Dickinson H. Bishop

Mr Dickinson H. Bishop "Dick", 25, was born on 24 March 1887 in Dowagiac, Michigan the son of George Bishop and Virginia (Jennie) Dickinson.

Dickinson Bishop was a wealthy young widower whose first wife had willed him a major share in the Round Oak Stove Company in Dowagiac, Michigan. He married Helen Walton, of a well-to-do family from Sturgis, Michigan, on November 7, 1911. They were returning from a four-month honeymoon trip to Egypt, Italy, France and Algiers, delaying their departure so they could return on the new Titanic. They boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg and occupied cabin B-49 (ticket number 11967, £91 1s 7d).

The couple were rescued in lifeboat 7, articles announcing their rescue and detailing their experience appeared in the local press in the following days. The couple were delayed in their return home by the Senate inquiry at which they both testified.

In the years following the disaster, Dickinson endured rumours that he had dressed as a woman in order to secure a place on the lifeboat. The couple also experienced an earthquake and were involved in a serious car accident from which Helen never properly recovered. In addition, the child that Helen was carrying when the Titanic sank, died after only two days of life.

Dickinson and Helen Bishop were divorced in 1916, Helen died on 16 March 1916, Dickinson had remarried two days earlier, on 14 March 1916. The article announcing her death was on the front page of the Dowagiac Daily News. Ironically the marriage of Dickinson Bishop to his third wife, Sidney Boyce of Chicago, appeared on the very same page.

Bishop served during the first world war. He moved away from Dowagiac and for many years lived in Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois. He died after a stroke on 16 February 1961 and was buried at the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery on 20 February 1961.