The courage that didn't freeze to death: The Real Story of "Molly" Brown of Titanic

But the true story of the woman who became the model for this character is far more complex.

History knows her as "The Unsinkable Molly," but she would probably not respond to that address herself. In her lifetime, no one called her anything but Maggie or Margaret. Molly's name is a myth that arose after her death, as well as rumors that she was illiterate. To the contrary, Margaret was privately educated and fluent in French, German and Russian. She also proved her courage on a chilly night in 1912.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown has become a legend

Margaret Tobin was born in 1867 into a poor family of Irish immigrants in Missouri. By the age of 13, she was on the strip at the factory, but her ambitions continued. At 18, she went to Leadville, Colorado, a gritty city of silver mines, with a clear plan: marry well to provide for her aging father. Fate, however, played James 'J.J.' into her path."Brown, a man as poor as herself.

Margaret then faced a choice that defined her character. Later, she recalled fighting an inner battle between reason and feeling. In the end, the heart prevailed. She decided she would be happier with the poor man she loved, rather than the rich man whose money would be the only attraction. Ironically, wealth came without calculation. In 1893, engineers at little Jonny Mine, where J.J. worked, managed to hit a massive gold vein. Overnight, the poor spouses became millionaires who could throw their money around with pitchforks.

Educated pariah

The money opened the door to Denver, but not to the high society there. The local cream flaunted Margaret's contempt. All they saw in her was an upstart from the strip. Instead of withdrawing, Margaret decided to invest in herself. While the tabloid journalist Gene Fowler later falsely wrote about her in Timber Line (1933) that she could not read or write, the reality was, as we already know, quite different.

Her marriage to J.J. In the end, brown could not stand the pressure of differing natures -- he longed for calm, she for social and political engagement. Although they never divorced, they were separated. Thanks to a generous settlement, Margaret was able to travel the world. It was one such journey, interrupted by news of her grandson's illness, that led her aboard the Titanic in April 1912.

Mutiny on boat number 6

Margaret Brown was enjoying the comforts of first class on the Titanic. On April 14, 1912, however, a beautiful and uneventful voyage was ended by an overnight impact on the glacier. It happened before midnight. The millionaire was reading in her quarters. 'I was completely absorbed reading that I hadn't even given too much thought to the impact that had thrown me to the floor,' she told the Newport Herald a few days later.

But it soon became clear that the situation was serious. Margaret Brown, like the others, was sent aboard. Women and children began boarding lifeboats amid the ever-present chaos. The first-class ones, of course, and Maggie among them. But she did something you wouldn't expect a woman in her position to do.

Instead of quickly taking her place in the boat, she set about helping others. "Somehow I didn't care about being rescued," she told The New York Times a few days later. So she didn't even try to get in, she just helped others in the process. "This was happening until two men practically threw her into lifeboat number 6," the Mental Floss site says. Brown later said she owed them her life.

The lifeboat was designed to carry over fifty people, with the exception of Margaret Brown, but only twenty actually sat in it.

The boat was commanded by helmsman Robert Hichens, a man paralysed by fear, who refused to row back for drowning because he feared capsizing. Margaret confronted him with a vigour of her own. When he threatened her, she replied that if she didn't calm down, she would throw him overboard herself. She took de facto command, handed out robes to the chilled, and took up the oars herself. She didn't mince words with the cowardly helmsman afterward.

Charity in Carphatia

After a few endless hours in the cold waters of the North Atlantic, Margaret Brown got aboard the vessel Carpathia, which had come to pick up survivors from the Titanic. Here, too, she continued to help others. Despite being exhausted, cold and tired, Margaret immediately took action. By speaking several foreign languages, she was able to communicate with lower-class survivors who could not speak English. She handed out pillows provided by Carpathian passengers to women who had to lie in the dining room and hallways. She soon realized that these women had lost everything - men, children, clothes, money, and all valuables - and that they would have to start their lives completely over. So she immediately went to the First Class People of Carpathia and the survivors of titanic, asking them to make a financial contribution to the less wealthy passengers. By the time Carpathia arrived in New York, she had raised $10,000.

She was involved in helping survivors after ward, and although she became a sensation for the paper, she did not attach much importance to her personal adventure. She continued to support women and their rights, hard-working miners, travelled the country, and attended political meetings. She remained an active and generous figure until her death in 1932.

source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Brown