A long time ago, in my very distant past, I recall reading 'Raise the Titanic' by that wondrous author Clive Cussler. Over the years his Dirk Pitt novels could be found around my childhood home, mainly because of my mother. Not too many years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cussler in person at ThrillerFest. I was enchanted. He signed one of his novels for me, "We'll always have Tahiti!". He told a funny story about the time he saw a young lady reading one of his books, and as a new author how cool it was. He asked the young lady if she'd like him to autograph it, and she edged around her desk and ran out of the room, stopping at the door only long enough to call him a bad name. It was a lot funnier when he told the story, trust me.
The story of the Titanic is one of many that has fascinated me. Meeting the author of the book that started me on that particular path to fascination was awesome.
Then a few years ago I visited the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor. It was interesting but creepy. The first room I walked into had a lot of paintings on the walls, people associated with the Titanic in some way. One of the men depicted had eyes that seemed to follow you wherever you went in the room. Just standing by it gave me the chills. Later on one of the curators told me that the painting often ends up on the floor at night, as if it had slid down the wall. He might have been pulling my leg, but even so, the creepy factor maintained itself throughout my entire stay.
The worst of it were the personal possessions of people who died. It was too easy to conjure up images of people floating in the sea, arms outstretched, hair floating outwards, eyes bulging, white and lifeless.
April 15, 1912. The awful day that the RMS Titanic went down on her maiden voyage. This year marks the 100th anniversary of that tragedy.
Anne, the daughter of Edward Swift Isham, was a passenger on the Titanic. She too is connected. Her father was a Chicago lawyer who formed Isham, Lincoln & Beale in 1872. The 'Lincoln' was Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln. The Robert Todd Lincoln of Hildene.
Isham Lincoln To Be Dissolved
Chicago`s Second Oldest Law Firm
Richard Marcus, a well-known labor attorney and firm partner, confirmed Friday the decision to liquidate by month`s end an enterprise founded in 1872 by Edward Isham, son of a Vermont Supreme Court justice, and Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln.
Edward Isham also owned the Inn at Ormsby Hill for many years. According to the Inn's website, the original home, built in 1764 by Thompson Purdy, was bought by Edward Isham in the late 1880s and renamed Ormsby Hill after Gideon Ormsby, a Revolutionary War hero from Manchester and one of the Green Mountain Boys.
Anne's death notice in the New York Times was simple (Thursday 9 May 1912):
ISHAM---AT sea, on April 15, 1912, A. E. Isham, daughter of the late Edward Swift and Frances Burch Isham. Memorial services will be held in the Congregational Church, Manchester, Vt., on Sunday, May 12, at 11 o'clock.
There are many entries for Anne as a Titanic victim, here is one of them (although she is listed as Anne Elizabeth instead of Eliza):
- Name: Miss Ann Elizabeth Isham
- Born: Saturday 25th January 1862
- Age: 50 years
- Last Residence: in Chicago Illinois United States
- 1st Class passenger
- First Embarked: Cherbourg on Wednesday 10th April 1912
- Ticket No. 17595 , £28 14s 3d
- Cabin No.: C49
- Died in the sinking.
- Body Not Recovered
Ann lived for a time in Chicago where she was a member of the Friday Club and the Scribbler's Club. But by 1912 she had been living abroad for nine years; most of the time in Paris with her sister Frances (Mrs Harry Shelton). Ann's brother Edward lived in New York City and it was in order to spend the summer with him that she boarded the Titanic when it stopped at Cherbourg on April 10, 1912. Titanic passenger Arthur Larned Ryerson was a partner in her father's firm and it is likely that Ann and the Rysersons knew each other.
Her cabin (C-49) was next to that of Colonel Archibald Gracie, although he did not remember ever seeing her. Ann was one of four first class women who died in the disaster, her body, if recovered, was never identified.
When Ann died, in addition to her siblings, she left a cousin, Mrs H. H. Porter, Jr., of Chicago. A memorial to her was erected by her family in Vermont.
Notes: It has been suggested that Miss Isham brought on board with her a dog (possibly a Great Dane), and some believe that it was her refusal to leave her dog. that led to her death. It has been further suggested that she was the woman observed to have had her arms frozen around her dog in the water following the sinking. However, no firm evidence has been found to support the claims.
References and Sources
- Chicago Daily Tribune (Illinois), 18 April 1912
- Brainard, Homer. W. (1938) Survey of the Ishams in England and America. Tuttle Publishing Co., Rutland, Vermont pp. 410-412.
- Phillip Gowan, USA
- Homer Thiel, USA
My fascination with the Titanic has come full circle. I have stood before the grave of one of her victims, and without a doubt slept under the very same roof as she. And while I will never be on the social register, I do have one small thing in common with Miss Anne. She belonged to the Scribblers Club, a women's literary club active from 1903 to 1960. And I am a writer.
Very cool, Miss Anne, very cool.
Of the four First Class women who perished in the Titanic sinking, Ann Isham is virtually unrecognized and unreported. She was also somewhat mysterious. Her cabin neighbor, Archibald Gracie, who went on to write an interesting book about his experience as a survivor (though barely), never recalled actually seeing her. Arthur Ryerson, who was a partner in the law firm founded by Ann's father, and who also perished on the ship, surely must have known Ann. Interestingly, his wife, who survived the wreck, was never asked whether she socialized with Ann during the voyage. Of course, she was in no state to be answering such questions. Ann is definitely shrouded in mystery.
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