Harry Haven Homer

Who was Harry Haven Homer?

Harry Haven Homer was a notorious American gambler and confidence trickster who gained infamy as a survivor of the Titanic disaster. Born in 1871 in Knightstown, Indiana, Homer led a life of crime and deception that spanned decades, leaving a trail of arrests and swindles across the United States. Despite his nefarious reputation, Homer’s survival of the Titanic’s sinking in 1912 briefly cast him into the spotlight as a figure of intrigue and mystery.

Early Life and Family

Harry Haven Homer was born on November 28, 1871, in Knightstown, Henry County, Indiana. He came from a respectable family, with his father, Richard Henry Homer, being a well-known physician originally from Dudley in the West Midlands, England. His mother, Elizabeth Mason Jackson, hailed from Ohio.

Homer was one of eleven children, growing up in a large family that included:

• Mary (1846-1847)
• William Richard (1849-1850)
• William Henry (1851-1933)
• Lizzie Rachel (1853-1919)
• Mary Statie (1855-1954)
• Louise Mason Bridgewater (1859-1936)
• Charlie Jackson (1862-1879)
• Lillie May (1864-1926)
• Richard Edward (1867-1956)
• Morris Simpson (1869-1961)

The 1880 census shows the family residing in Knightstown, where young Harry would have spent his formative years.

The Making of a Con Man

How did Homer begin his life of crime?

Homer’s descent into a life of crime began early, earning him the nickname “Kid” Homer. By the turn of the century, he had already established a reputation as a dangerous and suspicious character. His criminal record, as documented in 1906, reveals a pattern of arrests and charges across multiple states:

• August 26, 1901: Arrested in Buffalo, NY, on suspicion and given hours to leave the city
• December 30, 1901: Arrested in Cleveland, Ohio, for grand larceny, but discharged
• December 12, 1905: Arrested in Cincinnati, Ohio, for loitering and fined $50 plus costs
• April 24, 1906: Arrested in Hot Springs, Arkansas, as a confidence man and wire tapper

Homer’s activities brought him into association with other known criminals, including Chappy Moran, M.H. Munk, A.J. Poindexter, Thomas Gleason, and Frank Smith.

A Life on the Run

Homer’s life was characterized by constant movement, using various aliases to evade law enforcement. His confidence schemes and wire-tapping activities made him a wanted man in several cities and states. In 1907, a newspaper reported:

“Detectives Littleton and Brewer yesterday forenoon arrested at the corner of Canal and Baronne Streets a notorious crook named Harry M. Homer, alias Delon, and charged him with being a dangerous and suspicious character.”

The report went on to detail Homer’s previous arrests and his reputation as a wire tapper and confidence man.

The Titanic Voyage

What was Homer’s experience on the Titanic?

In April 1912, Homer boarded the RMS Titanic at Cherbourg as a first-class passenger. His ticket, number 111426, cost £26 11s. Interestingly, he used the pseudonym “E. Haven,” likely to conceal his true identity given his criminal past.

When the Titanic struck an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, Homer managed to survive the sinking. He was believed to have escaped in lifeboat 15, though the exact details of his rescue remain shrouded in mystery. Some accounts suggest that Homer and his gambling associates may have bribed a crewman to secure their escape.

Life After the Titanic

Surviving the Titanic disaster did little to reform Homer’s ways. In a letter to his sister, Louise Logsdon, Homer described being in the icy water for four hours and suffering from nervous shock. However, this brush with death did not deter him from his criminal activities.

How did Homer’s criminal activities continue after the Titanic?

In 1914, Homer was arrested in Toledo, Ohio, and sentenced to two years in federal penitentiary for his involvement in a fake wire scheme that defrauded farmers. The following year, he was arrested in San Francisco for masterminding a wire-tapping scheme that swindled a fruit dealer out of $28,000.

Homer’s criminal activities continued well into his later years, with arrests and suspicions following him across the country. Even in his advanced age, he found himself in conflict with the law. A 1926 newspaper report from San Francisco detailed:

“Two men arrested in the same downtown hotel yesterday are held by the police on suspicion that they are wanted in other cities as confidence men… Later detectives Frank McConnell and Charles Gallivan also arrested Harry H. Homer, who claimed to be an Indiana farmer, but who police say is wanted in Los Angeles and New York.”

Personal Life and Later Years

Homer was married twice. His first marriage was to Delia Atwater in Chicago on March 9, 1893. They had a daughter named Ruth in 1904. His second marriage was to Marie Maud Hanscom on April 17, 1914, in Manhattan. Marie, a divorcee from Akron, Ohio, was the daughter of a banker and reportedly became involved in Homer’s criminal activities.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Homer continued his extensive travels, applying for passports and journeying on ships including the Bremen, Britannic, Empress of France, Europa, and Pennsylvania. His passport applications described him as standing 5'9" with brown hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion.

Harry Haven Homer died on February 10, 1939, in Manhattan, New York, at the age of 67 (sixty-seven). His estate was left to his brother Morris and wife Emma of Butler, Ohio, marking the end of a life that had traversed the boundaries of law and morality, surviving one of history’s greatest maritime disasters along the way.