Everyone on the Titanic had a story.
Since the grand ocean liner sank on its maiden voyage to New York, we’ve heard survivor tales from first class escapees and secondhand accounts about the musicians who went down with the ship.
And a century later, those stories are still being explored and unearthed by curious relatives eager to trace their lineage to a body on the boat.
Phyllis Ryerse of Cumming is the “unofficial historian” of the Ryerson family, which includes the steel magnates of Philadelphia and Cooperstown, N.Y.
Ryerse’s husband, John, is a cousin of Arthur L. Ryerson, whose family was aboard the Titanic. Ryerson would be John’s third great uncle, according to Phyllis Ryerse’s research.
“He’s mildly interested,” Ryerse said of her husband’s reaction to her findings.
Last month, Ryerse, 75, released the ebook, “Rich Men Poor Men: Ryersons on the Titanic,” an account of the Ryersons’ saga, a tragic one from beginning to end, and a story she’s researched for decades.
About 15 years ago, Ryerse found Arthur L. Ryerson’s granddaughters, interviewed them extensively and snapped photos of the visual accounts in their family photo album.
“I spent a lot of time with them,” she said. “They’re all dead now, but they took me to the cemetery in Cooperstown [where Ryerson’s son is buried].”
That son, Arthur L. Ryerson Jr., is where the family’s sorrows begin.
Arthur L. Ryerson Sr., his wife, two daughters, younger son, maid and governess were vacationing in Paris for Easter vacation when they received word that their oldest son, Arthur Jr., then 21, was killed in a car accident in Philadelphia.
“A cable was sent to the family in Paris. They couldn’t believe it. So Arthur [Sr.] went out and got tickets on the first steamship heading to the U.S. – the Titanic,” Ryerse said.
The moneyed Ryersons resided in a plush first-class cabin on the B-Deck of the ship, where a distraught and grieving Mrs. Ryerson stayed secluded until the night of the crash.
At that point, after being shuffled onto the deck, “standing there with all of the other rich people with no one telling them what to do as it got colder and colder,” Ryerse recounted, the women and children were placed in Lifeboat Number 4 and safely escaped.
Arthur Ryerson Sr. went to his death, his body was never recovered.
Unbeknownst to the wealthy Ryersons, there was another Ryerson aboard the Titanic, William Edwy Ryerson, who was, said Ryerse, “as poor as the other family was rich.”
Canadian-born William Edwy was Arthur L. Ryerson Sr.’s cousin, and a second-class saloon steward on the boat (essentially a restaurant worker). William Edwy, as a crew member, was yanked aside to row a lifeboat. He rowed away safely in Lifeboat Number 9.
“The poor man was saved and the rich man went down with the boat,” Ryerse said. “I’m sure Arthur [Sr.] never knew his cousin was on board.”
William Edwy died 60 years ago and was buried in an unmarked grave at St. Mary’s Church in Runwell, England. Just this week, a marker was finally placed on the grave site after years of urging by William Edwy’s great-great grandson, Tom Ryerson.
There is even more to this story, of course, such as how the Ryerse’s name morphed out of Ryerson: Two generations before the Titanic, two Ryerson brothers fought in the Revolutionary War and, in an effort to distinguish himself from “those renegade Americans,” the older brother, Samuel, returned his name to the original Dutch spelling of Ryerse.
Given the family history with water catastrophes, it’s a wonder the Ryerse’s even dip a toe in the swimming pool.
“I had been on a boat before I realized all of this history,” Ryerse said. “Now I’ll think twice before getting on a cruise ship.”
Ways to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking:
“Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" at Premier Exhibition Center at Atlantic Station (265 18th St., Atlanta). 1-866-866-8265, www.titanicatlanta.com.
“Titanic” 3D and IMAX showing in area theaters.
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