Last Survivor of Titanic

Mellvina Dean, the last survivor on the legendary Titanic has died at the age of 97. She was only a child on that fateful night in 1912 when so many perished.

Mellvina Dean 1912-2009

Many may ask what does this have to do with a small Erie canal village in Upstate, NY?

Surprisingly many upstate families had ties to passengers on the Titanic. Port Byron was no exception. A man named Sidney Clarence Stuart Collett was a Titanic passenger and in route to Port Byron, NY when the ship floundered.

Here is Collett's entry on the Carpathia's ship passenger logs of people rescued from Titanic (see middle entry where it shows Port Byron, NY):




His parents were living here in 1912 where his father was serving as a minister at the Baptist Church.

Read more about Sidney Clarence Stuart Collett

The passing of Mellvina Dean brings the end of the survivors aboard the Titanic. Rest in peace Miss Mellvina.

John Cool Post #257

Today my family visited Fort Hill Cemetery to see the burial site of Pvt. Andrew J Bulkley. Thanks to the wonderful maps provided by the cemetery we had no difficulty in finding his burial site. However, he did not have a flag to mark his status as a veteran.

I extend a thank you to the Commander at the John Cool American Legion Post #257 of Port Byron, for donating a flag holder and flag for Pvt Bulkley's grave at Fort Hill. As a Korean War veteran, my father was proud do the honor of placing the flag on his grave. This was also the first time he had visited Fort Hill so we enjoyed a tour on our way home.

We had a pleasant visit with the folks at John Cool Post 257. They are very proud to be the sponsors of the Port Byron Marching Band. I was so pleased to learn that they are behind our Marching Panthers!

Honoring Our Soldiers

Memorial Day certainly is a day of reflection. Port Byron has always been a town to serve our country proudly, both past and present. The many freedoms we enjoy today have been protected by their effort, often at the sacrifice of their own safety.

In honor of Memorial Day, I thought I would compile some information on Port Byron's Lockwood Post Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Many of the surnames listed still remain active in our community.

The old boys in blue are but a small portion of the brave soldiers from Port Byron.

Partial member list Lockwood Post #175 G.A.R.

The last 3 surviving members of Port Byron's Lockwood Post #175 were Nathan Elliott Jr., August Sweet and Sylvester McChesney:

Read the biographies of the last 3 members