Erick Eriksson Jussila

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Titanic Passenger Summary

Name: Mr Eiriik Jussila
Titanic Survivor
Born: Friday 2nd April 1880 in Elimäki, Finland
Age: 32 years and 13 days (Male)
Nationality: Finnish
Marital Status: Married to Helmi Heinola
Last Residence: in Helsinki, Finland
3rd Class Passengers
Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 3101286, £7 18s 6d
Destination: Monessen, Pennsylvania, United States
Rescued (boat 15)
Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
Died: Wednesday 5th January 1944 aged 63 years
Buried: High Plains Cemetery, West Boylston, Massachusetts, United States

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/eiriik-jussil...

• Name: Mr Erick Jussila
• Titanic Survivor
• Born: Friday 2nd April 1880
• Age: 32 years
• Nationality: Finnish
• Last Residence: in Helsinki Finland
• 3rd Class passenger
• First Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
• Ticket No. 3101286 , £7 18s 6d
• Destination: Monessen, Pennsylvania, United States
• Rescued (boat 15)
• Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
• Died: Wednesday 5th January 1944
• Reference: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-lifeboat-15/ Life Boat No. 15
• Reference: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-deckplans/ R.M.S. Titanic deck plans

Mr Erik Jussila, 32, was originally from Elimäki (near Kouvola), Southern Finland. He was traveling from Helsinki to Monessen, Pennsylvania and boarded the Titanic at Southampton.

Erik Jussila had been living in USA for more than 8 years in Minnesota and Michigan and had visited Finland where he got married.

Erik was awakened by the collision but did not go up at once. He rose only after his mate Johan Niskanen entered his cabin and warned him. Erik would later claim that before the boat was about to go under he had jumped into the water with his life belt on and swam towards the nearest boat. When he tried to get on the boat the crew man pointed a pistol at him and told him that if he had wanted to get on the boat he would have to give his life belt to one of the women passengers and then take up postion at an oar. However, there is probably some dramatic licence in this account. It is most likely that he boarded one of the starboard boats, probably lifeboat 15.

After his arrival in New York he stayed for a while at St. Vincent's Hospital.

• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Sep 16 2019, 19:21:18 UTC

Mr Eirikk Jussila was born in Elimäki, Kouvola, Finland on 2 April 1880 1 but other details about his early life are not clear.

He had emigrated to the USA in 1902, living in Minnesota and Michigan and returned to Finland around 1910 where he was married to a lady named Helmi Heinola (b. circa 1893).

Eirikk was returning to the USA to settle in Monessen, Pennsylvania with the intention of working in the steel mills and saving enough money to have his wife join him later. He boarded the Titanic at Southampton on 10 April 1912 as a third class passenger (ticket number 3101286 which cost £7, 18s, 6d) and most likely shared a cabin with other Finnish men.

On the night of the sinking Eirikk was awakened by the collision but did not get up at once. He rose only after his mate Juha Niskänen entered his cabin and warned him about trouble. Eirikk would later claim that before the boat was about to go under he had jumped into the water with his life belt on and swam towards the nearest boat. When he tried to get on the boat the crew man pointed a pistol at him and told him that if he had wanted to get on the boat he would have to give his life belt to one of the women passengers and then take up position at an oar. However, there is likely dramatic licence in this account and it is most likely that he boarded one of the aft starboard boats, probably lifeboat 15.

After his arrival in New York he stayed for a while at St. Vincent's Hospital to recuperate.

Eirikk, who became "Erick" in the USA, was later joined by his wife in America and the couple settled in Minnesota and had two sons, Erik William (1913-1977) and Arvo (1916-1997). The small family lived in Nashwauck, Itasca, Minnesota before moving to Ashtabula, Ohio in later years.

What became of Erick's wife is not clear but he was later remarried to another Finnish lady, a widow named Maria W. Holm (b. 1875) and they moved from Ashtabula to Sterling, Massachusetts where Erick would remain for the rest of his life, living at Rawley Hill Road where he operated a farm.

He died as a result of cancer on 5 January 1944 and is buried in High Plains Cemetery, West Boylston, Massachusetts. His wife Maria, who died in 1953, is buried with him.

Credits

Gavin Bell, UK Meghan Gleezen, USA Leif Snellman, Finland Claes-Göran Wetterholm, Sweden

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Sep 16 2019, 19:26:18 UTC
• Record of Finns aboard Titanic:
• Reference: In the Thunder Bay, Ontario newspaper The Chronicle-Journal on Monday, January 30, 1995 the following list of passengers who were on the Titanic was printed in the column People, by Howard Reid. The following is a quote of his article in its entirety

Documentary focuses on Finnish aboard Titanic

Received a very interesting letter from Shirley Panula of Government Road. Friends in Chicago, Ill., noticed a newspaper article about Marko Kuparinen of Helsinki making a documentary for TV about Finnish passengers on the Titanic. The article then went on to list Finnish passengers who were on board the Titanic. Seeing Thunder Bay is home for the largest number of Finnish-speaking persons outside Helsinki, the names listed may be of special interest.

II Class:

• Collander, Erik
• Hiltunen, Maria
• Hamalainen, Anna
• Hamalainen, Wiljo
• Lahtinen, Anna
• Lahtinen, William
• Silven, Lyyli
• Sinkkonen, Anna III Class:
• Abrahamsson, August
• Alhomaki, Rudolf Ilmari
• Andersson, Erna
• Backstrom, Karl Alfred
• Backstrom, Maria Mathilda
• Berglund, Karl Ivan Sven
• Gustafsson, Anders Vilhelm
• Gustafsson, Johan Birger
• Gustafsson, Alfred Ossian
• Hakkarainen, Pekka Pietari
• Hakkarainen, Elin
• Heikkinen, Laina
• Heininen, Wedla Maria
• Hirvonen, Helga
• Hirvonen, Hildur
• Honkanen, Eliina
• Ilmakangas, Ida Livija
• Ilmakangas, Pieta Sofia
• Johanson, Jakob Alfred
• Jussila, Aina Maria
• Jussila, Eiriik
• Jussila, Katriina
• Kallio, Nikolai Erland
• Laitine, Kristina Sofia
• Leinonen, Antti Gustaf
• Linquist, Eino
• Maenpaa, Matti Aleksanteri
• Makinen, Kalle Edward
• Nieminen, Manta Josefina
• Nirva, Iisakki Aijo
• Niskanen, Johan
• Panula, Ernesti Arvid
• Panula, Jaakko Arnold
• Panula, Juha Niilo
• Panula, Maria Emilia
• Panula, Urho Abraham
• Panula, William
• Pekoniemi, Edvard
• Peltomaki, Nikolai Johannes
• Riihivuori, Santu
• Rintamaki, Matti
• Rosblom, Helena Wilhelmina
• Rosblom, Salli Helena
• Rosblom, Viktor Rickard
• Salonen, Johan Werner
• Sivola, Antii William
• Sjoblem, Anna Sofia
• Strandberg, Ida Sofia
• Stranden, Juho
• Sundman, Johan Julian
• Tikkanen, Juho
• Turja, Anna Sofia
• Turkula, Hedvig
• Wiklund, Jacob Alfred
• Wiklund, Kali Johan

   For more information please contact Marko Kuparinen, Kumpu-lanportti 3 A 4, SF 00520 Helsinki, Finland, or the Finnish Newspaper Co., 4422 Eighth Ave., Brooklyn, New York.

* Reference: Full text- https://archive.org/details/truthabouttitani00grac/page/n6 "The Truth About the Titanic" by Colonel Archibald Gracie, IV 1913 pp. 296-299

BOAT NO. 15.*

Br. Rpt., p. 38, places this next to last lowered on starboard side at 1.35. No disorder in loading or lowering this boat.

Passengers: All third-class women and children (53) and Men: Mr. Haven (first-class) and three others (third-class) only. Total: 4.

Crew: Firemen: Diamond (in charge), Cavell, Taylor; Stewards: Rule, Hart. Total: 13.

Grand Total (Br. Rpt., p. 38) : 70.

. INCIDENTS

G. Cavell, trimmer (Br. Inq.) :

The officer ordered five of us In the boat. We took on all the women and children and the boat was then lowered. We lowered to the first-class (I. e. A) deck and took on a few more women and children, about five, and then lowered to the water. From the lower deck we took In about sixty. There were men about but we did not take them In. They were not kept back. They were third-class passengers, I think — sixty women, Irish. Fireman Diamond took charge. No other seaman In this boat. There were none left on the third-class decks after I had taken the women.

S. J. Rule, bathroom steward (Br. Inq.) : Mr. Murdoch called to the men to get Into the boat. About six got In. "That will do," he said, "lower away to Deck A." At this time the vessel had a slight list to port. We sent scouts around both to the starboard and port sides. They came back and said there were no more women and children. We filled up on A Deck — sixty-eight all told — the last boat to leave the starboard side. There were some left behind. There was a bit of a rush after Mr. Murdoch said we could fill the boat up with men standing by. We very nearly came on top of No. 13 when we lowered away. A man, Jack Stewart, a steward, took charge. Nearly everybody rowed. No lamp. One deckhand in the boat, and men, women and children. Just before it was launched, no more could be found, and about half a dozen men got in. There were sixty- eight in the boat altogether. Seven members of the crew.

J. E. Hart, third-class steward (Br. Inq., 75) : Witness defines the duties and what was done by the stewards, particularly those connected with the steerage.

Pass the women and children up to the Boat Deck," was the order soon after the collision. About three-quarters of an hour after the collision he took women and children from the C Deck to the first-class main companion. There were no barriers at that time. They were all opened. He took about thirty to boat No. 8 as it was being lowered. He left them and went back for more,' meeting third-class passengers on the way to the boats. He brought back about twenty-five more steerage women and children, having some little trouble owing to the men passengers wanting to get to the Boat Deck. These were all third-class people whom we took to the only boat left on the starboard side, viz., No. 15. There were a large number already in the boat, which was then lowered to A Deck, and five women, three children and a man with a baby in his arms taken in, making about seventy people in all, including thirteen or fourteen of the crew and fireman Diamond in charge. Mr. Murdoch ordered witness into the boat. Four men passengers and fourteen crew was the complement of men; the rest were women and children.

When boat No. 15 left the boat deck there were other women and children there — some first- class women passengers and their husbands. Absolute quietness existed. There were repeated cries for women and children. If there had been any more women there would have been found places for them in the boat. He heard some of the women on the A Deck say they would not leave their husbands.

There is no truth in the statement that any of the seamen tried to keep back third-class passengers from the Boat Deck. Witness saw masthead light of a ship from the Boat Deck. He did his very best, and so did all the other stewards, to help get the steerage passengers on the Boat Deck as soon as possible.

Elimäki syntyneet 1871-1887 Jokela, Peltola, sivu 97, kuva 95 sshy.