Edwin William Friend was born in Tipton, Indiana, in the United States of America, on the 15th June 1886, the son of Richard Kidder Meade and Ella Viola Friend (née Hazelton). His father was a travelling salesman, and Edwin was the eldest of three children.
He studied Classics and Indic Philology at Harvard University, and following his graduation, he went to Germany, where he continued his graduate work at the University of Berlin. In 1911, he returned to the United States, to a teaching position at Princeton University, and also returned to Harvard University to obtain a degree in Philosophy.
In 1913, he was appointed assistant to Professor James Hyslop at Colombia University in New York City. Professor Hyslop was the head of the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR), and Edwin Friend’s annual salary of $2,000.00 was paid from a donation made to that organization by one of the founders and director, Miss Theodate Pope.
On the 25th July 1914, Edwin married his wife, Marjorie Everett Roberts, in Manhattan, New York City,, and Theodate Pope provided them with a house on her Hillside Estate in Farmington, Connecticut. He was appointed editor of the Journal of the ASPR, but Professor Hyslop later removed him from the position for failing to publish articles he had submitted for publication. Instead, Edwin published articles about séances held in Farmington. His wife, Marjorie, would attend these séances, where she would produce automatic writings while communicating with deceased members of the ASPR. Outraged by his removal as editor, both Theodate Pope and Edwin Friend resigned from the organization, and decided to form their own psychical organization.
In April 1915, Edwin and Theodate set out from Farmington to travel to London to attend a spiritualists’ meeting there, as guests of Sir Oliver Lodge, and gain support from the English Society for Psychical Research for their own organization. Marjorie Friend, being pregnant, remained in Farmington.
Theodate Pope was accompanied by her maid Emily Robinson, and having reached New York, they all booked in to The Renaissance Hotel, 512, 5th Avenue. On 1st May 1915, they joined the
Lusitania at Pier 54 as saloon passengers. Once on board, Edwin Friend was allocated room number E47, which was under the personal supervision of First Class Bedroom Steward Vincent Settle who came from Anfield, not far from Liverpool city Centre. Friend’s ticket number was 46083, for which he had paid $149.50.
Throughout the week after the liner had left New York, Edwin Friend and Theodate Pope were constant companions and they were together, having just finished lunch, when Schwieger’s torpedo struck. According to the authors Adolf and Mary Hoehling in their book The Last Voyage of the Lusitania: -
Half-way around the corner of the promenade deck outside the smoking-room Theodate Pope and Edwin Friend paused, looked at each other. The sound of the explosion had been clear and unmistakable. When the water and timbers “flew” past the deck, Friend struck his fist in his hand and exclaimed: “By Jove, they’ve got us!”
Just as the two rushed into a small corridor, the ship listed so heavily that both were thrown against a wall. But they missed the shower of soot which cascaded to the deck. They recovered their balance and started towards the boat deck, where they had previously arranged with others to met in the event of an emergency.
Realising that the ship was inevitably going to sink, both knew that their best chance of survival was to get into a lifeboat, but Miss Pope refused to enter one without Edwin Friend and he in turn would not set foot in one when there were still woman left on deck!
Making their way towards the stern, as the bow was obviously sinking, Friend managed to secure lifebelts for himself, Miss Pope, and Miss Robinson. The Hoehlings describe what happened next: -
Friend tied the belts on the women and they stood by the ropes on the outer side of the deck in the place one of the boats had occupied. They looked up at the leaning funnels and could see the ship move. “She was going rapidly.”
Now they could see the grey hull, once hidden, where the water-line began. It looked like the underbelly of a great whale. It was time to jump. “You go first,” Theodate said.
Friend stepped over the ropes, slipped down one of the uprights, and reached the rail of B Deck, next lower. Then he jumped. The two women waited for Friend to come up. In a few seconds they were relieved to see his head bobbing in the foamy water, then he smiled to encourage them.
Despite his bobbing to the surface immediately after jumping into the sea, Edwin Friend was never seen again and as his body was never recovered and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was 28 years of age.
In the morning edition of The Cork Examiner for Thursday 13th May 1915, the following advertisement appeared: -
£20 REWARD
EDWIN WM FRIEND Saloon Passenger by Lusitania ; fair complexion, light, thick hair, height medium, of slight build ; blue eyes ; two upper front teeth overlapping, and gold tip on corner of one. Just possible may be suffering from loss of memory or shock. Above reward given for information leading to discovery if alive. Apply X.Y.Z. “Examiner” Office. 4277
Despite this full description, however, no trace of him was ever seen again.
On 22nd September 1915, Marjorie friend gave birth to a mentally defective baby girl, which she named Faith. Marjorie blamed the cause of her daughter’s condition on the emotional shock, grief, and mental anguish she suffered during her pregnancy on hearing of her husband’s death. Faith became a patient of the Massachusetts School for the Feeble Minded, at a cost of $364 per annum, paid by Marjorie.
In the late summer of 1915, The Mayor of New York’s Fund for The Relief of Lusitania Sufferers awarded her $2,000.00 financial support in addition to an offer of an allowance for two years made by a former employer of Edwin Friend.
On 2nd October 1924, the Mixed Claims Commission awarded Marjorie, who had married a consulting engineer named Eastman E. Weaver in 1920, the sum of $10,000.00 for the loss of her first husband, Edwin, and awarded her a further $10,000.00, as guardian of her daughter, Faith Friend. Marjorie was also awarded a further $100.00 in compensation for the loss of Edwin Friend’s personal belongings in the sinking.
Perhaps the final word about Edwin Friend happened at about the same time.
During the summer of 1915, members of The American Society for Psychical Research reported visitations from Edwin Friend. They said his face appeared “flushed” as he denounced Germany’s “dastardly deed”.
Although Theodate Pope survived the sinking and was eventually rescued and landed at Queenstown, her maid Emily Robinson, like Edwin Friend, perished. Bedroom Steward Vincent Settle, who had looked after Mr. Friend in room E47, was also saved, and eventually made it back to his Anfield home.
Marjorie R. Weaver died in 1981.
New York Extracted Marriage Index 1866 – 1937, 1900 U.S. Federal Census, U.S. Passport Applications 1795 – 1925, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 422, Liverpool Record Office, Cork Examiner, New York Times, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, PRO 22/71, PRO BT100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.