Ernst Axel Algot Aronsson was a passenger on Titanic.
Early life[]
Ernst Axel Algot Aronsson was born in Skällandsö, Tannåker, Jönköping, Sweden. His father was Aron Bengtsson and his mother was Ida Charlotta Nilsdotter. He came into this world at June 21, 1887. Ernst was the eldest child. He had 7 siblings, 5 brothers and 2 sisters. They were Klas Noak, born in 1889, Ådna Ingeborg in 1897, Edit Adina in 1899, followed by Filip Verner in 1902, Simon Ragnar was conceived on June 26 1905, proceeded by Ragnar Sigrid in 1907 and the Aronsson’s last child was Erik Gustaf, who was delivered on March 4, 1910.
Before 1890 the family resided in a new town, Hörset in the Berga parish, Jönköpings County, Småland.
In 1911, Klas Aronsson moved to the United States. When Ernst wanted to follow his brother’s trail and join him in Joliet, Illnois, Gustaf Hjalmar Edvardsson accompanied him. Gustaf was his cousin.
Titanic[]
On Wednesday, April 10 in 1912, Ernst and Gustaf had come aboard a majestic new ship in Southampton. They had tickets for Third Class. He was 24 years old at the time and unmarried.
On April 14, late at night, Titanic would find herself in trouble. The ship had narrowly avoided a head-on collision with an iceberg but she struck the berg on her starboard side, a glancing blow. The ship had tons of water flowing into her hull and now she started to sink. On April 15, the ship’s master had concluded that she could not stay afloat and started an evacuation 5 minutes after midnight.
The ship started to sink further and further over the course of 2 hours and 40 minutes since the collision, then broke apart to sink in the North Atlantic at 2:20 A.M. What happened to Ernst and Gustaf is unknown, but they didn’t survive the ordeal. Aronsson’s body was not found.
After his death[]
Charity paid out 875:52 SEK (£48) to the parents and on 9 October 1914 they were also awarded damages of 2,217:60 SEK (£75) after father Aron Bengtsson sent a letter to the Ministry of Foregin Affairs They were poor with 5 children under 14 years old and therefore received a slightly higher sum from the White Star Line.