She Rowed for 5 Hours

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I started out thinking I’d share a simple photo of two sisters at the Ferncliff estate in c. 1900. I figured out that Ella Ford of Ferncliff is on the left, and her sister Margaret Swift is on the right. But then, I did a quick google.and we discovered something extraordinary.

Mrs. Harry S. Ford (Ella) and her sister Mrs. Fred J. Swift at ferncliff (1000 post road, scarsdale) c. 1900. Credit: Scarsdale public library

Twelve years after this photo was taken, Mrs. Swift boarded the TITANIC. As a first class passenger, she was fortunate to board a Lifeboat 8 with two friends, and the Captain threw them a loaf of bread as they pulled away.

The Brooklyn Eagle newspaper was on-site when she disembarked from the Carpathia on the dock in New York. They said she “tumbled into the arms of her sisters” (one of which is Mrs. Ford). She recounted how she rowed for 5 hours until they saw the Carpathia in the distance. The newspaper quotes her as saying she was “alright,” “a little tired,” and “the only trouble is I look like a tramp.” She was still in the same dress from the shipwreck.

By this time, Scarsdale’s Mrs. Ford had moved to Manhattan (after subdividng Ferncliff in 1910!). Mrs. Swift was a widow and a Brooklyn resident when the wreck occurred.

We're glad we happened to look up Mrs. Fred J. Swift. They say she seldom spoke of the tragedy in later years, and she lived to be 82.

Read her incredible account of surviving the Titanic here: https://www.newspapers.com/.../brooklyn-eagle.../157013963/

Source: Photo from Scarsdale Public Library and the Brooklyn Eagle, April 19, 1912

Arthur Manor Film Premiere

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ArthurManorEarlyDays.jpg

Please join us for the premiere virtual screening of our latest film, Arthur Manor: A Historical Tour of Scarsdale’s First Suburban Community about the history of this Edgewood neighborhood. In 1891, the Arthur Manor Suburban Home Company began construction of a housing development that initiated Scarsdale’s transformation from a rural town of farms and estates to a modern suburb. This 20-minute film features Jordan Copeland, SHS board member and newly appointed Scarsdale Associate Village Historian, as he guides us through Arthur Manor to learn about the history of this unique community and how its growth impacted the nearby neighborhood of Edgewood. The film was directed and edited by Lesley Topping and is her second film in our series about Scarsdale’s remarkable neighborhoods.

The film will be shown via Zoom on Monday, June 21st at 7:00 p.m. and will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the filmmakers. This event is presented by SHS and the Scarsdale Public Library. Click here to register.

The first film in this series, Path to a Scarsdale Community: Fox Meadow and the Butler Estate was co-produced and narrated by Barbara MacDonald, Scarsdale Village Historian and the Society’s Historian. It can be viewed here.