Dickinson H. Bishop

Dickinson H. Bishop was born on 24 March 1887, on a Thursday, in Dowagiac, Michigan as the son of George and Virginia Jennie. He was 24 when he married Mary Beckwith Lee, an wealthy heiress a wealthy woman whose family owned Dowagiac’s Round Oak Stove Company. Sadly she died on September 28, 1910, just 22 years old and 13 days after giving birth to a daughter that was named Pauline Lee Bishop, but the infant died minutes after being born.

After Mary's death in 1910, Dickinson received a vast amount of her vast estate, including a large share of the Round Oak Stove Company. Dick remarried to the beautiful 19-year-old Helen Walton on November 7, 1911. She was from a good family.

## *Titanic*

They were returning home on the *Titanic* after a 4 month long honeymoon overseas. During their honeymoon his wife Helen had become pregnant and acquired a toy poodle named Freu Freu. She was totally bewitched by the dog, Dikinson however was less fond of it but had to accept it.

The Bishops and their dog boarded the *Titanic* at Cherbourg, France as First Class passengers on 10 April 1912. and occupied cabin B-49 (ticket number 11967, £91 1s 7d). They were returning from a four-month honeymoon trip to Egypt, Italy, France and Algiers, delaying their departure so they could return on the new *Titanic*. Dickinson was 25 years old at the time.

Late on the night of April the 14th, the Bishops were in their stateroom when the *Titanic* struck an iceberg. Soon after waking Helen, Dickinson went out on deck to investigate and subsequently returned to the room after being told by stewards that the ship was in no danger. Later, fellow passenger Albert Stewart convinced the Bishops that there certainly was a danger, and they returned to the Boat Deck, leaving Freu Freu behind. Although there was no sense of urgency at that point, they both were told to board lifeboat 7, the first to be lowered from the *Titanic*, being launched at about 12:25 A.M.

Boat 7 was rescued by the *Carpathia* sometime after 4:10 A.M. The Bishops, along with other survivors, were transported to New York City aboard the ship*.* On board *Carpathia*, Dickinson sent a wireless message to both his mother and to an F. Lee of the Round Oak Stove Company, who would have been a relative of his first wife. When the Bishop pair arrived in New York, articles started being spread in the following days, announcing their rescue, and describing their experience. Bishop had delivered the details firsthand. He and his wife were delayed in their return home by the Senate Inquiry at which they both testified.

## The American Inquiry

Once in New York, the couple was ordered to report to the Senate Board of Inquiry in Washington D.C. Helen Bishop testified first, stating that she was conversing with John Jacob Astor and Madeleine Astor prior to the ship's sinking, when Captain Smith came to speak to Astor, Smith told the group he to put on life belts and go on deck.

Dickinson Bishop's testimony mainly dealt with the inability to lock the ship's watertight compartments. He recalled the sailors trying to turn the locks and not being able to close them properly on either side of the ship. Bishop also said that he heard no orders to keep the men out of the lifeboats in favor of women and children.

In the years following the disaster Dickinson endured rumours that he had dressed as a woman in order to secure a place on the lifeboat. This is strange since they themselves said they were told to go in, and furthermore, there was no need to do this. On starboard side, Officer Murdoch allowed men to get into the boats. This rumor would also contradict the fact there was no urgency, Mr. Dickinson wouldn't pull such a desperate move if he didn't believe there was serious danger or that *Titanic* was actually going to end up at the bottom of the Atlantic.

## Later life

The couple had quite a few rough moments in life. They also had to sit through an earthquake and were involved in a serious car accident from which Helen never properly recovered after she was thrown 25 feet from the car and had a skull fracture. Dickinson was only mildly injured, but she barely survived. It seemed a cousin of Dick drove wildly with no visilbility because of ice on the windshield. A crash into a tree was inevitable. Helen had to be operated and a silver plate was affixed into her skull to cover off the injuries.

More tragic news for the family came later, as the child that Helen was carrying when the *Titanic* sank, named Randall Walton, died after only two days after birth on 8 December that year. To add to the misery, the couple divorced in 1916. It seems that her injuries let to a severe brain damage and she wasn't the same person since, and the forementioned rumor also must have contributed to the marriage trouble. Nevertheless she charged her husband with drunkenness and cruelty. Helen Bishop was granted a divorce and $100,000 in alimony, the love was definitely gone at that point.

Later that year, Dick married for the third time, to Sydney Boyce, a daughter of William D. Boyce. This was two days before the death of his ex-wife, Helen. The announcements of Dickinson's remarriage and Helen's death were both front page stories of the *Dowagiac Daily News* on the same day.

Bishop served during the First World War. After the Second World War, he moved away from Dowagiac and for many years lived in Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois. Bishop and Sydney Boyce stayed together until her death in November 1950. He died after a stroke on 16 February 1961 and was buried at the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery on 20 February 1961.