Jean Baptist Scheerlinck was a Belgian Third Class passenger on Titanic.
Early life[]
Jean Baptist Scheerlinck was born in Haaltert on January 26, 1883 as the son of Jozef Scheerlinck and Martina Raes. He was a helper at an old farmhouse. His father passed away, leaving Martina widowed. She remarried, but Jean's relationship with his stepfather worsened at some point. He wanted to find a life elsewhere and decided America was the place to go to. He left his village in the company of his friend, Philemon Van Melkebeke, who was also a farmer.
Titanic[]
Jean boarded Titanic in Southampton. His destiny was Detroit, Michigan. He had big plans, as there was a sugar beet campaign just outside the city and he wanted to work there.
He survived the sinking. How he did it remains vague as he gave very conflicting tales throughout his life. It is plausible that he had boarded lifeboat 11 or jumped in the water around 2:07 A.M. when Titanic took a dive.
He's one of three Belgian survivors that became famous for the disaster. The other two were Jules Sap and Theodore de Mulder. The three men were together at one point after they left Carpathia in New York, when a travelling stage show, owned by another Belgian had met up with them and contracted Jean and the others to be part of the show and travel with him, to tell their stories for an audience. But they were scammed when the show owner suddenly made off with the money, not paying them a cent, after they already had done several performances for him. They were broke after that.
Scheerlinckx couldn't find any job in the US, so he made use of the White Star Line's special deal: free passage back to Europe. He also was given $400 by the Red Cross.
He told his story plenty of times at a cafe when he got back in Belgium, being the first of the three to return home. Dozens of costumers wanted him to share his story and he did after they gave him a free pint. He lived with his mother and did some more farm work as well.
in October of 1912 he got married. His wife was Marrie Stevens. He went to war in 1914 as he was enlisted. He survived the War too, and came back home in 1918. He continued his farm work, as well as once aiding in a sugar beet campaign in Northern France,
Jean Baptist Scheerlinck passed away on 25th June, 1956 at the age of 73, at his own home.