112 years ago, on April 10, the Titanic set sail from Southampton. On board was Dutch American John Astor, the son of Carolien Schermerhorn, of the Schermerhorns of North Holland, and owner of the Waldorf Astoria. He was on his honeymoon, and the only reason he and his 19-year-old bride returned home early was that while vacationing she turned out to be pregnant. They didn’t want a French doctor, they wanted an American one.
He drowned 5 days later, on the 15th. She lived. So did John junior. He was born after 4 months in New York and became known as the Titanic Baby. Mom, 29 years younger than Dad, remarried soon and, by the way, she discovered over time that her American gynecologist was of French descent after all.
