Call to Duty: The Funeral Director’s Response to the Titanic Disaster – 1912

(Presentation for the National Funeral Directors Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, October 27-28, 1998)

INTRODUCTION

After all the frenzy of the “Titanic” movie, interest in the subject has shown no signs of abating. Books, seminars, videos and souvenirs concerning the sinking of the unsink­able White Star liner abound at every corner of life. With all the old and new information concerning the Titanic, it would seem reasonable to think that every story imaginable has been told about the fateful voyage of the world’s largest ship. Such thoroughness of the Titanic subject is, however, not entirely true, for another story needs to be told and this is the work that the funeral directors of the Maritime Provinces did in caring for the dead of the Titanic wreck.

Here, then, is an account of a little known, but very noble part, of the history of our great profession.

PREPARATIONS

By 10:00 p.m. Atlantic time on April 15, 1912, the truth of the magnitude of the Titanic disaster was known in Halifax.

The White Start Line, owner of the Titanic, had already contracted with its Halifax agents, A.G. Jones and Company, and through them had chartered the Commercial Cable Company’s cable ship MacKay-Bennett for a very difficult assignment: to search thoroughly the area where Titanic had sunk and, whenever possible, to recover the bodies of passengers and crew.

JOHN SNOW & CO. UNDERTAKERS

The White Star agents also contracted with John Snow and Company Ltd., the largest undertaking firm in the province of Nova Scotia to oversee the recovery project. John Snow founded the undertaking concern in 1883 and by 1912 he and his sons, John R. Snow, Jr. and W. H. (Will) Snow, had become the most notable and successful funeral firm in the Maritimes.

John Snow was no stranger to death and in view of the numbers expected, Snow asked for and received the assistance of nearly every undertaker and embalmer in the provides of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

By April 16, 1912, more than 40 members of the Funeral Director’s Association of the Maritime were on their way to Halifax. Among the group of embalmers en route to Halifax was one Mary Dodosky Walsh, wife of Arthur Walsh who was the owner and manager of O’Neill Funeral Home in St. John., NB. Mr. Walsh was also a well-known actor and was away in Boston on the stage at the time of the Titanic crash. Mrs. Walsh was assigned by John Snow to embalm all the women and children.

At the Halifax waterfront, the embalmers were busy. Snow’s had ordered several tons of ice which were poured into the MacKay-Bennett’s Cable tanks and holds.

Each embalmer was instructed by Snow’s to bring their own embalmer’s grip with instru­ments. Cooling board and jugs of preservative chemicals were stored. Snow’s also had more than 100 plain wood caskets brought on board the vessel.

All the volunteer undertakers from the group assembled by Snow, and headed by the chief embalmer—John R. Snow, Jr., came on board. Each embalmer settled in his own room and awaited the departure of the ship. From Halifax’s All Saints Cathedral came Canon Kenneth O. Hind, who would conduct all the burials that would be done at sea.

At 12:35 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, 1912, the largest floating embalming facility on earth left the Halifax Harbour. Captain of the ship, F. H. Lardner, felt uneasy about the trip for he had to pay his all-volunteer crew double wages to help with the difficult days that lay ahead. The MacKay-Bennett steamed out of the Halifax Harbour at full speed and was noticed by neither the press nor the community.

SATURDAY, APRIL 20

The wireless operator on the MacKay-Bennett sent out a request for all ships that had seen wreckage or bodies to communicate with her.

Soon a message came in from the North German Lloyd line Rhein to the effect that they had passed wreckage and bodies in latitude 42˚ 01’ N, longitude 49˚ 13’ W. As the MacKay-Bennett made for that position, the liner Bremen reported three icebergs and bodies at latitude 42˚ 00’ N, longitude 49˚ 20’ W. The two sightings seemed conclusive. After passing numerous towering icebergs, Lardner’s ship arrived in the area at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, too late to begin recovery efforts.

SUNDAY, APRIL 21

At daylight the somber task of caring for the dead began. The embalmers set up their preparation stations on the desk of the boat as MacKay-Bennett’s boats were lowered. In spite of heavy seas, 51 bodies were recovered.

On this day, one child—perhaps two years old with blond hair—and four women were recovered. The rest were men. Once on board the cable ship, the Titanic’s people were treated with absolute dignity and respect, and all the embalmers carried out a carefully-planned procedure that John R. Snow, Jr., had developed.

The Plan: Snow’s plan went as follows: as each body was recovered, a piece of canvas with a stenciled number on it was attached. In a ledger book a description entry was made on the numbered page corresponding to the assigned number. Hair color, height, weight, age, obvious markings such as scars, tattoos or birthmarks, and other details of physi­cal description were recorded. With a witness present in each case, a full inventory of the deceased’s pockets, money belt, jewelry and clothing was compiled in meticulous detail. By the procedure, First, Second and Third Class passengers were more easily identified. This identification was critical because the plan was very simple and direct—First Class passengers would be embalmed first, right on the deck of the ship. Second and Third Class passengers would be frozen and embalmed back in Halifax. Some bodies recovered would be buried at sea. Also, the Halifax Harbour Authority would allow only embalmed or frozen bodies to be brought into port. John R. Snow, Jr., was the man who made these decisions as to what treatment would be used.

Addresses on letters, names on passports, number of passage tickets, legends on key tags, descriptions of personal photographs found in billfolds—all were recorded to assist in identifying the deceased either on board or later ashore. Personal property was placed in canvas bags, each bearing the number corresponding to its contents’ owner.

At 5:00 p.m., the day’s work was at a close and the boats were hauled back on board. Snow, Jr., and the rest of the embalmers on board prepared 20 bodies that night, a further six First Class being left for the following morning. At 8:15 p.m., Canon Hind offi­ciated at a moving burial service on the deck of the MacKay-Bennett. Some two dozen bodies, mostly crew, but none identified and all badly disfigured by sea life, were com­mitted to the deep.

MONDAY, APRIL 22

The ship recovered 27 bodies, Colonel John Jacob Astor among them. As John R. Snow, Jr., later observed,

“Everybody had on a lifebelt and bodies floated very high in the water in spite of sodden clothes and things in pockets. Apparently people had lots of time and discipline for some had on their pajamas, two or three skirts, two pairs of pants, two vests, two jackets and an overcoat. In some pockets we {the embalmers} found quantities of meat and biscuits. In most every man’s pocket were found quite a bit of tobacco and matches and vials of whiskey. Many people had keys to their stateroom and lockers.”

At 4:30 p.m., as light was fading, after steaming for 19 miles in and out of the line of wreckage, MacKay-Bennett came upon additional victims. A buoy was dropped to mark the spot where the next day’s work would begin. The day closed as they all did, with Canon Hind presiding as fifteen were committed to the sea, “some of them very badly smashed and bruised,” according to Cecil Zink, an embalmer from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

TUESDAY, APRIL 23

At 4:30 a.m., a body was found—which was the prelude of what was to be a most ar­duous day for the embalmers. During the next 14 hours, 87 additional victims were recovered, search and tagged. All were embalmed and kept on board.

By now it was apparent that the facilities, equipment and people on the MacKay-Bennett were being severely taxed. Captain Lardner wired for help and A.G. Jones & Company chartered a second vessel, Minia, to go aid the recovery effort. Also, Captain Lardner wired John Snow, Sr., in Halifax that they were running out of caskets and embalming chemicals. Mr. Snow, Sr., immediately notified the James Dempster Co., Ltd., casket manufacturers, which kept their factory running through the afternoon and evening to supply 150 more caskets.

The Rev. H. W. Cunningham, of St. George’s Church in Halifax, and undertaker W. H. (Will) Snow came up the Minia gangway and at midnight she departed Halifax. Stowed on board were 150 caskets and 20 tons of ice.

The Minia arrived at the disaster site at about 12:45 a.m. on Friday, April 25, 1912. At 6:15 a.m. the Minia sent a supply of embalming chemicals across by lifeboat and the two ships began searching together. By noon they had found 14 more bodies, and these were placed aboard the MacKay-Bennett, which then departed for Halifax, having on board all the bodies that could be looked after.

MacKay-Bennett had found 306 bodies and of those, Snow, Jr., had decided that 116 had to be buried at sea, too badly decomposed to be brought into Halifax Harbour. The ship returned to Halifax with 190 victims on board, almost twice as many as the original casket order called for.

As the MacKay-Bennett steamed towards Halifax, John Snow, Sr., had the latest news about the recoveries and movements of the MacKay-Bennett and the Minia, which was still continuing the search.

TUESDAY, APRIL 30

Between bad weather and northerly gales which scattered the rest of the bodies into the Gulf Stream, the Minia did not recover many bodies.

Meanwhile, in Halifax, Snow, Sr., characteristically had preparation well in hand. As the MacKay-Bennett drew closer to his home port, Snow’s had all procedures in action to ensure a dignified, carefully controlled arrival.

It had been decided that the MacKay-Bennett would not dock at her own pier with its limited space but would, instead, sail about a mile further up the harbour towards the Narrows and Bedford Basin, the dock at the Royal Canadian naval dockyard north of the coaling wharf number four. The location, heavily guarded and surrounded by the dockyard’s concrete wall, would permit better crowd control and ensure some privacy for the proceedings.

Snow’s had hired a transfer company to bring the additional caskets off the ship to the Mayflower Curling Rink on Agricola Street, which Snow’s had set up as a temporary morgue. Also, Snow’s had arranged that the coroner and the deputy registrar of deaths would be stationed at the dockyard wharf to issue immediately the necessary death certificates and burial permits.

The Mayflower Rink was set up with 34 stations where the embalmers were to do addi­tional work on those bodies not embalmed right on the ship. The bodies, when pre­pared, would be brought out to the main rink where 67 canvas-enclosed cubicles had been set up. Each enclosed cubical was large enough to accommodate three caskets. The relatives and friends would be escorted to the cubicles after embalming was com­pleted, where positive identification would be attempted.

Arrangements for Shipping: Snow’s had made arrangements with shipping and railroad companies for the transportation of the remains. Those caskets leaving with friends could be carried in the baggage car on payment of a regular First Class fare. Caskets could also be sent by express on payment of two First Class fares.

The American Consulate suspended all formalities and fees governing the transfer of bodies to the United States.

Snow’s also sent flyers and news reports stating that the bodies would be kept at the Mayflower Rink for up to two weeks to give maximum opportunity for loved ones to claim them. Further description of all bodies would be recorded and, where bodily features were distinguishable, photographs would be taken of the deceased. The records and photographs were to be retained and the body’s location after burial noted so that exhumation, if desired at any time in the future, could be done without any possibility of error.

At 9:30 a.m. the MacKay-Bennett arrived. Past Chebucto Light, marking the boundary of Halifax Harbour, she slowly steamed. The harbour, usually filled with ships, was silent and empty. Past McNab’s Island, past Point Pleasant Park at the southern tip of Halifax, another mile and there was a pause at George’s Island where port physician and coroner Dr. W. D. Finn and various police officials boarded.

As the vessel drew close to the dockyard those assembled could see Canon Hind and Captain Lardner on deck. On the stern could be seen the piled caskets. A large tarpau­lin covered the deck. Beneath it, and in the hold, were bodies for which no caskets had been available.

Docking was quickly effected. The first bodies to be taken ashore were those from the foredeck: crew members for whom there had been no embalming or preparation. Bodies were carried down the wharf on stretchers as others were brought up from the ice-filled hold.

Then came the Second and Third Class passengers whose remains were sewn up in canvas bags. The bodies of the First Class passengers, all embalmed and identified, were in caskets on the stern and were the last to be brought ashore. It took almost three and a half hours for the removals to be made.

John Snow sent out a call to send every available hearse and mortuary wagon to Halifax and the Maritime funeral directors responded. Over 30 vehicles from under­takers throughout the Atlantic Provinces were standing in wait for the removals to begin.

As the first hearse reached the Mayflower Rink, a large crowd had already assembled. The first casket was removed and carried into the rink, and placed on one of the white benches. The second arrived, then a third, as hearse after hearse arrived. The caskets were borne into the rink and placed in the main rink (if embalmed at sea) or in the embalming area.

Family members were impatient and a full set of restoratives and smelling salts was kept at the ready for fainting relatives under the watchful eye of a registered nurse, Miss Nellie Remby.

The Halifax coroner’s office had its offices on the second floor of the rink. The coroner’s office was in bedlam. Never had the coroner had such a large number of cases to pro­cess at one time. The canvas bags containing the deceased’s valuables were brought to the coroner. A log was kept of each bag and its contents, which were ordered to be held until they could be given to authorized claimants.

As the embalmers continued to work, one of them, too, received a painful surprise. Frank Newell, from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, unexpectedly encountered the body of his uncle, First Class passenger Arthur W. Newell and collapsed from the shock.

Another undertaker, Russell, Hilchey, who worked for Cecil Zink in Dartmouth broke his leg while removing a victim from the old in the MacKay-Bennett. Hilchey later worked for Cruikshank’s Funeral Home in Halifax and retired in 1940.

Eventually, after hours of dedicated work by the embalmers, all the bodies had been prepared. Now the moment came when each relative was admitted to identify the de­ceased. While this identification process began, the Minia continued her search in the North Atlantic, but the Minia’s success was to be limited.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 – THE FIRST BURIALS

As the process of identification continued, the first burials of victims began in one of three Halifax cemeteries. In cases where decomposition was severe, where identifica­tion had proved to be impossible or where family and friends had indicated such a wish, John Snow decided that in such cases interment would take place at once.

By late in the evening of Thursday, May 2, the embalmers had prepared for burial of 59 bodies, most unidentified, in the non-sectarian Fairview Cemetery.

FRIDAY, MAY 3, and SATURDAY, MAY 4

As this day began so did the funeral arrangements at Fairview Cemetery. Snow’s had made all the arrangements and a large group of spectators had gathered. The Royal Canadian Regiment Band was in place and the clergy were at hand to officiate in the commitment. The plan was to inter the bodies in long trenches, each body to have its own number engraved on a tombstone when installed so that the remains could be ex­humed, if necessary, in the future.

Prior to these burials, Rabbi Jacob Walter had identified ten victims who were of the Jewish faith and these people were buried in the adjacent Baron de Hirsh Cemetery.

Once the burial services began, churches throughout Halifax held their own memorial services. At St. Mary’s Cathedral, mass for four unidentified female victims was held and the bodies laid to rest in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Other funeral services were held at Brunswick St. Methodist Church.

On Saturday, May 4th, there was a simple burial service at Fairview. The little blond haired boy, among the first victims found by the MacKay-Bennett, remained at the rink—unclaimed and unidentified. John R. Snow, Jr., furnished this little boy’s funeral at no cost. The service was held at St. George’s Anglican Church. Canon Kenneth O. Hind, who had been present when the little boy was found, now presided. In attendance were 75 officers and crew from the MacKay-Bennett, who all chipped in and bought this little one a fitting monument. At the service’s end the little white casket, heaped with flowers, was borne by six sailors from the MacKay-Bennett to Snow’s funeral coach, where it was conveyed to its final resting place.

The stone for the little boy, commissioned by the crew is still standing in the Fairview Cemetery. It is larger than any of the others in the Titanic section. On it is this poignant inscription:

Erected to the Memory of an

Unknown Child Whose Remains

Were Recovered After the

Disaster to the Titanic,

April 15, 1912

MONDAY, MAY 6

Meanwhile, the Minia’s search had not fared well. Bad weather had continued nonstop and after a week, only 17 bodies had been recovered. W. H. (Will) Snow decided it was time to return to Halifax.

One of the bodies the Minia did discover was Charles M. Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Railroad. The Minia arrived at Halifax Harbour at 2:00 a.m. on Monday, May 6. When she docked the body of Charles M. Hays was taken directly to the private mor­tuary of John Snow on Argyle Street, where it was embalmed, placed in a casket and taken to the North Street Railway Station. There it was put aboard the private railroad car Canada for transport to Montreal. The other bodies were taken to the Mayflower rink.

THE LAST ATTEMPT

On May 6 the ship Montmagny was dispatched to the Titanic site for one last search. On board were undertakers John R. Snow, Jr., and Cecil Zink, along with Rev. Prince and Father McQuillan.

In the morning of Friday, May 10, one body was found. At 2:30 p.m. two more were discovered. At 3:00 p.m. a crewman was recovered. On May 13 the Montmagny re­turned one last time to search the area, but to no avail. On May 15 the ship Algerian also searched the site but only one body was discovered. On Sunday, May 19, more than a month after the sinking, the formal search for the Titanic’s dead came to a close.

Back in Halifax, the interments at Fairview and Mt. Olivet continued. On May 10, 33 bodies were interred. Also on this day, the body of William Carbines was shipped by John Snow and Sons to New York.

Of the 209 bodies brought to Halifax by the MacKay-Bennett and the Minia, only four remained in the rink. Coroner W. D. Finn sent the remaining four cases to Snow’s Argyle Street facility to await burial at Fairview and the coroner closed the books and the rink.

The last Titanic burial took place in early June for the bodies of the Montmagny and the Algerian. Within a year the dark grey granite headstones had been installed over each grave in Fairview Cemetery. They were virtually identical in design. Mindful of its re­sponsibility, The White Star Line deposited $7,500 with the Royal Trust Company of Canada for perpetual care of the graves of the Titanic dead.

The account of the Titanic sinking is only complete when the men and women of the funeral profession are acknowledged and given their full recognition as true “Unsung Heroes.” This account of the care of the dead and the living by faithful funeral professionals in the light of lengthy and distasteful circumstances is a noble part of the history of our great profession.

WHO’S WHO IN FUNERAL SERVICE’S

RESPONSE TO THE TITANIC DISASTER

APRIL, MAY, JUNE – 1912

Nova Scotia

John R. Snow, Sr. Founded Snow & Co. in Halifax in 1883

John R. Snow, Jr. Son of John Snow, Sr.

H. (Will) Snow Son of John Snow, Sr.

H. Davis Brother-in-law of John Snow, Sr.

Bertram C. Cruikshank Owned and operated the Nova Scotia Undertaking Co.

W. Murray Amherst

E. (Ned) Borden Hantsport

C. B. Olive Truro

W. Brown Pugwash

S. West Employee of Chandler Funeral Home, Liverpool

Cecil Zink Operated Cecil E. Zink, Undertaker of Dartmouth

D. Misener Worked for Zink

Russell Hilchey Worked for Zink

Jacob Sweeney Yarmouth

Frank Newell Yarmouth

K. Van Horn Yarmouth

F. Rice Digby

George B. McLaren Pictou

S. Campbell Pictou

T. Steven Pictou

Simpson L. McMillan Brookfield

C. McClellan Cabinet maker and undertaker, Tatamagouche

A. (John) Logan Shubenacadie

H. (Frederick) Roop Middleton

J. Woodman Wolfville

Neil J. Beaton Sydney

New Brunswick

George A. Chamberlain Chamberlain Funeral Home, St. John

L. Brennan Son of founder of N. W. Brennan Funeral Home, 2nd oldest funeral home in New Brunswick, St. John

Mrs. Mary Walsh Wife of Arthur Walsh, owner of O’Neil Funeral Home, St. John

Patrick J. Fitzpatrick Son of founder of Fitzpatrick’s Funeral Home, oldest funeral home in New Brunswick— founded in 1864, St. John

Fenwick W. Wallace Founder of Wallace Funeral Home, Sussex

William H. Wallace Son of Fenwick Wallace. Printed the first funeral trade magazine.

Abram A. Tuttle Founder of Tuttle Funeral Home, 3rd oldest funeral home in New Brunswick, Moncton

Fred L. Tuttle Son of Abram Tuttle

Ottie A. Tuttle Son of Abram Tuttle

Harry B. Tuttle Son of Abram Tuttle

B. Lauder Hillsboro

Michael Arthur Maher Along with his brother Norman, founded a funeral home at the turn of the century.

William Campbell Immigrated to Sackville in the mid 1800s and opened a carriage and wagon business that evolved into a funeral home.

Thad Stevens Passed away in the 1990s and was believed to have been the last living embalmer to have taken part in caring for the Titanic victims. Hampton

Prince Edward Island

Dudley Wright Charlottetown

Ben MacEachern Charlottetown

George F. Thorne Charlottetown