[CW] OT: Titanic History

[David J. J. Ring, Jr.]

Titanic survivor Madeleine Talmage Astor was a bride, a widow and a 
mother all in the same year.

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Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV, was the only son of businessman 
William Backhouse Astor, Jr. and socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" 
Schermerhorn.

Astor, 47, met Madeleine Talmage Force, who was 18, and they fell in 
love. During their courtship he took her on automobile drives and yacht 
trips, and they were often followed by the press.

When they were married on September 9, 1911, there was a considerable 
opposition not only because of their age difference but also his recent 
divorce from his previous wife. Several Episcopal priests refused to 
celebrate the nuptials so the couple were eventually married by a 
Congregationalist minister at Beechwood, his Newport mansion.

On an extended honeymoon they sailed from New York on Titanic’s sister 
ship Olympic enjoying a long Egyptian tour. It was while returning from 
this part of their honeymoon they booked passage on Titanic.

In April of 1912, the Astors boarded the RMS Titanic from Cherbourg, 
France on their way back to New York. Madeleine was five months pregnant.

On April 14 John Astor woke his wife with the news of the iceberg. He 
assured her the situation was not serious, though put all of the jewelry 
on her. After putting on their life jackets the couple were seen sitting 
on the mechanical horses in the gymnasium.

As the situation progressed, Madeleine, along with both her nurse and 
maid, were instructed to get into lifeboat 4. They were forced to 
squeeze through a window from the first-class promenade to be lowered 
into the boat. Astor asked for permission to accompany Madeleine as he 
explained she was “in a delicate situation.” He was not permitted as the 
order was women and children first.

She clung to her husband and wanted to stay with him, but he reportedly 
said, "The sea is calm. You'll be alright. You're in good hands. I'll 
see you in the morning.”

Astor was last seen smoking on the deck and his body was later recovered 
from the water. He was wearing a dinner suit with twenty-five thousand 
dollars cash in a pocket, and holding a personalized pocket watch.

Mrs. Astor’s maid and nurse were rescued, but Astor’s manservant Victor 
Robbins perished in the sinking. Madeleine and her maid Rosalie Bidois 
attempted to rescue two men by pulling them into the lifeboat, but one 
had already died and the other died shortly afterwards.

After she was rescued, Madeleine suffered a nervous collapse and did not 
appear in public for over a month after the sinking. She reappeared at a 
luncheon held at her Fifth Avenue residence for the Captain of 
Carpathia, Arthur Rostron. This event was held to thank both he and the 
doctor onboard for their assistance with the Titanic survivors.

Despite the tremendous stress of the Titanic ordeal, she successfully 
carried her pregnancy to term, giving birth to a son on August 14, 1912, 
naming him John Jacob Astor VI (later dubbed the "Titanic baby" in the 
press).

Astor's will left the bulk of his fortune to Vincent, his son from his 
first marriage, but gave Madeleine $100,000 outright (worth about $2.75 
million today), as well as the full use of his home on Fifth Avenue in 
New York and a trust fund of $5 million. For their son, he left behind a 
$3 million trust fund (valued at $82.6 million).

Although the terms of his will were generous, it included a clause that 
if Madeleine ever remarried she would lose the trust fund along with the 
Fifth Avenue house.

In 1916, after years of relative seclusion from society events she 
married childhood friend William Karl Dick, in a "simple ceremony" as 
the sun shone brightly overhead.

She lost the house, trust fund, and the famous last name, but remained 
the most famous and tragic widows of the disaster.

Here, Madelaine Astor leaving church on Easter Sunday in White Sulphur 
Springs on the second anniversary of the Titanic disaster with her 
sister and fiancee behind her. Even in mourning, Madeleine wore the 
diamond dog collar and pearls her husband had given her.

Divorcing William in 1933 in Reno, Nevada, Madeleine went on to marry 
prize-fighter Enzo Fiermonte (translated as fiery mountain) but they too 
divorced in 1938 and she took back the surname Dick.

Fiermonte said of her after the divorce, "she carried her troubles with 
her like her pearls."

Madeleine Dick died in Palm Beach, Florida in 1940 at the age of 46, 
officially of heart disease but possibly after an overdose of 
prescription drugs. She is buried in New York City at the Trinity Church 
Cemetery in a mausoleum alongside her mother.

73

DR
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