Elizabeth “Lizzie” Ballantyne was born in Stevenston, Ayrshire, Scotland, on the 20th August 1883, the daughter of Campbell and Martha Ballantyne (née Duff) of Thornwood Row, and later Boglemart Street, Stevenston. Her father was a coal miner, and Elizabeth was the middle of eleven known children.
Around 1902, she married Robert Lawson McKechan, who was a coal miner, like her father, and they subsequently had two children, Martha Duff McKechan, born in April 1903, and Anna J., born in early 1906.
In January 1907, the family emigrated to The United States of America and settled in Gillespie, Illinois, where her husband found employment as secretary of a co-operative society. In 1914, he became a naturalised citizen of the United States, which also secured citizenship for his wife and family. The couple had two more children - James, born in 1909, and Campbell Ballantyne, born on the 24th July 1914.
In the spring of 1915, Elizabeth McKechan decided to return home to Scotland, for a holiday, and to introduce her parents to her two youngest children and as a result, she booked second cabin passage for the three of them on the Lusitania, which was due to leave New York on the morning of 1st May 1915. Leaving Gillespie at the end of April, she arrived with her sons at the Cunard berth in New York harbour and boarded the vessel in time for her delayed sailing which began just after mid-day on that day. Probably accompanying her on the journey from Gillespie was her cousin, Mrs. Catherine Gill, like herself a native of Stevenston, Ayrshire, who had also been living in Gillespie Illinois, and who also took the Lusitania’s last sailing out of New York harbour on 1st May 1915.
When the Cunarder was torpedoed, just six days out of New York and only hours away from her Liverpool destination, Elizabeth McKechan’s son, James, was with Catherine. In any event, after the ship had gone down, both Catherine Gill and James were dead, only Elizabeth McKechan and her infant son, Campbell surviving!
Mother and infant were rescued from the sea and eventually landed at Queenstown, where Elizabeth was able to identify the body of her cousin in the temporary mortuary set up beside the Cunard office at Lynch’s Quay. It became evident to her, when she saw her corpse, that Mrs. Gill had suffered some major injury, during or after the sinking. She found no sign of her son James, however, and no sign of him was ever discovered by anyone else.
She later took receipt of some of the property taken from Catherine Gill’s corpse, to hand over to another cousin, and Mrs. Gill’s next of kin, a sister named Mrs. W. Lawson, upon her return to Stevenston. When she acknowledged receipt of this property, she gave her own home address as Ballantyne, Naill Street, Stevenston, which is obviously the address she was making for, and almost certainly the home of a relative.
Elizabeth did not stay very long in Scotland, returning to the United States of America on the Tuscania, sailing from Glasgow on the 13th August, accompanied by her baby, Campbell. Both young Campbell and she suffered injuries during their ordeal, and Campbell finally succumbed to his injuries when he died on 15th September 1915.
On 9th June 1916, Elizabeth gave birth to her fifth child, a daughter named Elizabeth, and she was followed by two more children – Robert junior in 1919, and John in 1924..
Robert and Elizabeth filed a claim with the authorities, on behalf of themselves and their children for injury and loss sustained in the sinking of the Lusitania. On 21st February 1924, the Commission awarded Robert McKechan the sum of $5,000.00, and Elizabeth a total sum of $13,200.00. No award was made in respect of the surviving children.
Elizabeth McKechan died in Gillespie, Illinois, on the 17th August 1957, three days before her 74th birthday.
1891 Census of Scotland, 1901 Census of Scotland, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, 1920 U.S. Federal Census, 1930 U.S. Federal Census, U.S. Consular Registration Certificates 1907 – 1918, UK Outward Passenger Lists 1890 – 1960, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 430, 431, & 432, Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald, Ayr Advertiser, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/6, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.