Maria Lewis Powell
There has been a lot of stuff in the news, on blogs, on Facebook, etc. about the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago this weekend. A lot of people have a lot of really interesting information to share about that event, and I've been reading as much of it as I can.
We have our own story about that fateful event. See the picture of that sweet little face above? Well, that is the mother of Harold's Grandpa Powell, Maria (pronounced Mariah) Lewis Powell. Maria was born and reared in Wales, but at the time of the sinking of the Titanic, she had already moved to America and was living in Richmond, Missouri. She had followed her husband who had already immigrated a few years before her and he began working to save the money to send for her.
After moving to America, Maria went back to visit family in Wales twice. The first visit was in 1908 when she sailed on the R.M.S. Mauritania, sister ship to the R.M.S. Lusitania. And we all know the fate of that ship as well!
This is the postcard she sent back to Missouri from the Mauritania to her daughter, Nellie, saying "Well, dear daughter, what do you think of this ship?" Feisty Grandma Maria!
Then she went back to Wales again for a four-month visit at the end of 1911, returning in April of 1912. Her two oldest sons, William Arthur Powell (Harold's Grandpa) and his brother, Walter, were gainfully employed as colliers, so they decided to do something special for their Mom and purchased tickets on the R.M.S. Titanic (in steerage class) for Maria's trip home.
Maria's family in Wales were quite successful in their family business as tailors and seamstresses, and while she was there, her family had made a lot of clothing for her to take back to her adult daughters and her grandchildren. All that beautifully tailored clothing was packed into a trunk and sent ahead to be loaded onto the ship.
Then, on the day Maria was supposed to board the Titanic (I think in Ireland), a last-minute family emergency caused her to be late... and she missed the boat! However, all her luggage had already been loaded aboard the Titanic, and it sailed without her. The White Star Line told her, "No problem, you can take the next White Star vessel bound for New York and we'll have your luggage waiting for you at the New York Pier."
And that's exactly what she did--leaving the day after the departure of the Titanic. She was already at sea when the HMS Titanic sank. But her ship must not have had a "wireless," because she didn't learn about the disaster until she was just outside New York harbor. Back in America, the entire Powell family had gathered together when the news of the disaster was front-page news in every newspaper. Harold's grandmother said it was like a "wake" in the Powell family. Everyone sat huddled together in their home in Richmond, Missouri, listening to the wireless, hoping and praying that Maria was among the survivors. When Maria arrived in New York, she went straight to the Western Union Office and sent a telegram to her family assuring them she was alive. She had been embarrassed that she had "missed the boat" because she knew her sons had paid extra money for her ticket, but this time missing the boat quite probably saved her life.
Harold's grandmother said when the telegram arrived, the "wake" turned into a huge celebration. But all Maria's luggage, including all that wonderful new clothing from her family of tailors in Wales, went down in the North Atlantic.
Yes, I called her "Grandpa" by typo. But I am afraid if I correct it now the link will change. It was a test. If you noticed it, congrats! You passed!
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