Mary Conover
Mary Conover Lines was born July 27, 1895 in Mt. Vernon, New York as the daughter of Dr Ernest H. Lines and Elizabeth Lindsey James. Her father was President of the New York Life Insurance Company. The Lines family had lived for many years in Paris, France, and Mary was educated in both Paris and Italy.
In April 1912, Mary and her mother were traveling to the United States to attend her brother's graduation from Dartmouth College. Dr. Lines was to accompany the women but was prevented by business at the last moment. Mary and her mother boarded RMS Titanic at Cherbourg as First Class passengers and occupied cabin D-28. Her father had actually booked for Titanic as well, but at the last moment, press of business caused Dr. Lines to remain in Paris, this may have saved his life.
On Saturday 13 April the two ladies had just finished lunch in the First Class Dining Room on D-Deck. They had made a habit of stopping for coffee in the adjoining reception room following their meal. After she had taken a seat, Captain Smith and Bruce Ismay came and sat at a table nearby and began discussing the possibility of having the last boilers lit. Her mother recognized Mr. Ismay from several years back when they had both lived in New York, and she confirmed his identity with her table steward.
Miss Lines and her mother became alarmed when the ship stopped and the noise of steam being vented out could be heard. During the sinking, an officer tied lifebelts on Mrs. Lines and her daughter, saying: "We are sending you out as a matter of precaution. We hope you will be back for breakfast." Instead their breakfast was on Carpathia. She and her mother were picked up by the Cunarder after having been rescued in lifeboat 9. Later in life, Mary Lines said that two things stuck in her memory about that night. One was the intense cold and the other was the cries of those in the water, which slowly faded as the hours went by.
On Carpathia, her mother was giving a cabin however Mary was forced to sleep on the floor, together with a girl of her age.
Mary sent a letter to her Parisian school friend on April 16, Helen M. Iselin to tell everything that happened. Mary attended a girl’s school, Cours Fénelon. The letter was in French.
In 1919 Mary married to Sargent Holbrook Wellman. They settled in Topsfield, Massachusetts and had a daughter and two sons.
On 23 November 1975, after having suffered from a stroke, Mary Conover Lines died at her home in Massachusetts, aged 80.
in a letter Mary Lines wrote she stated the following "God has been so good to us. My mother and I have been saved. I’m writing to you from the ship that picked us up. Oh, my darling, it was a horrible night, and I hope you never have to pass one like it I’m going to try to tell you everything. First, at a quarter to midnight, my mother felt that the ship had received a terrible blow. She jumps from her bed and wakes me up, for I was still asleep. Then we hear the sound of steam escaping with a frightful hissing. We ring for the steward who reassures us and tells us to go to bed. Then our next-door neighbors (Hilma and Ragnihild’s uncle and cousin) come down again and the father tells us there’s no danger at all. Then we go to bed. Ten minutes later we hear Mr. White who comes down and shouts to his son: “Richard! Life boats!” You can imagine that we hurried to get up, we quickly grabbed some coats, then we rushed to the deck. As I’m leaving our cabin I hear Mr. White’s son (he was just 21) shouting “Life belts!" this shows Marys reaction to all of the titanic stuff happening