Carrie & Herbert Fuller Chaffee
of Amenia, N.D.
First-Class Passengers of the Titanic in 1912
Biographical Sketches from the Encyclopedia Titanica
Mrs Carrie (Herbert Fuller) Chaffee
Mrs
Herbert Fuller Chaffee (Carrie
Constance Toogood), 47, was born on August 28, 1864 Manchester
IA.In 1886 she entered Oberlin
College, Oberlin Ohio where she studied at the Conservatory
of Music (1 year) and the College - Art (1 year). She enrolled
for 3 years but in 1887 she met Herbert
Chaffee (see picture).
They were married on December 21, 1887 and a son was born on
September 28, 1888. Earlier that year they had moved to North
Dakota where Herbert took charge of the family farming business
so neither Carrie nor Herbert graduated.Trained in music, she
gave voice lessons to the children of prairie farmers while
managing a complex household and giving birth to six children:
Eben Whitney Chaffee, Dorothy Chaffee Stroud, Herbert Lawrence
Chaffee, Florence Adele Chaffee, and Lester Fuller Chaffee
(one other child died in childhood). Mrs Chaffee was renowned
for her decisive mind and her willingness to confront any situation.Mrs
Chaffee and her husband boarded the Titanic at Southampton
as first
class passengers (cabin E-31), they
were returning from a European trip to their home in Amenia,
Cass Co., North Dakota.Mrs Chaffee was rescued from the Titanic in lifeboat
4, but her husband was lost. After his death Carrie took
an active role in managing the Land Company's assets, and was
also a leader in charitable work in North Dakota and in Minneapolis
MN, she was a charter member of, and active in, the American-Chinese
Education Committee, Canton, China. She died July 4, 1931 in
Amenia, ND.
References
Clement A. Lonsberry (1917) North Dakota History and People.
Vol. II, p. 877-878. Chicago, S.J.Clarke Publications.
Oberlin College Records
Acknowledgements
John Chaffee, USA
Homer Thiel, USA
Tammy L. Martin, USA (Oberlin College Archivists
Herbert Fuller Chaffee
Mr Herbert
Fuller Chaffee, 46, was born on November 20, 1865 at
Sharon, Litchfield County, Connecticut, the son of Eben Whitney
Chaffee and his wife Amanda Fuller Chaffee. Members of the
Chaffee family had lived in Sharon since the Revolutionary
War.
Herbert was educated
in the common schools in Sharon, a seminary in New York, and the
Williston Seminary, a scientific school in Easthampton, Massachusetts.
He graduated from the latter school in 1885. In 1887 he was living
in Ellsworth, CT and in that year he entered Oberlin
College in Oberlin OH where he studied at the Conservatory
of Music. He enrolled for 2 years but probably moved to North Dakota
to help run the family firm as he did not graduate.While at Oberlin
he met his future wife Carrie Constance
Toogood of Manchester, Iowa. They were married on December
21, 1887 and a son was born on September 28, 1888 in Amenia, ND.Herbert's
father came from Litchfield Co., CT and came to Dakota in 1875
where he founded the bonanza-farming business "Amenia" --
Amenia-Sharon Land Co (organized with bondholders of the Union
Pacific Rail Road) which had its headquarters in Amenia ND.
Herbert Chaffee eventually became the chief executive officer
of the family business which, at its greatest extent, controlled
42,000 acres of prime farmland, 34 grain elevators, a grain-trading
firm, and three company towns with dozens of smaller company-owned
businesses. Its holdings were worth perhaps $150 million in
today's dollars. H. F. Chaffee, who routinely worked a 72-hour
week, felt that this was only the beginning. He had developed
sophisticated management systems and was constantly expanding
the operation.He continued in business in North Dakota, purchasing
the interests of the remaining investors of the Amenia & Sharon
Land Company in 1893.
"Through his sound scientific and business judgment he established a farm business
that is unique and stands today as a memorial of his faith in the future of his
adopted state and his unswerving fidelity to high ideals." (Lonsberry 1917).Chaffee
was a Republican and a member of the Congregational Church.Chaffee and his
wife had been on a European trip and boarded the Titanic at Southampton, travelling
in first class (cabin E-31). They
were returning to their home in Amenia, Cass County, North Dakota.Herbert died
in the sinking. His body, if recovered, was never identified.After Chaffee's
death, remaining family members ran the firm jointly but continually disagreed
on business strategy. In 1922 the company was dissolved and its assets distributed.
Very little of its holdings remain in family hands today.
References
Clement A. Lonsberry (1917) North Dakota History and People.
Vol. II, p. 877-878. Chicago, S.J.Clarke Publications.
Oberlin College Records
Acknowledgements
John Chaffee, USA
Homer Thiel, USA
Tammy L. Martin, USA (Oberlin College Archivist)
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