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Message |
    
Arne Mjåland
Member
Username: arne
Post Number: 144
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 3:00 pm: | 
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It will be almost impossible to obtain an obituary about her. She died at Saranac Lake N.Y. June 27 1927. You will understand that when reading the message I got from Saranac Lake Free Library: "I was not able to find an obituary for her , because the Adirondack Enterprice newspapers were foolishly discarded from 1926 to 1953. I do not have any copies on microfilm on them".
The only other possibility is if any relatives of her saved an eventually obituary about her. I read in another thread here that Mrs Bucknell has relaticves in South Carolina. You think it may be possible to ask them? |
Michael Findlay
Member
Username: mikef
Post Number: 190
Registered: 4-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 3:29 pm: |
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Hi Arne,
I remember that an obituary for Mrs. Bucknell appeared in the NY Times in June of 1927 - although it was not a very detailed one. I also have one from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
If I'm not mistaken, I do not even think the NY Times obit mentioned her Titanic affiliation - although the Philadelphia notice did.
Regards,
Mike Findlay |
Mark Baber
Moderator
Username: mab
Post Number: 1009
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 7:23 pm: |
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Here's the NYT obit:
The New York Times, 29 June 1927
MRS. EMMA W. BUCKNELL
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Widow of University Founder Dies at Saranac Lake Camp
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Special to The New York Times
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SARANAC INN, N. Y., June 28.---Mrs. Emma Ward Bucknell, 75 years old, widow of William Bucknell, founder of Bucknell University, died last night at her camp on Upper Saranac Lake, having recently arrived from Clearwater, Fla., where she spent each Winter.
With her at the time of her death were her son, Dr. Howard Bucknell of Atlanta, Ga., and her daughter, Countess Pecorini, formerly Margaret Bucknell. Mrs. Bucknell is survived by two other daughters, Mrs. Jay Day of Summerville, S. C., and Mrs. S. P. Wetherill of Philadelphia.
-30-
MAB
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OceanicSteamNavigationCo/
http://www.greatships.net/
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Arne Mjåland
Member
Username: arne
Post Number: 145
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 11:36 am: |
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Thank you Michael and Mark. |
Zachary Schwarz
Member
Username: dvd5486
Post Number: 36
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 2:29 am: |
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This pertains more to Mrs. Bucknell's maid, Albina Bazzani. Has it been determined whether or not she was married, and if so has anyone come across her maiden name? |
Chris Dohany
Member
Username: cdohany
Post Number: 140
Registered: 1-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 3:52 pm: |
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Ellis Island records from when Mrs. Bazzani/Bassani entered the US in June 1911 (with Mrs. Bucknell) indicate she was widowed. |
Glenda Bowling
Member
Username: mollyeb
Post Number: 48
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 12:02 am: |
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The information on Ms. Bazzani has not been made public but she has been tracked down. She was twice married and lived to a ripe old age and had three children. The older two lived out their lives and died in Europe. The youngest is now in her late 80's and lives in the United States. I've seen a lovely family portrait of them taken circa 1930. |
Zachary Schwarz
Member
Username: dvd5486
Post Number: 38
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 2:24 pm: |
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Hi Glenda,
Do you happen to know when it will be announced? I always assumed that Albina was hired by Mrs. Bucknell while she was visiting her daughter in Italy.
Thanks,
Zach |
Chris Dohany
Member
Username: cdohany
Post Number: 141
Registered: 1-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 8:16 pm: |
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Albina had some connection to Bucknell's daughter, as the Countess Pecorini is listed as "nearest relative or friend in country whence alien came" for Bazzani in the same passenger manifest from 1911. I'm taking a stab in the dark here, but perhaps Bazzani was in the employment of the Countess at some time? |
Martin Williams
Member
Username: martin_williams
Post Number: 518
Registered: 3-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 5:34 pm: |
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Yes, I believe that Albina Bazzani HAD been in the employ of the Countess Pecorini and until quite recently too. Emma Bucknell had spent the early part of 1912 visiting her daughter in Italy - newspaper reports suggest that Margaret had not been in the best of health, although it was obviously not a terminal condition, since she was alive and kicking at the time of Emma's death in 1927 and was apparently still paying visits to her family in the States in the mid-Thirties.
I am curious to know how Margaret Bucknell came to be married to a member of the Italian aristocracy. Much has been written about the infiltration of the English nobility by American dollar princesses but rather less about the experiences of these girls on the Continent. I do know that the Italian upper class was far more accessible than those of, say, Germany and Austria at this time and that it was even felt that an Italian title was worth rather less than an British one. Emma Bucknell was not the only first-class passenger with a close relative in that country - Julia Cavendish's step-sister, Georgine Wilde, was married to Count Carlo Dentice de Frasso. I imagine that Margaret had been introduced to her future husband whilst visiting Europe with her mother - although it is not impossible that they actually met on home-ground. The Count was seemingly something of a connoisseur and I have come across a source which suggests that he loaned some Japanese bronzes to the Pennsylvania Museum in 1917 and even accompanied them across the submarine-haunted waters of the North Atlantic to ensure safe delivery.
However they met, the Count and Countess Pecorini evidently made themselves very at home in Rome Society. In November, 1911, it was noted that they had loaned their villa to the family of the Second Secretary of the American Embassy, Alexander Richardson Magruder, when they temporarily found themselves homeless. The same article references the Count's impressive collection of antique jade and mentions that he and Margaret were travelling for the sake of her health - presumably, the same condition that had called her mother to Italy during the spring of 1912. I do wonder if the Pecorinis and Emma Bucknell would have had any contact with Archibald Butt and Francis Millet that season, since the American colony in Rome was quite tightly-knit and the Count and Countess were very social. |
Brian Ahern
Member
Username: brian_ahern
Post Number: 580
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 8:38 pm: |
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Two more Titanic passengers had even grander connections within the Italian aristocracy. Margaret Graham's husband's sister, Elsie Moore, was the wife of Marino Torlonia, 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi. One of their sons married the daughter to the King of Spain, while a daughter married an American and became the grandmother of Brooke Shields.
And William Augustus Spencer's sister was the Princess di Cenci-Vicovaro, who - it's been said elsewhere on this board - was a lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Italy. |
Martin Williams
Member
Username: martin_williams
Post Number: 590
Registered: 3-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 3:45 pm: |
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In the years after the 'Titanic' disaster, Emma Bucknell preferred to spend her winters under the warm, sunny skies of Florida. Quite by chance, I've discovered an article which features a period photograph of the beautiful Greek-Revival house she had built in fashionable Clearwater in 1921:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/article659537.ece?ref=patrick.net |
Michael Poirier
Member
Username: mike_poirier
Post Number: 897
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 7:58 pm: |
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There is a new book on Emma Bucknell on amazon.com
Voyage, journal of www.titanicinternationalsociety.org
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Martin Williams
Member
Username: martin_williams
Post Number: 593
Registered: 3-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 11:44 am: |
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Well spotted, Michael, and thank you. It is always a pleasure to learn that a less celebrated passenger has come in for his or her share of attention at last. Intriguing to discover that Emma Bucknell's parents perished during the Boxer Rebellion in China. I can't wait to find out more!
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080807/COLUMN46/808070459/1053/NEWSREWIND |
Brian Ahern
Member
Username: brian_ahern
Post Number: 604
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 5:57 pm: |
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I've just ordered my copy. The article on the book and its author says that she was motivated by Judith Geller's book making Emma out to be a gold digger. I recall Geller's portrayal of Mrs Bucknell as that of an elegant, loving woman. |
Martin Williams
Member
Username: martin_williams
Post Number: 594
Registered: 3-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 1:19 pm: |
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Brian, welcome back! Your presence on the board has been much missed of late. I very much hope that you'll be making some more contributions to the first-class passenger biographies in the not-too-distant future.
I have to say, though, I agree with you about the Geller. I don't think that Emma Bucknell comes across as a gold-digger. Quite the contrary, in fact: it sounds to me like she had rather a lot to put up with in her marriage! I've not seen a decent photographic portrait of her as she would have appeared around 1912, so it will be interesting to know if the new biography contains any images. |
Brian Ahern
Member
Username: brian_ahern
Post Number: 605
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 3:14 pm: |
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Thanks, Martin! It's good to be back. |
Bruce De Benedictis
Member
Username: bdeben
Post Number: 1
Registered: 2-2009
| | Posted on Monday, February 2, 2009 - 4:17 pm: |
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Albina Bassani was my great-aunt. That is her maiden name. As far as I know, she never married. Her experience on the Titanic was traumatic. My father said she shook for the rest of her life. |
Kalman Tanito
Member
Username: starcross
Post Number: 129
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - 4:09 pm: |
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Bruce, check out Glenda Bowling's message above, it appears that your great-aunt was married twice! |
Bruce De Benedictis
Member
Username: bdeben
Post Number: 2
Registered: 2-2009
| | Posted on Friday, February 6, 2009 - 1:14 am: |
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Glenda Bowling's message is unlikely. Even the name is incorrect. That is probably some other person.
The family name was Bassani. Her signature on her claim for her lost articles is in the National Archives. |
Peter
Member
Username: pellis007
Post Number: 1
Registered: 6-2009
| | Posted on Monday, June 8, 2009 - 5:17 pm: |
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Thank you for all the great information on Emma Bucknell here, especially the book info. I didn't know about it and have just ordered it. I'm thrilled to find this message board and discover a little more about Emma. Emma was my Grandmothers, grandmother. Not sure how many "great" grandmothers that is but I recall my own grandmother, Edith (daughter of Samuel Price Wetherill and one of Emma's daughters) speaking of Emma and her experience on the Titanic. My middle name is Bucknell, named in memory of William and Emma. I look forward to keeping up here and perhaps with the help of my Uncle post some relevant information on Emma. |
Michael Poirier
Member
Username: mike_poirier
Post Number: 943
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, June 8, 2009 - 5:55 pm: |
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Hi Peter,
I had a chance to meet the Bucknell/Soderman family who wrote the book at the Titanic International Society convention in Philly this year. They were wonderful and even brought the watch she was wore off the ship and a nice cameo portrait of her. We've been helping them gather more information on the family as well.
Mike
Voyage, journal of www.titanicinternationalsociety.org
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Kyrila Scully
Member
Username: childstar413
Post Number: 2045
Registered: 4-2001
| | Posted on Monday, June 8, 2009 - 6:14 pm: |
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Very interesting! I didn't know a whole book had been written about her. I portrayed her once at an anniversary tour at TITANIC: THE EXPERIENCE here in Orlando. My friend Jac LeDoux portrays Molly at the museum, so I played Emma since they were friends. She's an interesting person to portray. Not at all like the strong, independent women I usually portray. |
Peter
Member
Username: pellis007
Post Number: 2
Registered: 6-2009
| | Posted on Friday, June 12, 2009 - 2:16 pm: |
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I just received and read the book last night. It really was fascinating to get a glimpse into Emma. I can see Emma in my grandmother after reading this. It also really helped to clarify my ancestry and get a clearer picture of all the names I've heard and relatives I've met in my life. Thanks again for the heads up on the book! |
