Johan Emil Petterson was a passenger on the Titanic.
Early life[]
Johan Emil Petterson was born in Västermo, Närlunda, Södermanland Sweden. He was born to his father Per Larsson and mother Anna Stina Larsdotter in 1886 on the 19th of November.
Father Per was a crofter and both parents originated from Sweden.
Johan had no less than 8 elder siblings and 1 younger sister. The eldest child was Johanna Persdotter, born in 1871. Another sister came in 1873, Emma Sofia. Their first son, Carl Oscar, followed in 1875. Another girl was born in 1877 and named Augusta. Proceeding them were Per Viktor and Emma Christina in 1881 and 1883 respectively. After Johan, Hulda Maria was born in 1889.
In 1910, Johan helped his brother Carl Oscar on his farm.
He was still unmarried and lived with his brother when, in 1912, he traveled with his eldest sister Johanna, who had been married and emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s and was now going home to her own family in Minnesota after visiting her parents in Sweden. Johan left the farm on March 28. Their destination was 4947 Lincoln Ave. in Chicago, where she and her husband had their residence.
Titanic[]
Johanna had apparently convinced her 15 years younger brother to migrate as well. He was 25 years old when he joined her on a journey by train to Göteburg to take a sea voyage on a ship to England, where they would board the Titanic, departing from Southampton on April 10. They had tickets for Third Class.
On April 14, the well-known disaster occured, when Titanic had ran against the iceberg on her starboard side. It was just a graze but small crevices appeared under the water line in her hull. Tons of water entered the ship rapidly and soon the ship’s Captain
On April 15, after midnight, Captain Smith ordered his crew to start an evacuation.
Johan and his sister didn’t survive the ordeal. Not much is known of their whereabouts but they perished after the mighty ship sank 2 hours and 40 minutes after her collision. No trace was left of the two siblings.
After his death[]
Father Per received SEK 1,000 from Johan Emil's life insurance on July 2nd, 1912. The charity fund paid SEK 874:08 (£48) to the parents on January 23, 1913 and they also received compensation of SEK 1366:50 (£75) on the 31st of May 1914.