Titanic Connection

By F.G.O. Stuart (1843-1923) - , Public Domain, Wiki Commons

Emily Borie Ryerson was born in Chicago on October 8, 1893 to Arthur and Emily (Borie) Ryerson. Emily was the third child of five in the family. Arthur Ryerson was a lawyer and president of a steel company. The family was on vacation in Europe in April, 1912 when they received word that their eldest son, Arthur, Jr., 22, had been killed in an automobile accident in Pennsylvania. They quickly boarded a ship bound for the United States. That ship was the ill-fated Titanic. Arthur, Sr. died when the ship sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage. The alarm was sounded around 11:40 pm on April 14th and the ship went under only a few hours later on April 15, 1912. However, Arthur's wife, Emily (Borie) Ryerson, and children, Susan "Suzette", 21, Emily Maria Borie "Millie", 20, and John, 15, were rescued by the Carpathia. The final sibling, Ellen or "Nell," 17, was not on the ship.

Heading of the manifest of Titanic survivors on the Carpathia

Ryerson survivors on the Carpathia

So what is my connection to this family? Emily "Millie" Ryerson married my 3rd cousin, twice removed, George Hyde Clarke, Jr.  George's mother was Mary Gale (Carter) Clarke, granddaughter of Rev. Lawson Carter (1793-1868). Lawson was the eldest son of Dr. Timothy & Frances (Freeland) Carter and big brother to my third great-grandfather, Elias Mellen Carter.

Findagrave Memorials
Arthur Larned Ryerson, Sr. - died in the sinking
Emily Maria (Borie) (Ryerson) Sherfesee - remarried and died in Uruguay
Arthur Larned Ryerson, Jr.  - includes a newspaper description of the automobile accident
Susan Parker "Suzette" (Ryerson) Patterson - survived the sinking but died at age 31.
Emily Maria Borie "Millie" (Ryerson) (Clarke) Cooke - Titanic survivor
Ellen Ashford "Nell" (Ryerson) Salvatore - not with the family on the Titanic
John Borie Ryerson - Titanic survivor

Dr. Timothy Carter
Elias Mellen Carter - Brother of Rev. Lawson Carter
Augustus Mellen Carter
Edward Mellen Carter
T. Richard Carter - my grandfather