Captain Smith brother and sister

[Dorothy Harris]

I would like to know did Captain Edward John Smith
have any brother and sister?

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Capt. Smith had a half-brother, Joseph Hancock, and a half-sister, Thirza Hancock (Mrs. William Harrington).

 

[Dan Cherry]

Dorothy,
the only reference to any sibling I interpret is
on the encyclopedia listing on Capt. Smith is at
the bottom of the page within the census. Unless
I've misread it, it shows he had a sister some 15
years older than he. Other that that, I've seen
no other mention or references to his family other
that his wife and daughter.

Regards,
Dan

 

[Pat Cook]

There is also a webpage entitled "The Enchanted Titanic", I believe, started by a descendant of Capt. Smith. The page was set up for relatives of any Titanic passengers or crew to get in contact with others.

The address is: www fortunecity.com/millenium/tulip/129

The Enchanted Titanic

The Enchanted Titanic

web.archive.org

There are several listings under E J Smith.

Best regards,
Cook

 

[Dorothy Harris]

Thank you for these informations.

Dorothy

 

[Mike Herbold]

Pat:
Thanks for that posting. This is a very interesting site and will helpful in my research on California-related passengers.
Mike Herbold
Lakewood, Calif

 

[Scott Blair]

Dorothy

I have a fair amount of information on Captain
Smith's half brother and some on his half sister.

I will collate this and post it shortly.

You may wish to know that EJ Smith served on
a sailing ship commanded by Hancock and it is
quite possibly this link with the sea
encouraged him to leave his first known job
working in an iron foundry in Hanley and seek
a better and more adventurous life at sea.

 

[Kathleen Jordan]

Pat

The new address to the "The Enchanted Titanic: is now:

enchantedcastles.net

And yes Pat is very correct on the reasons and who started the web site.

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Had hoped for an update on the Hancocks- Phil, I know you have been looking in Savannah. Any news? I thought I might call the museum where the Hancock letters were donated to see who donated them and if there is an address of the donor. Savannah is the last place documented I know of-although somewhere I seem to have heard about Frank and family moving later to upstate New York.... I think there can be much value into this line of inquiry regarding Capt. Smith- Brain Trust- heave to! If you missed it back in January- the letters are here:

www geocities.com/revdma2/letters.html

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Hi Shelley,
Yes--more headway has been made--even got a great photo of Frank Hancock, his second wife and three children. I've found the family --though it took awhile. Will put something together when I've finished and probably submit an article to the BTS or ITHS. Just got a copy of his birth certificate as well. Still can't find anything about what happened to the first wife but she has to have died in Georgia as Frank remarried and had children before leaving Atlanta circa 1916.

Will keep you posted.

Phillip

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Shelley--a P.S. When Frank and family left Atlanta they went to Maryland, not New York.

Phil

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

This was worth the wait- and only 24 years too! Maryland- ! Being a Baltimore gal I hope it was there. Am BREATHLESS waiting for the photo of Frank- have had such a picture of him in my mind since reading those letters so long ago. Did he have a daughter? Don't keep us in suspense too much longer- am not getting any YOUNGER and have already waited over two decades! Any idea what kind of business he was in or who Churchill and Myers were?

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Shelley--have no clue who Churchill and Myers were. Frank had a daughter Eleanor born in 1920. As for occupation, all I can tell you is that he was a "manufacturer." Sorry--it wasn't Baltimore--he lived in suburban D.C.

I'm not getting any younger either! (50 next year)-so I assure you I'm hurrying!

My best,
Phil

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Was it Silver Spring????!!!!Eleanor after Mrs. Smith- how SWEET!m We can celebrate our half-century together- I will get there FIRST and you can always remind me.

 

[Dave Gittins]

I reckon General Gordon, Churchill and Myers might have been dogs or cats. General Gordon wa killed at Khartoum in 1885, Churchill was already well-known in politics and it may have been somebody's idea of fun to name pets after them.

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Shelley--they apparently lived more in what is now the Rockville area instead of Silver Springs. But the three children did not stay in that area when they grew up.

As for reaching the half-century mark, I was reminded last weekend at my 30th high school reunion (where we had an "In Memoriam" service for classmembers who have died)--"if any of us worry that we look old, fat, bald, whatever--we might want to be grateful that we have that opportunity. Not every graduate of Corsicana High School '71 did." Kinda puts things in perspective .

Phil

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

I am dauntless as long as there's Lady Clairol and lycra spandex Phil! Now I must go back and read the Smith letters again to see if Churchill was a bulldog and Myers a ginger cat!

 

[Geoff Whitfield]

Phil, "Old, fat, bald" now that's no way to describe Shelley! I, however, as you are aware, am delighted to fit into all three categories.
Class re-unions, I have discovered, are best left well alone - I made the mistake of attending one a couple of years ago only to find that many of my school chums had forgotten me (others were still desperately trying to!), the young maiden who captured my heart and caused endless nights of lost sleep now weighed in at some 300 pounds and ran a fish and chip shop in a less than salubrious area,others were unable to attend for a variety of reasons, jail/mortuary/confused etc.etc. Everybody was attempting to outdo everybody else with tales of how successful they had been and all no doubt, like I, massaging the truth "just a little". No, the past is the past and best served by being left that way. But I did manage to throw a punch at "Stinky" Wilson in an attempt to compensate for years of physical abuse, so I suppose the event did have one merit!

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Mature, portly and "thinning" are the correct terms!
Une Dame d'un certain age!

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Geoff--yes the reunions can be a show-off sport. At mine some of the usual old cliques did form again but I spent more time with the "kids" I went to grade school with-some that I knew so young that I can't remember a time when I didn't know them. None of us can be very pretentious with one another-we all know our own humble beginnings!

But I do have to admit a certain amount of pleasure at seeing the wife of one of the more obnoxious jocks. She was a cheerleader and a "knock-out" in highschool. But now she appears to be a sibling of Jabba the Hutt. Makes me grin a little to think that now he has to introduce her to everyone as his wife.

Also, my reunions (in Texas) are well worth the trip since I get to gorge on Whataburgers--had 4 in 4 days. Yum.

Phil