Mr William Hull Botsford was born in Binghamton, New York1 on 23 November 1886 the son of cabinetmaker2 William B. Botsford.
Botsford grew up in Millport NY. A picture from 1897 shows young William Hull standing on the porch of his childhood home.
As a boy he was educated at Horseheads High School one of only two boys in a class of eight3.
After leaving school at the age of sixteen Botsford worked for two years in the architectural office of Pierce and Bickford in Elmira4 as well as a firm based in Rochester, NY.
After his work experience Botsford went to study at Cornell University College of Architecture. He demonstated great drawing ability, indeed one of his works was hung in the library there. His skills also led to a commission for the cover of The Cornellian, the University yearbook in 1910. While at college William developed an interest in wrestling. A lightweight, he gained national and state honours in YMCA tournaments after leaving college. He was also a keen singer.
After graduating Botsford become chief designer for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. He designed many stations in the New York and New Jersey area including those at Elmira, Bath, New Village, Hopatcong, Basking Ridge, Watessing, Bloomfield, Syracuse, Utica, Hoboken and Ithaca. The last station Botsford would design was at Montclair. After his death a memorial stone and window was erected there.
During his time with the DL&W Botsford lived in Orange, New Jersey. He taught night classes sponsored by the YMCA and occasionally contributed to architectural magazines.
Botsford's last and most substantial work was the Tunkhannock Viaduct (aka Nicholson Bridge) near Nicholson, PA. Half a mile long and 100 feet higher than the Brooklyn Bridge the viaduct was designed to carry the Lackawanna railroad. The design was only accepted by the railroad board just as Botsford was leaving for home. His ship was the Titanic.
Tunkhannock Viaduct
William had taken leave to travel in Egypt, and Turkey and throughout Europe to study architectural design and techniques. For the return journey he boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a second class passenger. He held ticket number 237670, price: £13.
According to his sister Talitha 6 who was 10 years old at the time:
We were eating supper when the neighbor across the street came over and asked if we had seen the Star-Gazette. That was the first we knew of it.
We watched the papers and as soon as they printed the list of the missing, we knew.
Mr Botsford died in the sinking. His body, if recovered, never was identified 5. He is, however, remembered on a family grave at Millport Cemetery, New York.
A memorial service was held at the Orange, NJ YMCA. A. G. Hallock a friend from Cornell made the following address:
He left a record of modesty and unselfishness which led his friends at the very first to give up hope that he might have been rescued. He would have thought first of the women and children and then of those having greater responsibilities than he.
Comment and discuss
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I spent two hours yesterday with the 99 year old sister of 2nd Class passenger . Her mind is very sound - but her body has failed her. She was 11 when "Hull" went down with the Titanic. He was a brilliant young architect and his last design was the largest concrete bridge in the world in PA. He also designed many railroad stations in New Jersey and Upstate New York. One of his designs still hangs at the Olin Library at Cornell where he graduated in 1910. Many of his drawings are still on file at the Ivy League school and are marked "first mention." He was in Europe, Egypt and Turkey studying building design before boarding the Titanic. On his last night before boarding, he met British army officer Rankin Maitland. Maitland was so taken with Hull that he kept in contact his family in Elmira, NY for many years. Miss Botsford was an accomplished musician and...
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John, that must have been a great experience for you. Have you met any other relatives of Titanic's vicitms and
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For any of you in the UK. 2nd class passenger William "Hull" Botsford's last night in England before boarding Titanic was spent with British army officier, G. Rankin Maitland. Maitand was so impressed with Botsford that he located his parents in Elmira, NY and wrote to them for many years. I have tried to find out more about Maitland, and have had no luck. Could anyone help, please. John Pulos
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Dear Mr. Pulos, I was interested to hear about Mr. Maitland. Although I cannot be of any assistance with regard to your questions, you might wish to contact William "Hull" Botsford's sister, who is still living in Upstate New York. I corresponded with Talitha Botsford in the 1980s and she had wonderful memories of her brother. I sent her pictures of the railroad stations that her brother designed here in New Jersey. I use the Erie-Lackawanna station when traveling to New York City every day. Botsford designed this station. Local historians know of his contributions and there is an effort to have his memory memorialized on all of the stations he developed. As Miss Botsford is approaching 100, I don't know how much she will be able to help now. I heard recently that she is still sharp but her physical health is failing. Please e-mail me at and I will be happy to give you further information about her. Sincerely, Michael Findlay
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Sorry to report that William Hull Botsford's well-known sister, Miss Talitha Botsford, died in late January at the age of 100. As she was unmarried, she erected a double monument at the cemetery for herself and to memorialize her brother who died on Titanic. Phil
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Phil, I'm very sad to hear it. I've talked to John various times via e-mail and he often told me about Talitha and some stories she related about her brother. I've also got a copy of the claim filed against the White Star Line by William's father, where she is mentioned. John did I send you a copy of that? If not I'll try to send one soon. Daniel.
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Phil, I wanted to ask you a question in private, but you don't have any contact details on ET. If you're able to drop me a line I'd really apprecaite it. DK
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I read here about John Pulos who had met the sister of W. Hull Botsford, Taliah. There was an interview with Taliah in Elmira Star Gazette sunday April 12 1987. She told about the gravestone for William, and later for her, in the Millport Cemetery. At that time there was complete inscriptions for William, but only Talitha s birth year was there. She may still be alive? It is only three yeaers since John Pulos met her. I have also a four pages article about William H. Botsford from the Chemnung Historical Journal No 4 June 1968, Elmira N.Y.The article was written by Eva Taylor who had spent several hours at the Collection of Regional History and University Archives at Cornell University. She also referred to the Collection in the library of the College of Architecture, Cornell.
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Re: ... hi... this gentleman was an ancestor of mine which my brother barry discovered during family research.he looks almost exactly like my father .i have a heart lock bracelet on a curb link chain that is identical to the one shown on the rms titanic site.somewhat eerie ,i felt. your site is excellent and many thanks to you for it. i should like to know about talitha also if you have that information. signed...susan botsford-binns
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