Was Oswego resident and sea-adventures author Morgan Robertson a psychic?



Or was he touched by the hand of God?



People throughout the world have pondered Robertson's psyche for almost a century, ever since that fateful April night in 1912 when the HMS Titanic slipped into the icy depths of the North Atlantic.



Robertson had written a book of fiction, called "Futility," about an unsinkable British ocean liner named the Titan that hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic in April and sinks, taking hundreds to the bottom of the ocean.



Robertson's book about the Titan was published in 1898 — 14 years before the Titanic left Southampton, England, for New York City.



Similarly, people have wondered about a fictional book Robertson had published in 1914 that told of a Japanese attack on Hawaii. But more about that later.



Robertson, born Sept. 30, 1861, in Oswego, was the son of Andrew and Amelia Robertson. He attended Oswego's School No. 6, on the site where St. Paul Catholic Church sits today.



Oswego County Historian Justin White said the Robertson family lived on East Seventh Street — the house still exists with the current house number of 103, according to a biography written about Robertson. White said Robertson's mother died when he was young and his father remarried, producing a half-sister for young Morgan.

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Robertson's father, Andrew, was a ship captain on the Great Lakes — the man from whom young Morgan Andrew Robertson gained a love for the sea, White said. In summers, Robertson would accompany his father on voyages through the Great Lakes, White said.



Biographer John Vess wrote that Robertson so loved the water he "ran away to sea" at age 16, which explains why most writings about his early life cannot find him listed as an Oswego High graduate.



From 1877 to 1886, he served in the Merchant Marine, first on his beloved Great Lakes and then, throughout the world. Once he gave up traveling the seas, Robertson became interested in jewelry making, but "he gave this up later because of his (failing) eyesight," White said.

"Then a reporter gave him a book with sea stories," White said. "He noticed the inaccuracies, and that's when he wrote his first sea story."



Many written accounts say he wrote that first story on a washtub.

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Those who have written about Robertson’s stories say his work aboard ships and love of the sea made his sea tales the most accurate and vivid of his day. Former Oswego County historian Anthony Slosek wrote in “Oswego: Its People and Events” a comment from Booth Tarkington in McClures Magazine in October 1915 — “his stories are bully, his sea foamy, and his men have hair on their chests.”

For example: "Her name was the Anita and she was the second barge in a tow of two. Ahead of her, at the end of a ninety-fathom steel tow line, was the sister barge Champion and at an equal distance farther ahead was the steamer Proserpine. Each barge carried stump spars and mutton-leg canvas, which was why Scotty, weary of the endless work in the deep-water windjammers, had gone 'tow-barging.'" (From "The Dollar," a story in the book "Land Ho!")



Robertson wrote more than 200 stories, which were published in 14 books. His first book was titled "A Tale of a Halo."

"Futility" is 69 pages long and "his writing is interesting. He writes very well. He was meant to be a writer," White said.



Robertson never made a fortune at writing. Here is what he said about himself in an article in the Saturday Evening Post reprinted in McClure's Magazine in March 1916, a year after his death:

Similarities, Differences

A comparison of the 1898 "Futility" by Morgan Robertson and the actual Titanic disaster.

Similarities

Names:

Titan; Titanic.

Home country:

Titan, England; Titanic, England.

Length (in feet):

Titan, 800; Titanic, 882.5

Watertight compartments:

Titan, 19; Titanic, 16.

Propellers:

Titan, 3; Titanic, 3.

Maximum passengers:

Titan, 3,000; Titanic, 3,000.

Passengers on board:

Titan, 3,000; Titanic, 2,200.

Lifeboats:

Titan, 24; Titanic, 20.

Month of voyage:

Titan, April; Titanic, April.

Sank:

Titan, after hitting iceberg; Titanic, after hitting iceberg.

Speed at impact:

Titan, 25 knots; Titanic, 22.5 knots

Time iceberg hit:

Titan, near midnight; Titanic, 11:40 p.m.

Location:

Titan, North Atlantic off Newfoundland; Titanic, North Atlantic off Newfoundland.

Deaths:

Titan, 2,987; Titanic, 1,523.

Claims:

Titan, largest ship afloat and unsinkable; Titanic, largest ship afloat and unsinkable.

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Differences

Route:

Titan, New York to Liverpool, England; Titanic, Southampton, England to New York.

Seas:

Titan, rough sea with a gale blowing; Titanic, calm sea.

Trips:

Titan, three; Titanic, one.

Iceberg:

Titan, hit it head-on; Titanic, grazed it.

Sinking:

Titan, sank in five minutes; Titanic, more than 21/2 hours.

Speed:

Titan, had sails to improve speed; Titanic, did not have sails.

Another ship:

Titan hit and sank a sailing ship; Titanic nearly hit another ship.

Polar bear:

Titan, book’s hero gets onto iceberg and fights a polar bear; Titanic, captain goes down with the ship

Source:

Ed Kamuda, Titanic Historical Society founder; Titanic News Channel.

“I have written more than 200 short stories. My name has appeared as author of stories in every leading magazine in the United States and frequently in the English periodicals. I have had published 14 books, none of which retailed for less than a dollar. I frequently go into public libraries and see my 14 volumes strung in a row. I go to these libraries for books because I have not enough money to buy one. I am broke! I am the rolling stone that gathered no moss.”

Ann Allen, a faculty member at LeMoyne College and native of Oswego, has researched Robertson for years. She said "in his time, he was very famous" and many well-known writers of the day "put together enough money to give him a propersend-off" when he died.



None of Robertson's tales gained the notoriety of "Futility." It was a fine story when it came out in 1898, but it skyrocketed in popularity after the Titanic disaster — 100 years ago next April.





Want to read it?

Morgan Robertson’s novella “Futility” (later renamed “The Wreck of the Titan or, Futility” can be found at several Central New York libraries. Copies also are for sale at amazon.com and eBay. A tablet version is available for the Nook at Barnes & Noble.

George DeMass, town of Oswego historian and chaplain of the Titanic Historical Society, owns a 1912 copy of the book, which was renamed “The Wreck of the Titan or Futility” by publishers hoping to cash in on the Titanic disaster.

"Just like today, the publisher decided to capitalize on the Titanic and reprinted copies of his book for sale in 1912," DeMass said.



After the Titanic disaster, some comparisons between the real Titanic and Robertson's Titan began. And people began to wonder about Robertson.



In an article in The Titanic Commutator, the official journal of the Titanic Historical Society, the writer says the "religious were convinced Robertson had a gift of prophecy and 'Futility' was divinely inspired, containing the word of God."

A Titanic affair

What:

Gala dance and dinner.

Why:

Commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Black-tie event will consist of music, food, decor and ambiance reminiscent of what passengers experienced on the maiden voyage of the luxury liner HMS Titanic in 1912.

When:

April 14, 2012.

Where:

The American Foundry, Oswego.

Cost:

$100 per person.

Who:

All can attend.

Tickets:

On sale now in time for holiday giving. Call the H. Lee White Marine Museum at 342-0480.

The writer continued "Parapsychologists thought Robertson, who was interested in the occult, experienced a paranormal vision of the Titanic disaster."



"It's interesting and amazing that he wrote this 14 years before the Titanic. But I don't think he foresaw anything," DeMass said. "I don't think it was divine. It was more of a coincidence than anything."



What amazes DeMass and White even more is another story by Robertson, titled "Beyond the Spectrum" and published in 1914. In it Robertson writes of a sneak attack on the United States Naval fleet in Hawaii by Japanese ships, which leads to a war between Japan and the United States.



It speaks of an ultraviolet light used in combat to blind and burn men, which White said some believe to be foretelling the use of the atomic bomb.



Robertson lived for years in New York City, in an apartment decorated like a sea cabin, White said. The author was found dead March 24, 1915, in an Atlantic City hotel; he was 53.



The New York Times obituary says he was found standing, with his head resting against a dresser. It says paraldehyde —a drug used at that time as an anticonvulsant, hypnotic and sedative — was found on the dresser and "it was at first thought that death resulted from an overdose. A physician, however, said heart disease was the cause."



Robertson is buried with his wife, Alice, in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Contact Debra J. Groom at dgroom@syracuse.com, 470-3254 or 251-5586.