An Interlude With The Witherbees

Beatrice Witherbee Jolivet chose, for most of her life, to live in the present. Although always pleasant, she adamantly refused to discuss the Lusitania, ever, and gave only sparing details of her pre-1919 life. She was not an 'accumulator' and did not leave a paper trail from which to cull the missing details of her early life, and all of her personal effects save for a few photographs of herself and Alfred Scott Witherbee junior, and a still life painted by her mother (signed Mary Cummins) were irretrievably lost on May 7 1915. A series of letters exchanged between Alfred Scott Witherbee, Sr. and U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing which we recently uncovered shed the clearest light on the Witherbee's Lusitania experience and subsequent marital collapse of any documentation yet surfaced. Within we found the probable reason for Beatrice's later refusal to discuss the tragedy, and were given some (perhaps) unfortunate insights into the personality of A.S. Witherbee.

Hon. Robert Lansing, June 20, 1916

Secretary of State,

Washington D.C.

Dear Sir:

In June 1912, after taking stock of my holdings in Mexico, which represented the labor of years, I considered myself to be a comfortably rich man and my future assured. In 1916 I find myself ruined, and regret to say that it has been brought about by "Watchful Waiting." I am only one of thousands of Americans similarly afflicted by this same germ. In 1915, my little family of three went down, as you are aware, on the 'Lusitania' when that ship was torpedoed and sunk by the Germans. My boy, a child not quite four years of age, and his grandmother, lost their lives, and his Mother, a young woman only then 23 years of age, has been hovering between death and a mad house ever since, a physical and mental wreck. She is even now in a nursing home in London, while I am over here in an effort to get our government to force a settlement of my claim for indemnity for such financial (italicised) loss as it is known I suffered when the "Lusitania" was sunk. What money I have left as the result of "Watchful Waiting" has been spent trying to save her. I have braved the dangers of crossing the Atlantic twice, to try and get a settlement, the first time in December last, and the second now. I have been received politely at the State Department, and even had three minutes conversation with you, but I have each time been passed along to someone else, and so successfully that when I was finished with the last gentleman I interviewed, I found myself on the grounds adjacent to the State Department with nothing accomplished.

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I have spent thousands of dollars in my efforts to save Mrs. Witherbee, particularly in consultations with leading specialists and in travel through the south of France and in Italy, but I can go no further for lack of the funds necessary, which in itself is another tragedy as she was just beginning to improve a little, and I was encouraged. It has been since I left her last month that she has been taken to the nursing home, which fact alone has increased tenfold my anxiety regarding her. I found that Italy, and especially Rome, helped her amazingly, and I am anxious to take her there permanently. As my finances are now such as to make this impossible without help, I want to ask of the President and yourself an appointment as Consular Agent in Rome. I know that for the moment there is a vacancy through the death of the former Consul, his death having occurred while we were in Rome. I have no desire to embarrass our government by any undue interference in any policy or plans it may have in disposing of the "Lusitania" matter, but if I must wait, it is only fair that I should find a willing hand, somewhere, that will help me bide my time until a settlement has been effected. I am as competent as any I have seen filling such positions abroad, and by birth and education am a gentleman.

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I have been a life long Democrat, if that makes any difference, and am fully entitled to the utmost consideration from the President and yourself.

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Summed up in as few words as possible, I wish to call your attention to the desperate state of affairs, which have been brought through no fault of my own.

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I must do something very quickly, as I cannot remain long away from Mrs. Witherbee, especially as she is now absolutely in the hands of strangers.

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Awaiting your pleasure, I am,

Very Respectfully, your obedient servant,

A.S. Witherbee

This missive was written on letterhead from the New Willard which, in 1916, was Washington's most elegant- and costly- hotel. Despite his claims of abject poverty, Mr. Witherbee evidently was not one to cut back.

QUESTION #6: Please state in as much detail as possible the amount and character of the outlay made necessary for the purpose of restoring your health, for medical expenses, nursing, baths, and other expenses.

BEATRICE WITHERBEE: .....the accounts were kept by my husband so I have no actual knowledge of the outlay entailed. I should, however, assume that for two years or additional expenses due to travel approximated to at least Fifteen Thousand Dollars a year, in excess of our normal expenditure while living in England, or a total of $30,000.00. In addition I had a masseure in attendance from May to October of 1915, at $4 a day for services and $3 a day living expenses, or a total of $1250.00. Also an attendant for one year at $600.00 and living expenses of $300.00 or more. Our expenses at Monte Carlo at the Windsor Hotel were, according to my best information, $50 a day or approximately $6250.00. All of these expenses are fairly attributable to the accident and my collapsed nervous condition.

June 17, 1916

Dear Mr Lansing:

I have known Mr.Alfred Scott Witherbee of Larchmont, NY, intimately for several years. I know his history and his abilities. While never very active in politics he has been a consistent supporter of the Democratic party all his life.....

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Following untoward events in his Mexican interests, as one troubled condition often follows on the heels of another, his wife and five year old son, with Mrs. Witherbee's mother, sailed on the ill-fated Lusitania to join him in London. In the disaster Mrs. Witherbee's mother and the young son were lost. Mrs. Witherbee was saved though virtually a physical and mental wreck. In the face of all these seriously adverse conditions Mr. Witherbee has struggled manfully in his efforts to retain his hold on affairs and bring his wife to health. I am told he is actually in want..... Mr. Witherbee and his wife have spent considerable time in Italy where she has been greatly benefited. He has a large and valuable acquaintance there. He has been a close friend of Mr. Marconi for a long time and has been a guest in his home on several occasions. Among his Italian acquaintances and friends, he numbers not only the King of Italy, but various members of the royal family, and Princes of the Vatican as well.....

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I have ever found Mr. "Al" Witherbee an unusually clean, high class gentleman, possessed of rare ability, and with a strict moral sense, emphatically a man of his word, a born diplomat, one who goes out of his way to help those less fortunate than himself.

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Sincerely yours,

Llewellyn M. Aldrich

QUESTION No. 2: Please state fully your scale of living.

BEATRICE WITHERBEE: In Larchmont we lived in a large rented house of about fifteen rooms, the probable rental value of which was, in my judgement, $5000.00 a year. We had five servants, one automobile and chauffeur. We lived at Larchmont in this house for about three years. In Cincinnati we lived in a flat called the "Ortiz," it containing six rooms. I have no actual knowledge as to my husband's income, but our scale of expenditure was from $20,000.00 a year to $30,000.00 a year.

The Punchline:

July 14, 1916

Sir:

The Department has received your letter of July 6, 1916, with further reference to your desire to be appointed to a position in the consular service, and you are hereby offered the position of clerk in the American Consulate at Swansea, Wales, your compensation to be at the rate of $1000.00 a year from the date of your assumption of duty in the Consulate. No allowance can be made for mileage of the payment of your transportation expenses in proceeding to your post. Your duties in the office will be of a subordinate and clerical nature, such as typewriting, indexing, keeping the records and accounts and generally assisting the Consul in the performance of the duties of his post by doing such work as he may require of you.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

For the Secretary of State

Wilbur J. Carr

Director of the Consular Service.

In a final blow, the letter was not signed, but instead rubber stamped with Mr. Carr's name.

Witherbee responded to Mr. Carr's offer on July 21, 1916

As the salary offered would not even provide the ordinary necessities for Mrs. Witherbee, I must decline the post. I consider it under the circumstances, as adding insult to injury, although thoroughly absolving you from any blame in the matter.

He died, intestate, at the Savoy in London on June 19, 1922, in arrears. The hotel attached his personal belongings, and as of 1930 was still seeking settlement of the bill.