Mother of Edith Evans

[Carole Lindsay]

When the mother of Edith Evans, Angeline Burr Corse Evans, died on June 13, 1909, her obituary read "Interment at Westport, Conn." I wonder what her connection to Connecticut was, and why she would be buried there, when her husband, Cadwalder Evans, is buried in Philadelphia.

Does anyone know the answer to this, and the name of the cemetery in Westport?

Carole

 

[Martin Williams]

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to the question posed above but I've recently turned my attention to the mysterious Edith Evans and have a couple of questions of my own.

What relation was she to the Lamson sisters? It seems to be generally agreed that she was travelling with them but I've yet to discover how they were connected. Walter Lord has the party under the protection of Archibald Gracie during the voyage but it strikes me that Mrs Appleton and Mrs Cornell got separated from Mrs Brown and Miss Evans and left in different boats (I'm sure somebody here can tell me which). This strikes me as rather odd - you'd have thought that the foursome would have stuck together.

Am I right in thinking that Miss Evans came from a well-connected American family? If so, were her doings ever documented in the Society columns? According to the notice of her death published in one New York newspaper, she was a member of 'the Colonial Dames of America'. What exactly did her membership entail? Was it a prestigious or exclusive body?

Finally, it was once suggested somewhere on the board that a photograph of this enigmatic lady had been discovered - has it ever been published? I'd love to see her!

 

[Timothy Trower]

Martin,

Regarding the photograph, head over to www.Titanic-Titanic.com and ask Phil Gowan his plans for them. That's right -- he has at least three of them. He could also fill you in on Edith Evans' family as well; he and I spent a good 30 to 45 minutes on that subject recently while together at Titanic Branson.

 

[Brian Ahern]

Martin - Miss Evans was apparently the niece by marriage of Mrs. Appleton or Mrs. Cornell. I don't know if she booked passage on the Titanic specifically for the sake of traveling with them (she boarded at Cherbourg; they boarded at Southampton).

I think that the sisters' separation during the sinking was entirely accidental. I suspect it was the sisters' reluctance to leave the ship without each other that kept them on board until things were looking pretty bad (Appleton and Cornell left in boat 2, Brown, of course, left in D).

Colonial Dames membership was a big deal, though I'm not sure if it was more or less prestigious than membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution. DAR seems to have remained more of a presence these days. But, basically, membership in both was a way of letting people know that your family was settled Stateside in colonial times, and I believe your lineage was examined and verified pretty exhaustively before membership was granted. Sons of the American Revolution and Society of the Cincinnati were two corresponding organizations for men (note: the latter has nothing to do with the city of Cincinnati).

I recently started tracking an age-appropriate Edith Evans in the New York society pages, but gave it up when I realized that it was probably a different woman of the same name.

 

[Martin Williams]

Having spent the past couple of days trawling the online archives of 'The New York Times', researching the lives of the Lamson sisters, I've just turned up a scrap of information which I think must surely pertain to the mother and sister of the still-elusive Edith Evans. In January 1903, the resoundingly named Commander Louis Wentworth Packington Chetwynd R.N. married Augusta F.B. Robinson in St Thomas's Church on Fifth Avenue. Interestingly, one of the clergymen in attendance was the Rev. Ernest Stires, who officiated at the nuptials of Tyrell and Julia Cavendish, J. Clinch Smith and Margaret Hays. The wedding was a typically swanky 'Society' affair, with the bride clad in white satin trimmed with point lace, the groom in his naval uniform, and a guest-list headed by the likes of Mrs Astor (I assume this is Caroline), Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mrs Ogden Goelet, the Orme Wilsons and the Stuyvesant Fishes. Mrs Cadwalader Evans and Miss Lena Evans were also in the congregation.

And the maid-of-honour? One Edith Evans!