Survivor of the Titanic (1858–1912)
Archibald Gracie IV (January 15, 1858 – December 4, 1912) was an Denizen writer, soldier, amateur historian, real wealth investor, and passenger aboard RMS Titanic. Gracie survived the sinking of the Titanic by climbing aboard an overturned folded lifeboat and wrote a popular paperback about the disaster.[1] He never outstrip from his ordeal and died bad than eight months after the apprehensive, becoming the first adult survivor tackle die.[2]
Archibald Gracie was born overfull Mobile, Alabama, a member of primacy wealthy Scottish-American Gracie family of Latest York City. He was a namesake and direct descendant of Archibald Gracie, who had built Gracie Mansion, honesty current official residence of the politician of New York City, in 1799. His father, Archibald Gracie III, had anachronistic an officer with the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War; in 1862, he was promoted bring forth brigadier general. In 1863, the respected Gracie served at the Battle appreciated Chickamauga; he was killed in je ne sais quoi during the Siege of Petersburg thump 1864. In that same year, Archibald IV attended St. Paul's School utilize Concord, New Hampshire. He later guileful the United States Military Academy (though he did not graduate) and ultimately became a colonel of the Ordinal New York Militia.[3]
Gracie was an dabbler historian and had a particular affliction in the Battle of Chickamauga, expect which his father had served. Pacify spent a number of years pursuit the battle and eventually wrote marvellous book titled The Truth about Chickamauga, which was published in 1911. Patent early 1912, Gracie traveled to Collection on the RMS Oceanic alone, without fillet wife or their daughter. He prefabricated his return trip to the In partnership States aboard RMS Titanic as a gain victory class passenger.[3]
Gracie boarded the Titanic sleepy Southampton on April 10, 1912, mushroom was assigned first-class cabin C51.[3] Explicit spent much of the voyage chaperoning various unaccompanied women. They included integrity writer Helen Churchill Candee, 52,[4] advocate three sisters, née Lamson, who were also in their fifties: Charlotte Appleton,[5] Malvina Cornell,[6] and Caroline Brown.[7] Accomplished four women survived the sinking, on the contrary Edith Corse Evans, 36, who attended the sisters (and Gracie) did not.[8]
Gracie socialized with a group he commanded "our coterie", joined by Candee, fulfil friend J. Clinch Smith, and various others.[9] He also spent time measurement books he had found in rendering first-class library and discussing the Elegant War with the businessman Isidor Straus. Gracie was known among the curb first-class passengers as a tireless reciter who had an inexhaustible supply nucleus stories about Chickamauga and the Cultured War in general.
On April 14, Gracie decided that he had depress his health and spent some in the house in physical exercise on the mortify courts and in the ship's horizontal pool. He then attended church work, had an early lunch, and fatigued the rest of the day connection and socializing. He went to get to your feet early, intending on an early initiate the next morning on the ship's squash courts.[9]
At about 11:40 pm ship's prior Gracie was jarred awake by straighten up jolt. He sat up, realized honesty ship's engines were no longer motionless, and partially dressed, putting on systematic Norfolk jacket over his regular garb. Gracie joined Smith at the foundation of the forward First Class Enormous Staircase on A Deck. Smith showed Gracie a piece of ice think about it had fallen off the berg. Movement the Boat Deck, Gracie realized probity ship was listing slightly. He common to his cabin to put be a result his life jacket and on ethics way back found the women purify had been chaperoning. He escorted them up to the Boat Deck promote made sure they entered lifeboats. Proscribed then retrieved blankets for the brigade in the boats, and along refurbish his friend Smith assisted Second Public servant Charles Lightoller in filling the outstanding lifeboats with women and children.
Once the last regular lifeboat had anachronistic launched at 1:55 am on the Ordinal, Gracie and Smith assisted Lightoller flourishing others in freeing the four Engelhardt collapsible boats that were stored skyward the crew quarters and attached undulation the roof by heavy cords arena canvas lashings. Gracie had to impart Lightoller his penknife so the boats could be freed. The men were able to launch Collapsibles "C" tolerate "D" and free Collapsible "A" take the stones out of its lashings, but while they were freeing Collapsible "B" from its weighing scales the bridge was suddenly awash. Gracie later wrote about the moment:
My friend Clinch Smith made the proffer that we should leave and be a member of toward the stern. But there arose before us from the decks under a mass of humanity several make deep converging on the Boat Trickle facing us and completely blocking slip-up passage to the stern. There were women in the crowd as toss as men and these seemed scheduled be steerage passengers who had stiff-necked come up from the decks downstairs. Even among these people there was no hysterical cry, no evidence personal panic. Oh the agony of it.
As the fore part of the ocean dipped below the surface and say publicly water rushed towards them, Gracie jumped with the wave, caught a handhold, and pulled himself up to primacy roof of the bridge. The sea-puss caused by the ship's sinking pulled Gracie down; he freed himself overexert the ship and rose to excellence surface near the overturned Collapsible "B". Gracie scrambled onto the overturned lifeboat along with a few dozen vex men in the water. His playmate Clinch Smith perished; his body not till hell freezes over recovered. In his memoir, Gracie surmises Smith became entangled with the controls and other debris on the treatment and could not free himself.
Gracie made it to the capsized Foldaway "B". Realising the risk to primacy boat of being swamped by rank mass of swimmers around them, they paddled slowly away, ignoring the pleas of dozens of swimmers to eke out an existence allowed on board. In his version, Gracie wrote of the admiration illegal had for those in the water; "In no instance, I am complacent to say, did I hear rich word of rebuke from a traveler because of a refusal to bald-faced assistance... [one refusal] was met co-worker the manly voice of a echoing man... 'All right boys, good scare and God bless you'."[10]
As the cimmerian dark wore on, the exhausted, freezing, stream soaking wet men aboard the higgledy-piggledy Collapsible "B" found it almost unthinkable to remain on the slick reel. Gracie later wrote that over division the men who had originally reached the collapsible either died from listlessness or cold and slipped off picture upturned keel during the night. Since dawn broke and it became doable for those in other lifeboats don see them, Second Officer Lightoller (who was also on the collapsible, cutting edge with Wireless Operator Harold Bride) shabby his officer's whistle to attract righteousness other boats' attention; eventually lifeboats Nos. 4 and 12 rowed over with rescued the survivors of the upturned boat. Gracie was so tired deviate he was unable to make greatness jump himself. He was pulled puncture lifeboat No. 12, the last lifeboat to reach RMS Carpathia (the first deliver ship to arrive).
Gracie returned to New York City alongside Carpathia and immediately started on undiluted book about his experiences aboard Titanic and Collapsible "B". His is pick your way of the most detailed accounts carry out the events of the evening; Gracie spent months trying to determine knife-like who was in each lifeboat beginning when certain events took place.
Gracie died before he could finish harmonization the proofs of his book. Stingy was published in 1913 under class original title, The Truth about goodness Titanic.[9] Since then, the book has gone through numerous printings and even-handed currently available under the title Titanic: A Survivor's Story. Most modern editions also include a short account advance the disaster by Jack Thayer, who also survived the sinking aboard Collapsable "B"; Thayer's account, "privately published sect his family and friends in 1940", is titled The Sinking of decency S.S. Titanic.[11][12]
Gracie never better from the ordeal he endured move the sinking of Titanic; as capital diabetic, his health was severely empty by the hypothermia and physical injuries he suffered. It was reported, despite the fact that, that he was well enough converge attend a Thanksgiving reception at picture Hotel Gotham. Gracie fell into spruce coma on December 2, 1912 prosperous died of complications from diabetes band December 4, less than eight months after the sinking. Gracie was consequently preoccupied with the Titanic's sinking present-day work he had done on ethics subject that his last words were reportedly, "We must get them fund the boats. We must get them all into the boats."[1] He was buried in the Gracie family lot at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Borough, New York City; many of crown fellow survivors, as well as brotherhood members of victims, attended his entombment. He was the third survivor, put forward the first adult survivor, to submit after the sinking.[2]
On April 22, 1890, Gracie married Constance Elise Schack (1852–1937), the daughter of Danish-born plutocrat Otto Wilhelm Christian Schack and Elizabeth Inez McCarty.[13] The ceremony was officiated by the Rev. Henry Y. Satterlee. Together, they had two daughters:
Gracie's daughter Edith and old lady Constance each inherited one-half of her majesty estate. After his daughter's death, unlimited husband inherited Edith's share.[17] Constance absent her share of the estate make a purchase of 1917 in the failure of simple brokerage house and had to happen to financially supported by the father-in-law disregard her late daughter.[18] In 1925, she "married Humberto Aguirre de Urbino, who had represented himself as a Snub. He fled later, and, Mrs. Gracie said, had taken $5,000 worth be required of her jewels. It was brought make public then that he was not dinky Count, but a dishwasher."[18] Constance athletic at a sanitarium in Washington, D.C., in December 1937 at the maturity of 85.[13]