Eagle Feathers #200 – Titanic Heroes

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

At Presidents Park in Washington, D.C., a memorial fountain was erected in October 1912. It was constructed in memory of Major Archibald Butt, military aide to President Theodore Roosevelt and President Howard Taft and also honors Butt’s companion, celebrated painter Francis Davis Millet.

While returning from a diplomatic tour in Europe six months earlier, the two friends met their heroic deaths on the ocean liner R.M.S. Titanic. The Major was Taft’s organizer and, while on the deck of the Titanic which did not have enough life boats, took command, demanding and enforcing the rescue of women and children first. Sadly, Major Butt’s body was never recovered.
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On April 12, 1912, Somerville’s Charles Taylor and his son John christened the Red Sox and officially opened their jewel of baseball, the new Fenway Park. On that day to a crowd of 27,000 fans, the Sox defeated the New York Highlanders, later named the Yankees, by a score of 6-5. Because of the tragic news of the Titanic disaster that occurred on April 15th, their front-page newspaper billings were displaced.
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As his military aide, the Major shadowed President Taft almost everywhere. Locally, he had accompanied the President to Somerville’s 1910 Fourth of July celebration. It was 110 years ago and the largest in our city’s history. After their citywide motorcade tour, they viewed an outstanding parade from a grandstand on Highland Avenue at Central Hill.
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Apart from the Presidents Park Memorial, he is remembered under a Celtic cross at Arlington National Cemetery, a memorial bridge in Augusta, Georgia, and a memorial plaque in the American National Cathedral.
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The Major’s confidant, New Bedford area born painter, Francis Davis Millet, also had a distinguished background. Beginning at age 15, he was a drummer boy and assistant to his father, a Civil War surgeon. He was the father of four children and Mark Twain was his best man. He became an acclaimed artist, sculptor, writer, and decorated war correspondent.
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He painted murals in Boston’s Trinity Church and was one of the founders of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Harvard University honors him with a bust in its Widener Library. He was last seen on the Titanic lowering women and children into lifeboats. His remarkable list of achievements, affiliations, and contributions were cut short on the deck of the Titanic. Of note, the Widener library was named after George Widener and his son, Harry, who were also victims of the Titanic disaster.
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Another memorial honors these two friends and 1,300 others. It lies in Washington, D.C.’s Southwest Waterfront Park and was unveiled by President Taft’s widow Helen. It states:

TO THE BRAVE MEN
WHO PERISHED
IN THE WRECK
OF THE TITANIC
April 15-1912
THEY GAVE THEIR
LIVES THAT WOMEN
AND CHILDREN
MIGHT BE SAVED

ERECTED BY THE
WOMEN OF AMERICA