Lost At Sea An imperious wealthy woman and a vanished estate called Great Oaks may link Greensboro to the tragedy of the Titanic
Photos of the Titanic are courtesy of the Natural Science Center
by JIm SChloSSer
I Mrs. Charlotte Drake Martinez Cardeza
Charlotte and son Thomas Cardeza aboard their steam yacht Eleanor, circa 1900
50 O.Henry
October/November 2011
f only a soggy ladies’ shoe or glove appeared among the Titanic artifacts in an exhibition about the great shipwreck at the Natural Science Center of Greensboro. It might give the exhibit a local angle. What other passenger who boarded the Titanic in April 1912 brought along 32 pairs of shoes, 84 pairs of gloves and 72 dresses than Charlotte Drake Cardeza? Wikipedia says no passenger had more luggage — 14 steamer trunks and four suitcases — than Cardeza. Some of her belongings may be among the 5,500 artifacts raised to the surface since the shipwreck was discovered in 12,500 feet of water 400 miles from Newfoundland in 1985. But nothing in the glass cases at the Natural Science Center seems to have belonged to Cardeza. Of course, only a fraction of the artifacts are included in the exhibit, which will remain in Greensboro until late November. Charlotte Cardeza survived the sinking, along with her 36-year-old son, Thomas, his valet and Mrs. Cardeza’s maid. The Cardeza story begins with Philadelphia lawyer James Cardeza, who was married to Charlotte Cardeza and was the father of Thomas, their only child. James and Charlotte divorced, but it’s unclear if it was before or after James created between 1886 and 1893 a wonderful estate north of Greensboro. It included a lofty, 20-room Queen Anne house. The house came to be called Great Oaks and the 3,000-plus acres around it Reedy Fork Ranch. Though obscured by trees, the house until recent years faced U.S. 29 North. The highway, of course, wasn’t there when James Cadenza brought his wealthy Northern friends — and perhaps Charlotte Cardeza — in the 1890s to hunt on the vast grounds. The Art & Soul of Greensboro