Personal Accounts
Borghild Aanstad
...was taught to swim by her childhood pal...
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Marianne Aanstad
...she did not like the feel of the ship...
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Solveig Aanstad
...could see the sky above...through the portholes...
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Charles Agnastoklio (Agnos)
...I didn't even get wet - at first...
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Norman Ally
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Anonymous
...we saw rescuers pitching bodies out of the river like logs...
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Anonymous
...the furniture...crashed upon the poor victims...
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Charles Anthony
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Harlan E. Babcock
...infants floated about like corks...
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Charles Bender
...body was found under a piano...
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Johnny Benson
...immediately left work and ran down to the dock...
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Bernard, Elizabeth Beverley
...they watched as the ship began to roll over...
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George C. Berner
...married his good friend's widow...
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Walter A. Berner
...on the Eastland when it rolled...
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Emily Bechman Biehl
...a bride at 18 and a widow at 19...
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Frederick Biehl
...good friend married his widow...
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Jack James Billow
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Frank Blaha
...it was just like tears falling from the sky...
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Abraham Isaac Blumenthal
...jumped into the river to help...
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Rev. Henry Boester
...they found much needed comfort and strength...in the Word of God...
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Anna Bohn
...spoke very little about her experience...
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Charles R. E. Bowles
...he brought back two bodies - a mother clasping her baby rigidly to her breast...
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Peter Boyle
...gave his life in the effort to save others...
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Anna Brenner
...brought home in her coffin...it was her 18th birthday...
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Grover James and Walter Brown
...the two brothers missed boarding...
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Hugh Brown
...up to his neck in a mud pocket...
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Willard Brown
...It was like one big scream and then everything was quiet...
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Hazel Brychta
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Josef Brychta
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Capt. Charles Carland
...he received from the coroner a letter of thanks and a silver star...
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Charles Carroll
...they remained together clinging onto the railings...
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Thomas Chakinis
...pointed to the life preservers...
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Mary Louise Christiany
...found her at a place where survivors were being taken...
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William F. Corbett
...jumped right into the attempts being made to rescue people...
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Orville Craig
...watched the rescue and recovery work...
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Bert Cross
...If I live to be a thousand years old I will never forget the experience...
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Rev. Bronislaus Czajkowski
...performed the funeral services for forty-one victims...
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Morris Dempsey
...stopped at a liquor store...
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Regina Dolezal
......
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Capt. Dan Donovan
...descend(ed) into the hull of death...
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Ralph Harold Dring
...he threw in all his crates...
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Bessie Dvorak
...had been dragged underwater...
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Patrick Egan
...entitled to special honorable mention...
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Frederic J. Ehrhardt
...broke apart the family...
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Clara C. Ehrhardt
...broke apart the family...
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Raymond Leroy Ehrhardt
...wound up at the orphanage...
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Ione Ehrhardt
...left parentless...
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Henry J. Ehrhardt
...was there to help his niece and nephew...
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Fred, Anna Eichholz
...she thought she was going to die...that drowning was a peaceful way to go...
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Marion Eichholz
...Suddenly, the boat listed and I fell against the railing...
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Gotthold G. Elbert
...there were for many the long years of hard work caused by the death of the breadwinner...
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James Lee Elliott
...sat on a piling
underneath the bridge...
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Harry Engenhart
...The two brothers were on the Eastland that morning...
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William Engenhart
...The two brothers were on the Eastland that morning...
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Alma Fikerle
...was going on the second boat...
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William Joseph Fitzgerald
...he couldn't swim...
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Anna Fitzgerald
...I seized my son...
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William Walter Fitzgerald
...was at the wharf...
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F. D. Fredericks
...grabbed two other workers and immediately left work...
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Edward Henry Garner
...named their daughter...after her one true love...
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Friederika Suess Garner
...named their daughter...after her one true love...
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Morris S. Gault
...was white as a sheet and soaked to the bone...he had helped bring people in during the rescue...
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Anna Agnes Gay
...the decision saved her life...
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Herman Gierman
...could not attend...because of his work schedule...
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Clark R. Greene
...someone with a megaphone announced 'Western Electric picnic called off'...
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Anna Grutzius
...marked July 24th...with a skull and crossbones...
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William Guenther
...Come on, Willie, we'll have a good time...
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Charles Gunderson
...It was up to me to live or die...
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Mabel Gunderson
...It was such a pitiful sight...
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Charles Hart
...pulled between 50 and 100 people from the river...
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Harry Halvorsen
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James Hays
...able to escape with their lives...
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Lester T. Hessong
...I'll never forget the terrible scene...
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Robert Elliott Hicks
...the accident was caused by the overloading...
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Vaclav Homola
...fought desperately for their lives...
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Zofie Homola
...fought desperately for their lives...
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Marenka Homola
...fought desperately for their lives...
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Vlasta Homola
...fought desperately for their lives...
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Caroline Homolka
...had dressed in a new dress, a real summery dress that she herself had sewn...
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Augusta Houillon
...a locker fell over her and provided an air pocket for her to breathe...
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Edward D. Hutchings
...That boat was always unsafe and it was criminal to run it...
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Katerina Ivanecky
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Paul, Louise Jahnke
...they were married just six weeks...
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Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Janecek and family
...it was to be an exciting experience...
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Iver Johnsen
...first diver on and last to leave...
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George W. Jost
...went below deck to listen to the music...
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Jenny Juranek
...was the pitcher for the Girl's Softball Team, the
W. E. Bloomer Girls...
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James C. Justin, Jr.
......
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Ed Kleinfelder
...all hell broke loose...
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Harry Kleinfelder
...etched in his mind for the rest of his life...
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Mary Klemp
...were given blankets to dry themselves and keep themselves warm...
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Anna Koukl
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Elizabeth Krivanec
...planned to take her five children...
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Frances Krivanec
...returned home to find his family alive and intact...
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Erich W. C. Krueger
...was a piano player for the band...
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Joseph T. Kuhlman
...I found two women and a baby locked in a death grip...
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Frances Kubiak
...the four other girls all turned over death cards...
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Captain Joseph Lamoreaux
...had nightmares about the tragedy...
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Agnes Latowski
...slid off the side of the ship into the water...
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Nellie Latowski
...did not make it to safety...
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Walter Latowski
...appeared to have been bruised and crushed...
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Theodore Lawson
...were given blankets to dry themselves and keep themselves warm...
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Ray LeBeau
...began yelling about the perilous situation of the Eastland...
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Marie Linhart
...Oh please, oh God, please help me...
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Arthur Loeb
...recovered 67 dead bodies...
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Walter Lucas
...scorched his collar as he ironed...
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E. Mary Manthey
......
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Charles Michael Marchewka
...only spoke once to his daughter about the tragedy...
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Mary Marecks
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Josephine Markowski
...she felt something awful was going to happen...
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Paul Marton, Sr.
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Paul Marton, Jr.
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Thomas Mathews
...was a stoker on the Graeme Stewart...
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Edna McCrory
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Mildred McCrory
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Irene McDonald
...they remained together clinging onto the railings...
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John B. McFarlane
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George Edward Michalec
...he grasped the hair of a boy...
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L. W. Miller
...he floated past with his head under water...
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Everett Mitchell
...frantically hurling chicken crates...
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Oliver A. Mitchell
...noticed that the Eastland was listing at an awful angle...
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Otto Muchna
...the poor horses were worn out due to the many trips to the cemeteries...
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Elizabeth Mueller
...decided to take the second boat...
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Hazel Myers
...able to escape with their lives...
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August Nelson
...trapped under a piano...
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Olaf Ness
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Carl Nork
...he helped two women to safety that morning...
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Malwin Nulle
...marked July 24th...with a skull and crossbones...
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Henry Oderman
...dove into the water and got one woman who was going down...
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Mrs. J. and Katherine O'Keefe
...wrapped in blankets...
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Pauline Olach
...was responsible for the loss...
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Agnes Olsen
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Martha Lena Ostrowske
...had seen her alive in the river...
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James and Jenny Peterson
...It was such a pitiful sight...
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Capt. Walter Petrosky
...rendered splendid service in rescuing those thrown into the water from the death ship...
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Martin Pisano
...boarded the Eastland...
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Salvatore Pisano
...would never get to know his father...
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Edwin K. Plamondon
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Anna Polivka
...were pall bearers for our friends...
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Josephine Polivka
...I remember hands reaching out from the water...
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Mae Polivka
...people were grabbing at us from below...
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Eleanor Victoria Pycz
...gaiety of the morning turned to momentary silence...
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Daniel Quinn
...ended up returning home...
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Minnie Quinn
...ended up returning home...
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Lauretta Quinn
...ended up returning home...
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Martha Quwas
...invited her fiancé to the picnic...
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Elizabeth Rakow
...grandmother and granddaughter both perished...
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William Raphael
...I saw two women come bobbing up...
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Charles O. Reinhard
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Clara Reisner
...the other passengers were pulling us down...
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Julius F. Reschke
...God has given me eleven years grace...
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Genevieve Rivers
...she was so frightened that she didn't even think of praying...
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Frank Sagenbrecht
...was invited to the picnic by his fiancée...
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Emma Samek
...was with her fiancé...
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Otto Louis Sass
...the night before...he had a restless night of sleep...
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George Alfred Saunders, Sr.
...had the grizzly task of assisting in the recovery efforts...
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Laura Scharringhausen
...she marked...the names of her friends who did not survive...
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Gabrielle Schlentz
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George E. Schmidt
...had planned to spend his 36th birthday elsewhere...
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Julius Schroll
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Emma Straka Schroll
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Henry Sesher
...the tug was still a few feet away when I jumped...
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William Sherry
...buried next to his fiancée...
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James Sikokis
...disappointment of not being able to go...
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George A. Sindelar, Sr.
......
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Josephine Sindelar
......
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Adella Sindelar
......
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Sylvia Sindelar
......
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Albert Sindelar
......
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George Sindelar, Jr.
......
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William Sindelar
......
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Jaroslav (Jerry) Sklenicka
...he was going to stay home...
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E. W. Sladkey
...the tug was still a few feet away when I jumped...
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Ernest Squillace
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Anna Straka
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Paulina Straka
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Joseph Suerth
...the boat tipped over and I can't find Dad!...
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Nicholas Suerth
...went below and was never seen again...
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Barney Sullivan
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Matthew M. Sweeney
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Fred Swigert
...It was his own daughter...
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Lucy Taft
...had luckily changed her mind...
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Clara Teichmiller
...wrote letters back home, telling her mother of her excitement...
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John Thomas
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Frieda Till
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Jennie Turbov
...she grabbed onto his feet and held on...
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John Turek
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Alma Turek
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Frank Vavra
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Charles Velan
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Ella Velan
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Frank Velan, Jr.
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Charles A. Vileta
...I grabbed the porthole with both hands and held tight...
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Mary Vrba
...was soaking wet, got on a street car, and went home...
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William Watson
...jump, jump, you can make it...
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Augusta Wiese
...grandmother and granddaughter both perished...
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F. W. Willard
...He did not lose his head, but got a life line...
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Bertha Wintermute
...was accompanied by her betrothed...
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Bernard Wolff
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George Wood, Sr.
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George Wood, Jr.
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Aida Woods
...a fireman gave me a plum or an apple...
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Howard Wynn
...he was sitting on the cabin floor with his arms around his daughter...
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Antonie Zastera
...never returned home...
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Julie Zastera
...never returned home...
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Marie Zastera
...never returned home...
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Edward Zimmerman
...had a hard time getting through the crowds...
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Henry Zintak
...they were carried into the river...
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