Edward Bean was one amongst the lucky one-third of the passengers aboard the Titanic who lived to tell about the disaster of the ill-fated ship that sank after hitting an iceberg on April 15, 1912. Only about a week after the disaster, Bean was in Oneonta, on his way home to Cincinnati.
Mr. Bean was a guest at the Oneonta Hotel. He had been a traveling representative and buyer of a large hotel supply house in Cincinnati. He had been in Paris and London for the past month purchasing supplies and had booked a trip back to the U.S. on the Titanic about two weeks before it sailed. Bean wanted to be one of the passengers on the giant ship's maiden voyage.
According to the Oneonta Star of Wednesday, April 24, "He was considerably shaken by his experiences and exhibited a nervous and halting manner yesterday when he was interviewed by a Star reporter."
"There is little to tell," said Mr. Bean, "outside of that which has already been published in the newspapers. Although I have tried to place my mind on other things beside the accident it seems impossible for in every newspaper that I pick up, great headlines of the ship stare me in the face; everybody is talking about it and it would naturally fill my mind to a great extent, even if it were not constantly brought to me by outside influences."
The Oneonta Star was no exception to the coverage, as there was a daily headline on the front page for nearly two weeks after the ship sank.
Bean recalled the sequence of events that led to the demise of 1,514 people, and his survival among the 710 passengers.
"I was on the deck when the crash came, but the jar was so slight that it was nearly 15 minutes after that I learned we had struck an ice berg. I was smoking a cigar with a chance acquaintance whose name I did not learn, and whom I have not seen since. It was bitter cold and we were both bundled up with heavy overcoats and I had a cap pulled well down over my head. We were talking about general subjects when we felt the slight jar."
"'What was that?' asked my companion."
"'Nothing serious, I imagine,' I replied."
"Strangely enough, then our talk turned to shipwrecks, but neither of us imagined that the very ship which we were on had been ripped open by an ice berg and that within a few hours we might be struggling for our lives."
"A few minutes later my companion threw his cigar over the rail and remarked: 'Guess I'll turn in.' He turned and left me and I never saw him again. I do not know whether he escaped or not. I had just finished my cigar when one of the crew passed me and remarked, 'we have struck something, an ice berg I guess.' I asked if it was serious and he said that he thought it was for some of the passengers had begun to make preparations to leave in the life boats."
"I hurried to my cabin … placing my personal papers and what few valuables I possess, including a picture of my wife and baby … in my pockets and hurried back to the deck. There was no confusion and I saw several boats lowered, filled mostly with women and children."
"The boat on which I escaped contained about 40 persons, and there were four other men beside myself. Just as the boat was lowered, one of the seamen said, 'there is room for more here, you'd better pile on.' I hesitated for a minute but when I saw that the boat was going to put off without any more passengers, I leaped in and we rowed away."
"I shall never forget that night," Bean continued with a shudder. "The women bore up bravely, although several cried continually, their husbands having been left on the ship."
"I was nearly exhausted after we were picked up by the Carpathia and remained in bed in New York until Saturday morning. I am going straight through to Cincinnati from Oneonta. My nerves have been shattered by the horrible experience and hereafter I expect to remain on land."
Bean left for Albany on the train that afternoon and was to go to Cincinnati from there.
If Oneontans weren't reading about the Titanic disaster in the newspaper, they could go see a film about it at The Oneonta Theatre. For one day only, Tuesday, April 23, an American Press Association film played, "Showing Details of the Catastrophe." Admission was a nickel or a dime, depending on the seating.
While not showing a film about the disaster, what was called The Broad Street Theatre collected the admissions from the day and donated them to "the needy Titanic sufferers."
"Oneonta certainly sympathizes with the sufferers in this disaster and the proceeds will doubtless be large," the Star reported.
On Monday: Oneonta had two sides to a nuclear weapons debate in April 1982.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/marksimonson.
Mark Simonson
A Titanic survivor stopped in Oneonta days after disaster
- Mark Simonson
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General Clinton Canoe Regatta got a new home in 1972
Ever since 1963, when Charles Hinkley and a group of Tri-Town businessmen came up with the idea for what we know today as the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, people lined the shores of the Susquehanna to watch the canoeists as they made their 70-mile trek from Cooperstown to Bainbridge.
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Sunday movies in Oneonta finally shown in 1934
You know an issue is divisive when a vote to resolve it is quite close. In Oneonta during the early 1930s there were probably plenty of discussions or arguments at the family dinner table or sermons from the pulpits on Sunday mornings, regarding whether or should be able to see a movie in Oneonta on Sunday.
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Politics, fitness and landmarks dominated local news in May 1968
Area residents mulled over the idea of Gov. Nelson Rockefeller as their next President of the United States. New fitness opportunities emerged for all ages. One area landmark was saved while another was razed. It was only a part of our life and times in May 1968.
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Local people sought income in many ways in 1933
In the economy that was the Great Depression, there were times people would do what it took to try to earn some money.
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Local windstorm in 1983 caused tense moments
I realize I've got the wrong month in mind when I say "May came in like a lion." However, that's what happened in 1983 as a number of twisters moved through our region, leaving plenty of damage behind in their trails. Add some melting snow and heavy rain, and scenes of cleanups were widespread 30 years ago this month.
- Saturday, May 4, 2013
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Disaster, expansions put people to work in May 1913
- Monday, April 29, 2013
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Job opportunities abounded in area 45 years ago
If you were looking for a job in April 1968 in our area, or perhaps looking to change your employment situation in the near future, opportunities were pointing in your favor.
- Saturday, April 27, 2013
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Oneonta greeted an aviation giant in 1928
An early aviation superstar came to Oneonta in 1928.
- Monday, April 22, 2013
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Area saw its own armed standoffs 30 years ago
This past Friday, we watched how the Boston area went into a lockdown during a tense search for the last suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. Had I still been living and working in that area, as I was in the early 1990s, I would have had a day off from work Friday, as police scoured the city of Waltham.
- Saturday, April 20, 2013
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U.S.S. Maine explosion, war drew much local sentiment
For most people in our area in early 1898, a growing conflict between two distant nations probably didn't get much attention, other than some glances at the newspaper. When a young Oneonta man was one of many injured or killed in an explosion of a battleship he was aboard, the local attention increased markedly to what was soon to become the Spanish-American War.
- Monday, April 15, 2013
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Oneonta river walking path came from a surveyor's daydream
Leon Kalmus of Oneonta spent a lot of time surveying land near the Susquehanna River in the early 1970s around the time Interstate 88 was being planned and built in this area. What he saw along the shores of the river, he called “pristine,� and soon had an idea for some kind of walking or hiking pathway along the shores of the river in the town of Oneonta.
- Saturday, April 13, 2013
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Decline of Prohibition led to return of beer in April 1933
“I think this would be a good time for a beer,� remarked President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he signed the Cullen-Harrison Act on March 22, 1933. This marked the beginning of the end for Prohibition that year.
- Monday, April 8, 2013
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Dietz Street shifted from residential to commercial through the years
By taking a walk along Dietz Street today, heading north to Walnut Street, one can see a lot of businesses and the recently refurbished parking lot on the east side of the street. It would take some imagination to see this street lined with houses and a church, but prior to the late 1940s, that’s what was there.
- Saturday, April 6, 2013
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Oneontans voted for a 'dry' city in 1918
- Monday, April 1, 2013
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Future city historian kept family busy for Easter and April 1958
- Saturday, March 30, 2013
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Colliscroft became new Oneonta landmark in 1902
If the Oneonta building trade sector of the economy could have awarded a plaque to a most valuable individual customer of 1902, it would have nearly been a shoo-in. That was Edward H. Pardee, who was listed in the Oneonta Directory around that time as a farmer, on Southside.
- Wednesday, March 27, 2013
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Historic Cooperstown cottage got a new address in 1988
To unknowing tourists seeking information from the tourism information center at 31 Chestnut St. in Cooperstown, they would probably believe that the mid-19th century cottage had always been on that site. It blends in well with some of the grand old houses along that street, and the same tourists might think it has an interesting history behind it.
- Saturday, March 23, 2013
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Free mail delivery began in Oneonta 125 years ago
- Monday, March 18, 2013
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Oneonta enacted first building code 60 years ago
There will be no parade, fireworks display or commemorative coins minted for the occasion.
- Saturday, March 16, 2013
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Area isolated during historic March 1888 snowstorm
Earlier in the week, we recalled the "Blizzard of 1993," which was one containing historic snowfall that fell on our region on Saturday, March 13. It was the largest recorded in a single local snowfall in the 20th century, and ever since another storm dating back 105 years. The latter snowfall was worse than the 1993 storm, falling overnight into Tuesday, March 13, 1888. It was commonly referred to as the "Blizzard of 1888."
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