Alfred Witherbee, Jr. (1911 – 1915), 3, of New York, New York, United States was an American citizen and the son of Beatrice Witherbee and grandson of Mary Brown. He was traveling with his mother and grandmother aboard Lusitania, as his mother and father, also named Alfred, was relocating the family to London, England. Alfred Jr. and Mary were lost in the Lusitania disaster, but Beatrice survived. Beatrice related to her future mother-in-law, Pauline Jolivet, that Beatrice had tried to hold on to Alfred in the water.
Alfred Witherbee, Jr., was born in June 1911 to Alfred and Beatrice Witherbee.
Aboard Lusitania, the Witherbee party occupied cabin D-52.
Not much is known about what happened the family during the sinking. Mary Brown and Alfred Witherbee, Jr., were lost. Beatrice refused to talk about the sinking afterwards, except that she once revealed that she had tried to hold on to Alfred Witherbee in the water.
It is possible that his mother was the woman Margaret Mackworth saw scolding Captain Turner on the rescue vessel Bluebell, saying, “My child’s death was not necessary. It was due to the lack of discipline and organization aboard your ship.”
That woman had lost her son when a lifeboat overturned. Alfred was 3, almost 4, years old.
Per the list of interments at Cobh, Alfred Scott Witherbee was identified as body #243, male, age 4 years, 1st Class passenger. Beatrice was involved in a court battle with Arthur Luck over the identity of body #243, as Arthur claimed that it belonged to his son Kenneth, who was lost in the Lusitania sinking with Arthur’s wife Charlotte and son Elbridge. Beatrice won the case, and the body was buried in the Old Church Cemetery as Alfred Scott Witherbee in private grave #616.
In his mother’s lawsuit against Germany through the Mixed Claims Commission, she withdrew claims for damages suffered by her resulting from the death of her son and her mother under instructions from her to her private counsel. Beatrice wrote, “It is my deepest wish that the tragic death of my little son is not turned into profit or made a matter of money consideration.”
Related pages
Beatrice Witherbee at the Mixed Claims Commission
Links of interest
Encyclopedia Titanica: Lest We Forget – Part 1
Contributors:
Jim Kalafus
Michael Poirier
Judith Tavares
References:
Kalafus, Jim and Michael Poirier. Lest We Forget: Part 1 ET Research. <http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/lusitania-lest-we-forget.html>
Mixed Claims Commission, Docket 639.
Alfred Scott Witherbee was born on 27 June 1911, in New York.
R.I.P Alfred ;-;