Robert Williams Daniel was a Politician and Survivor of the Sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
He was born 11 September 1884 in Richmond, Virginia to James Robertson Vivian and Hallie Wise Daniel (née Williams). Robert was the great-grand-grandson of Edward Randolph, the first Attorney General of the United States.
Robert graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1903 and embarked on a career in banking and management. He was first employed in the traffic manager's office of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. He then entered the insurance business around 1905, becoming attached to the firm of Williams and Hart. He would eventually succeed Mr. Williams as district superintendent for the Maryland Life Insurance Company.
In 1906, Robert and a fellow district manager of Maryland Life, Charles Palmer Stearns, formed the insurance firm Daniel and Stearns.
By 1911, Robert Daniel was working as a banker and living in Philadelphia. Business would sometimes cause him to go to Europe. In late 1911 or early 1912, while he was staying at the Carlton Hotel in London, the building caught fire. Robert managed to save the life of a friend who was also staying there.
Robert was en route back to Philadelphia with a newly-purchased French bulldog when he boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a first-class passenger on the morning of 10 April 1912. He survived the tragedy which followed, though the precise manner of his escape remains a controversial matter. Descriptions varied in the press that followed; in at least one account it was claimed he swam completely nude in the North Atlantic for a number of hours before being picked up by a lifeboat. It is possible – and much more plausible – that he simply boarded one of the early lifeboats launched from the starboard side of the stricken liner. His new dog was lost in the sinking.
Sometime during the remainder of the crossing spent aboard the rescue-ship Carpathia, Robert befriended the eighteen-year-old widow Eloise Hughes Smith of Huntington, West Virginia, whose husband of two months had died in the sinking. At Pier 54 in New York, he reportedly carried the young widow down the gangway and handed her over to her father, Congressman James Anthony Hughes.
Robert and Eloise would continue to meet on occasion. The two Titanic survivors would ultimately marry on 18 August 1914. Eloise asked for and was granted a divorce from him in March 1923, citing an "unknown blonde woman" in her claim.
Robert Daniel would go on to marry Margery Pitt Durant later that same year. Margery was the daughter of automobile king William Durant, who formed General Motors in 1908, created Chevrolet in 1910, and founded the Durant Car Company in 1921. Robert became president of Liberty National Bank in New York, which was also owned by his father-in-law. A daughter, also named Margery, was born to the couple around 1925.
Robert and Margery purchased the plantation home Brandon-on-the-James, located along the banks of the James River in Virginia. The history of the plantation dates back to 1616. The main house was reportedly designed by Thomas Jefferson.
The marriage eventually deteriorated, and in July 1928, Margery sued for divorce. The business relationship between Robert and his former father-in-law carried on as usual, with Robert remaining president of the New York branch of Liberty National Bank.
Robert would go on to marry Charlotte Randolph Williams Bemiss in 1929. She bore him a son, Robert Williams Daniel Jr., on 17 March 1936.
Robert Williams Daniel Sr. would not live to see his son become a successful and well-respected politician. He succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver on the 20 December 1940. His first wife, fellow Titanic survivor Eloise Hughes Smith, had preceded him in death that May. He was interred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/robert-williams-daniel.html
He was born 11 September 1884 in Richmond, Virginia to James Robertson Vivian and Hallie Wise Daniel (née Williams). Robert was the great-grand-grandson of Edward Randolph, the first Attorney General of the United States.
Robert graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1903 and embarked on a career in banking and management. He was first employed in the traffic manager's office of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. He then entered the insurance business around 1905, becoming attached to the firm of Williams and Hart. He would eventually succeed Mr. Williams as district superintendent for the Maryland Life Insurance Company.
In 1906, Robert and a fellow district manager of Maryland Life, Charles Palmer Stearns, formed the insurance firm Daniel and Stearns.
By 1911, Robert Daniel was working as a banker and living in Philadelphia. Business would sometimes cause him to go to Europe. In late 1911 or early 1912, while he was staying at the Carlton Hotel in London, the building caught fire. Robert managed to save the life of a friend who was also staying there.
Robert was en route back to Philadelphia with a newly-purchased French bulldog when he boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a first-class passenger on the morning of 10 April 1912. He survived the tragedy which followed, though the precise manner of his escape remains a controversial matter. Descriptions varied in the press that followed; in at least one account it was claimed he swam completely nude in the North Atlantic for a number of hours before being picked up by a lifeboat. It is possible – and much more plausible – that he simply boarded one of the early lifeboats launched from the starboard side of the stricken liner. His new dog was lost in the sinking.
Sometime during the remainder of the crossing spent aboard the rescue-ship Carpathia, Robert befriended the eighteen-year-old widow Eloise Hughes Smith of Huntington, West Virginia, whose husband of two months had died in the sinking. At Pier 54 in New York, he reportedly carried the young widow down the gangway and handed her over to her father, Congressman James Anthony Hughes.
Robert and Eloise would continue to meet on occasion. The two Titanic survivors would ultimately marry on 18 August 1914. Eloise asked for and was granted a divorce from him in March 1923, citing an "unknown blonde woman" in her claim.
Robert Daniel would go on to marry Margery Pitt Durant later that same year. Margery was the daughter of automobile king William Durant, who formed General Motors in 1908, created Chevrolet in 1910, and founded the Durant Car Company in 1921. Robert became president of Liberty National Bank in New York, which was also owned by his father-in-law. A daughter, also named Margery, was born to the couple around 1925.
Robert and Margery purchased the plantation home Brandon-on-the-James, located along the banks of the James River in Virginia. The history of the plantation dates back to 1616. The main house was reportedly designed by Thomas Jefferson.
The marriage eventually deteriorated, and in July 1928, Margery sued for divorce. The business relationship between Robert and his former father-in-law carried on as usual, with Robert remaining president of the New York branch of Liberty National Bank.
Robert would go on to marry Charlotte Randolph Williams Bemiss in 1929. She bore him a son, Robert Williams Daniel Jr., on 17 March 1936.
Robert Williams Daniel Sr. would not live to see his son become a successful and well-respected politician. He succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver on the 20 December 1940. His first wife, fellow Titanic survivor Eloise Hughes Smith, had preceded him in death that May. He was interred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/robert-williams-daniel.html
Robert Williams Daniel was a Politician and Survivor of the Sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
He was born 11 September 1884 in Richmond, Virginia to James Robertson Vivian and Hallie Wise Daniel (née Williams). Robert was the great-grand-grandson of Edward Randolph, the first Attorney General of the United States.
Robert graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1903 and embarked on a career in banking and management. He was first employed in the traffic manager's office of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. He then entered the insurance business around 1905, becoming attached to the firm of Williams and Hart. He would eventually succeed Mr. Williams as district superintendent for the Maryland Life Insurance Company.
In 1906, Robert and a fellow district manager of Maryland Life, Charles Palmer Stearns, formed the insurance firm Daniel and Stearns.
By 1911, Robert Daniel was working as a banker and living in Philadelphia. Business would sometimes cause him to go to Europe. In late 1911 or early 1912, while he was staying at the Carlton Hotel in London, the building caught fire. Robert managed to save the life of a friend who was also staying there.
Robert was en route back to Philadelphia with a newly-purchased French bulldog when he boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a first-class passenger on the morning of 10 April 1912. He survived the tragedy which followed, though the precise manner of his escape remains a controversial matter. Descriptions varied in the press that followed; in at least one account it was claimed he swam completely nude in the North Atlantic for a number of hours before being picked up by a lifeboat. It is possible – and much more plausible – that he simply boarded one of the early lifeboats launched from the starboard side of the stricken liner. His new dog was lost in the sinking.
Sometime during the remainder of the crossing spent aboard the rescue-ship Carpathia, Robert befriended the eighteen-year-old widow Eloise Hughes Smith of Huntington, West Virginia, whose husband of two months had died in the sinking. At Pier 54 in New York, he reportedly carried the young widow down the gangway and handed her over to her father, Congressman James Anthony Hughes.
Robert and Eloise would continue to meet on occasion. The two Titanic survivors would ultimately marry on 18 August 1914. Eloise asked for and was granted a divorce from him in March 1923, citing an "unknown blonde woman" in her claim.
Robert Daniel would go on to marry Margery Pitt Durant later that same year. Margery was the daughter of automobile king William Durant, who formed General Motors in 1908, created Chevrolet in 1910, and founded the Durant Car Company in 1921. Robert became president of Liberty National Bank in New York, which was also owned by his father-in-law. A daughter, also named Margery, was born to the couple around 1925.
Robert and Margery purchased the plantation home Brandon-on-the-James, located along the banks of the James River in Virginia. The history of the plantation dates back to 1616. The main house was reportedly designed by Thomas Jefferson.
The marriage eventually deteriorated, and in July 1928, Margery sued for divorce. The business relationship between Robert and his former father-in-law carried on as usual, with Robert remaining president of the New York branch of Liberty National Bank.
Robert would go on to marry Charlotte Randolph Williams Bemiss in 1929. She bore him a son, Robert Williams Daniel Jr., on 17 March 1936.
Robert Williams Daniel Sr. would not live to see his son become a successful and well-respected politician. He succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver on the 20 December 1940. His first wife, fellow Titanic survivor Eloise Hughes Smith, had preceded him in death that May. He was interred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/robert-williams-daniel.html
He was born 11 September 1884 in Richmond, Virginia to James Robertson Vivian and Hallie Wise Daniel (née Williams). Robert was the great-grand-grandson of Edward Randolph, the first Attorney General of the United States.
Robert graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1903 and embarked on a career in banking and management. He was first employed in the traffic manager's office of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. He then entered the insurance business around 1905, becoming attached to the firm of Williams and Hart. He would eventually succeed Mr. Williams as district superintendent for the Maryland Life Insurance Company.
In 1906, Robert and a fellow district manager of Maryland Life, Charles Palmer Stearns, formed the insurance firm Daniel and Stearns.
By 1911, Robert Daniel was working as a banker and living in Philadelphia. Business would sometimes cause him to go to Europe. In late 1911 or early 1912, while he was staying at the Carlton Hotel in London, the building caught fire. Robert managed to save the life of a friend who was also staying there.
Robert was en route back to Philadelphia with a newly-purchased French bulldog when he boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a first-class passenger on the morning of 10 April 1912. He survived the tragedy which followed, though the precise manner of his escape remains a controversial matter. Descriptions varied in the press that followed; in at least one account it was claimed he swam completely nude in the North Atlantic for a number of hours before being picked up by a lifeboat. It is possible – and much more plausible – that he simply boarded one of the early lifeboats launched from the starboard side of the stricken liner. His new dog was lost in the sinking.
Sometime during the remainder of the crossing spent aboard the rescue-ship Carpathia, Robert befriended the eighteen-year-old widow Eloise Hughes Smith of Huntington, West Virginia, whose husband of two months had died in the sinking. At Pier 54 in New York, he reportedly carried the young widow down the gangway and handed her over to her father, Congressman James Anthony Hughes.
Robert and Eloise would continue to meet on occasion. The two Titanic survivors would ultimately marry on 18 August 1914. Eloise asked for and was granted a divorce from him in March 1923, citing an "unknown blonde woman" in her claim.
Robert Daniel would go on to marry Margery Pitt Durant later that same year. Margery was the daughter of automobile king William Durant, who formed General Motors in 1908, created Chevrolet in 1910, and founded the Durant Car Company in 1921. Robert became president of Liberty National Bank in New York, which was also owned by his father-in-law. A daughter, also named Margery, was born to the couple around 1925.
Robert and Margery purchased the plantation home Brandon-on-the-James, located along the banks of the James River in Virginia. The history of the plantation dates back to 1616. The main house was reportedly designed by Thomas Jefferson.
The marriage eventually deteriorated, and in July 1928, Margery sued for divorce. The business relationship between Robert and his former father-in-law carried on as usual, with Robert remaining president of the New York branch of Liberty National Bank.
Robert would go on to marry Charlotte Randolph Williams Bemiss in 1929. She bore him a son, Robert Williams Daniel Jr., on 17 March 1936.
Robert Williams Daniel Sr. would not live to see his son become a successful and well-respected politician. He succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver on the 20 December 1940. His first wife, fellow Titanic survivor Eloise Hughes Smith, had preceded him in death that May. He was interred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/robert-williams-daniel.html
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Robert Williams Daniel
Born September 11, 1884
Died December 20, 1940
Son of
James R.V. Daniel and
Hallie Williams Daniel
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