Alice E. Tesson was born in Venice, Madison County, Illinois, in the United States of America, in 1854, the daughter of Michael A. and Eliza A. Lowe (née Wagoner or Waggoner). Her father was a farmer and Alice was one of eight known children.
She had married a man named James T. Atkins around 1873, and had three children from this marriage. These were William born in 1874, Charles born in 1877, and Roy born in 1887. Roy was born a cripple and was only able to walk with the aid of a cane, and even then with great difficulty, and also had no use of his left arm. He was unable to earn a living for himself.
Alice and Frank Atkins had divorced, and she married Frank Barncastle Tesson on the 28th August 1895, and up until 1900, they lived in Alton, Illinois. After this, her husband took up an appointment with the firm of John Wanamaker of Philadelphia and New York and they made their home at 605, South Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Roy Atkins resided with them, being cared for by his mother, but frequently stayed with his older brother, William, and his family.
Frank Tesson was a buyer for John Wanamaker and was also vice president of the Wanamaker Board of Trade and vice president and treasurer of The Anatomick Footwear Company of New York. In 1909, he was transferred to the main store in New York, where he eventually became assistant manager of the shoe department, and as a consequence, the family moved to 593, Riverside Drive, there.
In the spring of 1915 her husband decided to combine business with pleasure and take Alice on a buying visit to England. Consequently, saloon passage was booked for them both on the May sailing of the Lusitania from New York to Liverpool (ticket number D1344), through parent branch of the firm in Astor Place, New York.
The couple then arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York port on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing, after which they were escorted to their accommodation in room D10, which was in the charge of First
Class Bedroom Steward William Fletcher who came from Wallasey in Cheshire, on the opposite bank of the River Mersey from Liverpool.
The liner’s sailing was delayed until the early afternoon as she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Lines vessel the S.S. Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty as a troop ship. The Lusitania finally left the port at 12.27 p.m. and just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. At that point, she was twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her home port.
Both the Tesson’s were killed as a result of the torpedoing and as neither body was recovered from the sea and identified afterwards, neither has a known grave. Alice Tesson was aged 60 years.
Bedroom Steward Fletcher, who had looked after Mr. and Mrs. Tesson in room D10, did survive the sinking, however and eventually made it back to his Wallasey home.
On Monday 17th May, 1915, a memorial service was held for both Alice and Frank Tesson at The Chambers-Wylie Memorial Presbyterian Church on Broad Street, Philadelphia.
Despite the fact that neither body was recovered, in Alton Cemetery, Alton, Madison County, Illinois in the U.S.A., there is a dressed stone memorial which bears the embossed inscription: -
IN MEMORY OF
FRANK B. TESSON
AND WIFE
ALICE
WHO WERE LOST WHEN
THE LUSITANIA
WAS SUBMARINED IN THE
IRISH SEA
MAY 7. 1915
This must be a memorial stone only, and Cunard records show Mrs. Tesson’s forename to be Ellen, not Alice, which is clearly an error as an article in The New York Times just after the sinking also names her as Alice! The cemetery’s location clearly relates to the Tesson family’s Alton connection.
In the years following their deaths, a legal battle was fought between Alice Tesson’s children and the mother and siblings of Frank Tesson, over his estate, which ended up in the highest Court in New York State. The decision of the Court was that as both were presumed to have died simultaneously, Frank Tesson’s estate, the net value of which amounted to $22,828.80, was to be distributed by the administrator of his estate to his immediate family, thus excluding Alice’s children. Each of her three children did, however, receive $1,800.00 each from her separate estate.
According to the records of the Mixed Claims Commission, in October 1923, William Atkins was employed as a labourer and was married with nine children, ranging in age from 16 months to 25 years. Charles Atkins was also a labourer, and was married with a daughter aged 19 years. Roy Atkins was residing with Charles and his family at this time.
On 21st February 1924, th
Roy, the sum of $5,000.00, as he was deemed to be dependant on his mother at the time of her death, and S. Stanwood Menken, the administrator of her estate, was awarded the sum of $2,325.00 as compensation for the loss of her personal property as a result of the sinking which, it is presumed, was distributed equally amongst her children when her estate was divided.
1860 U.S. Federal Census, 1870 U.S. Federal Census, 1880 U.S. Federal Census, 1900 U.S. Federal Census, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, U.S. Passport Applications 1795 – 1925, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 217, 293, & 544, Alton Evening Telegraph, New York Times, Philadelphia Public Ledger, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.