|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
A poor Irish girl, Margaret Tobin, was born in Mark Twain's hometown of Hannibal, Missouri Oct 3, 1867. (her Gravestone reads born July 19, 1868). She lived in a one bedroom house near the Mississippi River with her five brothers and sisters. She learned to steer a boat on the Mississippi river and worked as a waitress at the Park Hotel. Her father John Tobin had immigrated from Ireland. She left Missouri for Colorado with her brother Daniel, when she was 18, after hearing of the gold rush in the west.
Maggie Tobin would later be dubbed the Unsinkable Molly Brown for having survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. She knew poverty in her life before her husband, James J. Brown, struck gold. James was 13 years her senior born in Waymarth Pennsylvania on September 27, 1855. Maggie met him at a church picnic. They married in 1886 in Leadville, Colorado. She and James lived in the Colorado wilderness in a two room cabin before they struck gold at the Little Jonny Mine. J.J. and Maggie had two children, Lawrence Palmer, and Catherine Ellen, known as Ellen. Most of the Tobins, had followed Maggie to Leadville by this time.
The Brown's built a $5 million fortune and lived in a Denver mansion. They bought the mansion on April 3, 1884 for $30,000. In 1898 the title was transferred to Maggie's name because of her husbands deteriorating health. In 1902 the Browns went on a round the world trip, and rented the mansion to Governor and Mrs. James Orman of Pueblo, making it the governor's mansion that year. Maggie and James were separated in 1909. James died Sept. 5, 1922.
Margaret was high spirited and wanted to travel the world. She traveled, usually with her son Lawrence to Europe. She wanted to fit in with the rich and famous, but lacked the education and manners. She was known for her boisterous language. After trying unsuccessfully to fit in with the Denver elite she moved back east to Newport. There she got attention from the press as having returned from the "Wild West". There are many exagerrated stories of her life that she neglected to correct because she liked the attention of the press.
Molly toured Europe in 1912, meeting actor John Astor, and visiting her daughter, Catherine Ellen, at her school in Paris. After sightseeing in Egypt, she bought a ticket for the Titanic to return home, having heard her grandson Lawrence Palmer Jr. was ill. The crossing was to take 6 days and the ticket cost $4,350.
Five days after departing, on the evening of April 14, 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg and went down off the coast of NewFoundland. When the ship sank, Maggie was loaded into lifeboat No. 6, which had the capacity for 65 people. Only 24 women and two men were loaded. She argued with Quartermaster Robert Hichens to return to the Titanic to rescue some people, but he refused fearing they would capsize the boat. Molly rowed with the men in the freezing weather and their lifeboat reached the approaching Carpathia on the morning of April 15.
When Maggie was asked how she survived, she replied "I'm, Unsinkable". Her estanged husband was asked the same question and repled, "Hell, She's too mean to sink". The Titanic sank with a $ 325,000 necklace and 13 pairs of Molly's shoes. After the rescue, Maggie raised thousands of dollars for destitute survivors and fought for women's suffrage. On October 26, 1932 Molly Brown died after having a stroke.
Return to American History Selection Page.