Colonel Archibald Gracie IV was born 17 January 1859, in Mobile, Alabama. Gracie’s father died when he was 5 year old. In 1912 he lived in Washington DC and New York City. Gracie was married and had four daughters, and two died young. One was killed in an elevator accident, and the other one died shortly after she married. In 1912, his 7 years finally paid off for his book called The Truth About Chickamauga. That same year, he crossed the Atlantic aboard the Oceanic to relax in Europe, leaving his wife and children behind. Although he spent less than a year in Europe, he befriended an officer named Herbert Pitman. Mr. Pitman would later become a third officer on the Titanic.

Mr. Gracie was going to board the Titanic as a first class passenger.