Dear Mikael,
I never met Mary Davis Wilburn but I did speak with her on the telephone once in 1985. She was 102-years-old then. Unfortunately, her advanced age prevented her from answering many of my questions in great detail, but she did relate what she could remember about the sinking and was happy to do so.
A friend of mine, Fred Rueckert, was a friend of Mrs. Wilburn's and visited her on several occasions before her death in 1987. He has many pictures of her, as well as an audio tape of her recollections. I would be happy to put you in touch with him if you would like to ask any specific questions.
The tape is fascinating to listen to, but unfortunately, some of Mrs. Wilburn's memories are disappointingly vague. She remembered much about the voyage and always recalled being awakened by the hard knock on her cabin door by her steward. She had a sense of humor and on many occasions would burst out laughing with some of the things she remembered doing aboard Titanic. When asked if she had ever been a ship since 1912, she replied that she sailed back to England a few times. On one trip, when her son Carl was just a child, she found him trying to climb through their cabin porthole. The ship was in mid-ocean, and she had been out in the hallway chatting with a new shipboard acquaintance. When she walked back into the room, much to her horror, she saw him halfway through the porthole! She let out a scream and pulled him back in. He had gotten up on one of the beds and was trying to reach down and touch the water. As Mary said on the tape, "He nearly gave me a second heart attack while at sea!"
I do not believe Mary saw Murdoch take his own life. In my opinion, the 1912 interview referenced was either fabricated or embellished by the reporter seeking to add more drama to the account. Mary left the Titanic in boat #13 and remembered being flung into the boat by a seaman. She stated that she landed on her knees and was rather annoyed by this manner of abandoning ship. In regards to her hearing the hymn, "Nearer, My God, to Thee," she claimed in 1912 that she heard it - and almost seventy-five years later still held to that belief.
Mary Davis well remembered her roomate, Lucy Ridsdale, and did tell me that when she boarded the Titanic and found her stateroom, she very badly wanted to secure a lower berth. She feared that sleeping in the upper berth would make her seasick. Not long after Mary began to settle in, her roomate Lucy arrived. Much to Mary's surprise, she discovered that Lucy had a club foot and so was happy to surrender the lower berth to the older woman. Mary said that she prayed every night that the ship wouldn't encounter a storm to cause it to rock back and forth. "I prayed for a calm sea and got an iceberg instead" she chuckled.
Well, I'm afraid I've rambled on somewhat. If you would like any additional information, please let me know.
Mike Findlay
