Encyclopedia Titanica

LAST RITES FOR COL. GRACIE TO BE HELD TOMORROW

The Washington Times

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News of Death Saddens Friends in Capital, Where He Made His Home
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Funeral services for Col. Archibald Gracie, retired, survivor of the Titanic
disaster, will be held at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon from Calvary Church,
New York, the church in which in 1890 he was wedded to Miss Constance Ella
Shack. Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery, New York.

Washington friends of the colonel were saddened yesterday by his death,
which, while not entirely unexpected, was caused chiefly by the harrowing
experiences through which he passed after helping rescue many women from the
sinking ship.

Spoke of Giant Wreck

In his last illness the colonel frequently spoke incoherently of the great
wreck, sometimes shouting, "We've got to get them all into the boats. We
must get them into the boats."

He predicted his own death only two weeks ago in a speech before the
University Club here on "The Truth About the Titanic." At the time he
faltered and asked to be excused to rest, explaining that the disaster had
broken his health. He told of rescuing women and then sinking into the water
where he feared that the boiler explosions would boil him to death. He was
recued at last, but the great tragedy left an imprint on his mind and health
that he could not banish.

It followed him by day and in his dreams at night. Then, too, his
preparation of a book about the wreck added to the strain on his health.

Only yesterday President Taft received from Colonel Gracie under date of
December 2 a letter in which the colonel spoke as though discouraged by the
state of his health. Mr. Taft hastened to send a reply in the morning to
cheer the ailing man.

Manuscripts Lost

Colonel Gracie was well known in both Washington and New York, dividing his
time between the two cities. Here he lived at 1527 Sixteenth street with his
only daughter, Miss Edith Gracie, a debutante this season. The colonel
descended from Scotch stock, prominent in this country since Revolutionary
days.

In New York he conducted a real estate office, but he also found time to do
much writing. On his return from England on the Titanic he lost important
manuscripts dealing with the war of 1812, and he often declared that he
would return to start his work again.

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Encyclopedia Titanica (2012) LAST RITES FOR COL. GRACIE TO BE HELD TOMORROW (The Washington Times, Thursday 5th December 1912, ref: #19210, published 7 December 2012, generated 29th September 2024 05:09:45 AM); URL : https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/last-rites-for-col-gracie-to-be-held-tomorrow-19210.html