Autograph of TITANIC SURVIVOR Ruth Becker Blanchard.

autograph; document

Ruth Becker Blanchard was twelve years old when she survived the TITANIC sinking, with her mother and two younger siblings. Her parents were Lutheran missionaries serving in Guntur, India, in a time of famine and epidemic disease. They lost their youngest child to tetanus in 1907, and their 2 year old child Richard had become ill in 1912. Nellie Blanchard decided to take her children back to the U.S., with her husband to follow after finishing up his six month term. Nellie and her three children sailed from India to England, spending a week in London, and then boarded the TITANIC as second class passengers. After the ship hit the iceberg, Ruth's mother woke her up and they rushed to the boat deck without dressing. Realizing how cold it was, Nellie sent Ruth back to get blankets. While she was gone, the two younger children were thrown into a full lifeboat, and Nellie had to plead to be allowed to board the same boat. She yelled to Ruth to get into another boat, which she did. They were reunited aboard the CARPATHIA. It was fortunate that Ruth's father was not travelling with the family, as he would have almost certainly died like most men did.