May 7, 1915 - The Sinking of the Lusitania

On November 1, 1914 I posted the postcard that Joe sent Helen. I think his joy of making it to Roycroft is obvious. On May 7, 1915 Joe's dreams of seeing Hubbard again were dashed. Hubbard and his wife were on the Lusitania when it went down; neither survived.
The strange part of this story is that Elbert Hubbard had to go to great lengths to get his passport reinstated so he and his wife could take this journey. The articles below explain why he did not have a passport and how he got it back.

 

FAMOUS WRITER WAS ON THE LUSITANIA

ELBERT HUBBARD and his wife were among those who went down when a German torpedo
struck the Lusitania, according to reports from Queenstown.

Elbert Hubbard, the seer of East Aurora, created for himself a unique place in American letters by his wit and epigrams and lately by his philosophy of Big Business. First noted for his pamphlet, "The Philistine," with its keen satire, he later published many books and made a success o£ his own publishing and printing business in East Aurora, where he established a settlement of his workers known as the Roycrofters.

He was born, in Bloomington,Ill on June 19, 1859,and had only a common school education, but he was honored with the degree of master of arts by Tufts college. He started a newspaper career in the West, but went to East Aurora, and from there built up his printing establishment for the publication of de luxe editions and published most of his books.

Of late Fra Elbertus, as he had been known, had written much in defense of leading men in business life and of their business methods, although his early writings were considered radical.

HUBBARD JUST PARDONED.

President   Restored   Citizenship to Give Passport for Trip.

Special to The New fork Times.

WASHINGTON, May 8. The report that Elbert Hubbard was among those lost on the Lusitania brought out today the fact that six weeks ago President Wilson granted a pardon to "Fra Albertus," who had been convicted of an offense against the postal laws, in order to restore his citizenship so that he could obtain a passport for the trip on which he lost his life.

As the story was told today for the first time, Mr. Hubbard came to Washington in March to obtain a passport. When he made his application he was asked the usual question whether he had ever been convicted of a crime and thereby forfeited his citizenship and he then explained that he had been charged two years ago with violating the postal laws and on the advice of his lawyer had pleaded guilty and had been let off with a fine. Subsequently, he said, he had learned that the offense to
which he had pleaded guilty was a felony, and that he had been deprived of his rights as an American citizen.

When Mr. Hubbard learned that he could not obtain a passport he went to the White House and laid his trouble before Joseph P. Tumulty, the Secretary to the President. He suggested to Mr. Tumulty that the only way to obtain the passport was through a pardon from the President (Woodrow Wilson) for the offense of which he had been convicted. Mr. Tumulty was sympathetic and went immediately to the Cabinet room, where the Cabinet was in session, and laid the case before the President, Secretary Bryan, and Attorney General Gregory. He found a ready response to his statement of the plight in which Mr. Hubbard found himself. The Attorney General recommended a pardon, and the following day the
pardon was granted. Mr. Hubbard had no difficulty after that in getting his passport from the State Department.

The official record in the case shows that on Jan. 11, 1913, Elbert Hubbard was charged in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, sitting at Buffalo, with having committed an offense against the postal laws, that he pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to pay a fine of $100 the same day. In February, 1913, President Taft declined to grant a pardon to Mr. Hubbard on the ground that the application was premature. On March 22, 1915, the Attorney General recommended-to the
President that Mr. Hubbard receive a pardon to restore his civil rights. The pardon was granted by the President on March 23 and the fact recorded in the Department of Justice on March 25.

Hubbard Foresaw Danger.

CINCINNATI, Ohio, May 8.

"I may meet with a mine or a submarine over there, or I may hold friendly converse with a stray bullet in the trenches." Thus wrote Elbert Hubbard to his friend, E. W. Edwards of this city, shortly before he boarded the Lusitania last Saturday. The letter, now in the hands of Mr. Edwards, was one of the last things that Mr. Hubbard ever penned. He wrote Mr. Edwards about his plans for getting interesting inside news and views of the great war at first hand, and said he intended to " store the information in my head so as to escape the censor." He concluded his letter by saying: "I shall return June 20, perhaps."


For obvious reasons I am not transcribing these next two articles.

Knowing how Joe felt about Elbert Hubbard this must have been devastating news.

The next post will be an article on June 1.