Man Who Went Down on the Titanic is Memorialized at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Note: This is the third and final part of a series of articles on Titanic passengers buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Of the , only one of the gravestones and memorial mentions the ship. In preparation for the 100^th centennial of the Titanic’s voyage and sinking, cemetery staff researched the passengers who make their final resting place.

One of the seven passengers was the granddaughter of a Boston newspaper mogul, and another is thought to have been heroic during the ship’s sinking.

Few details could be found about John Bradley Cummings’ role during the Titanic’s dying moments, but it appears he must acted courageously, said Stephanie Messina, External Affairs Department Assistant at the cemetery.

Cummings, a stockbroker born in Boston and later moved to New York City, was sailing with his wife Florence Thayer Swain. While his wife made it onto a lifeboat, Cummings' body was never found, Messina said.

"We are assuming something courageous happened on board," Messina said. "Such as he gave his spot to someone on board."

On a monument to Cummings erected at Mount Auburn Cemetery by his widow, it says “Lost at  Sea on the S.S. Titanic.” It also includes a Bible passage: “Greater love hath no man than this/that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Thayer Swain remarried, but she decided to be buried next to Cummings’ monument when she died, Messina said.

Brookline Woman Sensed Something was Wrong

Elizabeth Mussey Eustis boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg, France, with her sister as they started their journey home to Brookline.

Eustis’ grandfather was Henry W. Dutton, founder of the Boston Evening Transcript.

One evening a terrible sound got Eustis out of bed, Messina said.

“She woke up when she thought she heard a big ripping sound,” Messina said. “She went into a hallway and talked to a steward who told her nothing was wrong, and she should go back to bed.”

Something bothered Eustis, so she got up again, got dressed, put on her rings and headed up to the deck of the ship, Messina said. When she got there, women and children were being ushered onto lifeboats.

Both she and her sister survived. Eustis returned to Brookline, where she devoted her life to civic and volunteer duties, Messina said.

On April 29, the Cemetery will have a . It will begin at 1 p.m. at the Story Chapel and after the talk by Ted Zalewski attendees will visit the grave of one of the survivors.