In 1912, George Dennick Wick had not been feeling well.  As many wealthy Americans did at that time, he chose travel as a way to recover his health.  With his wife Molly and daughter Natalie, he toured Europe for several weeks, and recovered quite nicely.  Then, as a special treat, he secured passage on the maiden voyage of the Titanic for the trip home.

On April 14, 1912, the brand-new ocean liner Titanic sank in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.  Molly, Natalie, and two cousins who had traveled with them from England made it safely to a rescue ship.  George Wick went down with the Titanic and his body was never recovered.

Among the passengers on the Titanic, 38 planned to come to northern Ohio, and ten of them were headed for Youngstown.  Five were lost with the ship and five survived.  One of those survivors was Shaneene W. George, who later founded the Joy Cone Company in New Castle, Pennsylvania.  Sometimes when we read about events of national importance, like the sinking of the Titanic, or the Civil War, it’s easy to forget that many individual people were involved, each with a personal story to tell. 

Do you know anyone who has lived through interesting times, like the Great Depression of the 1930s, or World War II, the Korean Conflict, the student unrest of the 1960s, or the Viet Nam War?  What stories can they tell you?  What stories could you tell? 

For a better look at these and other images, go to MVHS@mahoninghistory.org.  Under Education, click on ‘What Do You Know’ for a list of articles.  Then click on the embedded images in an article for a downloadable file.