Trinity and the Titanic

April 15 marks the 114th anniversary of the sinking of the “unsinkable” ship, which took with it a notable member of the Trinity community — John Jacob Astor IV.

When John Jacob Astor IV and his young second wife Madeline Force Astor boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg, France, on April 10, 1912, they were heading back to a country they’d fled just seven months earlier, embarking on a long honeymoon in Europe and Egypt to escape prying eyes and critical headlines about their marriage back in New York. 

Astor, a one-time Vestryman of Trinity Church (and scion of a famously wealthy family), had split from his first wife in 1909, scandalizing New York society. Two years later, when he announced his engagement to Madeline Force, the social opprobrium reached new heights. Astor was 47; Force was just 18 and a recent graduate of Miss Spence’s School. The couple were unable to marry in the Episcopal Church due to the Church's policy against the remarriage of divorced persons, but eventually found a minister in Rhode Island to perform the ceremony. The resulting uproar drove the minister from his position less than two months later and he left the ministry.

After spending time in Egypt and Paris (traveling with servants, a nurse, and their pet Airedale, Kitty) the bride was five months pregnant. The couple determined that they would return home on the celebrated new Titanic so the baby could be born in the United States. They boarded the “unsinkable” ship with their friend, Margaret “Molly” Brown, with whom they had spent time in Egypt. 

The actions of the Astors as the Titanic sank were widely reported in the days following the tragedy. Accounts say that after the ship hit the iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, Astor sought out the ship’s captain, noting that his wife was unwell and he didn’t want to disturb her. Told that they might have to take to the lifeboats Astor returned to his room, and at some point, the two went to the ship’s gymnasium where they sat on mechanical horses, wearing life vests. At approximately 1:55 a.m. on April 15, Mrs. Astor and her maid got into Lifeboat 4, one of the last to be lowered into the sea. Astor reportedly asked to accompany his pregnant wife, but when told only women and children were allowed, he stepped aside without argument. Mrs. Astor was “compelled to handle an oar” and bail freezing water out of the lifeboat as they rowed frantically away from the sinking ship.

Astor was last seen on the ship’s deck with several other male passengers and his dog, Kitty. The ship split in two at 2:17 a.m., and sank at 2:20 a.m. Over 1,500 passengers and crew perished. Astor’s body was one of only 333 recovered. He was found on April 22 and identified by initials sewn on the label of his jacket. His son Vincent, from his first marriage, took a train to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to claim the body. 

Astor’s funeral was held on May 4 at the Church of the Messiah in Rhinebeck before a special train brought his body and mourners to the Trinity Church Cemetery at 153rd Street. Trinity’s rector, the Rev. William T. Manning, read from First Corinthians during the funeral service and gave the Episcopal burial service at the Astor family vault. Astor was laid to rest near his father and namesake great-grandfather.

Trinity Church held two general memorial services for the Titanic passengers, one on Sunday, April 21st and one on Tuesday, April 23rd. The government of Britain was represented at the services by various ambassadors and consuls. Manning preached on a passage from the book of John: “Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

“We can also give thanks,” Manning said, “for the heroism, the calmness, the recognition of duty, the devotion which made women choose rather to stay with their loved ones than seek safety in the boats, the quiet sacrifice of themselves made by the stronger for the sake of the weaker… In such moments as this we catch a vision of the real greatness, the divine possibilities, of human nature.”

Astor was born in 1864. In 1891, he married Ava Lowle Willing, a member of Philadelphia society, with whom he had two children: William Vincent, born 1891, and Ava Alice, born 1902. He was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Rhinebeck, New York, near his estate. He served as a Trinity vestryman in 1901 and 1902. 

Interestingly, in 1894, Astor authored A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future, a work of science fiction about life in the year 2000 and journeys to Saturn and Jupiter. His vision of the future included expanded vaccination, a worldwide telephone network, and humans harnessing solar and wind power. Astor also held several patents, including one for a “pneumatic device for renovating macadam roads.”

Astor and Madeline’s son, John Jacob Astor VI, was born on August 14, 1912, four months to the day after his father’s death. He inherited a portion of his father’s fortune on his 21st birthday and died in Miami Beach in 1992. He was laid to rest in Trinity Cemetery, in an above ground vault he purchased in 1939.  His wife Sue Astor is buried there, as well as his dog, Buddy, in an infant size casket. His mother, Madeleine Talmadge Force Astor Fiermonte Dick (she remarried twice after Astor's death), and maternal grandmother Katherine Talmadge Force are also buried there.

Trinity’s association with the Astor family began in 1804, when the original John Jacob Astor, a German-born American businessman who became the first multi-millionaire in the United States, took over a 99-year ground lease on a Trinity Church property at the modern intersection of Varick and Charlton streets. The mansion on the property, known as Richmond Hill, had previously served as headquarters for George Washington during the Revolutionary War, and as the official residence for Vice President John Adams during Washington’s presidency. In 1794, the house and its land lease was purchased by Aaron Burr, who subsequently lost the property in bankruptcy proceedings following his fateful duel with Alexander Hamilton.

The Astors were prominent members of the Episcopal community throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Some belonged to Trinity Parish, while others worshipped at chapels and churches around the region. John Jacob IV’s uncle and cousin were vestrymen at Trinity Church. The family donated the Astor cross in Trinity’s north churchyard, a cenotaph (memorial for a person buried elsewhere) erected in honor of Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor, the fabled arbiter of Gilded Age New York society known as “Lina” to her friends, and as "The" Mrs. Astor to everyone else.

The altar and reredos, an ornamental screen behind the altar, in Trinity Church were donated by John Jacob Astor III and William Backhouse Astor Jr. in 1876. The bronze doors at the north, south and east-facing entries to Trinity Church were donated by William Waldorf Astor in 1890.

This article is based on earlier story from the Trinity Archives.