Archibald Gracie
Encyclopedia
Colonel Archibald Gracie IV (January 17, 1859 - December 4, 1912) was an American
writer
, amateur historian
, real estate
investor, and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. He survived the sinking by climbing aboard an overturned collapsible lifeboat
, and wrote a popular and valuable book about the disaster which is still in print today.
, a member of the wealthy Scottish-American Gracie family of New York. He was a namesake and direct descendant of the Archibald Gracie
who had built Gracie Mansion
, the current official residence of the mayor
of New York City
, in 1799. His father, Archibald Gracie III
, had been an officer with the Washington Light Infantry
of the Confederate army
during the American Civil War
, serving at the Battle of Chickamauga
before dying at Petersburg, Virginia
, in 1864. Young Archibald attended St. Paul's School
in Concord, New Hampshire
and the United States Military Academy
(though he did not graduate), eventually becoming a colonel of the 7th New York Militia
.
Colonel Gracie was a keen amateur historian and was especially fascinated by the Battle of Chickamauga at which his father had served. He spent a number of years collecting facts about the battle and eventually wrote a book called The Truth about Chickamauga. He found the experience rewarding but exhausting; in early 1912 he decided to visit Europe without his wife Constance (née Schack) and their daughter in order to recharge his batteries. He traveled to Europe on RMS Oceanic
and eventually decided to return to the United States aboard RMS Titanic.
He was a first class passager.
on April 10, 1912 and was assigned first class cabin C51. He spent much of the voyage chaperoning various unaccompanied women, including Mrs. Helen Churchill Candee
, Mrs. E.D. (Charlotte) Appleton, Mrs. R.C. (Malvina) Cornell and Mrs. J.M. (Caroline) Brown. He also spent time reading books he had found in the first class library, socializing with his friend J. Clinch Smith, and discussing the Civil War with Isidor Straus
. He was known among the other first-class passengers as a tireless raconteur who had an inexhaustible supply of stories about Chickamauga and the Civil War in general.
On April 14, Gracie decided that he had neglected his health and spent some time in physical exercise on the squash courts and in the ship's swimming pool. He then attended divine services, had an early lunch, and spent the rest of the day reading and socializing. He went to bed early, intending on an early start the next morning on the ship's squash courts.
At about 11:45 PM ship's time Gracie was jarred awake by a jolt. He sat up, realized that the ship's engines were no longer moving, and quickly dressed, putting on a Norfolk jacket
over his regular clothes. Reaching the Boat Deck, he realized that the ship was listing slightly; he returned to his cabin to put on his life-jacket and on the way back found the women he had been chaperoning. He escorted them up to the boat deck and made sure that they entered lifeboats. He then retrieved blankets for the women in the boats and Smith assisted Second Officer Charles Lightoller
in filling the remaining lifeboats with women and children.
Once the last regular lifeboat had been launched at 1:55 AM on the 15th, Gracie and Smith assisted Lightoller and others in freeing the four Englehardt collapsible boats that were stored on top of the crew quarters and attached to the roof by heavy cords and canvas lashings. Gracie had to lend Lightoller his penknife so that the boats could be freed. The men were able to launch Collapsibles "C" and "D" and free Collapsible "A" from its lashings, but while they were freeing Collapsible "B" from its place the bridge was suddenly awash. Gracie later wrote about the moment:
As the fore part of the ship dipped below the surface and the water rushed towards them, Gracie jumped with the wave, caught a hand hold, and pulled himself up to the roof of the bridge. The undertow caused by the ship's sinking pulled Gracie down; he freed himself from the ship and rose to the surface near the overturned Collapsible "B" seconds after Titanic finally slipped beneath the waves. Gracie scrambled onto the overturned lifeboat along with a few dozen other men in the water. His friend Clinch Smith disappeared; his remains were never found.
As the night wore on, the exhausted, freezing, and soaking wet men aboard the overturned Collapsible "B" found it almost impossible to remain on the slick keel. Gracie later wrote that over half the men who had originally reached the collapsible were claimed by exhaustion or cold and slipped off the upturned keel during the night. As dawn broke and it became possible for those in other lifeboats to see them, Second Officer Lightoller (who was also on the collapsible, along with Wireless Operator Harold Bride) used his officer's whistle to attract the other boats' attention; eventually lifeboats Nos. 4 and 12 rowed over and took the remaining men off the overturned boat. Gracie was so tired that he was unable to make the jump himself and was pulled into lifeboat No. 12, the last to reach RMS Carpathia
when that ship, captained by Arthur Henry Rostron, arrived on the scene.
Gracie never recovered from the ordeal. His health was severely affected by the hypothermia and physical injuries he suffered; he died of complications of diabetes on December 4, 1912, less than eight months after the sinking. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx; many of his fellow survivors, as well as family members of victims, attended his funeral.
Gracie was so involved with the Titanic events and work he had done on the subject that Gracie's last words were, "We must get them all into the boats." (Courtesy of the Mariners' Museum, Newport News, VA. and The Titanic Story-Hard Choices, Dangerous Decisions by Stephen Cox)
, who also survived the sinking aboard Collapsible "B".
As one of the best-known survivors of the sinking, Colonel Gracie has been featured as a character in many of the dramatizations of the Titanic sinking. He was played by James Dyrenforth in A Night to Remember and by Bernard Fox in the 1997 film Titanic
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, amateur historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
investor, and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. He survived the sinking by climbing aboard an overturned collapsible lifeboat
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
, and wrote a popular and valuable book about the disaster which is still in print today.
Early life
Gracie was born in Mobile, AlabamaMobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, a member of the wealthy Scottish-American Gracie family of New York. He was a namesake and direct descendant of the Archibald Gracie
Archibald Gracie
Colonel Archibald Gracie IV was an American writer, amateur historian, real estate investor, and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic...
who had built Gracie Mansion
Gracie Mansion
thumb|250px|Western sideGracie Mansion is the official residence of the mayor of the City of New York. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and Eighty-eighth Street in Manhattan...
, the current official residence of the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in 1799. His father, Archibald Gracie III
Archibald Gracie III
Archibald Gracie III was a career United States Army officer, businessman, and a graduate of West Point. He is well known for being a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War and for his death during the Siege of Petersburg.-Early life and career:Archibald was born into a...
, had been an officer with the Washington Light Infantry
Washington Light Infantry
The Washington Light Infantry is a military and social organization located in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1807, it is one of the oldest of these militia groups still active in the United States....
of the Confederate army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, serving at the Battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...
before dying at Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, in 1864. Young Archibald attended St. Paul's School
St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
St. Paul's School is a highly selective college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school is one of only six remaining 100% residential boarding schools in the U.S. The New Hampshire campus currently serves 533 students,...
in Concord, New Hampshire
Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
and the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
(though he did not graduate), eventually becoming a colonel of the 7th New York Militia
7th New York Militia
The 7th Regiment of the New York Militia aka "Silk Stocking" Regiment, , was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War....
.
Colonel Gracie was a keen amateur historian and was especially fascinated by the Battle of Chickamauga at which his father had served. He spent a number of years collecting facts about the battle and eventually wrote a book called The Truth about Chickamauga. He found the experience rewarding but exhausting; in early 1912 he decided to visit Europe without his wife Constance (née Schack) and their daughter in order to recharge his batteries. He traveled to Europe on RMS Oceanic
RMS Oceanic (1899)
RMS Oceanic was a transatlantic ocean liner, built for the White Star Line. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 6 September 1899 and, until 1901, was the largest ship in the world...
and eventually decided to return to the United States aboard RMS Titanic.
He was a first class passager.
Aboard the Titanic
Gracie boarded the Titanic at SouthamptonSouthampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
on April 10, 1912 and was assigned first class cabin C51. He spent much of the voyage chaperoning various unaccompanied women, including Mrs. Helen Churchill Candee
Helen Churchill Candee
Helen Churchill Candee was an American author, journalist, interior decorator, feminist and geographer...
, Mrs. E.D. (Charlotte) Appleton, Mrs. R.C. (Malvina) Cornell and Mrs. J.M. (Caroline) Brown. He also spent time reading books he had found in the first class library, socializing with his friend J. Clinch Smith, and discussing the Civil War with Isidor Straus
Isidor Straus
Isidor Straus —a German Jewish American—was co-owner of the Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served briefly as a member of the United States House of Representatives...
. He was known among the other first-class passengers as a tireless raconteur who had an inexhaustible supply of stories about Chickamauga and the Civil War in general.
On April 14, Gracie decided that he had neglected his health and spent some time in physical exercise on the squash courts and in the ship's swimming pool. He then attended divine services, had an early lunch, and spent the rest of the day reading and socializing. He went to bed early, intending on an early start the next morning on the ship's squash courts.
At about 11:45 PM ship's time Gracie was jarred awake by a jolt. He sat up, realized that the ship's engines were no longer moving, and quickly dressed, putting on a Norfolk jacket
Norfolk jacket
A Norfolk jacket is a loose, belted, single-breasted jacket with box pleats on the back and front, with a belt or half-belt. The style was long popular for boys' jackets and suits, and is still used in some uniforms. It was originally designed as a shooting coat that did not bind when the elbow...
over his regular clothes. Reaching the Boat Deck, he realized that the ship was listing slightly; he returned to his cabin to put on his life-jacket and on the way back found the women he had been chaperoning. He escorted them up to the boat deck and made sure that they entered lifeboats. He then retrieved blankets for the women in the boats and Smith assisted Second Officer Charles Lightoller
Charles Lightoller
Commander Charles Herbert Lightoller DSC & Bar, RD, RNR was the second mate on board the , and the most senior officer to survive the disaster...
in filling the remaining lifeboats with women and children.
Once the last regular lifeboat had been launched at 1:55 AM on the 15th, Gracie and Smith assisted Lightoller and others in freeing the four Englehardt collapsible boats that were stored on top of the crew quarters and attached to the roof by heavy cords and canvas lashings. Gracie had to lend Lightoller his penknife so that the boats could be freed. The men were able to launch Collapsibles "C" and "D" and free Collapsible "A" from its lashings, but while they were freeing Collapsible "B" from its place the bridge was suddenly awash. Gracie later wrote about the moment:
My friend Clinch Smith made the proposition that we should leave and go toward the stern. But there arose before us from the decks below a mass of humanity several lines deep converging on the Boat Deck facing us and completely blocking our passage to the stern. There were women in the crowd as well as men and these seemed to be steerage passengers who had just come up from the decks below. Even among these people there was no hysterical cry, no evidence of panic. Oh the agony of it.
As the fore part of the ship dipped below the surface and the water rushed towards them, Gracie jumped with the wave, caught a hand hold, and pulled himself up to the roof of the bridge. The undertow caused by the ship's sinking pulled Gracie down; he freed himself from the ship and rose to the surface near the overturned Collapsible "B" seconds after Titanic finally slipped beneath the waves. Gracie scrambled onto the overturned lifeboat along with a few dozen other men in the water. His friend Clinch Smith disappeared; his remains were never found.
As the night wore on, the exhausted, freezing, and soaking wet men aboard the overturned Collapsible "B" found it almost impossible to remain on the slick keel. Gracie later wrote that over half the men who had originally reached the collapsible were claimed by exhaustion or cold and slipped off the upturned keel during the night. As dawn broke and it became possible for those in other lifeboats to see them, Second Officer Lightoller (who was also on the collapsible, along with Wireless Operator Harold Bride) used his officer's whistle to attract the other boats' attention; eventually lifeboats Nos. 4 and 12 rowed over and took the remaining men off the overturned boat. Gracie was so tired that he was unable to make the jump himself and was pulled into lifeboat No. 12, the last to reach RMS Carpathia
RMS Carpathia
RMS Carpathia was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson. Carpathia made her maiden voyage in 1903 and became famous for rescuing the survivors of after the latter ship hit an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912...
when that ship, captained by Arthur Henry Rostron, arrived on the scene.
After the rescue
Gracie returned to New York aboard the Carpathia and immediately started on a book about his experiences aboard the Titanic and Collapsible "B". His is one of the most detailed accounts of the events of the evening; Gracie spent months trying to determine exactly who was in each lifeboat and when certain events took place. His work is not without faults; Gracie referred to every stowaway or man who jumped or sneaked aboard a lifeboat as a "Latin", "Japanese", or "Italian", and only gave the names of the men who put their wives aboard lifeboats and remained on the ship if they had been in first class. It is still a valuable resource for Titanic researchers and historians.Gracie never recovered from the ordeal. His health was severely affected by the hypothermia and physical injuries he suffered; he died of complications of diabetes on December 4, 1912, less than eight months after the sinking. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx; many of his fellow survivors, as well as family members of victims, attended his funeral.
Gracie was so involved with the Titanic events and work he had done on the subject that Gracie's last words were, "We must get them all into the boats." (Courtesy of the Mariners' Museum, Newport News, VA. and The Titanic Story-Hard Choices, Dangerous Decisions by Stephen Cox)
Legacy
Gracie died before he could finish correcting the proofs of his book. It was published in 1913 under the original title of The Truth about the Titanic. The book has gone through numerous printings and is currently available under the title Titanic: A Survivor's Story. Most modern editions also include a short account of the disaster by Jack ThayerJack Thayer
John Borland "Jack" Thayer III was from Philadelphia. He was a first-class passenger on the RMS Titanic who provided several first-hand accounts of the disaster.-RMS Titanic:...
, who also survived the sinking aboard Collapsible "B".
As one of the best-known survivors of the sinking, Colonel Gracie has been featured as a character in many of the dramatizations of the Titanic sinking. He was played by James Dyrenforth in A Night to Remember and by Bernard Fox in the 1997 film Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
.
External links and references
- http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/biography.php?id=137/Encyclopedia TitanicaEncyclopedia TitanicaEncyclopedia Titanica is an online reference work containing extensive and constantly-updated information on the . The website, a nonprofit endeavor, is a database of passenger and crew biographies, deck plans, and articles submitted by historians or Titanic enthusiasts...
Biography of Archibald Gracie] - Archibald Gracie Death Certificate on Titanic-Titanic.com
- Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy, by John P. Eaton and Charles A. Haas, W.W. Newton & Company, 2nd edition 1995 ISBN 0-393-03697-9
- A Night to Remember, by Walter Lord, ed. Nathaniel Hilbreck, Owl Books, rep. 2004, ISBN 0-8050-7764-2
- Titanic: A Survivor's Story and the Sinking of the S.S. Titanic by Archibald Gracie and Jack Thayer, Academy Chicago Publishers, 1988 ISBN 0-89733-452-3
- The Truth about Chickamauga, by Archibald Gracie, 1911 ISBN 0-89029-038-5