Anne Isham

Anne Elizabeth Isham was born on January 25, 1862 in Cook County, Illinois. Her father was Edward Isham and her mother was Frances Burch Isham. She had two brothers named Pierrepont and Edward Jr. along with a sister, Frances named after her mother. Edward Sr. had a law firm with Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln and major general of General Grant during the Civil War. She was a bashful girl and woman. She began living abroad at the age of 41, and lived her older sister Frances in Paris, France. She was in Cherbourg, France now at the age of 50 when she boarded the Titanic bound for home in America. There is a legend that she brought a Great Dane which she had raised since it was a pup and used for companionship. However, that was started by Marty Crisp when she wrote "White Star: A Dog on the Titanic" and is not true. She knew the Ryersons of Philadelphia, who were returning to America to attend their son's funeral. However, we don't know whether or not they met. Mrs. Ryerson stayed in her cabin most of the voyage and went out only once. Mr. Ryerson died when the Titanic sank, so we can't tell whether or not they met. She also had a cabin (C-49) next to Archibald Gracie although he claimed to have never seen her during the voyage. She died during the sinking, and her body was never recovered. No one knows how she died. It's possible that she was never woken up and locked in when the cabins were locked by the stewards to prevent burglars. There is a memorial erected by her relatives in her honor, in Vermont.

It Happened in 1912

In 1912, not only did the TITANIC sink on April 14, but other things happened like this:

1. On November 5, Woodrow Wilson won by a landslide against William Howard Taft in the presidential race.

2. On June 30, Emperor Meiji of Japan died.

3. Beginning on May 5, the Summer Olympics were played in Stockholm, Sweden.

4. On February 14, Arizona was established as the 48th state to join the Union.

5. On January 1, Chinese Republic was established.

6. On April 12, Clara Barton the founder of Red Cross and Civil War Heroine died.

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.

Archibald Gracie

Archibald Gracie the fourth was born on January 17th, 1856, in Mobile, Alabama. Gracie’s father was killed in the Civil War at the battle of Chikamauga. Gracie earned the family fortune and lived in Washington D.C. When he was 53, Gracie was going on the R.M.S. Oceanic to Europe without his wife and daughter. he later decided to come home on the Titanic. Gracie discovered he was out of shape so he spent most of his time in the gym. Gracie also made many friends like were R.C Cornell, John Murray Brown, Miss Edith Evans, and E.D. Appleton and her husband. Gracie spent most of his time with Mr. and Mrs. Isador Strauss talking about their connection in the Civil War(See Until Death Do Us Part. On April 14th, 1912, Gracie was awakened by a jolt and found ice in his cabin. Mr. Wright, Gracie’s friend also was disturbed and they both found out the ship was doomed. Then the two helped women and children into the boats until the last Lifeboat left. Gracie and Wright were on deck when water surged up. Both men scrambled on top of the bridge until water washed them away. Gracie was able to climb upon Collapsible B after being nearly sucked down, but Wright disappeared. Gracie’s coat was sucking him down, but he escaped the pressure and was pulled in Collapsible B and survived. Gracie later wrote a book called The Truth About The Titanic, but he died on December 4th, 1912 because of damage to his lungs and heart and the salt water made one ear drum burst and hopelessly clogged the other ear and didn’t finish his book. Archibald Gracie was the third survivor of the Titanic that had died. His last words were, "We must Get Them All Into The Boats".