Emily Goldsmith
My name is Emily Goldsmith. My life has had its ups and downs. The most impactful part of my life was the time I went on a cruise. It was a really big deal. The things I found interesting were the rooms, the food, and the things you could do on the ship. It was much different from cruising today! My story is a very tragic story of how the ship sank, how my husband passed, and how it affected my son and me.
It all started when my little boy, Albert John, or Bertie, passed away from diphtheria. He died just before Christmas 1911, and it was a tragic month indeed. We were thinking about moving to Detroit, Michigan, to get away from the sad memories of our little boy’s passing, and start fresh in the new land. We lived in a small home in Stroud, Kent, England and weren’t the richest people in town. My husband was a toolmaker and he loved his job, as he made tools all day in the workshop. At the time, we thought it would be nice for our family of three, my husband, Frank. J., my nine year old son, Frank. J. W., and I to go on a cruise to get to our new homeland. We were traveling with some friends of ours, as well, Thomas Theobald and Alfred Rush, who would turn sixteen on the 14th of April. It would be the first cruise we had ever taken and would also be our last. It was a risky journey, but it was worth to try it. We booked the tickets! We were in the third class, the lowest class we could possibly afford. We were very excited to go.
April 10, 1912, was the day our journey began. It didn’t start out bad at all. It was very exciting to board the massive ship, to look around at all the beautiful things, and to relax. As I said before, we were in third class, so we were not allowed in other parts of the ship. We didn’t truly know how boring our little cabin really was compared to second and first class cabins. We thought our cabin and deck was grand. We had four bunk beds and a beautiful sink in our room. The ship separated men from women, so they could accommodate more passengers. Therefore, I had to room with 3 other woman. I shared a cabin with Jenny Hensan, Rosa Abbot, and Tammy Lang. Overtime, we became very close friends.
Dinner always seemed to come rather quickly, and we ate pork, soup, bread rolls, and vegetables. We had that same meal every night, to us though, it was a meal fit for a king. We were very pleased with everything.
It was day four, the 14th of April, Alfred’s 16th birthday and it was a very exciting day indeed. We didn’t get to celebrate it with lots of cake, but we did have a fun time anyway. We played games, laughed for hours, and he got to open some presents we brought abroad the ship. That night around midnight, my husband woke us up saying that we hit something. Later, we found out it was an iceberg. We then rushed to put on our life jackets and dashed up to the top of the ship. Because we were third class passengers we didn’t know our way around the ship. We finally found our way through second class decks and first class decks. I marveled at the sight of all the glorious things, in these areas as we passed them. As we were running we got stopped by a strange passenger. He told us, “GO! Run! Hurry, they found us, hide your little ones!” He was obviously drunk, as I looked back I saw him jump over bored, come to find out though, he drank so much, and was so large, that he survived the cold night in the water and was rescued in the end. Anyways, when we made it up to the top of the ship, the crew was already preparing the life boats so we could leave. They started shouting, “Woman and children first.” I kissed my husband goodbye and he told me that he would see me later. I knew, though, that I probably wouldn’t and I held tighter to Frankie. I looked around at the chaos searching for Rosa, my roommate and friend. That’s when Jenny said to me, “Rosa got lost in the commotion, she is trying to find her sons.” I was counting the people, when I recognized Tammy, my other friend I met in my cabin, trying to hold back tears. I went over to her and hugged her and asked her what was wrong. She told me, “I had a feeling about not coming on the ship. I have always been scared of ships. My parents died on one coming back home from a business trip. I have been worried ever since.” I told her everything was going to be just fine. As I said those last words to her, rockets went of signaling for help. They went up in the sky and exploded like fireworks. It was a beautiful site to see. The crew then shoved, my son, Frank, and my dear friend Alfred, and I onto the life boat. Alfred grabbed the crew member’s hand and said, “I will die with the men.” Being just the same height as Frankie he was mistaken for a little chap. Then, I noticed Tammy in the distance unable to pass through the crowd. I yelled for her, but she couldn’t hear me. My friend Thomas handed me his wedding ring and told me to give this to his wife if he didn’t make it back to her. I was devastated but very proud of the heroes that lived inside the men. The crew lowered the life boat, and we were then floating in the water with some of the other life boats. I yelled for Tammy and I saw her at the railing. She waved at me and told me she was alright. Being a very short woman she stepped up onto the closest part of the railing. As the crew pushed back the crowd, Tammy fell over the edge. I don’t remember what happened next because I looked away. All I know is that when I finally looked back, I couldn’t see her. I was very upset, so I searched for my husband. I found him too, looking over the railing smiling down on me. It was then I had a sense of peace.I knew that Frankie and I would be okay. However, that peace was suddenly broken by the ship’s boilers exploding. I saw a bunch of people fly into the air and was heartbroken at the sight. After the explosion, the ship broke into half. I couldn’t find, my husband, Frank smiling down on us anymore. I looked and looked and tried to regain that peaceful feeling again, but nothing. I kept hearing the screams of people who were jumping from the ship into the ice cold water where they would either drown or freeze to their death. It is a memory I will never forget. I also remember hearing music from the ship, it was strangely relaxing and calming to hear the music. I watched the whole ship sink and many die that night. Two hours passed as the ship slowly sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. During the cold, frightening two hours I saw a lady who was floating on a piece of debris. I demanded our life boat steward to row us over to her. He kindly agreed and did as I suggested. I helped the woman onto the boat and wrapped her in my only coat. I asked her some questions. She was a second class passenger that was lost and was shot into the air by the blast. She landed into the water and was able to find some debris. I asked her what her name might be. At first she couldn’t remember until Frankie saw her sea pass card. She handed it to me with shaking hands. I read the name aloud, Ada E. Hall. We then had to wait longer in the cold for the Carpathia to rescue us. When the ship finally came I was very relieved.
So, as you can see, it was a rough 5 days at sea. I lost my husband and many of my friends. I also watched a thousand people die. I’m forever haunted by the screams of people drowning. I hear them often in my sleep. I even remember the people jumping to their deaths. My son, Frankie, still thinks his Father will one day return. He doesn’t understand yet that his father has passed in the sinking. I just hope one day he will be at peace and all will be well for my son.
