Today is the anniversary of the night when the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the wee hours of the 15th of April 1912.
I cannot speak any more eloquently of the bravery of Officer Lightoller during that night as the blog post by Dr. Grumpy:
http://drgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com/
I was surprised to hear that Lightoller was another goldrusher here in 1898 but it makes sense, the men and women who were drawn to the drama of the Klondike were a special breed!
George B. Goldschmidt
What does the Arctic Brotherhood have in common with the Titanic?
The answer is George Goldschmidt. Born in New York on October 16, 1840 he came to Skagway in February 1899 on the ship City of Seattle with 10 other men, who, on their way to Alaska decided to form their own secret society for good fellowship and brotherly love: The Arctic Brotherhood. However, he does not show up later on any of the later membership rolls, he was a man on the move!
Here is his obituary from the New York Times:
“George B. Goldschmidt, lost in the sinking of the Titanic, was one of the oldest members of the Bar Association, having become a member in 1870. He was born in this city in 1840, admitted to practice in 1882, and was one of the best-known conveyancers in this city. Mr. Goldschmldt served in the Twenty-second Regiment, N. G. N. Y., at Harper’s Ferry and in the Gettysburg campaign, and was afterward Major in the Fifty-fifth Regiment, N. G. N. Y. He was a member of the Union League, Army and Navy, New York, Lotos, Hamilton of Brooklyn, and North Woods Clubs and of the Museums of Art and of Natural History.”
He boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a first class passenger (ticket number PC 17754, £34 13s 1d). He occupied cabin A-5. Goldschmidt died in the sinking. His body, if recovered, was never identified.
Alaska Weekly article by Moore 1931; family search; NYTimes April 20, 1912