Ann Elizabeth Isham was a First Class passenger of the Titanic. She was one of the only four First Class ladies who died in the sinking, the others being Ida Straus, Bess Allison, and Edith Evans.
Early Life[]
She was born on January 25, 1862 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, the first child of Edward Swift Isham and Frances Burch. She had two brothers: Pierrepont and Edward Swift, and a sister Frances. Their father established a law firm with Robert Todd Lincoln (son of former US President Abraham Lincoln) called Isham, Lincoln & Beale in Chicago, Illinois.
Ann lived for a time in Chicago where she was a member of the Friday Club and the Scribbler's Club. But by 1912, she had been living abroad for nine years; most of the time in Paris with her sister Frances (Mrs. Harry Shelton).
Aboard the Titanic[]
Ann's brother, Edward, lived in New York City and it was in order to spend the summer with him that she boarded the Titanic when it stopped at Cherbourg on April 10, 1912. Titanic passenger Arthur Larned Ryerson, was a partner in her father's firm and it is likely that Ann and the Rysersons knew each other.
Her cabin (C-49) was next to that of Colonel Archibald Gracie, although he did not remember ever seeing her.
Death and Legacy[]
Ann was one of four First Class women who died in the disaster, her body, if recovered, was never identified.
When Ann died, in addition to her siblings, she left a cousin, Mrs. H. H. Porter, Jr., of Chicago. A memorial to her was erected by her family in Vermont.