Tom Goldsmith recently told members of the Colony Club about his grandfather, a man who last saw his father as a nine-year-old boy on April 15, 1912 on the tilting deck of the Titanic. The boy and his parents were third class passengers on the ship. Tom Goldsmith spoke to the group at their monthly meeting last week.
His grandfather, Frank Goldsmith, was born in Strood, Kent, England, in 1902. He was the oldest of two children. His younger brother Albert died of diphtheria in 1911.
Goldsmith’s grandfather, Frank Goldsmith Jr., and his mother, a seamstress, concluded their journey from England by traveling on to relatives in Detroit, MI. Michigan was the family’s original destination because Frank Goldsmith’s father, who was a casualty of the Titanic, had planned to take his family to the auto capital where he hoped to find work.
“My grandfather’s aunts and uncles and his grandparents, most of them, were in the Detroit area at this time. They sent letters to my great-grandparents trying to get them to come over. As you know, in that time period, GM, Ford, all of those companies—Detroit was starting to build up. With my great-grandfather being a machinist, this was a big opportunity,” Goldsmith explained.
“My grandfather said that my great-grandfather told him the reason they were taking the Titanic was that he wanted him to always remember the voyage,” Goldsmith continued.
Packing for the voyage, Emily Goldsmith packed her sewing machine and Frank Goldsmith Sr. packed his tools. Frank Jr. traded a neighbor boy one of his toys for the neighbor boy’s cap pistol, which he was sure he would need in the wild American country. The cap pistol, his father’s tools, and his mother’s sewing machine went to the ocean floor with the ship.
“My grandfather told me later in life he always knew they’d find the ship,” said Goldsmith, “When they found it, they would find a way to go down. And if they ever started bringing stuff back up, he wanted that cap pistol.”
Goldsmith said his great-grandmother woke her son up on April 14. “He was awakened while his mother was dressing him. He said his parents didn’t wake up because of a shudder or a crunch. What woke them up was the silence. They’d been on the ship since the tenth and every day they heard thrum, thrum, thrum and it quit. That silence woke them up,” he said.
The family also travelled with their friend Thomas Theobold and the son of some other friends, 15-year-old Alfred Rush. Theobold and Rush were also lost with the Titanic.
Frank Goldsmith eventually settled in Ashland and he and his wife Victoria operated a photography supply shop in Mansfield. Often in April, he became withdrawn and loud crowds were uncomfortable for him. Eventually, he gave numerous interviews about his journey on the Titanic and now his grandson continues the tradition.
Tom Goldsmith displayed photographs of his grandfather and newspapers with headlines of the sinking of the Titanic. The headline of the Boston Globe Daily reported that the Carpathia picked up 675 of the 2,200 occupants of the Titanic.
Colony Club was founded in 1940 to help “newcomers” become better familiar with the area and become better acquainted with other women and with the community. Today, various “sub-clubs” offer members the opportunity to share specific interests, like gardening, crafts, antiques, shopping, dining out, bowling, and playing Bunco and Majong. They meet once a month for lunch and a special program.
Colony Club invites women in Richland County to join their club and enjoy the group’s friendship. Membership is not limited to women who have only recently moved in to the area; and in addition to their social activities, the group also donates to various women’s and children’s charities including The Domestic Violence Shelter, Friendly House, Local Food Banks, Gorman Nature Center, Hospice Children’s Grief Camp and others.
Women interested in joining Colony Club can contact Bonnie at 419-342-7621, Mary at 419-566-9329, or Marsha at 419-774-0994.
“My grandfather said that my great-grandfather told him the reason they were taking the Titanic was that he wanted him to always remember the voyage,” said Tom Goldsmith.
