The Titanic was said to be the ship of dreams. It was touted for its impressive size and luxury, which were the original means for its fame.

On April 14, 1912, however, this “unsinkable” ship became famous for its unexpected and tragic meeting with an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that resulted in the Titanic coming to rest on the ocean floor and the deaths of nearly 1,500 passengers.

The sinking of Titanic reached its 100th anniversary Sunday, and within those years it has grown ever more famous through books, the discovery of the wreckage in 1985 and multiple films.

Ames has its very own connection to the fateful story of the Titanic.

Albert Caldwell, who served as principal of Ames High School in 1914 to 1917 and called Ames his home during that time; his wife, Sylvia; and their infant son Alden survived the sinking.

“They talked or lectured about it all their lives,” said Julie Williams, the great-niece of Albert Caldwell who grew up hearing his stories on the sinking of the Titanic. “[They] kind of thought of it as a public service. [Albert] just loved talking about it; he was a good source.”

The story of how the family came to be on the ship is just as unique as the sinking itself.

Albert and Sylvia were living in Bangkok, Siam, where they worked as teachers at Bangkok Christian College.

“He always said that they left because Sylvia’s health was compromised in Siam because she didn’t get along with the tropical heat, and that is actually true. But what I found out is they had planned to be in Siam for life. You kind of sign on for life in this situation [with the church],” Williams said, who further researched her great-uncle’s story for a book she is writing titled “A Rare Titanic Family: The Caldwells’ Story of Survival.”

Williams explained that after Sylvia became pregnant with Alden while in Siam, her health seemed to deteriorate.

“It could have been a hard pregnancy … but she became more and more concerned that she was just severely ill and would never recover, and she was pregnant during the hot season,” Williams said. “After the baby was born we know she had a fever a month later. She was just convinced she was very ill and went to a local doctor there who was an American missionary doctor, and he diagnosed her with something we have never heard of today called neurasthenia.”

Neurasthenia was declared a non-disease in 1932, though its describable symptoms matched those of mononucleosis, postpartum depression and combat fatigue.

Due to her diagnosis, Albert and Sylvia decided to return to America.

“This is how they ended up on the Titanic … They finally begged and pleaded to go. The mission finally reluctantly agreed to let them go home, but they asked them to stay for five more months to finish up the school term, which [Albert] does,” Williams said, who explained that the Caldwells had signed on to the mission for a “seven-year hitch” and that they were expected to return to Siam.

Albert and Sylvia then proceeded to make their way to Naples, Italy, with the church paying for their travel expenses.

“The story we always heard is they were pulling into Naples harbor … and they see the Carpathia making ready to sail for America and they think about taking it, but something changed their mind,” Williams said.

Through research, Williams discovered that Naples was currently battling an outbreak of cholera and the Caldwells decided to leave on the first ship out. Traveling into Naples, they came across a placard for the Titanic. They chose the Titanic because of its large size, in hopes that this would aid in Sylvia’s seasickness.

“They went to London, and Albert went to get tickets. He went in to the office of the White Star Line and asked for the tickets and the guy said, ‘Sorry, sold out,’ and [Albert] was just so crestfallen,” Williams said. “He said he must have looked like a really disappointed boy because the clerk said, ‘There is a cancellation every day, if you come in tomorrow you can have the first cancellation that comes in.’”

Albert returned to the White Star Line office the next day prepared to take a first- or third-class ticket, though he really wanted one from the second class. Before the day was done, Albert walked out with just what he wanted, second-class tickets for the Titanic.

“Sylvia was one person that didn’t think [the Titanic] was unsinkable … she asked the deckhand when he was loading the baggage, ‘Is this ship really unsinkable?’ and he answered the very famous and mortally erroneous reply, ‘Yes, lady, God himself could not sink this ship,’” Williams said.

“My uncle always said that the tables were piled high with all the delicacies you could ever want. Nobody was seasick and he loved to take pictures all over the ship.”

Albert took the opportunity one afternoon while on board to ask a crewman to take him to the engine rooms of the ship. Once there, he took pictures of the stokers shoveling coal and then showed them how to use the camera. Albert then shoveled coal himself as the stokers took the pictures.

“I always say that photograph saved his life,” Williams said. Williams went on to explain that on the night the Titanic hit the iceberg, the family was already asleep. Sylvia woke up, while Albert did not.

Soon both were awake and went on deck to see why the ship’s engines had stopped. They were told that everything was fine and to return to their cabin.

“He was just drifting off when someone came knocking on the door and someone said, ‘Get out of bed and put your lifebelt on.’ They couldn’t have been more shocked,” Williams said.

Farwell T. Brown, founder of the Ames Historical Society, wrote in his book, “Ames, the Early Years in Word and Picture”: “Caldwell related that still there was no great concern among many passengers, some expressing the desire to remain on the ship that they were still convinced would never sink. The great deck on which they stood looked much better than those small life boats being tossed out on the darkness of the rough open Atlantic.”

Williams said that Albert also was not planning to leave the “unsinkable” ship.

“They weren’t going to get off the boat, but wherever they were standing, a group of stokers suddenly appeared and one of them had been there when [Albert] took the photograph and recognized him … and said, ‘Mr. Caldwell, if you value your life, get off this ship. The hull below is filling up with water and this ship will go down,’” Williams said.

“[Albert] kind of argued with the stokers and said, ‘But this is unsinkable.’ One of the stokers said, ‘Well, if the ship is still here in the morning, then you can get back on,’ and that made sense to [the Caldwells].”

Sylvia, who appeared visibly ill, proceeded to get into lifeboat 13. Others, noticing Sylvia’s condition, allowed Albert to also get on the lifeboat so he could hold the baby.

The Aug. 26, 1914, issue of the Ames Tribune described the moment of Caldwell being allowed on the boat.

“Mr. Caldwell placed his wife in a lifeboat and was about to hand her the baby, when she begged permission of the man in charge of the boat to permit her husband to accompany her and assist in the care of the baby … Had it not been for the baby, Mr. Caldwell would have remained on board the ship and found a watery grave with hundreds of others.”

Lifeboat 13 had to be cut loose from the side of the ship as another lifeboat began to descend on top of them.

“They were stuck, in the middle of the night, having watched the horrible sinking and having heard the people screaming for help … Albert always said you had to forget the screams or you would go crazy,” Williams said.

The Caldwells waited until the Carpathia arrived to save them.

“They turned it down before, they didn’t turn it down this time,” Williams said.

The Caldwells first traveled to Biggsville, Ill., after safely arriving in America, where Albert’s parents lived. A short time later they moved to Ames, where Albert received an advanced degree in education and went on to become the principal of the local high school.

Williams recalled that Albert spoke of a church service on the Titanic the day it hit the iceberg. The hymn, “For those in Peril on the Sea” was sung at the service.

“Albert would always say, ‘Little did everybody worshipping God know how many of us would meet him that night,’” Williams said. “That has always been very chilling to me.”

Albert, born in Sanborn, Iowa, on Sept. 1, 1885, died at the age of 91 in 1976.