| Sarah Lund Second Cabin Passenger Saved |
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 image: Joy Stocking Hill Collection |
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| Born | Sarah Jane Mounsey 1886 Bluffton, Indiana, United States |
| Died | 2 April 1978 (age 92) Niles, Illinois, United States |
| Age on Lusitania | 29 |
| Traveling with | – Charles Lund (husband) – William Mounsey (father) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Residence | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Spouse(s) | – Charles Henry Lund (1914 – 1915, his death) – George Hornberger (1916 – ?) Please provide dates |
Sarah Lund (née Mounsey), 29, was traveling aboard Lusitania with her husband Charles Lund and her father William Mounsey in attempt to locate Sarah’s mother, Fanny Mounsey (née Sewell), who had been missing since she sailed on the ill-fated Empress of Ireland, which sank in the St. Lawrence River in 1914. Charles and William themselves were lost when the Lusitania sank. Sarah survived.
Sarah was born in Bluffton, Indiana to William Mounsey and Fanny Sewell. Sarah was one of nine children. The Mounsey family moved to Chicago, Illinois where the family opened Mounsey Movers.
In 1914, Fanny had the opportunity to visit her family in Keswick, Cumberland, England. Fanny had been reluctant, but the persuasion of a scenic trip through the St. Lawrence by a friend, Mrs. John Fisher, convinced her. She and Mrs. Fisher boarded the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Ireland as second class passengers. On 29 May the Empress of Ireland was struck by the Norwegian collier Storstad, and the Empress went down in 14 minutes. Both ladies were lost, and neither’s body was recovered.
That year, Sarah married Charles Lund of Wisconsin. Almost a year later, the Mounsey family received word from England that a woman in a Liverpool institution named “Kate Fitzgerald” was uttering the name “Mounsey” and had a fear of water. She was believed to be a survivor of the Empress of Ireland disaster. Without a moments notice, William, Sarah, and Charles traveled to New York to take the Lusitania.
On the train to New York, they met Eunice Kinch and her son William Mostoe-Kinch while passing through Cleveland. They, too, would be traveling aboard the Lusitania and the two parties became friends.
When the torpedo struck, Sarah was sitting on deck with Eunice Kinch. Sarah was doused with debris and water. She ran to the lounge and found her father and William Mostoe-Kinch, but not her husband Charles. They crossed to the portside and entered a boat that had no plug. They were then told to get out of the boat and that the Lusitania would not sink.
Running over to the starboard side, Sarah was very frustrated and scared and implored Robert Timmis to get her a lifebelt. He gave her his own. She then beckoned her father to follow her to the funnel deck when the ship sank rapidly and an explosion threw them into the sea. Sarah came up and floated for a number of hours when a lifeboat came by and a man pulled her in. The man in the lifeboat was Robert Timmis who saved her twice in one day.
Sarah spent time in the hospital in Queenstown, Ireland to recover. Without her father and husband, both of whom had been lost, she pressed on to Liverpool to seek out “Kate Fitzgerald.” The woman in the institution, however, turned out to be nothing like her mother. William and Charles had died in a quest that “had been futile from the start.”
After her recovery, continued on to England where she spent time with both Sewell & Mounsey relatives. Charles Lund’s body was found eventually, and his remains were returned to the United States. William’s body was never recovered.
Sarah eventually returned home and a little over a year afterwards she married George Hornberger in August 1916, a man whose job was to investigate Lusitania-related financial claims. She spent a good part of her married life in California before returning to Chicago where she lived the rest of her life. She occassionally gave interviews before her death on 2 April 1978. Sarah Mounsey Lund Hornberger was in 92.
Related pages
Charles and Sarah Lund at the Mixed Claims Commission
William Mounsey at the Mixed Claims Commission
Contributors:
Joy Stocking (grandniece of Sarah Lund)
Michael Poirier
Juidth Tavares
References:
Hoehling, A. A. and Mary Hoehling. The Last Voyage of the Lusitania. Madison Books, 1956.
Preston, Diana. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy. Berkley Books, 2002.
Zeni, David. Forgotten Empress. Goose Lane Editions, 1998.
I am related to Herbert Bragg Mounsey he would have been my grandfather I think from records that William Edgar Mounsey was his older sibling
Hi Janet !! I am in NY now for the rest of the summer when we will return to FL. Was just sitting here looking up possible relatives and found this article (as you did in 2017, it is so very interesting !! Maybe Sarah Jane is also buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago along with Herbert, Charolette Mounsey, George & Fanny Stevenson, Marley Mounsey, Walter & Edith Smith, and Herbert’s mother maiden name Bragg ?? I remember going there once as a child with my parents. I remember my mother telling me of a female relative that was on the Lusitania that survived and also have an old yellowed newspaper clipping (packed away somewhere) about this. Hope all is well with You, Roberta and all of yours. I am well, Brad is well, his daughter Jesseca is a Phyciatric Nurse Practitioner and doing great. Brad just moved from Atlanta to Nashville, Tenn, Jess is still living in Indianapolis. If I ever get to Chicago again, I will visit the family graves, clean them, and see what else I can put together. Be well my cousin !! Steve Washburn