Good day to you Mr. Tekaucic,
The man in question was John Hugo Ross, a first class passenger from Winnipeg, Canada who was traveling together with his two pals Thomson Beattie and Thomas Francis McCaffry. Mr. Ross was brought on-board the Titanic in Southampton on a stretcher according to William Thompson Sloper since he was ill with dysentery. On the Cave list (a first class passenger list recovered on the body of first class saloon steward Hebert Cave) Mr. Ross is indicated as being in A-10 with his friend initially being together in C-6, however Major Arthur Godfrey Peuchen mentioned Ross being in A-12 with Mr. Beattie and Mr. McCaffry being in A-8 and other nearby staterooms (one of them was most likely in A-8). It is possible Mr. Ross was moved to an outboard stateroom to have some fresh air in his stateroom. The earlier mentioned Mr. Sloper, if Mr. Ross moved from A-10 to A-12, that he was in A-10.
During the sinking Major Arthur Peuchen mentioned the following during his account at the American Senate inquiry:
It looked like shell ice, soft ice. But you could see it quite plainly along the bow of the boat. I stood on deck for a few minutes, talking to other friends, and then I went to see my friend, Mr. Hugo Ross, to tell him that it was not serious; that we had only struck an iceberg.
Major Peuchen later asked Mr. Ross his friends:
I hardly got back in the grand staircase - I probably waited around there 10 minutes more - when I saw the ladies and gentlemen all coming in off of the deck looking very serious, and I caught up to Mr. Beatty, and I said, "What is the matter?" He said, "Why the order is for lifebelts and boats." I could not believe it at first, it seemed so sudden. I said, "Will you tell Mr. Ross?" He said, "Yes; I will go and see Mr. Ross."
There is an account, which I still need to trace, that states Mr. Ross said to Major Peuchen as he retired for the night:
"Is that all? It will take more than an iceberg to get me off this ship."
I'm sure my good friend, who is the number one historian on Major Peuchen, Jason Tiller will know from which account it comes. I look very much forward to his biographical book on him.
In his 1948 autobiography “The life and times of Andrew Jackson Sloper, 1849-1933” (which was a book on his faster, William Sloper told the following:
I got my life preserver down out of the overhead rack still not believing I wouldn't soon return to the room to go to bed. As I passed through the door to rejoin my friends, Hugo Ross called out to know what was the matter. After trying to reassure him that I didn't think the ship was in serious difficulties, I left to rejoin my bridge companions.
HOWEVER, there is one account that supports my doubts that Mr. Beattie and Mr. McCaffry (who's bodies were both recovered) would leave their good friend behind. The three friends were friends with another first class passenger by the name of Mark Fortune, who traveled with his wife and four children. The fiancée of Ethel Flora Fortune, the oldest daughter, by the name of Charles H Allen told the New York Times on the 23rd of April 1912:
"Hugo Ross and Thompson Beattie, both from Winnipeg, refused absolutely to enter the boat and which Mrs. Fortune and her daughter escaped, and assisted in loading it with women and children until it carried more than 50 persons."
If indeed true, it shows that Mr. Ross didn't die in his stateroom.
I hope this offers some insight.
Kind regards,
Thomas
