Titanic survivor's journal salvaged in Aberdeen depicts helplessness

Titantic sunk in Atlantic Ocean 100 years ago

 UPDATED 7:35 PM EDT Apr 13, 2012

The story of one of the 700 people who survived the Titanic's sinking a century ago lives on in Harford County.

The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean 100 years ago Sunday, leaving some 1,500 people dead.

A small piece of Titanic history tucked away in Aberdeen lies in the hands of Jim Carroll, a great cousin to Elmer Zebley Taylor, who left his journal detailing a first-hand account of his voyage aboard the Titanic.

"At that time, this was the latest and greatest in early 20th century technology, and he was able to absorb and interpret and enjoy it all for what it was," Carroll said.

Taylor, an inventor and engineer, was a first-class passenger along with wife Juliet and business partner Fletcher Lambert-Williams.

"I think he estimated the ship was going something like 22.75 knots just based on the rotations of the propellers that he could hear," Carroll said.

On the night of the 15th, Taylor wrote, an impact woke him up and he went on deck.

Reading from his great cousin's journal, Carroll said, "I said to a sailor, 'Why have we stopped?' 'Struck an iceberg,' he said. I walked forward and saw nothing peculiar but crushed ice under my feet, which had been shivered from the iceberg, picking up a piece ... 'Well, Williams,' I said, 'We've struck an iceberg and I've brought a piece of it for you to put in your highball. So here goes.'"

Clearly unfazed and convinced the Titanic was unsinkable, Taylor and his wife only got into a lifeboat when ordered to.

Then, a half mile out, it hit him, "All lights were extinguished, synchronizing with the crash. Darkness prevailed. The idealized conception of mortal man gradually settled bow-first under the icy waters of the Mid-Atlantic, said to be the deepest part of the ocean. A real tragedy, 1,500 or more people were plunged into the ocean, all calling for help -- a sound never to be forgotten," Carroll read from the journal.

Carroll said Taylor lived with that day for the rest of his life.

"It was said that he just never recovered from this," Carroll said. "The horror of what he experienced."

At the time of the Titanic disaster, Taylor was a seasoned traveler, a businessman and early pioneer of the paper cup. He had already crossed the Atlantic 60 times while building his business.

Taylor and his wife survived. Lambert-Williams did not.

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