Anna Sofia Sjöblom was born on 14 April 1894 in Finland the daughter of Gabriel Gustafsson Sjöblom, a woodworker (b. 16 September 1862 at Oravais, Finland) and Johanna (née Nilsdotter; b. 17 July 1867 at Munsala) Gustafsson. Her parents had married 1 June 1890.
She had a brother Andrew John, born 27 January 1904 in Finland (d. 19 December 1979 in Tacoma), and a sister Katharina Johanna, 3 January 1897 (d. 1956). Another brother, Daniel, was mentioned in the contemporary press, and there may have been other siblings as well.
The family lived in Munsala, Nicolaistad, Vasa County, Finland and it is likely she and her siblings were born there.
Anna was travelling to her father, who had come to the USA in 1904 and who lived in Olympia, Washington. He was employed by Simpson Timber Company, where her uncle Daniel also worked.
She probably travelled the same way as Jakob Alfred Johanson and Jakob Alfred and Karl Johan Wiklund. Jacob Wiklund was in the same class at school as Anna. They left Hangö on March 30, 1912, however, none of them is on the passenger list for FÅA's Polaris which sailed from Hangö to Hull on April 3.
The group were originally booked on the Adriatic but were transferred when their sailing was cancelled due to the coal strike. Anna did not understand English, so Johanson who had spent a long time in North America helped for her and the Wiklund brothers during the trip.
Courtesy Phillip Gowan / Alan Gorsuch, USA
She shared a 6-berth cabin (#134) on D-Deck with Velin Öhman amongst others.
14 April 1912 was Anna'a 18th birthday and that night she lay fully clad on her bed when the collision occurred, but she did not care too much since she had been seasick during the whole trip. When she tried to reach the boat deck together with another Finnish girl, they got lost and reached the 2nd class promenade on A deck and had to climb a crew ladder. That was near to the à la Carte restaurant and could see the laid tables through the windows. About 1.30 according to Anna she entered a lifeboat. All three of her companions died in the sinking.
After her arrival in New York, she was taken to the Lutheran emigrant home and went a week later by train to Olympia. For part of the trip, she travelled with Oscar Hedman, Berta Nilsson and Carl Olof Jansson from Sweden.
Anna married Anton Nils Peterson on 7 October 1913, in Pierce County, Washington. She had two children with Mr Peterson; Evelyn Eleanor, b. 9 August 1914 (d. 1999), and Harold William, b. 14 April 1916.
Her mother and brother came to the USA in 1915.
She was divorced by 1920, living at 936 (?) South East Street in Tacoma, and was noted as a hotel seamstress.
She later married John Gordon Kincaid, an electrician b. 12 March 1889 in Colorado, on 18 July 1923, in King County, Washington.
The two children did not live with her in 1920, but they lived with her and Mr Kincaid in 1930.
She became a widow on 4 May 1954 and in 1956 moved to 1220 South Jefferson St. Olympia.
Mrs Anna Kincaid, above, was an 18-year-old Finnish immigrant girl who took a passage on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. She came to Tacoma soon after it sank April 14, 1912, and has lived here ever since. Even now the brief hours of her experience come back to her in her dreams.—Tacoma Sunday News Tribune and Ledger, 20 November 1955
She passed away on 3 November 1975, aged 81.
Comment and discuss
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I have found something relating to I find that you can see her cabin number in the image. It is to the lower right of the big right hand side number "2". I interpret what is written there as 04/134. that would mean bed number 04 in cabin number 134, wouldn't it? The Berth number should be to the lower left of the "2", but someone has erased that and changed it. Maybe they gave Anna another cabin at boarding when they noted she spoke Swedish and not Finnish. Gave her a cabin with Swedish passengers...
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The cabin given to her was changed because she changed the ship. She actually was going with the Adriatic but her sailing was cancelled and she was transferred to Titanic. Her cabin was at the stern on D Deck, Section O, Cabin 134, Bed No. 4.
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Using the Deck Plan from Bruce Beveridge I have marked here her cabin, which was for 6 people. The cabin was close to the 3rd class staircase (and to the only 2 bathtubs for the 3rd class passengers).
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Thank you. It is quite cool indeed to find her cabin and also to clearly know one of her cabin mates!
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I just visited her grave (respectfully) and have been doing a lot of research of her lately as literally she lived in my neighborhood. I plan on doing an in depth research article and possibly a documentary of her life. I ask anyone who has any relations or info to contact me. I will only do the paper or doc. If its done true and legitimately. I've never visited a grave of a person from titanic and to say that it didn't make me respect my obligation as a researcher would be a lie.
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Hey I think I made a translation of it into English; I'll see if I can find it.
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Thanks, so very much, that is awesome! I appreciate it! Perhaps we can talk more later about Alfred and her home area. Any help will be well mentioned in my report or doc. Got to run for now, but just wanted to say thank!
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Will need a translation for sure lol. It's amazing to have a recording of her voice. I have so many questions, but I will write you what I have so far in a message and some questions. I really want to do a documentary film so this project will take a while, so please bare with me. I am trying to get a hold of family that still lives here also. Like I said long process! ☺
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Honoring a survivor.
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In the book "On A Sea Of Glass," they have Anna's room being in the bow, not in room 134 in the stern. While they don't mention the inspection card that does indeed give that number, they base the bow decision off of Anna's accounts of the disaster, where she says that her cabin began flooding very quickly, and she was chased out of it by the incoming water. This wouldn't have happened had her room been in the stern, as those rooms never flooded until the breakup. In my opinion, either her inspection card room number was incorrect, or she was telling some fibs to the press. She also claimed she saw an officer shoot himself, and if one did, she was on the complete opposite side of the ship where it supposedly happened, which certainly raises some questions as to the validity of her accounts. Regardless, it is interesting how people have placed her cabin in both the stern and the bow. Perhaps we'll never know where she really was.
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It does indeed, on pp 147 and 160. But as IG shows through BB's deckplan, Cabin 134 was a 6-people female passenger cabin at the stern. That's what is shown here on her ET bio as well, where a facsmilie of the card is shown. But if she claimed that her room started to flood early and she had to literally flee to the boat deck ahead of the water, it suggests, that could only have been from the bow. The reference for the...
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It does indeed, on pp 147 and 160. But as IG shows through BB's deckplan, Cabin 134 was a 6-people female passenger cabin at the stern. That's what is shown here on her ET bio as well, where a facsmilie of the card is shown. But if she claimed that her room started to flood early and she had to literally flee to the boat deck ahead of the water, it suggests, that could only have been from the bow. The reference for the account on p160 of On A Sea If Glass (218, Ch4), simply says "account provided by Mike Poirier" with no details. I would like Mr Poirer to provide details about his source. As it says below, there might have been an element of unreliability in Anna Sjoblom's account of her survival. Yes, and as above. While it is not clear on which particular lifeboat Anna Sjoblom was saved, Peter Engberg-Klarstrom conjectures that it must have been one of the starboard aft lifeboats. She also claimed in an...
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Well, it was her 18th birthday and she had many Finnish acquaintances on board, almost all of them in Third Class like her. I think it is safe to assume that Anna Sjoblom and her friends were...
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Hi There, I was wondering if you ever found a translation of Anna's interview? Many thanks, Harry
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