Mr William Crothers Dulles was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 21 December 1872.1
He was the son of Andrew Cheves Dulles (1832-1901), a lawyer and insurance agent, and Mary Barlow Cooke Crothers (b. 1849), Pennsylvania natives who were married on 19 April 1870. He had one sibling, a sister, Margaret (1877-1934, later Mrs Irvin and later again Mrs Elton Romano Benedito Fontana).
Dulles appears living with his family on the 1900 census but had no stated profession then. He worked as an attorney in his native Philadelphia and owned a horse-breeding farm in Goshen, New York.
A bachelor, Dulles had been travelling in Europe with his mother but would return to the USA without her, she remaining in the company of her daughter in Paris. He boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a first class passenger (ticket number PC 17580 which cost £29, 14s) and occupied cabin A-18. During the voyage, survivor William Sloper remembered befriending Mr Dulles and the two spent time conversing on numerous occasions. It was reported that Mr Dulles was returning on the Titanic with a dog but the specific breed is unknown.
Dulles died in the sinking. His body was recovered by the MacKay Bennett (#133) and forwarded to R. R. Bringhurst in Philadelphia on 1 May 1912.
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N0. 133. - MALE. - ESTIMATED AGE, 50. CLOTHING - Green suit; grey sweater and overshoes. EFFECTS - Gold watch and chain; gold plated knife and chain; gold tie clip; "W. C. D."; four memo books; gold stud; 11s. 6 1/2d. FIRST CLASS. NAME - W. C. DULLES. |
William Dulles was buried in a private mausoleum at the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA. Vandals have since damaged the doors to the Dulles mausoleum and knocked out the glass. However the inside of the mausoleum was not disturbed. Thanks to the vandals, one can read the inscription on the William Dulles' crypt:
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WILLIAM CROTHERS DULLES |
His mother later died on 7 April 1931.
Titanica! (2008) 