Adella Liebenow Wotherspoon (November 28, 1903 – January 26, 2004) was the youngest and last living survivor of the ''

General Slocum The PS ''General Slocum''"PS" stands for "Paddle Steamer" was a sidewheel passenger steamboat built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891. During her service history, she was involved in a number of mishaps, including multiple groundings and collision ...

'' ship disaster of June 15, 1904.

Birth and siblings

Born Adele Martha Liebenow in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, she was the daughter of Anna Liebenow (1872–1957) and Paul Liebenow (1871–1910). She was nicknamed Tiby Liebenow. Her siblings Anna C. Liebenow Jr. (1901–1904) and Helen Liebenow (1898–1904) died in the fire on the PS ''General Slocum''. Helen's body was never identified and is presumed buried in a mass grave. Two cousins and two aunts also perished in the fire. One of the relatives who died was Martha Liebenow (1875–1904) of 404 5th Street in Manhattan. Adella's family was listed as living at 133 East 125th Street in the official register of ''General Slocum'' deaths. Shortly after the sinking, her parents legally changed her first name to "Adella".

Fire aftermath

After the fire, Adella was treated at Lebanon Hospital. At the dedication ceremony, she pulled the rope to release the American flag and unveil the memorial to the fire victims. After her father's death in 1910, Anna moved the family to Watchung, New Jersey. Adella attended Plainfield High School, then studied education at Trenton Normal School, now known as The College of New Jersey. She taught for one year at Cleveland High School in Cranford, New Jersey then taught business administration at Plainfield High School from 1925 until 1961 when she retired. She married James Wotherspoon (1903–1982), but the couple had no children.

Commemoration

The young Wotherspoon played a highly visible role in unveiling a commemorative statue in the cemetery where more than sixty unidentified dead were buried on the first anniversary of the disaster. She returned annually for the memorial ceremonies.

Death and burial

Wotherspoon was a resident of a convalescent home in

Berkeley Heights, New Jersey Berkeley Heights is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. A commuter town in northern-central New Jersey, the township is nestled within the Raritan Valley region in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States ...

for the last several years of her life. She died in 2004 at aged 100, and was cremated. Her ashes were buried alongside her husband's at the Wilson Memorial Union Church Cemetery in Watchung, New Jersey.

References

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