Margaret Brown - Later Life

Later Life

At the time of J.J. Brown'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, equal to $3,304,557 today. Maggie was to receive $20,000 in cash and securities (equal to $277,694 today), and the interest on a $100,000 trust fund (equal to $1,388,469 today) in her name. Her children, Lawrence and Helen, received the rest. A court case against Helen and Lawrence was settled privately and Margaret and her children were reconciled at the time of her death in 1932.

Her fame as a well-known Titanic survivor helped her promote the issues she felt strongly about—the rights of workers and women, education and literacy for children, historic preservation, and commemoration of the bravery and chivalry displayed by the men aboard the Titanic. 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.

After she died (during the Great Depression), her two children sold her estate for $6,000, equal to $107,722 today. She is buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, New York.