Cause of death Heart failure Parents Christina Kimber | Role Lawyer Name Frederic Seward | |
 | ||
Died December 7, 1943, New York City, New York, United States | ||
Frederic Kimber Seward, Sr. (sometimes misspelled Frederick) (March 23, 1878 – December 7, 1943) was a prominent corporate lawyer in New York City. He was a passenger on the RMS Titanic, and later chaired a survivors' committee that honored the rescue ship RMS Carpathia.
Contents
Biography
Seward was born on March 23, 1878 in Wilmington, Delaware, the son of Reverend Samuel S. Seward II and Christina Kimber. He had a brother, John Perry Seward, a homeopathic physician. He graduated from Columbia University in 1899 and was a member of its Glee Club. He had three children: Frederick Kimber Seward, Jr. (1904-1967); Katharine Seward (1908-?) and Samuel S. Seward III (1910-1989). In 1908 he started work at the law firm of Curtis, Mallet, Prevot & Colt in New York City. He served on the Board of Trustees of George Gustav Heye's Museum of the American Indian starting in 1916. During World War II he served on New York City's wartime rationing board.
Seward died of heart failure on December 7, 1943 in New York City.
The Titanic disaster
Seward, returning from Europe on a business trip, was on board RMS Titanic when it struck an iceberg and sank on the night of April 14, 1912. At the time of impact, he was playing cards with William T. Sloper and Dorothy Gibson in the first class lounge. Seward survived the sinking, escaping in lifeboat 7, the first to leave the ship. Seward filed a joint lawsuit with other survivors against White Star Lines; he himself was legal counsel for another survivor, John Montgomery Smart, and worked on settling his estate. He also served as the chairman of a committee to honor the bravery of Captain Arthur Rostron of RMS Carpathia and his crew.