William Hull Botsford

[John Pulos]

I spent two hours yesterday with the 99 year old sister of 2nd Class passenger William Hull Botsford. Her mind is very sound - but her body has failed her. She was 11 when "Hull" went down with the Titanic. He was a brilliant young architect and his last design was the largest concrete bridge in the world in PA. He also designed many railroad stations in New Jersey and Upstate New York. One of his designs still hangs at the Olin Library at Cornell where he graduated in 1910. Many of his drawings are still on file at the Ivy League school and are marked "first mention." He was in Europe, Egypt and Turkey studying building design before boarding the Titanic. On his last night before boarding, he met British army officer Rankin Maitland. Maitland was so taken with Hull that he kept in contact his family in Elmira, NY for many years. Miss Botsford was an accomplished musician and artist.Her first job was to play violin in 1922 - 1924 at the famed Glen Springs Hotel in Watkins Glen, NY. Frequenter at the Glen Springs in the summer months was Elizabeth Barrett Rothschild who survived the sinking. Elizabeth was born in Watkins and summered there after the sinking. Taliha Botsford said that she never met Eliz and did not know that she had been on the ship. Taliha has never read any Titanic material or seen any of the movies. She said that she could not. I own a restaurant in Watkins Glen and have had a Titanic dinner for the last two years. I showed her the last second class meal that her brother ate. She was very interested. She is quite certain that he would have helped those trying to save themselves and would not have taken a seat in a life boat when others could have been saved. She showed me letters sent to her family after the sinking. She also has postcards sent by her brother while in Europe.
John in Watkins Glen

 

[Mark Bray]

John, that must have been a great experience for you. Have you met any other relatives of Titanic's vicitms and/or survivors. Email me please. Interested

Mark : )

[email protected]

 

[John Pulos]

For any of you in the UK. 2nd class passenger William "Hull" Botsford's last night in England before boarding Titanic was spent with British army officier, G. Rankin Maitland. Maitand was so impressed with Botsford that he located his parents in Elmira, NY and wrote to them for many years. I have tried to find out more about Maitland, and have had no luck. Could anyone help, please.
John Pulos

 

[Michael Findlay]

Dear Mr. Pulos,

I was interested to hear about Mr. Maitland.

Although I cannot be of any assistance with regard to your questions, you might wish to contact William "Hull" Botsford's sister, who is still living in Upstate New York. I corresponded with Talitha Botsford in the 1980s and she had wonderful memories of her brother. I sent her pictures of the railroad stations that her brother designed here in New Jersey. I use the Erie-Lackawanna station when traveling to New York City every day. Botsford designed this station. Local historians know of his contributions and there is an effort to have his memory memorialized on all of the stations he developed.

As Miss Botsford is approaching 100, I don't know how much she will be able to help now. I heard recently that she is still sharp but her physical health is failing. Please e-mail me at [email protected] and I will be happy to give you further information about her.

Sincerely,

Michael Findlay

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Sorry to report that William Hull Botsford's well-known sister, Miss Talitha Botsford, died in late January at the age of 100. As she was unmarried, she erected a double monument at the cemetery for herself and to memorialize her brother who died on Titanic.

Phil

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

Phil, I'm very sad to hear it. I've talked to John various times via e-mail and he often told me about Talitha and some stories she related about her brother. I've also got a copy of the claim filed against the White Star Line by William's father, where she is mentioned.

John did I send you a copy of that? If not I'll try to send one soon.

Daniel.

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

Phil, I wanted to ask you a question in private, but you don't have any contact details on ET. If you're able to drop me a line I'd really apprecaite it. DK

 

[Arne Mjåland]

I read here about John Pulos who had met the sister of W. Hull Botsford, Taliah.
There was an interview with Taliah in Elmira Star Gazette sunday April 12 1987.
She told about the gravestone for William, and later for her, in the Millport Cemetery. At that time there was complete inscriptions for William, but only Talitha s birth year was there. She may still be alive? It is only three yeaers since John Pulos met her.
I have also a four pages article about William H. Botsford from the Chemnung Historical Journal No 4 June 1968, Elmira N.Y.The article was written by Eva Taylor who had spent several hours at the Collection of Regional History and University Archives at Cornell University. She also referred to the Collection in the library of the College of Architecture, Cornell.

 

[sue binns]

Re: William Hull Botsford... hi... this gentleman was an ancestor of mine which my brother barry discovered during family research.he looks almost exactly like my father .i have a heart lock bracelet on a curb link chain that is identical to the one shown on the rms titanic site.somewhat eerie ,i felt. your site is excellent and many thanks to you for it. i should like to know about talitha also if you have that information. signed...susan botsford-binns

 

[Mark Baber]

Lackawanna Train Terminal – Preservation New Jersey

www.preservationnj.org