For week 11’s prompt for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks was “Luck”. It made me think of the story of my maternal great-grandmother, Phoebe Boone Fairhurst, and how she came to America from jolly old England. Or I guess I should say how she was suppose to come over.
According to my grandfather, Harold Fairhurst, he told me on more than one occasion that his mother was suppose to come over on the RMS Titanic. She wasn’t feeling good so she opted to stay home and not come to America on the ill-fated ship. I was going to say what great luck that she wasn’t feeling well, especially since my grandfather wasn’t born until ten years later (he was born in Ohio in 1922).
But tonight after doing my due diligence, like looking to see when the Titanic set sail (why do I keep thinking it was 1914???), it was April 15, 1912. I’m thinking the story is an old wives tale as my great-grandmother had 2 children in England before settling in Ohio. Elsie was born in November 1912 and Wilfred was born in July 1914.
My great-grandfather, James Fairhurst, came over to the United States on the ship Mauretania and arrived in New York on 8 December 1913. Unless of course as a couple James Fairhurst and Phoebe Boone were to arrive initially together.
Trouble is every time my grandfather told the story, he spoke only of his mother. Which makes me go back to the conclusion that this was just an old wives tale.
Helping History Come Alive 