Buffalo, N.Y (WBEN) - Did you know there were people who lived in Western New York that were traveling on the Titanic when it sank?
This Monday marks 112 years since the infamous ocean liner known as RMS Titanic sank as a result of a mighty iceberg collision.
Anthony Greco, Buffalo History Museum's Director of Exhibits shared with WBEN that there were about 30 people who were from the Western New York and Southern Ontario area that were aboard the ship on this day in 1912.
"There was a family from Niagara Falls, the Goodwins, there were people from Albion that were on the Titanic, there's people from Southern Ontario. Buffalo was the eighth largest city [in the U.S.] at the turn of the century. Why wouldn't we have a lot of people from this area that were on Titanic? It makes perfect sense."
The Buffalo History Museum's launched a podcast episode today that takes us back to over a century ago to tell the true stories of two men who had uniquely different experiences aboard the ship as they travelled in different classes, but ultimately met the same fate.
The first man being well-known architect Edward Austin Kent, a Buffalo man who designed buildings that still stand today in Buffalo such as the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo and Chemical No. 5 Firehouse on Cleveland Avenue.
"You think about the James Cameron movie and how there's examples of these chivalrous men leading people to the lifeboats, and that's very much the story that Kent has," Greco explained. "Multiple accounts have him going back into the ship to lead people to the lifeboats. One account has him actually giving up a spot in a lifeboat to somebody who he knew that had a wife and family."
His body was recovered by the CS Mackay-Bennett as body No. 258 and claimed by his brother when the ship docked. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
"One of the people that he knew on the ship was a journalist and writer, Helen by the name of Helen Churchill Candee. At one point, he runs into her in the skirmish that's going on when everyone's trying to get to the lifeboats and as he is going to escort her onto one of these lifeboats, she, in fear that she's going to lose it, takes out a locket from her pocket and it's got an image of her mother, so she gives it to him for safekeeping. He puts it in his pocket, and she survives. The last account of Kent's whereabouts was from her. She says that she saw waving goodbye from the deck of the Titanic as she's on the lifeboat, kind of drifting away," said Greco.
The other man was a third-class passenger named Henry Sutehall, an England-born man who settled with his family in Kenmore.
The 25-year-old upholsterer travelled the world for two years with his friend, Howard Irvin. They travelled to places like San Francisco and Sydney, Australia. It was reported that Irvin found a girl that he would later engage from Australia, which could have been one of the reasons that Irvin wasn't aboard the Titanic on the day of the crash. However, there was also another documented possible reason as to why Irvin wasn't on the ship, but that has since been proven false.
"One tale as to why he wasn't on the ship says that he was sold into slavery in Egypt, and only found his freedom after the ship had already left port. We know that that's not a true story. But regardless, it was printed in the papers," said Greco.
There's a few archived things in the Buffalo History Museum's collection, and although it is not on display at the museum, you can still see reports, articles and documents on the website, as well as hear the podcast episode, live now wherever you get your podcasts.
"In both instances, there's these cinematic storylines that accompany them, that I think really can capture people's attention," noted Greco.