Letters concerning a claim by one of the survivors of the Titanic disaster, Eleanor Genevieve Cassebeer, consisting of two TLSs by her attorney, a TLS from the White Star Line to their law firm Hill Dickinson & Co., and further carbon copies of correspondence from the law firm. First is a TLS from her lawyer, July 20, 1914, in part: "I have a client Mrs. E. G. Casabere [sic] who some time ago made a claim in respect of her losses whilst a passenger on board the unfortunate 'Titanic.' I am anxious to find out the present position of matters." Second is a letter on White Star Line letterhead addressed to Hill Dickinson & Co., July 22, 1914, headed "TITANIC," in full: "We enclose letter received from Mr. Joseph Davis, Solicitor, London, in connection with the claim made by Mrs. E. G. Casabere, and we shall be glad if you will deal with the same." A carbon copy of the firm's reply to Davis informs him, "We have not got a note of any claim by Mrs. Casabere and perhaps you would send us a copy of the claim which was made." Davis's TLS in response and a copy of the White Star Line's original letter acknowledging the claim, "amounting to $8619 for losses sustained on the S.S. 'Titanic,'" are both present. The final piece is a carbon copy of the two-page Hill Dickinson & Co. letter in response, informing him that the claim is better suited for a lawyer based in New York rather than one in London. In overall very good condition.
Cassebeer, returning home to New York after a trip to Europe to visit her son, was traveling alone and boarded the Titanic as a first-class passenger at Cherbourg. She was awake in her cabin at the time the Titanic struck the iceberg and was rescued in lifeboat number five. She spent just a year in New York before taking another overseas journey to London, which is where she was living at the time this legal correspondence took place. However, as Europe erupted in World War I at the end of July, she applied for an emergency passport and safely sailed home to America in September 1914. She would later correspond with Walter Lord, author of A Night to Remember, and was one of the survivors to attend the premiere of the film adaptation in 1958. An interesting archive of material related to the legal claims of this notable eyewitness to tragedy.
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