August H Weikman

[Katherine Laura Robinson]

Wow, it's been a while since I actually posted here. Anyhow...I was recently scanning bios when I realized, to my great surprise, that August Weikman lived in the town next to mine. I don't think anyone around here knows about him. We're just a couple of small, obscure Jersey suburbs across from Philadelphia. I'd thought that the nearest Titanic-connected areas were on the other side of the Delaware River.

So, I wondered whether there was a way to find out his exact address. It would be a fun Winter Break project...I could walk over to see whether his house still exists, and possibly even take a picture to post here. My father (a librarian) and I are thinking about searching microfilm newspapers, census records, and things like that for more details about Weikman, although we're not sure what information would be stored by the town and what by the county. Any help would be appreciated.
As a side note, I was especially pleased to find out that a Collapsible A survivor lived around here. I'm very interested in that boat, both for the chaos surrounding its "launch" and the conditions endured by its occupants. It seems like the A-boaters had the hardest time of all the survivors. Collapsible B was at least a bit drier.

-Kate

 

[Yan V Ivania]

i heard from several sources ( i cannot remember them by now but will post them when i would come across) that Weikman was really in Collapsible C not A. Do somebody have any facts to prove it or disprove it. Thank you.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Hallo, Yan. Best evidence is the sworn testimony of steward Frank Morris, given at the British Inquiry. Morris was in boat 14 which went to the rescue of the people on the waterlogged collapsible A. He recognised Weikman among them.

 

[Katherine Laura Robinson]

Well, here are the results of the Robinson family expedition to the National Archives.
At the time of the 1910 census, Augustus H. Weikman, then aged 50, was living at 521 Lecony Street, Palmyra. (My best friend's street-- she'll be interested to hear this.) His trade was barber, and he worked on steamships...of course. (To my amusement, this census was taken on the 15th of April.)
Although he was born in Pennsylvania, he indicated that both of his parents were from Germany. The census also records that he had been married for 26 years. We couldn't find the rest of the family, since Augustus was at the very bottom of the page.
By 1920, the Weikmans had moved to 109 Broad Street. Augustus, then 59, was recorded as a "merchant" of "dry goods." (I guess he eventually gave up the sea after all.) Curiously, he claimed that his parents had been native Pennsylvanians instead of Germans. I wonder if WWI had anything to do with that, since having ties to Germany wasn't a great thing at the time. My own great-great-grandfather supposedly lost his job for being too fond of the Kaiser.

Anyhow, the census records a wife, Mary, also 59; a daughter, Helen M, age 22; and a son, Harry A, age 19. Helen was a milliner, which apparently means that she made hats. Harry worked for a watch case factory. (My father mentioned that there used to be one around here.)
I found some other information on Harry, but it's a bit iffy, since the name and year of birth are not consistent. According to the census, he's Harry A. Weikman, 19 years old in January, 1920. However, I found a draft registration for Augustus Henry Weikman Jr., born 29 June 1900. I'm guessing that he preferred to switch the "Augustus" and the "Henry" around to distinguish him from his father, Harry being a nickname for Henry. As seen here on ET, there's an "A. Harry Weikman" on the family tombstone, but the birth year is 1899, with no death year recorded. Finally, I found that a Harry Weikman, born 29 June 1899, died in Palmyra in February 1986. (So he died the year I was born. *sigh*) As I said before, Palmyra is a small town, so I doubt there were two Harry Weikmans so close in age running around. I think it's all the same person, although that doesn't clarify which birth year is the correct one.
We're giving this information to the Palmyra Historical Society, which seemed interested. We learned from the Historical Society that there used to be a store called, I think, L.A. Weikman, but this wasn't necessarily the one in which Augustus worked. My father and I took pictures of both the Lecony and Broad Street houses today, and I'm trying to post them...not sure whether it'll work. The first should be Lecony and the other two Broad Street.

109 Broad Street is now a store as well as a residence, so I wonder whether that was the case in 1920, too. Augustus might have lived and worked in the same building.
Well, this has definitely been a cool experience. I played in Morgan Cemetery as a kid and never knew a Titanic survivor was buried there.

-Kate

 

[Chris Dohany]

Thank you for posting those photos, Kate.

I believe you've found the correct Harry Weikman. The 1900 census, enumerated in June of that year, shows Harry to be 11 mos old, indicating the 1899 birth year is correct.

Additionally, the Weikmans had two older sons - Edward C., born August 1888 and Frank S., born November 1889 (dates per the 1900 census, Frank's doesn't jive with the birth year on the family grave stone, however); both were born in Philly before the family moved to Palmyra. The 1900 and 1910 censuses also indicate that Mary had two other children who died while young, making a grand total of Six children born to August and Mary.

 

[Lynne D'Autrechy]

Hi,

I was doing some research online about my great-grandfather, Augustus H. Weikman and came across some very helpful information on this site. It was heartwarming to find information on him here -- including even a picture of his tombstone. My grandmother, Helene M. Weikman D'Autrechy was his daughter. I just thought I would take a moment to introduce myself.

Lynne D'Autrechy

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Hello Lynne,

Welcome aboard! Good to hear that the info on your great grandfather was helpful.

Enjoy and see you around the board.

 

[Mark Baber]

An article about August Weikman appeared in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

I have always had an interest in how the Titanic's barber August Weikman survived but no book gives a clear account of this. From the information provided here on ET, presumably based on Weikman's own statements after the disaster, he must have managed to get on board Collapsible A. He said that he helped to load Collapsible C which had Ismay and Bill Carter in it but did not get on board that boat himself as far as is known. AFAIK, no one on the overturned Collapsible B mentioned seeing Weikman and so he did not go to the port side after 'C' was lowered. If one accepts his statements about hanging on to a deck chair and swimming across to a waterlogged lifeboat that did not have many people in it, then it must have been Collapsible A. If Frank Morris in #14 recognized Weikman in 'A' as mentioned above, then it must be that Weikman was rescued on Collapsible A. Further weight is added to this by the fact that Weikman's feet were badly frostbitten and it took several weeks for him to be able to walk properly again.

And yet, August Weikman is not mentioned in the survivors' list of any lifeboat as far as I can see on ET. But survive he did.