Margaret Brown (née Tobin) (July 18, 1867 – October 26, 1932) was an American socialite, philanthropist, and activist who became famous due to her involvement with the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic. 

Margaret was conveyed to the passenger liner RMS Titanic as a first class passenger aboard the tender SS Nomadic at Cherbourg, France. The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg.

Margaret helped others board the lifeboats but was finally convinced to leave the ship in Lifeboat No. 6. She would later be regarded as a heroine for her efforts to get Lifeboat 6 to go back to search for survivors.

This was met with strong opposition from Quartermaster Robert Hichens, the crewman in charge of Lifeboat 6, who believed that nobody would be saved by going back, as the boat would be pulled down by the ship's suction or by the force of everyone scrambling to get aboard.  Sources vary as to whether the boat did go back and if they found anyone alive when they did. Some reports say that survivors were found.

She was dubbed "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" by historians for her efforts to help load the lifeboats and her desire to go back to try to save victims in the icy waters.  Ironically, she was never known as "Molly" during her life.  All her friends called her Maggie.

Early life

Born Margaret Tobin in Hannibal, Missouri, one of four children born to Irish immigrants John Tobin (1820–1899) and Johanna Collins (1825–1905). Her siblings were Daniel (born 1863), William (born 1869), and Helen (born 1871). Added to these, Margaret had two half-sisters: Catherine Bridget Tobin, by her father's first marriage, and Mary Ann Collins, by her mother's first marriage. Both her mother and father had been widowed young. She was also raised like a tom boy until she was about 14.

At age 18, Margaret relocated to Leadville, Colorado with her sister, and got a job in a department store. It was here she met and married James Joseph Brown (1854–1922), nicknamed J.J., an enterprising, self-educated man. His parents, too, had emigrated from Ireland.^[2] Brown had always planned to marry a rich man but she married J.J. for love. She said,

I wanted a rich man, but I loved Jim Brown. I thought about how I wanted comfort for my father and how I had determined to stay single until a man presented himself who could give to the tired old man the things I longed for him. Jim was as poor as we were, and had no better chance in life. I struggled hard with myself in those days. I loved Jim, but he was poor. Finally, I decided that I'd be better off with a poor man whom I loved than with a wealthy one whose money had attracted me. So I married Jim Brown.

Margaret and J.J. were married in Leadville's Annunciation Church on September 1, 1886. The Browns had two children.

The family acquired great wealth when J.J.'s engineering efforts proved instrumental in the production of a substantial ore seam at the Little Jonny Mineof his employers, Ibex Mining Company, and he was awarded 12,500 shares of stock and a seat on the board.

In Leadville, Margaret first became involved with the women's suffrage issue, helping to establish the Colorado chapter of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and working in soup kitchens to assist miners' families.

During 1894, the Browns moved to Denver, Colorado, which gave the family more social opportunities. Margaret became a charter member of the Denver Woman's Club, whose mission was the improvement of women's lives by continuing education and philanthropy. During 1901, she was one of the first students to enroll at the Carnegie Institute ^{[disambiguation needed]} in New York. Adjusting to the trappings of a society lady, Brown became well-immersed in the arts and fluent in the French, German, and Russian languages. During 1909 she advertised herself as campaigning for the U.S. Senate.

After 23 years of marriage, Margaret and J.J. privately signed a separation agreement during 1909. Although they never reconciled, they continued to communicate and cared for each other throughout their lives. The agreement gave Margaret a cash settlement and she maintained possession of the house on Pennsylvania Street in Denver. She also received $700 a month allowance to continue her travels and social work.

Margaret assisted in the fund-raising for Denver's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception which was completed during 1911. Margaret worked with Judge Lindsey to help destitute children and establish the United States' first juvenile court which helped form the basis of the modern U.S. juvenile courts system.

Margaret campaigned for Senate again during 1914 but stopped when her sister Helen married a German baron, with Margaret believing that the union would have made a successful campaign impossible.

At the time of J.J.'s death on September 5, 1922, Margaret told newspapers, "I've never met a finer, bigger, more worthwhile man than J.J. Brown." J.J. died without a will and it required five years of disputation between Maggie and her two children finally to settle the estate. Due to their lavish spending J.J. left an estate valued at only $238,000. Maggie was to receive $20,000 in cash and securities, and the interest on a $100,000 trust fund in her name. Her children, Lawrence and Helen, received the rest. From that time through her death during 1932, Maggie did not communicate with her children.

Margaret Brown

Her fame as a well-known Titanic survivor helped her promote the issues she felt strongly about — the rights of workers, promoting the bravery and chivalry displayed by the men aboard the Titanic, education and literacy for children, and historic preservation. During World War I in France, she worked with the American Committee for Devastated France to rebuild areas behind the front line and helped wounded French and American soldiers. She was awarded the French Legion of Honour for her good citizenship including her activism and philanthropy in America. During the last years of her life, she was an actress.

Margaret Tobin Brown died in her room at the Barbizon Hotel for Women in New York City on October 26, 1932, at age 65. The death certificate gave the cause of death as cerebral hemorrhage, but an autopsy found a significant brain tumor.

 After she died (during the Great Depression), her two children sold her estate for $6,000. She is buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, New York.

Legacy

Margaret was commemorated as a famous Missourian on the Missouri Walk of Fame during 2006 in Marshfield, Missouri. Her great granddaughter, Helen Benziger McKinney, accepted the star on her behalf. Helen continues to travel the country speaking about her great grandmother.

Margaret's residence, now the Molly Brown House Museum, is a tourist attraction in Denver, Colorado.