Anne Corinne Justice was born in Logansport, Indiana, in the United States of America, on the 30th May 1878, the daughter of James Munroe and Grace E. Justice (née Heikes). She was the youngest of two known children in the family, having an older sister named Mabel “Maibelle” Heikes Justice. Her father was a lawyer.
She married a British nobleman, named Alexander Cragie Paterson in Chicago, Illinois, on the 31st December 1892, but the marriage ended after a relatively short period when her husband died. Even though she stated that she was aged 19 years at the time of her marriage, she was in fact aged only 16 years! Her husband stated that he was aged 33 years.
On 16th January 1911, she re-married, this time to Robert Delno Shimer, but after living together for only four weeks, they separated! She had no children by either of her marriages.
After the separation Anne changed the spelling of her surname to Shymer, and commenced divorce proceeding against her estranged husband. The divorce was never finalized as Anne found it impossible to locate Robert Shimer, and therefore was unable to serve any papers on him. Neither made any contributions towards the maintenance of the other. Anne’s home was at 41, West 47th Street, New York City, where she lived with her widowed mother, Mrs. Grace Justice Hankins, and unmarried sister, Maibelle Heikes Justice.
Anne must have had some training or qualifications in the field of chemistry as she had invented several chemical compounds, including germicides and a bleaching process. The formulae for these compounds were known only to her, and she never patented them. It has been reported that she was on her way to England to sell some of these compounds to the British War Office or Admiralty, but this has never been proven.
In January 1915, she had sailed to England, returning to New York on the 20th February on board the Lusitania, and she obviously found it necessary to return to England within a short period and as a consequence, booked saloon passage, again on the Lusitania, on the May sailing. This was scheduled to leave New York for Liverpool on the morning
of 1st May 1915, and arriving at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour in time to catch that sailing, she boarded the liner with ticket number 13092. She was then escorted to her accommodation in room B98, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward Percy Penny who came from Aigburth, a suburb of Liverpool.
The liner’s morning sailing was delayed as she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work at the end of April and she finally left the port just after mid-day. Just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her home port. Ann Shymer was killed as a result of this sinking. She was aged 36 years.
Her body was recovered from the sea not long afterwards, however, and landed at Queenstown, where it was given the reference number 66, in the temporary mortuary set up in the yard next to the Cunard office at Lynch’s Quay. Having been positively identified, on 26th May 1915, it was despatched on the S.S. Philadelphia to New York and arrived there on 3rd June 1915. It was then sent to undertakers Messrs. Winterbottom of 75, West 47th Street, not far from the family home.
On the same day, Anne Shymer’s sister, Miss Maibelle Heikes Justice, felt constrained to write to Cunard at its offices at Battery Park Buildings in State Street as she was not satisfied with the treatment of her sister or her property, none of which had accompanied the body! The contents of the letter would indicate that she had every reason to be dissatisfied, and stated: -
41, West 47th Street, New York City
June 3rd 1915
Mrs. Shymer was sent home in the crudest of boxes, we are told, pieced together seemingly for want of boards. She was not embalmed, requiring the immediate care of work of several undertakers upon her arrival on the Philadelphia on June 3rd and had simply been lifted from the sea in her wet clothing, and same was still wet when she came home today, showing that very little care was taken upon the other side.
No papers or any other information of any kind were sent with her remains and identification, because of the above lack of care, was very difficult. Nor do we know by what means she was identified in Queenstown, other than cables reported she was identified by a friend of Judge Kenesaw M. Landis of Chicago who is a life long friend of the family
As no other information ever came to us by cable or otherwise, these several weeks, Judge Landis or we have never been able to know the name of the party. Consul Frost, we understand, has been written to for the belongings of Mrs. Shymer and we would appreciate anything you can do in the matter, for undoubtedly some or all of them were removed on the other side.
Please address any correspondence to her mother, Mrs. J.J. Hankins or her sister, Miss Maibelle Heikes Justice of 41, West 47th Street, her heirs by will.
She possessed a large odd shaped ring of a green shrysophrane stone (liquid green colour) surrounded by large seed pearls. Also a large oriental
pearl (ring) set in soft antique gold. She possesses other rings but these are remembered as being worn when she sailed.
She also wore a diamond necklace, valued at $350 - $400, on the day she sailed. This was a cluster of silver knots or ribbon effect of platinum or silver, rather square or oblong in shape, which was set with many diamonds, and this cluster was suspended around the neck by a chain. This was a modest looking and beautiful piece of jewellery and undoubtedly she wore it just before landing, (time of disaster) as when she sailed.
Mrs. Shymer took with her in case, $2,500 - $2,600, (as checks drawn from her bank will show) and instead of buying credit checks, she wore this about her clothing within the bosom of her gown and tucked within her corsets in front. As she was so near to landing, it is more than likely she had withdrawn this from the ship’s safe, if she had deposited it there, and secreted it about her as above. The undertakers report that her corsets were unfastened when she arrived.
But none of the above belongings, money or anything of value was found upon her by the undertakers, the Messrs. Winterbottom of 75, West 47th Street.
Cunard in Liverpool did reply to this letter in due course and stated that the body had been embalmed in Queenstown, but in view of the opinion of Winterbottom and Co., it can not have been done too successfully, perhaps because of the sudden volume of dead following the sinking, all of whom needed speedy attention!
Also, her jewellery and effects had, in fact, been removed by Cunard employees in Queenstown after her body had been landed there and were later given to Mr. L.C. Thompson, United States Vice Consul, in Queenstown and were reported to have been lost somewhere in transit to her family. After an exhaustive investigation, which revealed no trace of the jewellery, the U.S. Government agreed to pay Anne Shymer’s estate the sum of $3,900.00 in compensation for the loss.
It is presumed that the body of Anne Shymer was eventually buried in New York.
Bedroom Steward Penny, who had looked after Mrs. Shymer in room B98, did survive the sinking, however and eventually made it back to his Aigburth home.
After the war, Anne’s mother and sister submitted a claim to the U.S. State Department for compensation for Anne’s death, and the loss of her personal belongings, other than the property that had been lost in transit to them. Mrs. Grace Justice Hankins died on 24th February 1924, aged 74 years, and over a year before the claim was finally considered by the Mixed Claims Commission.
The Commission awarded Anne Shymer’s estate the sum of $7,527.00 in compensation for the loss of her personal belongings, including $2,500.00 in cash she had with her, and both the estate of her late mother, and her surviving sister, the sum of $7,500.00 each. Robert Shimer also chanced his luck by making a claim, but was unsuccessful.
Cook County Illinois U.S. Marriage Index 1871 – 1920, New York U.S. Marriage License Indexes 1907 – 2010, 1880 U.S. Federal Census, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, U.S. Passport Applications 1795 – 1925, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 957, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 2272, New York Times, Tragedy of the Lusitania, PRO BT 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/5+7, UniLiv D92/2/446, Graham Maddocks, Stuart Williamson, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.