Clara Jennings Hays

Clara Jennings Hays

Clara Jennings Hays was a First Class passenger of the Titanic. She survived the sinking.

She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on the 13th October, 1859 as the daughter of William Henry Gregg and Orian Lakey. She married Charles Melville Hays in St. Louis Mo on 13 October 1881, and they had four daughters.

She boarded the Titanic with her husband and her maid Anne Perreault in Southampton. They were also accompanied by their daughter Orian Davidson, and son-in-law, Thornton Davidson. They were traveling in First Class as guests of White Star Line President J. Bruce Ismay. The family were returning to their home in Montreal. They occupied cabin B-69.

Clara and her daughter escaped on lifeboat 3, their husbands both perished. After the disaster when asked if she would sue the White Star Line she was very kind and responded "When one is a guest, one does not sue one's host."

After the disaster, Clara spent more time at her summer home in Cushing Island, Maine, USA than her home in Montreal. She died in 1955 and was buried alongside her husband in the Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal.