Eugene Joseph Abbott

Master Eugene Joseph Abbott was born on Friday, March 31st, 1899 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. He was the son of George Stanton Abbott (June 23rd, 1867 - April 23rd, 1941), a famous professional boxer, and Rhoda Mary Hunt (January 14th, 1873 - February 18th, 1946), two English immigrants who got married in early 1895. He had an older brother, Rossmore Edward, who was born on February 21st, 1896.

When Eugene and Rossmore were still kids, their father's career took off as he became the middleweight boxing champion of the United States. This assured them financially and they were a very happy family. Eugene loved heavy weather, especially snow. He liked to sled on his wooden sled that his parents had bought him. The family attented Grace Episcopal Church in Providence, where Eugene was baptised on April 2nd, 1904. However, fame grew to Stanton's head drifting the family apart. By 1911, Eugene's parents divorced and Rhoda gained full guard of him and his brother. His mother decided to take a new start with the kids in St. Albans, Hartfordshire, England, the place she was raised herself. They sailed on the R.M.S. Olympic, Titanic's sister, and arrived in England in August. His mom started to work as a seamstress and his brother as a bootmaker to support the family. Meanwhile, Eugene attented Priory Park School. Sadly though, life was not easy in England and the boys were not happy. Eugene and Rossmore were very homesick as they missed their life in America. This made Rhoda realised that her sons were American kids, not English kids, and that they would grow better if they went back to their town of Providence.

They had first bought tickets for Providence to arrive in early April 1912 aboard the R.M.S Philadelphia, but due to the national coal strike in England, the family was moved from an old and small liner to the new and luxurious R.M.S. Titanic. The family was thrilled since it was the biggest and most luxurious ship in the world. Their ticket was CA2673 which cost £20 5s. The family travelled to Southampton by train and, on April 10th, 1912, boarded the Titanic. Once on board they found their cabin at the far stern of the ship, Eugene and Rossmore immidiately took off to explore every place of the vessel. The trip was quite calm as the boys spent their days roaming around the ship while their mother talked with their cabin neighbors.

On the night of April 15th, 1912, the family had just retired to sleep when they were suddenly awakened by a sudden jolt and then a dreadful squealing and scraping sound coming from the side of the ship. Rhoda new something was wrong, but Eugene and his brother sensed an adventure and begged their mother to go up on deck and find out what happened. Preferring caution, Rhoda refused and told the boys to wait for her in the cabin. When she got back, she said a steward had told her there was nothing to worry about and she tucked the boys back to sleep for the night. At about 12:15 A.M., the family was suddenly awakened again by a steward opening their cabin door and shouting "All passengers on deck with life jackets.". They didn't realize the seriousness of the situation as they casually started dressing up and putting on their life jackets. They went into the crowded hallway and followed the other third class passengers aiming for the deck. They passed through a watertight door which opened to a stairway leading to the deck above. They joined a large group of men, women and children waiting in the Second Class saloon area of the ship where only women and children were being allowed beyond the gate guarded by crewmen. Still, Rhoda managed to get her sons through and they next climbed a steel ladder onto the stern end of the boat deck and moved slowly forward, carefully so they wouldn't trip over discarded ropes remaining from the previous launchings of lifeboats. They finally reached one of Titanic's last lifeboats, Collapsible C, just as it was being loaded.

They watched anxiously as they could see their friends boarding the boat, knowing that both Eugene and Rossomore could probably not be allowed in with their mother, which of course could easily have happened since even Bruce Ismay was allowed to enter. As their turn came to enter the boat, her maternal instinct took over and she clasped her sons to her body as she stepped back into the crowd. At 1:47 A.M., the Collapsible left the sinking ship. As crewmen struggled to free Collapsible A from the ropes. The suction made by the sinking ship created a pression that separated Eugene from his mother and brother. He succumbed to hypothermia and perished. His body was never recovered. Rhoda climbed into Collapsible A so their mother did survive.

She never recovered from the sinking and mourned her sons untill her death. She refered to Eugene as "my baby" and an artist who heard of her story created a lifelike bust of Eugene's face in 1914. Many death notices appeared in different newspapers, all published by Rhoda.

## Photos

Eugene, Rossmore and Rhoda Abbott, circa. 1906Memorial bust of Eugene Joseph Abbott by W.F.Death notice for Eugene and Rossmore.