Edith Corse Evans

Edith Corse Evans

Edith Corse Evans (born September 21, 1875 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA ; † April 15, 1912 in the North Atlantic ) was an American member of the New York upper class , a member of the Colonial Dames of America and what is known today as "Socialite" is called. She was also one of four first-class women who died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic .

background

Edith Evans was born in 1875 to the prominent lawyer Cadwalader Evans (1847-1880) and his wife, the suffragette Angeline Burr Corse (1847-1909). Her older sister was the painter Lena Cadwalader Evans, married Webb (1873–1955). The families of both parents can be traced back several centuries. Edith Evans, like her mother, was a member of the Colonial Dames of America and, given her lineage, showed a keen interest in genealogy . Evans was among other things a descendant of Andrew Hamilton .

RMS Titanic

On the evening of April 10, 1912, Evans boarded the new British transatlantic liner RMS Titanic in Cherbourg, France, as a first class passenger , which was scheduled to arrive in New York a week later . She had visited relatives in Paris . On board the ship, she met her aunt Malvina Lamson Cornell and her sisters, Charlotte Appleton and Caroline Brown. The three women returned to the United States from the funeral of a fourth sister, Elizabeth Lamson Drummond, aboard the Titanic . Evans occupied the first-class cabin A-29. During the journey she made the acquaintance of Major Archibald Gracie , who offered himself as a kind of protection for women traveling without a male companion.

On the night of the downfall, the four women lost sight of each other. Charlotte Appleton and Malvina Cornell left the sinking ship in lifeboat No. 2, which was lowered around 1:45 a.m. under the command of Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall with about 24 people on board (carrying capacity 40 people).

Shortly before the sinking, Caroline Brown and Edith Evans met on the port side of lifeboat D, one of the four foldable boats ("Engelhardt Collapsible"), where the second officer Charles Lightoller was working to separate women and children from the crowd and in to put the boat. At this late point in time, noticeable panic had already spread. Archibald Gracie got the two women as close to the boat as he could. Before boarding, Evans turned to Brown with the words "You go first, you have kids waiting at home". Caroline Brown got into the already full boat while Evans stayed behind. D was the last boat that could be properly launched. 15 minutes later the Titanic went under.

Edith Corse Evans was killed in the sinking of the Titanic . She was one of four first class women who died in the accident (out of a total of 143 women in first class). Her body, if found, has never been identified. Her funeral service took place on April 22, 1912 at Grace Church in New York.

swell

• Biography of Edith Evans in Encyclopedia Titanica
• Walter Lord : A Night to Remember . R & W Holt, 1955
• The Untold Story of Edith Evans