Mrs Samuel Edward Parrish (Lucinda Davis Temple), 60, was born in Lexington, Kentucky on 16 July 1852 the daughter of William Temple and Margaret Eliot. 1

She married Samuel Edward Parrish, also native of Lexington, on 24 May 1870 2 in their home town and then lived there and in Versailles, Kentucky for many years. Then began a wanderlust that took her around the world, usually accompanied by her "daughter" Imanita Shelley Hall 3 and leaving the men in the family behind.

Lutie and Imanita developed a reputation for being social climbers though both had come from working class backgrounds.

A resident at the time of Woodford County, Kentucky 4, she boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a second class passenger together with Imanita Shelley of Deer Lodge, Montana (ticket number 230433, £26). 5

According to Imanita's affidavit to the United States Senate of 15 May 1912 an "Italian" (? Gus Cohen) jumped into their boat (lifeboat 12), when it was being lowered. He bruised Lutie's side and leg. 6/7

After surviving the Titanic, the Parrish family lived in Missouri for a while and after World War I relocated to Honolulu, Hawaii. The women continued to roam the world seemingly unaffected by their experience on the Titanic 8 and the 1920 census of Hawaii shows Sam Parrish and William Shelley living together without any other family members. Lutie left Hawaii in 1927 on a world tour and was gone for many months but returned before her death.

On 31 July 1930 she suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage at her home in Haole, Ewa, Hawaii and lingered about a week, dying at 5:00 P.M. on 7 August 1930. Her death certificate lists her as "Lucy Parrish" and gives an erroneous date and place of birth. 9 She was buried in a solitary grave in the Oahu Cemetery in Honolulu. Afterwards the rest of the family left Hawaii and so Lutie's body is the only one buried there.

Imanita apparently continued to move around the country, living at various times in Montana, Kentucky, Missouri, Oregon, California, Washington, and Hawaii.

Lutie Parrish in 1926, aged 74
Courtesy of Phillip Gowan, USA

Documents
Territory of Hawaii Standard Certificate of Death

References

1. Her tombstone and death certificate erroneously give the year as 1842 and allege a birthplace of London.
2. Phillip Gowan, Correspondence with Editor
3. Since Lutie and Samuel Parrish married in 1870, when Lutie was 17, and Samuel lived well into his old age, a mystery arises. Imanita's maiden name was Hall. And Lutie also spoke of a son John (Jack) Hall who lived in Oregon. Since these two had a different surname, it may be surnmised that they were not Lutie's natural children, but perhaps foster children, or possibly a niece and nephew that she raised.
4. Source Unidentified. Another source, also unidentified, gives her 1912 address as 85 Abington Road, Kensington, London.
5. i. Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279])
   ii. Names and Descriptions of Alien Passengers Embarked at the Port of Southampton, 10 April 1912 (PRO London, BT 27/780B).
6. United States Senate (62nd Congress), Subcommittee Hearings of the Committee on Commerce, Titanic Disaster, Washington 1912
7. The two women do not appear in the extant immigration sheets. List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States Immigration Officer At Port Of Arrival (Date: 18th-19th June 1912, Ship: Carpathia) - National Archives, NWCTB 85 T715 Vol 4183
8. Among her destination were England, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Egypt, Switzerland, India, Hong Kong, Java, Japan, and China.
9. Territory of Hawaii Certificate of Death

Contributors
Phillip Gowan, USA
Hermann Söldner, Germany

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Travelling Companions (on same ticket)
Mrs Imanita Parrish Shelley