Archibald Gracie IV

Colonel Archibald Gracie IV (January 17, 1859 – December 4, 1912) was an American writer, amateur historian, real estate investor, and survivor of the sinking of the R.M.S Titanic. He survived the sinking by climbing aboard an overturned lifeboat. He wrote a popular book about the disaster which is still in print today.

Early life
Gracie was born on January 17, 1859 in Mobile, Alabama and studied at St. Paul's School. He was never married.

Titanic sinking
Gracie was saved during the sinking of the Titanic when he got onto a lifeboat. Then as the ship started to sink, his life boat was sucked underwater. Gracie and his friend Clinch Smith were under the ship when Gracie was freed from the ship's current and began to swin towards a collapsed lifeboat. His friend Clinch never reached the surface and his remains were never found.

Death
Gracie died on December 4, 1912 from diabetes in New York City, New York,Archibald Gracie Death Certificate on Titanic-Titanic.com aged 53. He died just 8 months after the sinking, making him the first upper-class Titanic survivor to die. Gracie's last words were "We must get them into the boats. We must get them all into the boats."

References

Other websites
 Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy, by John P. Eaton and Charles A. Haas, W.W. Newton & Company, 2nd edition 1995 
 A Night to Remember, by Walter Lord, ed. Nathaniel Hilbreck, Owl Books, rep. 2004, 
 The Truth about the Titanic by Colonel Archibald Gracie, New York, Mitchell Kennerley, 1913
 Titanic: A Survivor's Story and the Sinking of the S.S. Titanic by Archibald Gracie and Jack Thayer, Academy Chicago Publishers, 1988 
 The Truth about Chickamauga, by Archibald Gracie, 1911 

Category:1859 births
Category:1912 deaths
Category:Deaths from diabetes
Category:RMS Titanic survivors
Category:American historians
Category:Writers from Mobile, Alabama
Category:Writers from New York City