When RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on the night of April 15, 1912, it was on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to its final port of call that trip: New York City. That was also the final destination for many on board.

Among the 712 people that were rescued from lifeboats and the water that night, a number of survivors from the 20th century’s most famous shipwreck found eternal rest in the New York area, interred in the Archdiocese of New York’s Calvary and Allied Cemeteries.

For genealogists and historians, cemeteries are repositories of information. What is — and isn’t — said about the deceased on their grave marker reveals much about the individual, their family, and the time during which they lived. 

Calvary and Allied Cemeteries operates six sites in the New York area: Ascension; Calvary; Gate of Heaven; Resurrection; St. Mary’s; and St. Ann’s. Two of these, Calvary and Gate of Heaven, hold the graves of 10 Titanic survivors.

Final resting place for Titanic survivors

Calvary is the burial site of Marie Baclini, who traveled with her mother and two siblings from modern-day Lebanon to be reunited with her father in Brooklyn. Marie lived to age 75, and, also unlike her sister, is buried with her husband under “an elaborate headstone,” according to Titanic website Encyclopedia Titanica. Her granddaughter is the Honorable Lara Genovesi, a judge for the 2nd Department of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division. 

For Marie’s younger sister, Eugenie Baclini, life was not so long. Despite being rescued, Eugenie became only the second Titanic survivor to die, on August 30, 1912, from meningitis, age 3. She is buried in an unmarked grave. Eugenie and Marie’s youngest sister, Helen, and their mother, Latifah, who also survived Titanic, are buried at St. John’s Cemetery in Queens.

Seventeen-year-old Kate Gilnagh was on her way from County Longford in Ireland to join her sister in Manhattan aboard Titanic; in fact, Kate managed to enter a full lifeboat by exclaiming that her sister was on it, a lie that may have saved her life. Upon arrival, she gave her destination as 239 East 55th Street, now part of a student housing complex for Marymount Manhattan College, about a block from the Archdiocese of New York’s current headquarters. She later married John Manning, who preceded her in death by 16 years. They are buried together in Calvary Cemetery.

Three other Titanic survivors — Margaret Daly, Margaret Madigan, and Margaret Murphy — are also buried at Calvary.

Located in the Woodside/Long Island City area of Queens, Calvary is the first major cemetery to be established beyond the island of Manhattan by the Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The Alsop farm, with a family cemetery and an additional 115 acres, was purchased in 1845. The cemetery was consecrated by Archbishop John Hughes in August 1848. Over the course of its history, an additional 250 acres have been added. 

The four major divisions of Calvary, commonly known as Old/First, Second, Third and Fourth, are formally identified as the Divisions of St. Callixtus, St. Agnes, St. Sebastian and St. Domitilla to correspond with the ancient Roman catacombs. The 365 acres have been subdivided into 71 numbered and identified sections.

Only Margaret Murphy rests in First Calvary; Marie Baclini lies in Second Calvary; Eugenie Baclini, Daly, and Gilnagh are all in Third Calvary; and Margaret Madigan is buried in Fourth Calvary. A detailed cemetery section map is here. Exact grave locations can be found using the Swiss Titanic Society’s Titanic Map.

New graves available at Calvary Cemetery

A new, premier section, named for Our Lady, Queen of Heaven is now open in First Calvary between St. Calixtus Chapel and the Pope John Paul grave section. Burial rights for double depth graves are now available.

Almost 500 new graves are now available in the Padre Pio section, which honors the memory of the beloved Italian saint and visionary Capuchin priest, Pio of Pietrelcina. Each grave in the level grassy section accommodates two family members for ground burial. 

Catholic cemeteries are sacred grounds consecrated by the Church to provide a dignified final resting place that affirms the faith of the departed.