John Cervin Johnson

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/johan-cervin-...

Once he got to South Dakota he changed his name to John C. Johnson.

• Reference: See group photo in media: Johan Cervin Svensson 3rd from the left, pictured along with another Swedish immigrant, Anna Nysten, on the far right. (Photo: ET/Günter Bäbler)

Mr Johan Cervin Svensson

• Titanic Survivor
• Born: Saturday 5th March 1898 in Knäred, Halland, Sweden
• Age: 14 years 1 month and 10 days (Male)
• Nationality: Swedish
• Last Residence: in Knäred, Halland Sweden
• 3rd Class passenger
• First Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
• Ticket No. 7538 , £9 4s 6d
• Destination: Beresford, South Dakota, United States
• Rescued (boat 13)
• Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
• Died: Saturday 4th July 1981 in Long Beach, California, United States aged 83 years
• Buried: Rose Hill Memorial Park, Whittier, California, United States
• Reference: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-lifeboat-13/ Life Boat No. 13
• Reference: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-deckplans/ deck plans of R.M.S. Titanic

Mr Johan Cervin Svensson, 14, was born 5 March 1898 the son of Sven Peter Johansson and Elisabeth Jönsdotter, he had six siblings, Anna, Jenny, John, Leonard, Reinhold and Gösta and lived at Knäred, Halland, Sweden.

Johan Cervin Svensson was the eldest son, Anna and Ellen were older. His father and Jenny had gone to Alcester, Beresford, South Dakota, USA in 1911 and the rest of the family was intending to follow. When Johan was ready to go his mother sewed 15 Kr into his jacket lining as spare cash.

He boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a third class passenger . He later recalled that when the Titanic was sinking he sneaked onto the first class boat deck and after being refused twice finally got into lifeboat 13, the third boat he tried to enter.

On board the Carpathia he was at first thought to be a first class passenger but looking upon his clothes it was realized that was not possible and he was sent down to join the other steerage passengers. In New York he was met by his uncle Isak Johnson.

Once he got to South Dakota he changed his name to John C. Johnson and worked as a farmhand. At some point he travelled on to Michigan and later Kentucky before finally settling in Long Beach, California, where he worked as a ship welder.

He made his only visit to Sweden in 1961 and died on 4th July, 1981 in Long Beach, California.

Articles Sioux Falls Argus Leader (South Dakota), 22nd March, 1998, SD Man survived Titanic's plunge

References Claes-Göran Wetterholm (1988, 1996, 1999) Titanic. Prisma, Stockholm. ISBN 91 518 3644 0

Contributors Peter Engberg-Klarström, Sweden Leif Snellman, Finland Titanic survivor.

Born under the name of Johan Cervin Svensson in Sweden.

His father and sister Jenny moved to South Dakota, while the rest of the family decided to start to join them. Johan went ahead of his siblings and his mother and headed to England to board the Titanic.

During the sinking of the Titanic, he was able to get on deck and leave the ship in Lifeboat #13.

Reunited with the rest of his family in America, he was renamed John C. Johnson and worked as a farmhand. At some point he travelled on to Michigan and later Kentucky before finally settling in Long Beach, California, where he worked as a ship welder.

Married to Hazel G. (Lindley).

John C. Johnson passed away in 1981.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Aug 27 2019, 17:30:53 UTC

Johan Cervin Svensson, sometimes also known as "Cervin Swenson" and who later changed his name to "John C. Johnson" was a 14 year old boy from Knäred, Halland, Sweden, born on March 5, 1898, the son of Sven Peter Johansson and Elisabeth Jönsdotter. (8.) The oldest son of seven children, he boarded Titanic at Southampton, having taken the train from Knäred to Gothenburg, Sweden, then a small boat to Hull, England. He was travelling to join his father Sven and sister Jenny who had moved to Alcester, Beresford, South Dakota, USA in 1911. The remainder of the family (sister Anna, and brothers Johan Rudolf, Leonard, Reinhold, and Gösta) planned to follow.

According to Encyclopedia Titanica "when Johan was ready to go his mother sewed 15 Kr into his jacket lining as spare cash." (8.) The Swanson family genealogical website adds that "as the ship was sinking on that fateful night, he was awakened by a knock on the door of the cabin that he shared with three other Swedes. Everyone was yelling, but he didn't understand English. Once he saw everyone donning lifejackets, he supposed he had better get one on, too. He jumped 10 or 20 feet down into on Lifeboat Number 13 at approximately 2:10 a.m. The Titanic fully sank about 10 minutes later. Lifeboat 13 arrived at the rescuing ship Carpathia in the early morning of April 15, 1912." (Johan Cervin Svensson - Titanic Survivor from Knäred, Sweden.)

Encyclopedia Titanica says that "he later recalled that when the Titanic was sinking he sneaked onto the first class boat deck and after being refused twice finally got into lifeboat 13, the third boat he tried to enter. On board the Carpathia he was at first thought to be a first class passenger but looking upon his clothes it was realized that was not possible and he was sent down to join the other steerage passengers. In New York he was met by his uncle Isak Johnson." (8.)

A "Cervin Swenson" is mentioned on the United States Senate Inquiry Third-Class Passengers list (142. Swenson, Cervin). While traveling to Alcester, Beresford, South Dakota he apparently stopped at Hawarden, a small town on the border of South Dakota and Iowa, where he stayed at the firm of Johnson Cooper and through an interpreter gave the following account to The Courier (The Freeman Courier, Freeman, South Dakota) on May 2, 1912 under the name of Cervin Swenson:

Witness of 14 Tells Of Titanic Tragedy And His Own Escape

Lone Traveler from Sweden Describes Events in Ship's Dying Moments

Hawarden, Ia.---April 29---
One of the survivors of the Titanic, a boy 14 years old, arrived in Hawarden yesterday on his way to Alcester, S.D. where his father is. The boy, whose name is Cervin Swenson, traveled (sic) from Sweden, where he left his mother and five of her children entirely alone. A comrade, several years older, had meant to accompany him but decided to travel on a Scandenavian (sic) boat. The boy, who does not speak a word of English was entertained last night at the firm of Johnson Cooper, of this place, and through Mr. Johnson an interesting story is given of the young traveler's (sic) experiences.
Sailors Joke of Accident

Cervin was a third cabin passenger and was asleep in his bunk at the time of the collision. He and three men who shared his compartment were aroused by the sailors, who, however, talked jokingly of the accident, saying that they had stuck o na (sic) sandbar. Cervin went up on deck where many passengers were standing about with life belts on. The sailors made fun of them for wearing them. There was not much confusion or excitement, but the officers began to fill the life boats, people crowded up and they were handled very roughly by the officials, as they had to do to keep any discipline. Cervin himself tried repeatedly to get into a boat but again and again was crowded back. The deck was covered with handbags, suit cases and all sorts of light baggage which passengers had meant to take with them in the boats but they were not allowed to do so.

Finally the boy managed to get into a boat and was allowed to stay. There were 50 persons in this boat, mostly women and children. They were all very quiet, even when the ship sank, which they plainly saw, being as the boy put it "just about a kilometer away when it went down." A kilometer is five-eights of a mile.
Men Shoot Themselves

He declares that he saw a man, whom he thought to be one of the officers, shoot himself. "He put his gun right in his mouth and shot." He also says there was considerable shooting on deck. After they were in the boat they heard many shots. The three men who had been his roommates, he never saw again, but in his lifeboat was a young Swedish woman---the only one in the boat to whom he could talk. She had been married but two months. Her husband was also a passenger and was drowned. After about six hours in the life boat they were taken on the Carpathia. All had been very still till then, but as the ship approached, the women screamed and cried and "went crazy" as Cervin put it. They did not seem to know what they were doing and many of them had to be taken aboard the ship by force. In the other boats, they were the same way. On the Carpathia he was put in the steerage with "dagoes and Chinese" and thought he had pretty poor quarters, though thankful for any.

Treatment in New York

On reaching New York he was tken to the Swedish Lutheran Emigrant home which is in charge of Rev. Lilja, a prominent minister of that denomination. Here he staid (sic or archaic) while in New York. He was given two suitcases full of clothing, an overcoat and $25 in cash by the relief committee. He tells of countless kindnesses that he had received in New York and on his way here and says he thinks this the greatest country and the Americans the kindest people in the world.

The boy is described as an unusually shrewd, bright lad, and to this he doubtless owes his life, as he was among the saved entirely by his own efforts. He left by the early train for Alcester near which place his father is working on a farm.
Cervin Swenson escaped in Lifeboat No. 12. The Swedish woman who spoke with him was Anna Sjoblom. (The Courier -The Freeman Courier, Freeman, South Dakota- May 2, 1912)
Another version of Svensson's account appeared on the same day in The Independent, Hawarden, Iowa (May 2, 1912):

He estimated that they were only about a kilometer from the Titanic when she sank and could witness the scene on deck very plainly. He could see many of the passengers jumping overboard and heard considerable shooting on deck. He declares he thought he saw one of the officers shoot himself. The boat he was in did not go to the rescue of the people struggling in the water as it would not have accomodated more than four or five more people and they did not dare risk swamping the boat as they most certainly would have done had they made the attempt to rescue the drowning ones.

There is also a shorter newspaper article, according to Wendy Pearson, that references the suicide and shooting on May 10, 1912:

A Scandinavian boy fourteen years old named Cervin Swenson passed through Laurens (Iowa) last Friday on his way to join friends at Alcestor, South Dakota. He was one of the survivors from the Titanic and says that he saw one of the officers shoot himself and that there was considerable shooting on the boat before and after he left it. (May 10, 1912)

What can we say about Svensson's account? There is nothing that sounds sensational or exaggerated in his story. The article itself describes him as an "unusually shrewd, bright lad". Since he was in lifeboat no. 13, which also contained suicide witness Washington Dodge, we may wonder how much he could see of Titanic and any shooting or suicide. But he does mention that "when the ship sank, which they plainly saw, being as the boy put it "just about a kilometer away when it went down."

According to the article the "Swedish woman who spoke with him was Anna Sjoblom." However Sjoblom, another suicide witness, is from the neighbouring country of Finland. So the other Swedish woman he mentions could be Anna Sofia Nysten or Agnes Charlotta Sandström (née Bengtsson) who was in lifeboat 13 with her two young daughters aged 1 and 4. He is pictured in a photograph with Anna Nysten so it is most likely her.

Curiously, it is said that the boy spoke no English, which could well be evidence in favour of his account as unlike other suicide witnesses his story would not necessarily be cross-pollinated by other survivors. However two other suicide witnesses are Swedish and may well have spoken to him: Oscar Johansson Olsson and Carl Olof Jansson. Carl Jansson's is similar in that he also mentions the officer placing a revolver in his mouth and shoot himself. (refer to Oscar Johansson Olsson, Carl Olof Jansson)

It is also interesting to note that at aged 14 he is the youngest of all the suicide witnessses. Dr Kemp's was apparently told an account of Captain Smith's suicide by "a boy and one of the last of the children to be taken from the Titanic". However we would need to either discover that Kemp could speak Swedish or that the boy's English was sufficient to communicate such information.

Once he arrived in Alcester, South Dakota his name was anglicized to John C. Johnson and also became known as "Titanic" Johnson. The family website mentions that "Johan's daughter, Joy Johnson said that her father always wondered "Why was I saved when so many others were lost?" and suffered nightmares for the remainder of his life." (Johan Cervin Svensson - Titanic Survivor from Knäred, Sweden.)

He later moved to California , married Hazel G. (Lindley) worked as a ship welder for a marine construction company based in the Long Beach harbor, not far from the Queen Mary. He died on 4th July, 1981 in Long Beach, California and his grave, along with that of his wife is in the Hazel Rose Hills cemetery near Whittier, California

(Thanks to George Jacub for this account)

• Reference: Full text- https://archive.org/details/truthabouttitani00grac/page/n6 "The Truth About the Titanic" by Colonel Archibald Gracie, IV 1913 pp. 288-296

BOAT NO. 13*

Seventh boat lowered on starboard side, 1.25 (Br. Rpt., p. 38). No disorder when this boat was loaded and lowered.

Passengers: Women: Second cabin, including Mrs. Caldwell and her child Alden. All the rest second and third-class women.

Men: Dr. Dodge only first cabin passenger. Second cabin, Messrs. Beasley and Caldwell. One Japanese.

Crew: Firemen: Barrett (in charge), Beauchamp, Major and two others. Stewards: Ray, Wright and another; also baker .

Total: 64.

incidents

Mr. Lawrence Beesley's book, already cited, gives an excellent description of No. 13's history, but for further details, see his book. The Loss of the SS. Titanic, Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston.

F. Barrett, leading stoker (Br. Inq.) : Witness then made his escape up the escape ladder and walked aft on to Deck A on the starboard side, where only two boats were left, Nos. 13 and 15. No. 13 was partly lowered when he got there. Five-sixths in the boat were women. No. 15 was lowered about thirty seconds later. When No. 13 got down to the water he shouted: "Let go the after fall," but, as no one took any notice, he had to walk over women and cut the fall himself. No. 15 came down nearly on top of them, but they just got clear. He took charge of the boat until he got so cold that he had to give up to someone else. A woman put a cloak over him, as he felt so freezing, and he could not remember anything after that. No men waiting on the deck got into his boat. They all stood in one line in perfect order waiting to be told to get into the boat. There was no disorder whatever. They picked up nobody from the sea.

F. D. Ray, steward (Am. Inq., 798) : Witness assisted in the loading of boat No. 9 and saw it and No. 11 boat lowered, and went to No. 13 on A Deck. He saw it about half filled with women and children. A few men were ordered to get in; about nine to a dozen passengers and crew. Dr. Washington Dodge was there and was told that his wife and child had gone away in one of the boats. Witness said to him: "You had better get in here then," and got behind him and pushed him and followed after him. A rather large woman came along crying and saying: "Do not put me in the boat; I don't want to get in one. I have never been in an open boat in my life." He said: "You have got to go and you may as well keep quiet." After that there was a small child rolled in a blanket thrown into the boat to him. The woman that brought it got into the boat afterwards. We left about three or four men on the deck at the rail and they went along to No. 15 boat. No. 13 was lowered away. When nearly to the water, two or three of them noticed a very large discharge of water coming from the ship's side which he thought was the pumps working. The hole was about two feet wide and about a foot deep with a solid mass of water coming out. They shouted for the boat to be stopped from being lowered and they responded promptly and stopped lowering the boat. They pushed it off from the side of the ship until they were free from this discharge. He thinks there were no sailors or quartermasters in the boat because they apparently did not know how to get free from the tackle. Knives were called for to cut loose. In the meantime they were drifting a little aft and boat No. 15 was being lowered immediately upon them about two feet from their heads and they all shouted again, and they again replied very promptly and stopped lowering boat No. 15. They elected a fireman (Barrett) to take charge. Steward Wright was in the boat; two or three children and a very young baby seven months old. Besides Nos. 9, 11, and 13, No. 15 was lowered to Deck A and filled from it. He saw no male passengers or men of the crew whatever ordered out or thrown out of these lifeboats on the starboard side. Everybody was very orderly and there was no occasion to throw anybody out. In No. 13 there were about four or five firemen, one baker, three stewards; about nine of the crew. Dr. Washington Dodge was the only first-class passenger and the rest were third-class. There was one Japanese. There was no crowd whatever on A Deck while he was loading these boats. No. 13 was full.

Extracts from Dr. Washington Dodge's address: "The Loss of the Titanic" a copy of which he kindly sent me:

I heard one man say that the Impact was due to Ice. Upon one of his listeners' questioning the authority of this, he replied: *'Go up forward and look down on the fo'castle deck, and you can see for yourself." I at once walked forward to the end of the promenade deck, and looking down could see, just within the starboard rail, small fragments of broken Ice, amounting possibly to several cartloads. As I stood there an Incident occurred which made me take a more serious view of the situation, than I otherwise would.

Two stokers, who had slipped up onto the promenade deck unobserved, said to me: "Do you think there is any danger, sir?" I replied: "If there is any danger It would be due to the vessel's having sprung a leak, and you ought to know more about it than I." They replied, in what appeared to me to be an alarmed tone: Well, sir, the water was pouring into the stoke 'old when we came up, sir." At this time I observed quite a number of steerage passengers, who were amusing themselves by walking over the ice, and kicking it about the deck. No ice or iceberg was to be seen in the ocean.

I watched the boats on the starboard side, as they were successively filled and lowered away. At no time during this period, was there any panic, or evidence of fear, or unusual alarm. I saw no women nor children weep, nor were there any evidences of hysteria observed by me.

I watched all boats on the starboard side, comprising the odd numbers from one to thirteen, as they were launched. Not a boat was launched which would not have held from ten to twenty- five more persons. Never were there enough women or children present to fill any boat before it was launched. In all cases, as soon as those who responded to the officers' call were in the boats, the order was given to "Lower away."

What the conditions were on the port side of the vessel I had no means of observing. We were in semi-darkness on the Boat Deck, and owing to the immense length and breadth of the vessel, and the fact that between the port and the starboard side of the Boat Deck, there were officers' cabins, staterooms for passengers, a gymnasium, and innumerable immense ventilators, it would have been impossible, even in daylight, to have obtained a view of but a limited portion of this boat deck. We only knew what was going on within a radius of possibly forty feet.

Boats Nos. 13 and 15 were swung from the davits at about the same moment. I heard the officer in charge of No. 13 say: "We'll lower this boat to Deck A. Observing a group of possibly fifty or sixty about boat 15, a small proportion of which number were women, I descended by means of a stairway close at hand to the deck below, Deck A. Here, as the boat was lowered even with the deck, the women, about eight in number, were assisted by several of us over the rail of the steamer into the boat. The officer in charge then held the boat, and called repeatedly for more women. None appearing, and there being none visible on the deck, which was then brightly illuminated, the men were told to tumble in. Along with those present I entered the boat. Ray was my table steward and called to me to get in.

The boat in which I embarked was rapidly lowered, and as it approached the water I observed, as I looked over the edge of the boat, that the bow, near which I was seated, was being lowered directly into an enormous stream of water, three or four feet in diameter, which was being thrown with great force from the side of the vessel. This was the water thrown out by the condenser pumps. Had our boat been lowered into the same it would have been swamped in an instant. The loud cries which were raised by the occupants of the boat caused those who were sixty or seventy feet above us to cease lowering our boat. Securing an oar with considerable difficulty, as the oars had been firmly lashed together by means of heavy tarred twine, and as in addition they were on the seat running parallel with the side of the lifeboat, with no less than eight or ten occupants of the boat sitting on them, none of whom showed any tendency to disturb themselves — we pushed the bow of the lifeboat, by means of the oar, a sufficient distance away from the side of the Titanic to clear this great stream of water which was gushing forth. We were then safely lowered to the water. During the few moments occupied by these occurrences I felt for the only time a sense of impending danger.

We were directed to pull our lifeboat from the steamer, and to follow a light which was carried in one of the other lifeboats, which had been launched prior to ours. Our lifeboat was found to contain no lantern, as the regulations require; nor was there a single sailor, or officer in the boat. Those who undertook to handle the oars were poor oarsmen, almost without exception, and our progress was extremely slow. Together with two or three other lifeboats which were in the vicinity, we endeavored to overtake the lifeboat which carried the light, in order that we might not drift away and possibly become lost. This light appeared to be a quarter of a mile distant, but, in spite of our best endeavors, we were never enabled to approach any nearer to it, although we must have rowed at least a mile.