The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Maggie wasn't called "Molly" until after her death with the release of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" Hollywood musical.

Margaret Tobin was born July 18, 1867 in Hannibal, Missouri. Her father was an abolitionist and worked with John Brown before the Civil War. Family lore says that he even ran a station on the Underground Railroad. Margaret's mother, Johanna Tobin, firmly believed in education for all, not just the rich, and insisted that each of her children attend Mrs. O'Leary's grammar school until the age of thirteen or so. Tuition cost $1 per month per child. This was a steep bill considering that John Tobin only made $1.75 to $2 per day.

Mining Camp, Leadville, Colorado
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Molly was instrumental in the early feminist movement in Leadville and the establishment of the Colorado Chapter of the National American Women's Suffrage Association. She also worked in soup kitchens to assist families of Leadville miners.

When Margaret was eighteen years old she left home to stay with her brother who had moved to Leadville, CO to take advantage of the silver boom. She worked as a carpet and drapery seamstress at Daniels and Fisher while also acting as her brother's house keeper. It was there in Leadville that she met James Joseph "J.J." Brown.
After a whirlwind courtship, Maggie and J.J. were married on September 1, 1886. J.J. was 31 years old and Maggie was barely 19. In making her decision to wed J.J., Margaret was torn between her desire to take care of her family and her desire for happiness.
Margaret hired a tutor in reading and literature to continue her education. She also studied piano, singing and music with another instructor. Margaret studied with the tutor in Leadville five days a week.

"I wanted a rich man, but I loved Jim Brown. I thought about how I wanted comfort for my father and how I had determined to stay single until a man presented himself who could give to the tired old man the things I longed for him. Jim was as poor as we were, and had no better chance in life. I struggled hard with myself in those days. I loved Jim, but he was poor. Finally, I decided that I'd be better off with a poor man whom I loved than with a wealthy one whose money had attracted me. So I married Jim Brown." --Maggie BrownA group of Leadville mining men including A.V. Hunter, August R. Meyer, Max Boehmer, William Byrd Page and John F. Campion, bought and consolidated a group of mines and leases under the name "Ibex Mining Company." They asked J.J., a minor stockholder, to oversee the company's many mining operations.

In the 1890s the price of silver fell and the price of gold rose. Gold was now the only metal backing the U.S. currency due to the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1893. It was gold that was destined to make the Ibex Mining Company and Margaret and J.J. Brown a legend.

The grade of gold at JJ's mines was so pure and the vein so wide it was heralded as the world's richest gold strike. By October 29, 1893, the mine was shipping 135 tons of gold per day. The Ibex Company and its owners, including the Browns, were suddenly very, very rich.

In 1894, Maggie and J.J. moved to Denver.

Their new home provided everything Margaret and J.J. could want. The house, at 7,600 square feet, was considered merely an upper-middle-class home. It had electric lights, a telephone, indoor plumbing (including one indoor bathroom with hot and cold running water), and forced heat and air.

Beginning in 1903, Margaret began tackling the tough social issues of her time: juvenile justice; children's, women's and miner's rights; and social equality. She was also instrumental in spearheading fundraising efforts to build The Cathedral of The Immaculate Conception. In 1979 Pope John Paul II named the cathedral a minor basilica -- only one of twenty-nine in this country. The cathedral was also honored when Pope John Paul II said Mass there in 1993.

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"I stretched on the brass bed, at the side of which was a lamp. So completely absorbed in my reading I gave little thought to the crash that struck at my window overhead and threw me to the floor. Picking myself up I proceeded to see what the steamer had struck. On emerging from my stateroom, I found many men in the gangway in their pajamas. All seemed to be quietly listening, thinking nothing serious had occurred, although realizing at the time that the engines had stopped immediately after the crash and that the boat was at a standstill."

Mrs. Brown was excited to be on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, which was hailed by the press as "unsinkable."

Margaret had retired to her stateroom early on the fateful evening. Margaret described the experience this way, "I stretched on the brass bed, at the side of which was a lamp. So completely absorbed in my reading I gave little thought to the crash that struck at my window overhead and threw me to the floor. Picking myself up I proceeded to see what the steamer had struck. On emerging from my stateroom, I found many men in the gangway in their pajamas. All seemed to be quietly listening, thinking nothing serious had occurred, although realizing at the time that the engines had stopped immediately after the crash and that the boat was at a standstill."

After the crash, Margaret returned to her stateroom and heard increasing confusion in the hall causing her to investigate further. "I again looked out and saw a man whose face was blanched, his eyes protruding, wearing the look of a haunted creature. He was gasping for breath and in an undertone he gasped, 'get your life saver'."

After helping fellow passengers into a lifeboat she headed to see what was being done with the lifeboats on the other side of the ship. She still believed that the ship was unsinkable. Suddenly, she was grabbed and was dropped four feet into the lowering lifeboat #6.

Lifeboat #6 was equipped to hold 65 passengers. However, it pushed off from the Titanic with 21 women, 2 men and a twelve-year-old boy on board. As the lifeboat was being lowered, Margaret noticed with horror a gush of water spouting from an opening in the side of the ship. The last orders given to the group by Captain Smith were "row to the light and keep the boats together." As the lifeboat moved away from the sinking Titanic they realized there was no light.

"As we pulled away from the boat, we heard sounds of firing, and later were told it was officers shooting as they were letting down the boats from the steamer trying to prevent those from the lower decks jumping on the lifeboats. Others said [correctly] that it was the boilers."

"Suddenly," she wrote, "there was a rift in the water, the sea opened up and the surface foamed like giant arms spread around the ship, and the vessel disappeared from sight." At 2:30 a.m. April 15th the Titanic sank. Of the approximately 2,300 on board 1,600 were lost.

They continued to row for four more hours occasionally seeing flares sent up by the other lifeboats. At 4:30 a.m. Margaret saw a flash of light. It was from the approaching ship Carpathia that was the first to answer the distress call. After some difficulty, lifeboat #6 pulled up along side of the Carpathia and they were pulled aboard one at a time.

Margaret, though sore, tired and cold, began to take action. Her knowledge of foreign languages enabled her to console survivors who spoke little English. She also rifled through the ship to find extra blankets and supplies to distribute to women who were sleeping in the dining room and corridors. She compiled lists of survivors and arranged for information to be radioed to their families at her expense. Margaret realized that these women had lost everything- husbands, children, clothes, money and valuables- and needed to start a life in a new country.

The Carpathia docked at New York's pier 54 where it was met by a crowd of 30,000 people. Margaret was surrounded by reporters and was asked to what she attributed her survival. "Typical Brown luck," she replied. "We're unsinkable."