Caldwell family. - A rare Titanic family: the Caldwells story of survival

I set out to tell a story that I thought I knew as well as my own namethe story of my great-uncle Albert Caldwell and how he survived the Titanic . I knew Uncle Al, as I called him, very well and heard the Titanic story from him multiple times. He lived to be ninety-one and died in 1977 when I was a senior in high school; I was old enough to develop a deep and permanent interest in this rarest of firsthand accounts.

However, the story turned out to be far rarer than Uncle Al had ever hinted. Als Titanic memorabilia came to my mother after he died, and his collection implied that there were parts of the story that my family and I had never known. There was, for instance, Als picture of himself; his wife, Sylvia; and their baby, Alden, on the deck of the Titanic . None of us had ever seen it. Eventually I tracked down Alden, whom I did not know, as Al had long ago divorced Sylvia and later had married my great-aunt Jennie Congleton. We were, therefore, Als second family, and we had no real connection to the first. Despite that gap, Alden was gracious in answering my questions and was pleased to see the picture again. I also tracked down his younger brother, Raymond, who likewise was thoughtful and delighted about the picture. But there were questions I didnt ask before it was too late for them, either, and I regretted that none of the Caldwells lived long enough to know that I named my own son Alden in honor of my Titanic family.

My own Alden was fourteen before the secrets that his namesake family had held so tightly began to crack open under the scrutiny of research. I was astonished to find out that the Caldwells trip on the Titanic was one leg of an around-the-world escape from Siam to New York, with the Caldwells being hounded by, of all parties, the Presbyterian church. The Caldwells said they were running from Siam (now called Thailand) to save Sylvias health and sanity, while key churchmen suspected the Caldwells were fleeing under contrived circumstances and thus were contractually bound to repay the church a forbiddingly enormous sum of money. It took the Titanic to resolve the struggle.

But none of the surprising facts or the rich story behind them was obvious at the outset. As I tried to fill in what I thought were a few small gaps in my knowledge of the Caldwells Titanic story, I turned to cyber-space and happily stumbled upon two key people. First was Carolyn McHenry Elwess, the archivist for Park University, where Albert and Sylvia met in 1904 when it was still called Park College. Park was pivotal in Sylvia and Alberts Titanic story. Not only did they meet there, but the college also helped set up the Caldwells as idealistic missionaries to Siam, an assignment from which they eventually fled via the ill-fated ship. Carolyn had done excellent research into the Caldwells student days. Her ongoing cascade of information from college publications and Park Universitys Fishburn Archives was a godsend. Carolyn also put me in touch with Charles Chuck Caldwell, the Caldwells grandson, who jumped in with family memories. Particularly valuable was his knowledge of Sylvia, whom I knew little about. Chucks childhood memories and stash of family pictures were essential, as was his insightfully scientific approach that featured thoughtful logic and careful analysis. His many contacts in the world of Titanic researchers and his genealogical searches were invaluable. I rounded out the Titanic Trio, or Titanic Troika, as Carolyn called us, as I had known Albert well enough to consider him a grandfather. He had been brother-in-law to my own grandfather, Will Congleton, who died before I was born. Albert treated me like a granddaughter, stepping in where Will Congleton could not.

As much as Chuck, Carolyn, and I knew about the Caldwells, we quickly came to realize how much we had not known. As Chuck summed it up, The more I find out, the less I know. He certainly spoke for me in that case. It has been a marvelous trek through Als personal papers, Sylvias writings, the Presbyterian Historical Society, relatives memories, contacts with archivists and historians, the internet, and lots of theories, rejection of theories, dilemmas, discouragements, and delights, along with fine discussion by Titanic Trio. This book would not have been written without the help of the other two members of the Trio, but any misinterpretations or errors in stating information are my own, not Chucks or Carolyns or any other contributors.

I must thank David Sloan for suggesting I do the book. So many other people played key roles, too: Bill Romeisers audiotape of Al was priceless; Jim Congleton passed along information on a supposed bribe by Al aboard the Titanic ; Liz Wells helped me date a pair of baby shoes that may have been Aldens on the Titanic . Others furnished first-person accounts, photos, articles, and key information from the Caldwells era: Dan Barringer, George Behe, Robert Cisneros, Vera Williams Congleton, Dick Johnson, Jacky Johnson, Ed Kamuda, Bill Kemp, Dave Knopf, Bruce Parrish, Heather Richmond, John Robertson, and Virginia Congleton Romeiser. Several key peopleAnne Conybeare Trach, Marcia A. Trach, Suda Carey, Mike Flannery, and Darryl Lee Salterhelped me grasp the Siam experience. I relied on technical assistance from Paula Noles (the genealogy wizard) and Gail Barton (the microfilm wizard). The map of the Caldwells route by my sister Jan Hedgepeth Wright and her daughter Eleanor Wright truly brought the Caldwells world to life. The rigorous analysis and thoughtful questions by my husband, Evan J. Williams, meant so much. My son Weston Williams was awfully tolerant to let me work out issues in the manuscript by talking them out loud as we drove to school each day. And a committee of old college friends, including Sarah Taylor and Wendy Gilmer, was so diligent in helping come up with the subtitle.

I want to add my deep appreciation for the multitude of other Titanic scholars who have studied many aspects of the ships short but infamous career. They have done intricate research and dazzling analysis. I may have relied on some of them here, but in the main I have not mentioned various points about the Titanic if the Caldwells didnt seem to be aware of them. I relied mostly on the Caldwells vision, whether accurate or flawed.