Lothrop Withington

Lothrop Withington (born January 31, 1856 in Newburyport , Essex County , Massachusetts , USA ; † May 7, 1915 in the Atlantic Ocean off Ireland ) was an American family tree researcher , historian and editor of specialist literature.

Life

Whitington was one of five children of Nathan Noyes Withington (1828-1914) and his wife Elizabeth Little Withington (1828-1912) in a small town in Massachusetts . After his parents died when Withington was very young, he went to Paris in 1875 to study. He was busy u. A. did research on the American Revolutionary War and published several books on the subject. Withington was best known for his genealogical research, which mainly included the publication of passenger lists from immigration ships. He was a recognized expert in this field.

On October 14, 1892, he married Caroline Augusta Lloyd, a sister of the American journalist, financier and reformer Henry Demarest Lloyd, in London . The couple had no children.

In 1915 Withington was engaged in historical research in Canterbury , England , where he discovered a list of wills from 1640-1650 in the steel chamber of the judicial registry . He claimed to be the only one besides the court clerk who had knowledge of these documents. Withington was aware of the historical value of this find and created a chronological overview of the wills. He wasn't even halfway through creating when he had to go back to the United States on business.

death

On May 1, 1915, he went to New York as a first-class passenger on board the British passenger ship RMS Lusitania of the Cunard Line to continue his work in England. It shouldn't come to that anymore. On May 7th, the Lusitania was sunk by the German submarine U 20 off the coast of southern Ireland . 1200 people died, including Lothrop Withington. He was one of 128 American casualties, which, in a broader sense , drew the US to England's side in World War I. His widow remarried.