Archive of correspondence regarding $87,000 worth of bonds for the Wabash Railroad Company being transported via the Titanic that were destroyed in the disaster, totaling 27 pages, consisting of various letters and carbon copies bound together in a single file. The cover sheet notes the subject as “First Refunding and Extensions Mortgage Bondholders’ Committee. Correspondence re Bonds Lost on S. S. Titanic,” with contents dating from April 19, 1912, to December 6, 1912. The earliest letter, in part: “You will have received the duplicate of our letter per ‘titanic’ from which you will see that $87,000 of the above bonds handed to us for deposit were sent out by that unfortunate steamer, and have been lost…We are now engaged in collection…from Lloyds Underwriters…In the circumstances we leave the matter of replacing these bonds to your goodselves. The depositor will expect to get Certificates of Deposit at as early a date as possible.”
Responding about replacing the bonds shipped “by steamship ‘Titanic’ and lost,” a letter of April 30th requests “the serial numbers of these bonds.” Answering, another letter informs that the bonds “as shipped by Steamship ‘Titanic,’ are as follows: No. 1332/1417 and 1425.” Two carbon copy typescripts of an affidavit certifying the accuracy of these bond numbers are included. A carbon copy of the letter enclosing the affidavit is also present, in part: “Through the loss at sea of the steamship ‘Titanic,’ all of these bonds have been destroyed, and it is desired that new bonds, of like tenor and date, including coupons and bearing the same serial numbers, shall be certified and delivered.” The letter is signed in type by the committee members submitting the request, with names including noted financiers Bernard Baruch, Robert Goelet, and Robert Fleming.
Following various related correspondence, the final letter reads, in part: “I am glad to at last be able to advise you that Certificates of Deposit, representing the $87,000…lost on the steamship ‘Titanic,’ have been issued by The Equitable Trust Company of New York.” In fine condition, with some light staining to the covers and general light handling wear.
