15-04-2025
He brought 3 whales to Cincinnati, then died on the Titanic. Here's his wild story
It's been more than a century since that fateful night when an iceberg ripped into the side of what was thought to be the world's "unsinkable ship," the Titanic.
On April 10, 1912, the famed British ocean liner set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. On April 14, the grand ship met its fate, sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
The tragedy claimed over 1,500 lives out of the 2,200 crew members and passengers on board, including a Cincinnati salesman who brought three living white whales, or belugas, to the Queen City in 1877.
On June 7, 1877, The Enquirer announced that Albert Akeny "A.A." Stewart, a salesman for Aetna Life Insurance Co. in Cincinnati, had purchased a white whale from the New York Aquarium to bring back to the city.
The whale was destined for the Lookout House on Jackson Hill Park next door to the Mount Auburn Incline. Most of the city's inclines were coupled with resorts that offered entertainment and drinks to attract passengers and entice them to spend money, and what's more enticing than seeing a live whale in Cincinnati?
Stewart's plan tragically failed, with the first whale dying en route to Cincinnati. While the second whale made it to the city's spectators, the animal also died after three days.
The third and final whale arrived in Cincinnati on July 1. Newspaper accounts described her as eight feet in length, weighing about 600 pounds.
More than 25,000 onlookers came to see the whale over the next few days, but when a thunderstorm erupted on July 5, the whale became frightened. "She scooted, dived and threshed around the tank like one possessed of a restless devil,' The Enquirer wrote.
The whale had settled down and swam for a bit the next day, but she eventually sank to the bottom of the tank and died, putting an end to Stewart's dream of having whales in Cincinnati.
Stewart followed his disappointment with a successful career as a sales manager for the Strobridge Lithographing Co.
Strobridge Lithography Co., founded in 1847, was most famous for its circus posters, often producing them for The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey. Stewart helped the company become the premier printers of the posters.
The company had offices in downtown Cincinnati, Norwood and even New York City. By the late 19th century, the city had become the "third largest printing center in the country," according to the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Due to his successful career, Stewart moved to New York as a wealthy man and part owner of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. But all his successes could not save him from being lost at sea.
As a representative for his lithography company, Stewart made dozens of trips abroad, oftentimes traveling first class. Having vacationed in Paris with his wife, the businessman headed back to New York in April 1912 aboard the RMS Titanic. Stewart boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg, France, while his wife, Florence, remained in Italy.
John Zaller, the executive producer of Exhibition Hub's Titanic: An Immerseive Voyage, which came to Cincinnati this spring, told The Enquirer that Stewart actually moved his Paris trip around so he could sail on the Titanic, which was a common theme among passengers. Sadly, he died with the ship despite his efforts to help others during the chaos.
"He's the example of the rule of the sea: women and children first," Zaller explained. "The chivalry of the era, where he just stepped back and acted reassured, telling other younger children and some women that he knew, 'Don't you worry about a thing, I'll be in the next boat,' knowing there were no more lifeboats."
After getting his friends to a lifeboat, Stewart was last seen going back inside the ship. According to the Titanic exhibit, Stewart's last words were heard by Titanic survivor Helen Bishop: "You four kiddies stay together and get in the first lifeboat. I'll be right back here."
In a special dispatch to The Enquirer, it said Stewart's name was among first-class cabin passengers, but no mention of him was made among those who were saved.
"There seems to be no doubt that Albert A. Stewart, formerly of Cincinnati, was lost on the Titanic," The Enquirer later wrote.
The Enquirer described him as a "large, handsome man with an inexhaustible supply of good humor, a capital storyteller and tireless worker."
Stewart's widow and family returned to the U.S. a few weeks later, and his estate, valued at $276,974 (which is equivalent to $9 million today), reflects his considerable wealth and influence. A marker in Gallipolis, Ohio, commemorates his legacy, connecting Cincinnati to the Titanic.
Aside from Stewart, there were at least eight other Cincinnatians reportedly aboard (or involved with) the Titantic.
, 41: Abbing was born in Cincinnati on May 11, 1870. He lived in St. Bernard before becoming a blacksmith and accepted a work contract in South Africa, where he remained for three years. He was returning to Cincinnati on the Titanic as a third-class passenger. There was no mention of his name in the sinking of the ship, and if his body was ever recovered, it was never identified.
, 42: Frauenthal was born in Cincinnati on Dec. 1, 1869. However, she and her family later moved to Manhattan, New York, sometime before 1880. In 1912, she was remarried in Nice, France, to Henry Fraudenthal, a renowned physician originally from Pennsylvania. A little over two weeks after they wed, they boarded the Titanic as first-class passengers. On the night of the sinking, Frauenthal, her husband and her brother-in-law were recused, with claims that they were the first to disembark from the Carpathia.
, 27: Horwitz was a Forest Avenue resident, born on May 26, 1884, in Cincinnati. She was travelling aboard the Carpathia as a first-class passenger when the ship rescued the survivors of the Titanic. At the time, she had been intending to spend a six-month-long vacation in Europe.
, 32: Rosenbaum was born into a wealthy family that settled in Cincinnati, where she was born on June 12, 1879. She moved to Europe in 1907 to work in journalism. While reporting on French fashions in Paris, she decided to return to the United States aboard the Titanic. She was saved from the tragedy, fleeing the sinking ship on a lifeboat. She went on to become possibly the first female war correspondent during World War I. She died in London on April 4, 1975. She was 95.
, 31: The grandson of John A. Roebling, who designed the Roebling Suspension Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge, raced cars. He died in the sinking. He was 31.
24, 46: The couple spent their honeymoon aboard the RMS Titanic. While Lucein did not survive the sinking of the ship, Mary Eloise did and later relocated to Cincinnati. She died in the Queen City in 1940. She was 46.
, 73: Martha was the widow of George Nelson Stone, who worked for Cincinnati Bell and other businesses and founded Chester Park amusement park. The Stone family appeared in the 1900 census living in Cincinnati, but when George died a year later, Martha moved to New York. She boarded the Titanic from Southhampton and was spared in the sinking. She died in 1924 at 73 and was buried in Cincinnati alongside her husband.
Sources: Enquirer archives and Encyclopedia Titanica.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man who brought 3 whales to Cincinnati later died on Titanic
