Oskar Arvid Hedman was a passenger on the Titanic.
Early life and career[]
Oskar Arvid Hedman was born on July 5, 1884 in the Umeå county council of Västerbotten in Sweden. His father was Gustav Hedman, married to Sara Sofia Nilsson. Both parents were Sweden natives. His father Gustav worked as a forest ranger. Oskar Arvid was his first child, proceeded by Karl Gustaf in 1874, Jenny Hilda Sofia in 1877, Robert Emanuel in 1879. In 1890 the family lived in Hörnefors Bruk, Umeå.
In 1905, Oskar emigrated to a settlement area in Beach, North Dakota, USA. He lived there and later was resident in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Oskar was known among his friends as "Happy" and was an inconspicuous man with a "Jimmy Durante face" (a well known Italian comedian in that time who had a distinguishable nose).
In 1911, he was located in Bowman, North Dakota. He worked at the Carter Hotel and drove automobiles for Western Land Securities, Obert A. Olson and others. He bought land just outside the city. He was also farmer and had a large variety other jobs. At the end of the year, he returned to Sweden to visit relatives and do other work. On his return, he was employed by the country firm JP Rodgers & Co, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The company probably dealt in land and/or real estate. He worked as a settler recruiter, which meant that on behalf of an American state he searched for people who might be interested in becoming settlers in the USA and recruited them to become one.
Oskar went to Ragunda in Jämtland and greeted his sister and her husband, a trader named O.J. Näsvall. At the Vita Stjärnlinjen office at Skeppsbron in Stockholm, he bought the ticket for a voyage on a ship back to his new homeland.
Titanic[]
Oskar was 27 years old when he found himself on the largest vessel of the time leaving the Southampton harbor, as a Third Class passenger. He was unmarried. On board the Titanic, he took the lead in a group of about 17 people because, unlike most of Scandanavians in Third Class, he spoke English. Notable passengers that were part of this group were Berta Nilsson, Hilda Hellström and Oskar Leander Johansson Palmquist. Oskar shared a cabin with Malkolm Johnson.
At the time of the collision with the iceberg on the late night of April 14th, Oskar was asleep in his cabin. He and Malkolm woke up when something was clearly shaking about. In his story he told that they probably wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been for the commotion that started a few minutes later. The two cabinmates headed up to the deck together, but lost each other in the confusion. Malkolm apparently managed to get hold of a life belt somwhow. Oskar made his way forward on the ship through water that soon reached his armpits. He saw great piles of ice.
The lifeboats were lowered and he later recounted how officers with pistols ordered the men to stand back for the women and children. "Husband and wife were forced to be seperated said Oskar, "Sister and brother, father and daughter were forced to leave each other; everyone realized that it was doubtful they would ever see each other again. It was a sight no one wants to witness more than once."
He remembers giving his coat to a woman who came on deck only half-dressed. The emergency rockets were sent up and it was clear that the ship would go down. He said his prayers and looked up to heaven, standing all alone. He hadn't been able to find his comrades and protegees. Oskar was able to throw himself into a lifeboat at the last second with the thought that "if I get shot, I'll die faster". It proved to be worthwhile as he landed in what was probably lifeboat 15 in which he saved, but there is uncertainty about it. Lifeboat 10 was also claimed as the boat he was rescued in. From a letter Oskar wrote, it was derived that 'the boat in which he was rescued bore the number 10 and was loaded with 50 women and 4 men.'
Contemporary newspaper reports leave accounts of his escape that differ widely. One must also take into account that he wouldn’t need to do something so desperate at lifeboat 15 on starboard side, as men were allowed in there It was port side, where lifeboat 10 was stationed, where the male passengers weren’t allowed to enter.
One female passenger, Lillian Asplund, was rescued in lifeboat 10 and recounted later that a male passenger jumped in at the last moment after her and had landed on top of her mother, which was rather painful. It’s a possiblity that it was Oskar but there’s not enough detail.
According to a source with a particularly confusing account, he and Malcolm did not lose each other at all, but jumped into the water together. "My friend grabbed something that was floating and told me to hold on to it. It turned out to be a dead man with his life belt on. I climbed on and sat as if I had been on horseback." Meanwhile, a certain, "Jonsson", which must have been Carl Johnson, is said to have tried to grab an upside-down boat but was pushed away. When they had been in the water for 30 minutes, "Jonsson" drowned. This is confusing as there were two passengers with a similar name, Carl Olof Jansson and Carl Jonsson, both Swedes in Third Class who survived the ordeal. Carl Olof Jonsson was found alive on a door after six hours.
It also seems that Oskar's accounts of what happened that night shifted from time to time and became increasingly elaborate over the years. This is another odd anecdote he gave about his experience in the night:
Oskar approached a lifeboat and when one of the four men in it fell overboard, Oskar was asked if he could row. He lied and said he was an expert, was pulled aboard and they rowed away from the Titanic just minutes before the boiler exploded. At 2 o'clock in the morning the deck broke apart and people fell through the massive gap into the sea. Oskar said it was a sight too horrible to describe in words and only said that he thought it reminded him of how grain was sucked into the feed machine on his farm.
After the sinking[]
The RMS Carpathia, under the watchful guide of the honorable Captain Arthur Rostron had come to Titanic’s aid as soon as she had sent out distress signals over her wireless. The ship was too far away to arrive in time before Titanic sank but she steamed as fast as she could at a pace she wasn’t normally used to. Having arrived at the wreck site at 4:00 A.M, she picked up all of Titanic’s survivors and the remaining lifeboats. Later in the morning everyone was on board and she set course for New York to take all surivors there.
Once in New York, Hedman was penniless along with other Swedish and sent a telegram to his employers, who sent him money for the trip home to Saint Paul. The sum he received was so large that even other Scandanavian Titanic survivors he knew could join him on the same train. They were Anna Sjöblom, Carl Olof Jansson and Berta Nilsson.
"The Women's Relief Committee" of New York gave him $10, but he appears to have received no further compensation.
Later life[]
On November 7, 1912, he married Julia Mathilda "Tillie" Anderson. While living in North Dakota, Oskar began training as an osteopath or chiropractor, but it is unclear if he completed the training. However, he practiced his profession for many years, despite not having a license. Locals knew him as "Doc". Because he was never officially registered, he and his wife sometimes had to lead a nomadic life; if they stayed too long in any place, Oskar could be arrested for not being recognized by the autorithies in his profession. They moved from town to town to avoid this.
By 1918 they were living in Sentinel Butte, North Dakota. Oskar was registered for World War I conscription as a farmer, of medium height with blue eyes and blond hair - partially bald.
In 1920 they moved to Onida, South Dakota to settle there for good. Oskar worked there as a chiropractor until his retirement 40 years later. Oskar was a friendly and faithful member of the local Presbyterian church. He was a respected Worshipful Master of the local Masonic Lodge. He was well liked and trusted as a chiropractor and he was a loyal and loving husband. But he had a darker side. In addition to the aforementioned flight from possible arrest for practicing the profession without a license, he was also under investigation by the US Department of Labor for holding what was believed to be an illegal public office. He was always one step ahead of his pursuers and effortlessly made his opponents look ridiculous. He was the man of opposites: loved and hated, honored and mocked.
In 1922, he and Tillie traveled by boat to visit Sweden. In the early 1930s, Oskar was elected to the municipal council in Onida. He often disagreed with the established politicans and opposed them intensely whenever his own aspirations were in danger. He drove his political opponents insane in their attempts to discredit him. In the end, the city council hired a lawyer to investigate whether Oskar had become an American citizen, which a local rumor claimed he never had. Oskar refused to produce any proof of citizenship, and when he finally found something, he had outsmarted an embarrassed the city council of Bowman and with a smile he said, "I had it in a box at home all the time." He had become a citizen on July 12, 1911.
In 1953, they traveled once more to visit Sweden, but they took a plane. Oskar later claimed that this flight was the only time he had crossed the Atlantic since the Titanic. Oskar and Tillie never had any children.
Oskar died on July 28, 1961 of a stroke while driving on Main Street in Onida. Onlookers saw the car slowly swerve onto the curb near the post office. He was rushed to hospital, but died after 45 minutes. The whole town came to the funeral, either out of friendship, duty or curiosity. See Oskar's death certificate .
After his death[]
His widow, almost 80 years of age and with mentally and physically declining health, was devastated to have lost her life partner. But it wasn't over yet. The husband's will came as another killing blow. The will was dated September 26, 1960 and read:
"In the event of my death or inability to manage my estate, I appoint RL Koenig and Earl E. Kinder, both of Onida, S. Dak. to be my executors and that the estate be equally divided between me and my wife, and that my share of my estate and estate shall go to my brother Robert Hedman at 9 Vasagatan, Lidingö 1, Stockholm, Sweden, or to his children and to no one other."
Tillie contested the will, but it was declared valid and in order to give her husband's brother, whom she barely knew, what was due him, she had to sell her home. It wasn't long after that before she was declared ‘incompetent’ and placed in a nursing home. There she died on April 7, 1965. Her estate was valued at $88,000 and was inherited by her nephews.