A cut on Mary Torkos’ cheek saved her life and her family … and other Titanic ties to Monessen

That day, on the Southampton docks in England, the Torkos family wallowed in disappointment. Anxious to head home to Monessen, Westmoreland County, the Hungarian family had been banned from boarding the ship because of the cut on 7-year-old Mary’s cheek.

Fearing the spread of infection throughout the ship’s steerage, officials banned Mary, and thus the Torkos family, from boarding. Catherine Torkos and her three children would have to wait a full week for the next ship to New York City, which posed one big problem. Catherine had no way to tell her husband, Joseph, of the delay and prevent him from awaiting their arrival in New York.

So the Torkos family booked passage on the Kortland, having been banned from the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. —A cut on Mary Torkos' cheek saved her life and her family … and other Titanic ties to Monessen – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.