Mrs George Dennick Wick was born as Mary Peebles Hitchcock in Youngstown, Ohio on 12 October 1866.
She was the daughter of William James Hitchcock (b. 1827) and Mary Johnson Peebles (b. 1837). Her father was a native of New York and her mother from Pennsylvania. Her known siblings were: Almira (1859-1934, later Mrs Myron Arms), Frank (b. 1861) and William James (1864-1936). She was educated in Farmington, Connecticut and besides that lived all of her life in Youngstown.
Mary, known to friends and family as Mollie, was married on 19 June 1896 to George Dennick Wick who, like her father, was an iron businessman. George was a widower with one child, Mary Natalie (b. 1880); he was president of assorted iron companies in various parts of Ohio. Mary and George had one child of their own, George Dennick Jr, on 19 March 1897.
Mary's husband George had been suffering from ill-health for several years and it was decided that a vacation to Europe might benefit his wellbeing and prevent him having to retire. Along with her husband, step-daughter Mary and a cousin, Caroline Bonnell, Mary departed from Youngstown in February 1912, leaving behind her son who was at school in Wallingford, Connecticut. They spent time in Naples, Venice, Paris and lastly London. In France they met Washington Roebling and Stephen Weart Blackwell who would also be aboard the Titanic on the voyage home. The family boarded the Titanic at Southampton as first class passengers (joint ticket number 36928 which cost £164, 17s, 4d). Also joining them at Southampton was another in-law, Elizabeth Bonnell.
When the collision occurred, Mrs Wick thought that a boiler had exploded. They were in their stateroom when her daughter and Caroline Bonnell came to tell them that the Titanic had struck an iceberg. Mr Wick rebuked the suggestion. Later, a crewmember must have told them to put on their life preservers and go up on deck. There, they were met by Natalie and Caroline. Caroline went below to bring her aunt Elizabeth up on deck and then the Wicks and Bonnells waited. The women were placed into lifeboat 8. Mollie Wick looked up and watched her husband stand at the rail and wave goodbye. They drifted about for five hours in the cold before being rescued by the Carpathia.
Mrs Wick's name was not on the initial lists of survivors and the Ohio newspapers speculated that she had died. Her son did not find out his mother had survived until several days after the sinking. He and William F. Bonnell were among the family members that travelled to New York City to meet the Carpathia. When they applied for tickets to enter the restricted area, they found that dozens of reporters had already claimed tickets as family members.
Mrs Wick refused to believe that her husband George was lost and remained in New York for several days with her family awaiting news. Family related that in New York, still standing in the clothes she wore to leave the ship, Mary's waiting family brought her to a dress shop to kit her out. Although prostrated at the loss of her husband, she was reportedly stoical and did not break down whilst in the next fitting room a wealthy New York woman, reportedly also a survivor, was being fanned and had smelling salts held to her nose.
A memorial service was held in Youngstown on 24 April 1912 for the loss of her husband. A family member travelled to Halifax, hoping to identify his body but it was never recovered.
Mollie Wick never remarried and remained living in Youngstown, reportedly wearing dark-coloured clothing in mourning for the rest of her life. Among her many activities, she was later the president of the local YWCA and was held in high esteem by her other committee members and the local community. During the 1914-1918 War she was active in the National League for Women's Service and was on the Board of Supervisors of the Mahoning County Red Cross. She was also president of the Woman's Workers Society of the First Presbyterian Church and on the board of the Youngstown City Hospital.
Mollie Wick died on 30 January 1920 as a result of pneumonia. Local press at the time reported that her stepdaughter Natalie was en route from England for a visit when her death occurred.
She is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Youngstown and her husband is commemorated on her grave.
Her son George was later married to Ruth Kuhn (1899-1974), a Tennessee native, and had three children: Antoinette Mary (b. 1919), George Dennick (b. 1922) and David Kuhn (b. 1927). He lived in various places, including Ohio and Connecticut and he eventually died in Columbus, North Carolina on 13 March 1975.
Mrs Wick's grave at Oak Hill Cemetery, Youngstown, Ohio
Comment and discuss
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Did Mary Hitchcock Wick ever leave behind an account that talks about the Titanic or her cabin #? Thanks Mike
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Hi Mike, To the best of my knowledge, Mary Wick's accounts of the sinking, of which there were very, very few, do not contain any reference to her cabin number. Much of what we even know about the Wick's experiences aboard the Titanic comes from Caroline Bonnell. We know that Mr. and Mrs. Wick occupied a room on C-deck, and were very close to the cabin of Caroline Bonnell and Miss Mary Wick. Some researchers have ventured a guess as to the possible location but the evidence is too scare, in my opinion, to say for sure. I hope you're doing well. Mike
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Hi Mike: Thanks for the note. So I'm guessing the mention of Mary Natalie Wick watching the third class play with ice came from Caroline.. Hope all is well on your end. Mike
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That was a good question, Mike. I have always wondered what was Mr. and Mrs. Wick cabin number, too. We will probably never know, although it is very possible they were not far from the Misses Wick and Bonnell, as Michael told you.Side note to you, Michael (Findlay): Did you get my message? Nothing really important in it, so feel free to response to it when you have time. Just checking... My best regards to you, guys. Charles
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Hi i'm looking for any info about Miss Natalie Wick. Can anyone know what became with her after Titanic? Thank you Ruby
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Hello Ruby, Natalie Wick married Lt. Col. Thomas St. Aubyn Nevinson in 1916. They had two daughters. She died in 1944 in England. All the best, Delia
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Although many of the American first-class passengers came from the eastern States, there were others aboard who hailed from slightly further afield. Among them were Colonel George Dennick Wick, his second wife Mary (or 'Mollie'), and his daughter by his first marriage, Natalie. They had been on holiday in England and were returning home with two of their relations, Lily and Caroline Bonnell. George Wick was a very prominent industrialist in Youngstown, Ohio, and he rates his own illustrated entry on Wikipedia: It seems that, like his more famous ship-mate John Jacob Astor, Wick had earned his military title serving as ADC to Governor Asa Bushnell during the Spanish-American War. In 1906, he built an elegant, Georgian-style mansion for his family. This now sits on the campus of the Youngstown State University and serves as the...
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My family has a small alarm clock that Mrs Wick took with her on the Titanic. It was given to her by her chauffeur, Jack Potter, before the Wicks left on their trip. The clock was one he had used before but jokingly wanted her to take it so she wouldnt miss the boat. She for some reason saved this clock and returned it to Jack on her return home.
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I at first...
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Well that's an interesting story about the photograph. It makes me think did the clock belong to Miss Wick or Mrs. Wick, but the story told by my grandfather (the recipient of the clock) uses Mrs. Wick as the person in the story, not Miss Wick. I wonder why a clock and photograph of this guy Jack was so important to her? Jack was Mr. Wick's chaffeur, but was he more for Mrs. Wick?
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The fact that while recounting the story in the 1950s the Countess of Rothes (she apparently had retained her title after her first husband died and she remarried), who was 33 at the time she survived the Titanic disaster, refers to the other woman as "a girl next to me", something that she was very unlikely to have done with reference to the then 46 year-old Mary Peebles Wick but might just have meant the 31 year-old stepdaughter Mary Natalie Wick, still unmarried at the time. But most likely the Countess was referring colloquially to her own...
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Then why didn’t she refer to her as her maid as she did before in the letter?
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