Eleanor Geneviève Cassebeer

Mrs Eleanor Genevieve Cassebeer was a 36 year old upgraded First Class passenger travelling back to the United States, to New York City, from a trip to Europe. She was travelling alone when she boarded *Titanic* at Cherbourg, France on 10th April 1912.

Eleanor Cassebeer, the daughter of William and Louisa Fosdick, was born in LaPorte, Indiana, United States on the 29th of November 1875. In 1892 she married Lewis Peak, and they had a son, also called Lewis Peak, born on Christmas Eve 1892. Unfortunately her husband is said to have had problems with gambling and alcohol, and their marriage ended in divorce, in around 1897.

In 1909 she was married again, to Dr. Henry Cassebeer (born 5th August 1874). Again, unfortunately, it does not appear to have all been a happy marriage, as in 1911 they signed a separation agreement.

In early 1912 she sailed to Europe, where her son was at the time. She is said to be amongst the many examples of passengers aboard Titanic who did not originally intend to sail on *Titanic*. It appears that her decision to return home when she did was at least in part due to her receiving news about Henry Cassebeer being unwell. She stepped aboard *Titanic* when the ship called at Cherbourg, France on 10th April 1912. The interesting story is that she had upgraded from Second to First Class. She had taken the cheapest Second Class Cabin initially because she didn't carry enough money with her at the time. But when she went to see purser McElroy and handed him 5 pound, she somehow got appointed to a First Class Cabin, an old trick, she later said, which she had used before.

This is most likely the reason that the surviving list of Titanic cabin allocations does not include her name, but a 1912 newspaper article does state that her cabin was on the starboard side of D-Deck; in a letter she wrote in 1955 she says that her cabin was next to Mr and Mrs Harper’s, who we know occupied cabin D-33, and her cabin having a pothole has been mentioned. Looking at Titanic’s Deckplans, with this in mind, the most likely cabin is cabin D-31, which is not recorded on the list to have been occupied by anybody aboard the ship, but is said to have been noted by a dive to the wreck to appear to have been occupied.

Aboard Titanic she had sat having her dinner at the table of McElroy. Others included Harry Anderson, and one of the most well-known aboard Titanic, William Stead. She also became acquainted with Titanic’s designer Thomas Andrews. During her voyage she also met up with a young Jewish man named Benjamin Foreman.

At the time Titanic struck the iceberg, 11.40 P.M. on 14th April 1912, she was awake in her cabin. She then went up on deck to investigate, on the way meeting the Harpers, and mister Harper tried to reassure her, saying. "Not to worry ma'am, it's just an iceberg". She still wasn't satisfied and asked a steward what was going on, but he advised her just go back to bed. She didn't bother and made her way to the Boat Deck after getting her clothes right, but she saw that the place was deserted.

She was later accompanied by Harry Anderson who told her what happened.and when they were moving further forward, they saw the steerage people playing with ice and some First Class passengers on B-Deck wanted to have some fun too, so at their request, the Third Class men threw some pieces at them as a way of entertainment. Then the funnels starting to blow a lot of steam, so the noise became too much and they headed to the foyer and waited. After purser McElroy made an announcement that everyone should go to their cabins to dress warmly and collect their lifejackets, Anderson said to her that she should listen and return to the foyer after she was done, and to wait for him. It gave Eleanor a sense of excitement, she was not concerned about the ship being in any danger.

Back in her cabin, things felt weird. She was digging in her cabin trunk and the lid was not. For her it was a clue that Titanic was leaning foward a tiny bit. She met up with Anderson again and he escorted her to the Boat Deck. She was lowered away from Titanic at around 12.28 A.M. in lifeboat 5, commanded by *Titanic*’s Third Officer, Herbert Pitman.

Having left the United States for a trip to Europe on 26th August 1913, she was still there when the First World War broke out in late July 1914; she is said to have been in London at the time. From London, she applied for an emergency passport to return home in September 1914, and soon sailed home.

After Henry Cassebeer had completely stopped paying her the monthly money he was supposed to as part of their separation agreement, Eleanor Cassebeer, in 1923, started court proceedings against him, which eventually resolved the situation in her favour.

In the mid 1950’s Eleanor Cassebeer began corresponding with Titanic historian and author of the Titanic book 'A Night to Remember', Walter Lord. When the film version of A Night to Remember was released in America in 1958, Eleanor was amongst a group of survivors who attended its New York premier.

When and exactly where Eleanor Cassebeer passed away has long been a mystery, not really resolved to this day. It is known that she attended the funeral of her son, Lewis Peak, who died in January 1968, and at the time she was living in a boarding house for the elderly in New York City. It is believed she died in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s.