Ellin Dixon Miller still wears the simple emerald ring given by her great-grandfather to his wife as he helped her into a lifeboat on the Titanic.
George Dunton Widener, a 50 year-old passenger on the Titanic, passed the simple emerald ring to his wife, Eleanor Elkins Widener, before he and their son, 27 year-old Harry Elkins Widener, went down on the stricken ship on 15 April 1912.
Survivor Eleanor later gave the ring to Ellin Dixon Miller’s grandmother, who passed it on to her father, F. Eugene ‘Fitz’Dixon. Fitz Dixon, who once owned the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team, left it to Ellin in his will following his death in 2006.
Ellin told the Bangor Daily News:
“In terms of appraised value, it’s not worth a lot, but in terms of sentimental value, to me, it’s priceless. My dad always wore it. It’s a round emerald, set in a simple, plain gold setting. Emeralds are a soft gem, so it has plenty of dings and dents. Its importance is not in its value. It has a pretty cool family history.”
