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.

The Mackay Bennett

The Mackay Bennett was a normal cable steamship sailing around the coast of Nova Scotia when it was suddenly thrust into fame. It was asked by the White Star Line to search for the bodies of those who died in the disaster of the R.M.S. TITANIC. When the TITANIC went down, it left people in the water and instead of drowning, they froze to death and most of the people had life jackets on so they were still floating. The Bennett picked up the first bodies on April 21 when the TITANIC sank on April 14-15, 1912. The bodies that were too disoriented, they tried to identify them and then buried them at sea. The ones not as disoriented were embalmed and taken to the shore to be buried either by the White Star Line or claimed by family and buried in their own way. In all, the Mackay Bennett recovered 306 bodies including John Jacob Astor, Isador Strauss, and other important men and women. 116 bodies were buried at sea. The Mackay Bennett was later scrapped.

Until Death Do Us Part

Click HERE to tour the Strauss's suite.





Isador Straus was born on Febuary 6, 1845 in Otterberg Germany to a Jewish family. At age 9, he and his family moved to Talbotton, Georgia. When the civil war broke out, they sold bonds and other things to the confederate soldiers and made a small profit. In 1889, Isador married Rosalie Ida Blun whom was born in 1849 in Worms, Germany. They had 6 children together and Mr. Straus was very successful in selling china and other trinkets in Macy's department store in partnership with his brother, Nathan. After Macy died, Macy's son was drunk all the time so Isador and his brother Nathan (Nathan later also co-owned Abraham and Straus along with Levi and Straus)bought the store, becoming co-owners since Macy willed that the store remain in the family. They became millionaires seemingly over night! Isador was even congressman (Democrat) from January 30, 1894-March 30, 1895. The Strauses went to Europe in 1912 for both a nice vacation, and to buy things for Macy's. One of the things that they bought, was a set of china which they sent on ahead and is in my family. They were traveling home after a wonderful time, and were coming home on the Titanic. The Strauses were very appealing to the millionaires on board not just because he was the co-owner of Macy's, but because he and his wife were very respectable and well known throughout the societies of England, New York, and Philadelphia. Isador was worth $50 million dollars because of owning Macy’s. But on the fourth night of April 14th, 1912, the Strauses were talking with the Wideners, when they felt a little bump and the Strauses went up on deck. They saw the lifeboats being lowered. A man offered a place in the boat for Mr. Straus because of his age, but he refused. Then when Ida stepped in the lifeboat, then stepped out and said, “We have been together for many years. Where you go, I go!” Like Ruth and Naomi in the bible, this convinced Isador. They let their maid, Ellen Bird onto a lifeboat. They were last seen on deck holding hands on deck. Isador's body was recovered by the Mackey Bennet. There were 40,000 people at their funeral/memorial service. In the 1997 movie Rose, Cal, and Ruth occupy the Strauss suite. They were portrayed in a scene where Ida refused to leave her husband, but got cut. They were in a later scene in the bed (which didn't happen). There's a memorial to them in New York and also a school. That's also where Isador is buried. Ida's body was unfortunately never recovered.