Jacques Futrelle

Jacques Heath Futrelle was born on April 9, 1875 in Pike County, GA (in the U.S.A.). At the age of 18, he became an apprentice to a printer. He then worked for the Atlanta Journal as the aid to a business manager, where he started the Sports section. He married Lily May Peel in 1895, and together, they had two children named Virginia, and Jacques Jr. In 1898, war broke out between America and Spain and this forced Telegraph Editor Jacques Sr. to work 24 hours a day during the period of the war (May 1-July 18, 1898). After the war was over, they stayed with his sister in Scituate where they rested and relaxed. He also worked for the New York Herald, Boston American, and Boston Post. It was in these newspapers in 1905, that his first novel called "The Thinking Machine" which began as a serial for the Boston Post but became so successful, it was put into a series of books. The famed novel was later renamed "Problem of Cell 13". In 1906, Jacques Sr. quit the Boston American and wrote novels like "The Chase of the Golden Plate", "The Simple Case of Susan", "The Diamond Master", "Elusive Isabel", "The High Hand", "My Lady's Garter", "The Flaming Phantom", "The Great Auto Mystery", "The Man who was Lost", "The Mystery of a Studio", "The Ralston Bank Burglary", "The Scarlet Thread", "The House That Was", and "The Phantom Motor". He built a home in Scituate, Massachusetts which he labeled, Stepping Stones. In 1912, the Futrelles were on a vacation in Europe. There is a story which is not confirmed, that the night before they were to return home on the Titanic, Jacques celebrated his 37th birthday with his friends and wife. The party didn't end, until 3:00 A.M. and he spent the rest of the night packing. They were traveling on the Titanic in 1st Class in Cabin C-123 (the children stayed at home with their grandparents, since he also had business). After the Titanic struck an iceberg, the ship began to sink. The couple was asleep at the moment, and didn't feel the collision. He put his wife into Collapsible D. May tried to convince Jacques to enter the lifeboat, but he refused saying he'd enter a later boat (although that was one of the last lifeboats to leave safely). As the boat pulled away from the sinking ship, there is one story that says that he was last seen smoking a cigar with John Jacob Astor. He unfortunately died in the cold North Atlantic. His body was never recovered. There is a memorial to him in Poplar Springs Methodist Church, in Emanuel/Johnson County, GA. His final book "My Lady's Garter" was found in his study, and published by his wife. May put in there, "To the Heroes of the Titanic, I dedicate this my husband's book".

Last Titanic Survivor to be Laid to Rest

The funeral has taken place in England of the last survivor of the Titanic disaster, Millvina Dean.

The private service, attended by family and friends, took place at Southampton Crematorium, the funeral directors confirmed.

Ms Dean, who died on 31 May aged 97, was the youngest passenger on board at only nine weeks old when the White Star liner left on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in April 1912.

The ship later struck an iceberg and sank in the early hours of 15 April but Ms Dean was saved along with her mother Georgetta, and two-year-old brother, Bert.

Her father Bertram died in the disaster that claimed 1,517 lives.

Miss Dean's family had been travelling in third class to begin a new life, as they were to open a tobacconist's shop in Kansas City.

After the disaster, she returned to England and lived in the Southampton area most of her life.

Miss Dean rarely talked about the sinking until the wreck was discovered in the 1980s and she became well known.

But in the last years of her life, she began struggling with monthly bills of £3,000 at her care home and had been in danger of losing her room.

Hollywood stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in the blockbuster Titanic, plus the film's director James Cameron all donated money to help her after Derry author and journalist Don Mullan started a fund-raising campaign.

(This article is from RTE News).

Survivor of All Three Sisters

Violet Constance Jessop was born on October 2, 1887 to William and Katherine Jessop near Blanca, Argentina. William had emigrated from Dublin, Ireland around 1884-1885, and his fiance Katherine followed him in 1886. Violet Jessop was the firstborn of 9, although only 6 survived. Violet got tuberculosis at an early age, but recovered despite the doctors' prediction that she wouldn't live a month. She and her family moved to Great Britain after her father died, and she continued her education in a convent school while her mother was a stewardess. After her mother got sick, she quit school and became a stewardess at the age of 23 for the Royal Mail Line. She was then transferred to the White Star Line. She was paid £2 ($10) per month, working 17 hours per day. She boarded the R.M.S. Olympic on October 20, 1910. One voyage ended shortly, after a collision with the H.M.S. Hawke in 1911. She continued as stewardess on the Olympic, until being transferred to the R.M.S. Titanic, Olympic's sister ship. She boarded on April 10, 1912 like most of the crew. She served as 1st Class stewardess and in her memoirs, she wrote that Thomas Andrews took her suggestions on improving the ship, and earned her admiration along with all other crewmen because he actually listened and gave them advice, and respected eachother, with both being Irish. She also claimed to have been friends with Scotsman and bandleader, Wallace Hartley. On April 14-15, 1912 when the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank. She was able to board a lifeboat, and was given an infant. She cared for the infant until reaching the decks of the rescue ship, Carpathia. Then, once on deck, the infant was snatched from her arms by a woman without a word, and ran off. She went on the Britannic (Titanic and Olympic's sister ship) in 1916, as a nurse (the Britannic had been turned into a hospital ship due to WWI). The Britannic struck a mine on the Aegean Sea, and began to sink. She was asleep, and immediately grabbed a toothbrush (a lesson learned after the Titanic, going for several days without a toothbrush and getting several cavities) and ran up on deck. She boarded a lifeboat and it was launched. However, the captain tried to beach the Britannic. So, with the propellers rising out of the water, the boat began being sucked towards it. She jumped despite her fear of water after the Titanic, and was sucked under the Britannic. Then, she went straight up and her head hit the bottom of the Britannic. She went into panic, and then she felt a hand which she could tell was alive. Then, they went up together and were pulled aboard a lifeboat, just as the Britannic made her final plunge. She later had severe headaches and went to the doctor where she found out that she fractured her skull. Afterwards, she continued to work for the White Star Line, and then worked for the Red Star Line, Royal Mail Line. She had a short marriage in the 1930s (the groom has never been identified), and retired in 1950 in Great Ashfield, Suffolk after 42 years at sea. One night, she got a phone call from a woman, asking if she saved a baby on the Titanic. After Violet said yes, the woman revealed that she was that infant. She laughed, and hung up. No one has ever identified the caller, or the infant. She was interviewed by Woman Magazine, and by Walter Lord for A Night To Remember. Throughout her life, she was a devout and Catholic. She was a very strong believer in prayer. She in fact, always carried a rosary in her apron or around her neck. Violet Jessop died of congestive heart failure in 1971. There is a book called "Titanic Survivor" (pictured above), telling the story of her life which is based off of her memoirs.

Make a Titanic Meal 2

Click HERE to learn how to make a Titanic dish (Pea Soup from 2nd Class).

Click HERE to see how to make dessert (Waldorf Pudding) in Make A Titanic Meal

Pea Soup Recipe:

1/2 cup of leeks (sliced and well washed)

Pinch of sugar

2 tbsp of parsley or chevril

1 cup of lettuce (coursely chopped)

2 cups of peas

1 tbsp of butter

Salt and Pepper (to your discretion)

6 cups of chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

Heat sauce pan over medium-high heat and heat butter. Add leeks and sugar and sweat until translucent (which takes approximately 5 minutes). Add salt and pepper (to your discretion). Add letttuce, parsley (or chervil), and lettuce. Stir well, and then add one cup of chicken stock. Put lid on, and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Now add remainder of chicken stock. Puree soup well. Pour soup through fine mesh strainer into a different pot. After strained, you are ready to enjoy.

The Biggest Family on the Titanic

John George Sage was born in 1867 in Hackney, London. Annie Elizabeth Cazaly was born also born in 1867 in Hackney, London to a family whom was descended from a French Hugenot line. John and Annie married on November 2, 1890. Together, they had Stella Anne (born in 1891), George John (born in 1892), Douglas Bullen (born in 1894), Fredrick (born in 1895), Dorothy Florence (born in 1897), Anthony William (born in 1899), Elizabeth Ada (born in 1901), Constance Gladys (born in 1904), and Thomas Henry (born in 1907). In case you lost count, that's 7 kids. They did have two other children, but they died as infants. In 1900, John became a landlord and owned a family-run bakery. Some time after 1900, John and his oldest son George became dining car attendants in Canada on the Canadian Pacific Railway. They did come home to visit though. In 1911, John bought some land in Jacksonville, Florida. George stayed in Florida where he became engaged. His wife was not thrilled, due to her fear of water after their daughter Dorothy almost drowned in a well in the backyard. The furniture (including the family piano) was sent on ahead. The family boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England on April 10, 1912. You can imagine that the mother felt a little better, especially with that huge leviathan towering above them with solid iron plates firmly fixed together, to protect them during the voyage. The entire family was in steerage and you can suppose, that they attracted some attention with 9 children. You can also almost imagine them meeting the Goodwins (The Goodwins had 8 and none of them survived). The Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912 and began to sink. The Sage family came up on deck almost too late. One account says that Stella boarded a lifeboat, but came back on the steadily sloping decks after hearing that there wasn't enough room for her whole family. The entire family died in the disaster, and only Anthony's body was recovered by the Mackay Bennett.