Mr Francis Davis Millet

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Mr Francis Davis Millet, 65, was born on 3 November 1846 in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts.

Accompanying his surgeon father to the Civil War, Millet served as a drummer boy to a Massachusetts regiment and later served as a surgical assistant. A brilliant student at Harvard, he became a reporter, then city editor, of the Boston Courier. From a pastime of lithography and portraiture of friends, he decided to devote himself to art. Entering the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Antwerp, Belgium, he won an unprecedented silver medal in his first year and a gold medal in the second. A constant traveller, Millet kept his newspaper contacts open, and during the Russian-Turkish War he represented with distinction several American and English newspapers. He was decorated by Russia and Rumania for bravery under fire and services to the wounded. Millet's literary talents led him to publish accounts of his travels and, besides writing short stories and essays, he translated Tolstoy's Sebastopol.

Millet's work as a decorative artist includes the murals of the Baltimore Customs House, Trinity Church of Boston, and the Capitol Buildings of Wisconsin and Minnesota. His paintings are found in the Metropolitan Museum, New York City, and the Tate Gallery, London (see illustration above). In addition, his administrative skills, won him acclaim as superintendent of decoration at the World's Colombian Exhibition in Chicago (1893), and as organizer of the American Federation of the Arts for the National Academy. At a memorial for Millet in 1913, Senator Elihu Root said:

"He must have been born with a sense of the beautiful and a love for it, for he devoted his life to it....He was one of the most unassuming and unselfish of men....He was a man of great strength and force, decision and executive capacity....He always pressed on to the accomplishment of his purposes, purposes in which self was always subordinate...."

In 1912 Millet resided in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a first class passenger (ticket number 13509, £26 11s) He occupied cabin E-38. He accompanied his friend Major Archibald Butt.

While on board the Titanic Millet wrote to a friend, the letter, which was posted in Queenstown. In the letter he complains about his fellow passengers:

Queer lot of people on the ship. There are a number of obnoxious, ostentatious American women, the scourge of any place they infest and worse on shipboard than anywhere".

He also observed a number of passengers that had brought their pets with them:

"Many of them carry tiny dogs, and lead husbands around like pet lambs."

Millet died in the sinking, his body was recovered from the sea by the crew of the MacKay Bennett (#249):

NO. 249 - MALE - ESTIMATED AGE, 65 - HAIR, GREY 

CLOTHING - Light overcoat; black pants; grey jacket; evening dress

EFFECTS - Gold watch and chain; "F.D.M." on watch; glasses; two gold studs; silver tablet bottle; £2 10s in gold; 8s in silver; pocketbook

NAME - FRANK D. MILLET (?)

The body was forwarded to Boston and buried at East Bridgwater Central Cemetery.


Courtesy of Michael A. Findlay, USA

Mr Millet's story was told in a limited edition biography published privately by Joyce Sharpey-Schafer: "Soldier of Fortune: F.D. Millet," (The volume is now out-of-print.) And in Washington DC a memorial was erected to his memory and that of his friend Major Butt.

References and Sources

Hudson Observer, 17 April 1912, Millet, the Artist, is Reported among the many Drowned
Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279])
Brian Ticehurst (1996) Titanic''s Memorials World-wide: Where they are Located. ISBN 1 871733 05 7

Credits
Philip Hind (Editor)
George Behe, USA
Frederica Romeo Burgess
Lee Dixon
Vincent Riley
Hermann Söldner, Germany
Craig Stringer, UK
Geoff Whitfield, UK

Related Articles and Documents

Various Memorials VARIOUS MEMORIALS  
Woman on Divan - painting by Francis Davis Millet WOMAN ON DIVAN - PAINTING BY FRANCIS DAVIS MILLET  
Millet's little artist studio in East Bridgewater on Plymouth Rd. MILLET'S LITTLE ARTIST STUDIO IN EAST BRIDGEWATER ON PLYMOUTH RD.  
Frank Davis Millet King's Notable New Yorkers  FRANK DAVIS MILLET  
Francis Davis Millet Gravestone FRANCIS DAVIS MILLET GRAVESTONE  
Letter from F.D. Millet and the New Bedford Library (1912)  LETTER FROM F.D. MILLET AND THE NEW BEDFORD LIBRARY  
MAJOR BUTT'S SUIT A WONDER New York Times  (1912)  MAJOR BUTT'S SUIT A WONDER  
Francis D. Millet, Soldier, Painter, And Connoisseur Washington Times  (1912)  FRANCIS D. MILLET, SOLDIER, PAINTER, AND CONNOISSEUR  
J. P. MORGAN IN ROME New York Times  (1912)  J. P. MORGAN IN ROME  
ROME NOW CROWDED New York Times  (1912)  ROME NOW CROWDED  
MORGAN VISION OF ART New York Times  (1912)  MORGAN VISION OF ART  
AMERICANS IN ROME New York Times  (1912)  AMERICANS IN ROME  
Letter to his old friend Alfred Parsons (1912)  LETTER TO HIS OLD FRIEND ALFRED PARSONS  
Brockton And Stoughton Men Aboard Titanic Brockton Daily Enterprise  (1912)  BROCKTON AND STOUGHTON MEN ABOARD TITANIC  
FRANK D. MILLET'S CAREER New York Times  (1912)  FRANK D. MILLET'S CAREER  
TEN FROM THIS STATE ON TITANIC Newark Evening News  (1912)  TEN FROM THIS STATE ON TITANIC  
PRESIDENT'S AIDE AMONG PASSENGERS ON CRIPPLED SHIP Washington Times  (1912)  PRESIDENT'S AIDE AMONG PASSENGERS ON CRIPPLED SHIP  
President and Friends Of Major Butt Fear He Went Down With Ship Washington Times  (1912)  PRESIDENT AND FRIENDS OF MAJOR BUTT FEAR HE WENT DOWN WITH SHIP  
LIST OF WASHINGTONIANS ON FATED STEAMER GROWS Washington Times  (1912)  LIST OF WASHINGTONIANS ON FATED STEAMER GROWS  
300 OF TITANIC'S PASSENGERS WERE BOOKED AT PARIS Chicago American  (1912)  300 OF TITANIC'S PASSENGERS WERE BOOKED AT PARIS  
NEW VERSION OF BUTT'S TRIP New York Times  (1912)  NEW VERSION OF BUTT'S TRIP  
Marconigram (1912)  MARCONIGRAM  
Three of Ten Jersey Passengers Are Safe Newark Star  (1912)  THREE OF TEN JERSEY PASSENGERS ARE SAFE  
MILLET, THE ARTIST, IS REPORTED AMONG THE MANY DROWNED Hudson Observer  (1912)  MILLET, THE ARTIST, IS REPORTED AMONG THE MANY DROWNED  
For New Bedford Library Worcester Telegram  (1912)  FOR NEW BEDFORD LIBRARY  
CAPITAL RESIDENTS IN NEW YORK FOR CARPATHIA'S COMING Washington Times  (1912)  CAPITAL RESIDENTS IN NEW YORK FOR CARPATHIA'S COMING  
DEATH OF MAJOR BUTT MOURNED BY WASHINGTONIANS Washington Times  (1912)  DEATH OF MAJOR BUTT MOURNED BY WASHINGTONIANS  
CAPT. ROSTRON TELLS OF RESCUE Washington Herald  (1912)  CAPT. ROSTRON TELLS OF RESCUE  
Mr. F. D. Millet Aberdeen Daily Journal  (1912)  MR. F. D. MILLET  
PEACE MEN MOURN THEIR LOSS New York Times  (1912)  PEACE MEN MOURN THEIR LOSS  
TITANIC SURVIVOR ARRIVES Toronto Daily Star  (1912)  TITANIC SURVIVOR ARRIVES  
MILLET MEMENTOS IN ROME New York Times  (1912)  MILLET MEMENTOS IN ROME  
Funeral Service for Millet New York Times  (1912)  FUNERAL SERVICE FOR MILLET  
MILLET'S BODY CREMATED New York Times  (1912)  MILLET'S BODY CREMATED  
BUTT-MILLET MEMORIAL New York Times  (1912)  BUTT-MILLET MEMORIAL  
FOR BUTT-MILLET MEMORIAL New York Times  (1912)  FOR BUTT-MILLET MEMORIAL  
For Butt-Millet Titanic Memorial New York Times  (1912)  FOR BUTT-MILLET TITANIC MEMORIAL  
Probate Reports (1912)  PROBATE REPORTS  
COL. GRACIE DIES, HAUNTED BY TITANIC New York Times  (1912)  COL. GRACIE DIES, HAUNTED BY TITANIC  
PAINTING FOR BUTT FUND New York Times  (1912)  PAINTING FOR BUTT FUND  
The Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain, 1913 (1913)  THE BUTT-MILLET MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN, 1913  
TITANIC CLAIMS $10,000,000 The Washington Post  (1913)  TITANIC CLAIMS $10,000,000  
MONUMENT TO BUTT SOON New York Times  (1913)  MONUMENT TO BUTT SOON  
FOR BUTT-MILLET MEMORIAL New York Times  (1913)  FOR BUTT-MILLET MEMORIAL  
Fate Deals a Hand Titanic Commutator  (1982)  FATE DEALS A HAND  
Millet Evening News  (1986)  MILLET  
Frank Millet Evening News  (1988)  FRANK MILLET  

Titanic Passenger and Crew Summary

Name: Mr Francis Davis Millet
Born: Tuesday 3rd November 1846 in
Age: 65 years 5 months and 12 days.
Last Residence: in East Bridgewater Massachusetts United States - Map
Occupation: Artist

First Embarked: Cherbourg on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 13509 , £26 11s
Cabin No.: E38
Died in the Titanic disaster (15th April 1912).
Body recovered by: Mackay-Bennett (No. 249)
Buried: Saint John's Central Cemetery Bridgewater Massachusetts United States


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