Helen Loraine Allison

Hudson J. C. Allison

Hudson Joshua Creighton Allison was born on 9 December 1881 in Winchester Township, Dundas County, Ontario, near the village of Chesterville. He was the third of four children born to Jesse Rose Allison and Phoebe Johnston. His father was a farmer, though he had previous manufactured pumps with a business partner, William Manson, in Metcalfe, Ontario until their partnership was dissolved in 1874. Hudson had one sister, Margaret Rachel Allison, and two brothers, George Richey Barber Allison and William Percival "Percy" Allison. Through his brother Percy, he was the great grand-uncle of actress Sophia Bush.

All four of Hudson's grandparents were Irish immigrants. His paternal grandparents, Andrew Allison and Jannet Richey, arrived in Canada prior to 1829, when they were married in Quebec. By 1832, the family had settled in Dundas County, Ontario; most of their children, including Hudson's father Jesse, were born in Winchester Township, with others born in Williamsburg Township.

Hudson's maternal grandparents, Isaac Johnston and Margaret Humphries, were from County Fermanagh and County Down, respectively. By 1844, when they were married, Isaac was living in Oxford, Grenville County, Ontario, and Margaret was living in Elizabethtown, Leeds County, Ontario. All of their children, including Hudson's mother Phoebe, were born in Oxford. The Johnston family resided in Oxford until the late 1860s, when they moved to Winchester Township, Dundas County. Both of Hudson's grandfathers were farmers.

Hudson received his elementary and high school education in Chesterville. After graduating, he began working as a clerk in the general store of Chester Casselman in that village. When the 1901 Census was gathered in April 1901, he was also boarding with Casselman and his family. Soon after, he travelled to Buffalo, New York to study shorthand. By June 1902, he had completed his studies and moved to Montreal to live and work with his maternal uncle, George Franklin Johnston, who was an insurance manager for the New York Life Insurance Company. Hudson began as a stenographer for his uncle before later becoming an insurance agent with the company. They resided at 4065 Dorchester Boulevard. By June 1904, their address had changed to 4298 Dorchester.

In 1905, he was promoted to the position of instructor, and in this role he became acquainted with land baron Colonel Andrew Duncan Davidson, who sold railway and homestead lands in Western Canada. Davidson convinced Hudson to move to Winnipeg in 1906. He submitted his resignation to New York Life in May 1906.

Bess Waldo Daniels

Bessie Waldo Daniels, known as Bess, was born on 14 November 1886 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was the youngest daughter of Arville Fisher Daniels and Sarah J. McCully. Her father, who was at various times a hatmaker, a ship clerk, and a railway clerk, was from Franklin, Massachusetts, while her mother was from Milwaukee. Bess had one older sister, Maybelle Helen Daniels. She also had an older half-sister from her father's previous marriage to Mary L. Bowden named Myrtle Rowena Daniels, who was raised in Massachusetts by Arville's family.

Bess's paternal side had deep roots in Massachusetts, particularly in Dedham, Wrentham, Medfield, and Franklin. Her family can be traced back to at least eleven Puritan signatories of the Dedham Covenant:

Samuel Morse and son Joseph

Thomas Wight

Joseph Clark

James Allen/Allin

Henry Smith/Smyth

Anthony Fisher and son Cornelius

Michael Metcalf

Nathaniel Colburn

Jonathan Fairbanks

Bess' maternal grandparents, James McCully and Rose Dixon, were both immigrants from Ireland. James fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War, reaching the rank of Sergeant in Company B of the 29th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. The McCully family was well reguarded in Milwaukee; after the Titanic disaster, one Milwaukee newspaper wrote that Bess "had the blood of the McCulleys in her veins and it made her brave."

Bess' parents were married on 24 December 1877 in Milwaukee. The family lived at various addresses on Reed St. in Milwaukee in the 1870s and early 1880s. When Bess was born, the family was residing at 289 Lapham Blvd., where they remained until January 1889, when they moved to Hartford, Connecticut. Arville was employed there by the New York and New England Railroad until about 1893 or 1894. By July 1894, the family had returned to Milwaukee. City directories show them living at 334 21st Ave. in 1895 and at 371 18th Ave. from 1897 to 1902. By 1906, the family was residing with Bess' maternal grandparents, James and Rose McCully, at 91 Farwell Ave., where they were still residing at the time of Bess' marriage to Hudson Allison in December 1907.

Marriage and children

Hudson met Bess while he was travelling by train to Montreal in 1907. Their engagement was announced that September, at which time Hudson was still living in Winnipeg. The couple were married on 9 December 1907, Hudson's 26th birthday, at Westminster Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They resided in Montreal after their marriage.

Both Hudson and Bess were active community members. They were prominent members of the Douglas Methodist Church, located at the corner of St. Catherine and Chomedy Streets in Montreal. Shortly after the new Trinity Methodist Church in Chesterville was completed in 1909, Hudson donated a bell in memory of his late father. Hudson was a avid supporter of the Montreal YMCA, having contributed to their building fund in 1909. He was elected a life governor of the Montreal General Hospital in February 1911, and of Montreal's Western Hospital in January 1912.

Hudson's career prospered in the years following his marriage, and Johnston, McConnell & Allison's success continued. By March 1910, Johnston, McConnell & Allison were involved in the British Canadian Lumber Corporation, of which Hudson would become a director by June 1911. In January 1911, he became a director of Cardiff Collieries Ltd., a coal mining company. By April 1912, he was also president of the British Empire Securities Company.

During their marriage, Hudson travelled to and from the United Kingdom at least five times for work, often bringing Bess with him. In 1910, they sailed on the Empress of Ireland, which would sink four years later, killing over one thousand people. Hudson's second-to-last overseas trip, spanning from February to April 1911, was in relation to a major lumber deal in British Columbia with the British Canadian Lumber Corporation that was worth $20 million. He and his uncle, G. F. Johnston, represented Johnston, McConnell and Allison. They were in England when the 1911 UK Census was taken; they were staying at the Carlton Hotel in London. On Hudson's return, his ship docked in New York. The incoming passenger list noted him as being 5'11" in height and of tan complexion, with brown hair and grey eyes. His destination was 646 Roslyn Ave. in Westmount, where he would arrive just two weeks before his son's birth.

The Allisons had been living at 464 Roslyn Ave. since at least June 1909; an announcement of the purchase was published the following month. The couple had two children while living there. Their daughter, Helen Loraine, was born on 5 June 1909. Their son, Hudson Trevor, was born on 7 May 1911. When the 1911 Census was taken in June of that year, the Allisons had two domestic servants and a coachman living with them: Scottish-born Catherine or Cathelaine Sinclair, 22, and English-born couple Edith and Alfred Creasey, 35 and 34, respectively. The Allisons would reside at Roslyn Ave. until November 1911. Shortly after, they put it up for sale, and the property was sold in March 1912.

Titanic

The Allison family delayed their return to Canada in order to sail on the Titanic. They boarded the ship in Southampton along with their four servants, Sarah, Alice, Mildred, and George. The Allisons' ticket number was 113781. Sarah and Alice may have been included on this ticket; their names do not appear on the outward passenger list. Mildred and George's tickets were 248733 and 248734, respectively.

A first class passenger list dated 10 April 1912, which was recovered from the body of crewmember Herbert Cave, shows the Allisons, Sarah, and Alice as occupants of cabins C-22 and C-26. The Cave List, as it has become known, does not note any passengers in cabin C-24. Given the positioning of the cabins and some of the communication errors made between Alice and the Allisons on the night of the sinking, some have speculated that the Allison party also occupied C-24, with Alice and Trevor having a room of their own. However, according to Sarah Daniels, she, Alice, and Trevor shared a cabin adjoining the cabin occupied by Hudson, Bess, and Loraine. A second class passenger list, also recovered from the disaster site, includes the names of Mildred and George, but does not specify which cabins they occupied.

On the evening of 14 April, Hudson and Bess had dinner with Major Arthur Peuchen and Markland Molson. Loraine was also there for a short time. According to Peuchen, he and the others went to the "sitting-out room" after dinner and drank coffee. He remained with them until about 9:00pm.

A few hours later, around 11:40pm, the Titanic struck an iceberg and started to take on water. According to witnesses interviewed for the United States Senate inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic, the order to rouse passengers from their cabins and instruct them to put on lifebelts and head to the boat deck came some time between midnight and 12:30am.

Over the years, there have been a number of conflicting accounts given about the Allisons' movements during the sinking. Most come from newspapers, some of which were written in very sensationalist ways and contained blatant errors, bringing their reliability into question. There are, however, some more detailed articles that quote Alice Cleaver and Sarah Daniels, as well as a letter written by Alice, which seem to coroborate one another to some degree. Still, it is impossible to know exactly what happened.

Aftermath

Alice Cleaver, Sarah Daniels, Mildred Brown, and Trevor Allison were reunited on board the Carpathia. Upon the ship's arrival in New York City on the evening of 18 April 1912, the party was met by a number of Hudson's relatives. This included his brothers George and Percy, his uncle G. F. Johnston, and his cousin J. Wesley Allison. They stayed overnight at the Hotel Manhattan, then left for Montreal early the next morning aboard the Montreal Express on the Delaware and Hudson Railway.

When they arrived in Montreal, they were met at the station by a crowd of relatives and friends. They were taken in J. W. McConnell's automobile to his home on Bellevue Ave. in Westmount. Later that night, they went to the home of George Allison at 572 Roslyn Ave., Westmount. Alice, Sarah, and Mildred stayed at George's home for a period of time; on 30 April, Mildred wrote another letter to a friend, in which she remarked, "I suppose we shall stay here till we can make some clothes and get another place."

George Allison and his wife, Lillian, took custody of Trevor in the aftermath of the sinking. Trevor grew up in Montreal and graduated from Westmount High School in 1928. From 30 Aug 1928 to 26 Jun 1929, he attended the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, which he detested. After completing one year there, he earned a Certificate of Military Qualification for Infantry, in which his rank was given as Gentleman Cadet.

He intended to start his studies at McGill University in Montreal in September 1929, but he never got the chance. While on vacation in Ocean Park, Maine, he fell victim to food poisoning and died on 7 August 1929, at the age of 18. His remains were transported to Chesterville and buried beside his father at Maple Ridge Cemetery.

Although most commonly referred to as Trevor, he went by the name Hudson; he signed a letter to a cousin in Chesterville with that name in 1929, was referred to as Hudson T. Allison when he entered the Royal Military College in 1928, and was called Hudson by the Chesterville Record in reporting about his death and funeral.

Alice Cleaver identity

It has been claimed that Alice Cleaver, Trevor's nursemaid, was acquitted for the murder of her baby three years before she was hired by the Allisons. This claim was published in several books, including Don Lynch's Titanic: An Illustrated History (1992) and Alan Hustak's Titanic: The Canadian Story (1998). It also features prominently in the 1996 miniseries Titanic.

While there was an Alice Cleaver who murdered her child in 1909, she was not the same Alice Cleaver who was hired by the Allison family.

Alice Cleaver of Tottenham

In early March 1909, Alice Mary Cleaver (or Alice Emily Cleaver, depending on the source) of Tottenham, a laundress, was tried for the 20 January 1909 murder of her illegitimate ten-week-old son Reginald William Cleaver, who had been thrown onto the North London Railway tracks near Dalston Junction. On 9 March, she was sentenced to death for the crime, but a few days later, this was commuted to penal servitude for life. She was sent to Aylesbury Prison, where she appears in the 1911 UK Census. She remained in prison until 19 January 1915, when she was released. Therefore, this Alice was in prison at the time of the Titanic disaster.

The book From Workhouse to Prison to...the Titanic? (written by one of Alice Catherine Cleaver's children using the pseudonym Dinah Burnett) contains thorough, detailed research about Alice Cleaver of Tottenham, from her childhood through to her conviction, eventual release, and death.

Alice Catherine Cleaver, Titanic Survivor

Alice Catherine Cleaver, Trevor's nursemaid, was born on 5 July 1889 in the district of St Pancras in London, England. She may have been born at 42 Marquis Road, a terraced house in Kentish Town, where the family was residing when she was baptized at St. Thomas Church in Agar Town on 24 November of that year. She was the eldest daughter of Joseph Cleaver, a postman, and Lavinia Alice Thomas. The family was still residing at 42 Marquis Road at the time of the 1891 UK Census, but by 1895 had moved to 127 Torriano Avenue, also in Kentish Town. By 11 January 1897, when Alice was admitted to Brecknock School, the family was residing at 86 Marquis Road, where they would remain until at least 1901.

In April 1911, Alice was working as a nurse in the home of Sir Percy and May Louise (née Ashman) Sargent, 67A Harley Street, Marylebone. Percy was a surgeon at the National Hospital in London, while May was the daughter of Sir Herbert Ashman, 1st Baronet and first Lord Mayor of Bristol. Alice was caring for their two young children: Nancie, aged 3 years, and John, aged several months.

Alice was hired by the Allison family in March 1912 to act as a nursemaid to their son Trevor. Some time after the Titanic disaster, she returned to England.

On 22 Jun 1918, Alice, 28, married Edward James Williams at All Saints Church in Tufnell Park, Islington. Williams, 27, was a clerk from West Kensington. In 1921, the couple was living together at 124 Baker St. in London, at which time Edward was a manager in the aritifical limb industry, working for Horace V. Duncan. They later had two sons: David (b. 1922) and John (b. 1925). Edward died on 1 April 1935 in Bath, Somerset. In 1955, she wrote to Walter Lord about her experience on the Titanic with the Allisons using the name Mrs. A. C. Williams. Alice died on 1 November 1984 in Winchester, Hampshire, at the age of 95. On 8 November 1984, the London Times announced her death:

WILLIAMS, Mrs. A. C. (nee Cleaver) F.I.B.S.T., survivor of the "Titanic" peacefully on 1st November aged 95 at her home in Winchester.

F.I.B.S.T. may stand for Fellow of the Institute of British Surgical Technicians.

Helen Loraine Kramer

Claim

In early September 1940, newspapers began reporting that a woman calling herself Helen Loraine Kramer was claiming to be Loraine Allison. According to Kramer, her foster father (only referred to as Mr. Hyde) told her that he was on the Titanic, and as he was about to get into a lifeboat, a man identifying himself as H. J. Allison of Pennsylvania thrust Kramer into his arms and asked him to take care of the child, who he identified as Loraine. Her story was reported on from coast to coast and gained so much attention that she appeared on a CBS radio program called "We, the People" on 10 September 1940. It would later be said that Kramer also claimed that Mr. Hyde was Thomas Andrews. Her claims were rejected by the Allison family. Eventually, her story fell out of the public eye and she ceased trying to contact the Allisons.

Around 2012 (the 100th anniversary of the sinking), Kramer's granddaughter, Debrina Woods, began to pursue her grandmother's claims. She originally intended to spread Kramer's ashes around the Allison monument at Maple Ridge Cemetery in Chesterville and eventually write a tell-all book about her grandmother and the Allisons.

Loraine Allison Identification Project

In response to Woods' persistence, the Loraine Allison Identification Project was established. It was led by Tracy Oost, a forensic scientist and professor at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, with the help of Allison and Kramer relatives.

In December 2013, the Loraine Allison Identification Project announced the results of the mitochondrial DNA testing performed on a sample donated by a female-line descendant of Kramer and a female-line descendant of Bess' sister Maybelle. The test was performed by DNA Diagnostics Center, a facility accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors. The results were negative, demonstrating that no genetic relationship existed between Kramer and Loraine Allison.

Helen Kramer Identity

Mrs. Kramer was known by many names during her lifetime. For clarity, she will be referred to here as Kramer.

Kramer's birthname was likely Sophia or Sofia Schultz; her middle name may have been Irene. She was born around 1902 to Thomas Schultz and Mary Lacek. Various records from her early life give her birthplace as Poland, Russia, and Russian Poland. Census records suggest that she immigrated to the United States around 1907 or 1910.

Going by the name Sofia Shultz, she appeared in the 1910 US Federal Census with her parents and younger brothers Julian and Theodore. The family, described as Polish but all born in Russia, were renting a home in Ironwood, Michigan, at 309 East Ayer St. Her father was working as a mason, and Kramer, 7, was attending school. Her father died sometime between 1910 and 1918, and her mother remarried to Michael Wronski or Wronske on 22 January 1918 in Detroit. When the next federal census was taken in January 1920, the family (consisting of Sophia, her mother, stepfather, brothers Julian and Theodore, and half-sister Annette) was living at 170 30th St. in Detroit. Her younger brothers, Louis Julian and Theodore Charles, were called Julian and Theodore in early census records, but both used their other names (Louis and Charles) during adulthood, which may explain why Kramer was called Sofia/Sophia in the 1910 and 1920 Censuses, but Irene in later records.

On 28 November 1920, Kramer swallowed poison in an attempt to take her life. Newspapers, describing her as 18-year-old Irene Scholtz of 170 30th St., reported that she did so because she hadn't seen her lover, Lester Walsh, in several days and believed her affections had been spurned. She was taken to a hospital in Detroit and recovered. She attempted suicide again on 7 February 1921; she wrote letters to her family and intended to drown herself in a river, but was stopped before she could get there. She claimed that she was pregnant and that Walsh, who she described as abusive, had abandoned her. There is no record of a child being born to her in the following nine months. The reporting of the second incident mentions her mother, who lived at 4112 30th St., and a sister Lorraine, though no record of a Lorraine Schultz has been found. Kramer, under the name of Irene Schultz, was living at this address in Polk's 1921-1922 directory of Detroit, which was published in February 1922.

Kramer had a child with Lester Walsh on 27 July 1922; his name was Lester John Walsh, though he also used the middle name Leo in adulthood. Kramer's name on his birth record is Irene Evangeline Schultz and her birthplace is stated as Russia. Six months later, Kramer married Polish immigrant Stanley Witkowski on 30 December 1922, using the name Irene Schultz. Her birthplace is listed as Poland, and Kramer's mother and stepfather were the witnesses. She had two children with Witkowski: Stanley C. (born 12 Feb 1924) and Eugene Maxwell (born 28 Nov 1925). Stanley Jr. died on 12 November 1927 after being hit by a car; at that time, Kramer's name was stated as Irene Schultz and her birthplace as Russian Poland. Reporting of the negligent homicide case that followed includes a photo of Kramer. On 1 May 1928, Kramer's husband filed for divorce, citing extreme cruelty as the cause. Their son Eugene, aged 2, was the only child listed on the divorce paperwork. Kramer was about one month pregnant when the divorce was filed, and she gave birth to a son, James Lewis (also spelled Louis) on 6 January 1929. The divorce was granted on 11 February 1929. After the divorce, Eugene took on the surname Walsh.

In media

A 1912 German silent film about the disaster, In Nacht und Eis (In Night and Ice), includes the Allison family story, but not by name.

The Allisons were featured in Danielle Steel's 1991 novel, No Greater Love.

The Allisons were major characters in the 1996 miniseries Titanic. The subplot regarding them was highly fictionalized and filled with historical inaccuracies: notably, it perpetuated the long-standing myth that Alice was a child murderess, depicting her as an emotionally unstable young woman with premonitions of disaster, who then sees the opportunity to rescue baby Trevor from the sinking ship as a saving grace from her tumultuous past, thus forcing the rest of the family to remain on the ship looking for him, not knowing he is safe. The other servants (Sarah, Mildred and George) are omitted.

The Allisons and Cleaver are also portrayed in the 2012 miniseries Titanic.