishman from Pennsylvania. In 1893, he struck gold which produced 135 tons of gold daily. At this time, Margaret was 26 and her husband was making millions. In 1903, she helped form the first court for juveniles. She was a founder of the Denver Women's Club and worked for Women's Suffrage. In 1909, her husband suffered a stroke and they separated.
Leadville Colorado was also the home of Benjamin Guggenheim. He traveled with his wife Florette, three daughters, a maid, valet and chauffeur. Two railroad executives were John Borland Thayer and Charles M Hayes.
Along with the first class dining saloon, the a la carte restaurant was popular with first class passengers.


research help: ' Voyagers of the Titanic' by Richard Davenport- Hines


Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric