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Lost at Sea with S. S. Titanic.

Grave of Titanic Passenger

Field review by the editors.

Amenia, North Dakota

Herbert Fuller Chaffee was a millionaire farmer who unwisely boarded the maiden (and only) voyage of the Titanic. He and his wife, Carrie, were traveling in Europe and, according to local lore, booked the fastest ship back to the States to see their new grandchild. Carrie survived. Herbert, who pushed her into a lifeboat, was never seen again.

The Chaffee tombstone is by far the biggest in tiny Amenia Cemetery, out on flat farmland that's far from icebergs and the North Atlantic. The sinking of the Titanic killed roughly 1,500 people, and a number of them have tombstones (although few have bodies), but perhaps none are as lonely as this one. "Herbert Fuller Chaffee," reads its inscription. "Lost at sea with S.S. Titanic Apr. 15, 1912."

Herbert was one of the wealthiest people to die on the Titanic, and perhaps the only one from North Dakota.

Grave of Titanic Passenger

Amenia Cemetery

Address:
2788-2798 154th Ave SE, Amenia, ND
Directions:
Amenia Cemetery. I-94 exit 331. Turn north onto ND-18. Drive two miles. At the stop sign T-intersection, turn left to continue on ND-18. Drive 7.5 miles. Turn left (no stoplight) onto 28 St. SE. Drive one mile. Turn right (no stoplight) onto 154 Ave. SE. You'll see the small cemetery ahead, on the left, in the trees. Drive a hundred yards, then turn left onto the dirt road to the cemetery. The Chaffee tombstone is the biggest in the cemetery; the Titanic inscription is on the back of it.
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In the region:
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