Charles Harwood Knight, 39, known as Harwood, was traveling with his sister, Elaine “Naina” Knight aboard Lusitania to return to Paris, France, where they had an apartment. Harwood was studying the piano in Paris, where they had been living for 4 years but returned to their hometown of Baltimore when World War I started.
Life
Harwood and Naina were originally from Baltimore, Maryland, where Harwood had been long employed by a piano company. A niece, Millicent Hartt, came to live with them when Millicent’s parents died of tuberculosis when she was in her early teens. Harwood and Naina were her only surviving relatives. Millicent lived with them in until her marriage to John Philip Hartt on 12 March 1910, and she moved to Dedham, Massachusetts. Millicent remained in contact with Harwood and Naina, although she received no additional financial support from them after her marriage.
The Knights moved from Baltimore to Paris, where they lived for 4 years while Harwood studied piano. Harwood gave recitals and worked for the piano manufacturing company of Sanders and Stayman. Both brother and sister never married.
Harwood and Naina returned to the United States via Marseilles in 1914 when World War I broke out. In their extended visit to the United States, they stayed at the home of Millient and her husband John Hartt in Dedham.
In May 1915, Charles and Naina boarded Lusitania to return to their Paris flat, where they would spend the summer. Their ticket was 14347, but Charles and Naina stayed in separate cabins, with Harwood in D-32.
Charles and Naina posted a letter from Lusitania thanking Millicent and John for their hospitality. As a gift, Naina enclosed in her letter a copy of the saloon (first class) passenger list for that voyage.
Charles Harwood and Elaine both died when Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk on 7 May 1915. Their bodies never recovered or identified, and no survivor accounts provide details of their last seven days.
Millicent Hartt saved Harwood’s and Naina’s letter and passenger list, which remain in the family to this day. Millicent was the sole beneficiary of Harwood’s and Naina’s estates, and the Mixed Claims Commission awarded her $1750 for their lost effects.
Related pages
Charles Harwood and Elaine Knight at the Mixed Claims Commission
Links of interest
Encyclopedia Titanica: Lest We Forget – Part 2
Contributors
Jim Kalafus, USA
Michael Poirier, USA
References
Kalafus, Jim and Michael Poirier (2005) Lest We Forget Part 2: As the Lusitania Went Down ET Research. <http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/lusitania-lest-we-forget-2.html>
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