Charles Plamondon
Charles Ambrose Plamondon (born September 14, 1856 in Ottawa , Illinois , USA ; † May 7, 1915 in the Atlantic Ocean off Ireland ) was an American entrepreneur and industrialist based in Chicago . Plamondon belonged to the upper class of Chicago at the turn of the century because of its professional and social connections .
Life
Charles Plamondon was the second of five children of the French-Canadian steelmaker Ambrose Plamondon (1833-1896) and his Irish wife Cecilia Bridget Higgins-Larose (1833-1912). His siblings were Emily, George, Jenetta and Alfred. In 1871 the family home was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire . He became a very successful manufacturer and manager in the steel industry . Plamondon was President of Plamondon Manufacturing Company, a nationally sought-after machinery manufacturer. He was also active in local politics, including serving as Vice President of the Chicago School System . He was socially and socially involved, for example was a member of the Union League , the Chicago Athletic Club and the South Shore Country Club .
On May 6, 1879, he married Mary Letitia Mackin (born October 15, 1859 in Rochester, New York ) in LaSalle, Illinois. The couple lived together at 1344 Astor Street. Mary Plamondon was also involved in the social field, including as a member of the Woman's Athletic Club . She served on the board of the Women's Reception Committee with Edith Ogden Harrison , author and wife of long-time Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison, Jr. They had five children together: Marie C. Plamondon (1880–1967), Charlotte Emily Plamondon (1882–1968) (Mrs. Allen Bradford Ripley), Blanche Gertrude Plamondon (1885–1965) (Mrs. John Henry Smith), Charles Ambrose Plamondon, Jr. (1889-1958) and Harold Mackin Plamondon (1891-1950). Plamondon was an active Republican and friends with Carter Harrison, Jr.
death
On May 1, 1915, Charles Plamondon went with his wife in New York on board the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania , which at the time was the fastest and also one of the largest passenger ships in the world, which sailed for Liverpool , England. Plamondon wanted to travel to London , Manchester and Dublin on business . Mary Plamondon did not want to let him go alone and made the crossing. The couple was accompanied on the trip from Chicago to New York by the actress Winifred Arthur Jones, the daughter of the playwright Henry Arthur Jones . She was supposed to board the Lusitania with them , but canceled her passage at the last minute.
The last departure of the Lusitania from Pier 54 in New York was captured by camera footage. Below you can see a couple getting out of a taxi at the pier and paying the driver. These are Charles and Mary Plamondon. On board the ship, they occupied the first-class cabin B-18. On May 6, the couple toasted their 36th wedding anniversary with champagne . The following day, Friday, May 7th at 2:10 p.m., the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U 20 off the coast of southern Ireland . 1200 people were killed.
The remains of Charles and Mary Plamondon were found and identified after the accident and transferred on board the City of New York to New York, where they arrived on May 24, 1915. According to Cunard's registration list of the dead, Charles Plamondon's corpse was # 25, Mary Plamondon # 163. The couple's bodies had washed up blackened on the Irish coast; an indicator that they had been sucked into one of the chimneys that broke off during the sinking, hit the surface of the water, went under and sucked in people floating in the water.
Charles Plamondon and his wife were buried in the Holy Name Cathedral in Calvary Cemetery, Evanston , after a memorial service .
Another misfortune
Plamondon's daughter Charlotte and his niece Emily Plamondon survived the great fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago in December 1903 , in which over 600 people were killed. They escaped with smoke inhalation. Plamondons cousin Edmond Kelly Plamondon (1870-1951), department head at Western Electric , was with his wife Susan Byrne Plamondon (1873-1915) and his daughters Marie and Irene on board the excursion steamer Eastland in July 1915 when it capsized in the Chicago River and 844 people drowned. Susan Plamondon was among the fatalities.
swell
- Mr. Charles Ambrose Plamondon. Biography of Charles Plamondon in: The Lusitania Resource
- Adolph A. Hoehling and Mary Hoehling: The Last Voyage of the Lusitania. Holt, New York 1956
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Plamondon, Charles |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Plamondon, Charles Ambrose (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American entrepreneur and industrialist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 14, 1856 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ottawa , Illinois , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 7, 1915 |
| Place of death | Atlantic Ocean off Ireland |