Mr Jean Scheerlinckx was born 26 January 1883. He was a farm hand and lived with his widowed mother in an old farm house in Haaltert. The relationship between he and his step-father soured, and this prompted him to leave for America. He travelled with Philemon Van Melkebeke.
He boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a third class passenger (ticket number 345779, £9 10s), he was heading to assist in the sugar beet campaign near Detroit, Michigan.
Jean gave conflicting accounts of how he survived so it remains unclear just how he escaped from the Titanic. He claimed to have jumped into the water and was picked up. More than likely, he left the ship in one of the starboard aft lifeboats (possibly lifeboat 11) where a majority of steerage men escaped.
Jean was penniless when he reached New York. He and fellow Belgian survivors, Jules Sap and Theodore de Mulder, met a fellow Belgian man who owned a traveling stage show. He contracted them to travel with him and relate their stories of the Titanic. The men appeared at each performance and were promised to be paid $5 per day. Eventually, the show owner disappeared with all the money that had been promised to the three Belgian men and they were penniless again.
Jean was the first of the male Belgian survivors to return home. He failed to find work in America and decided to take up the White Star Line on their offer for free passage back to Europe. He left with $400 given to him by the Red Cross. He received more than the other two men since he was reported to have contracted tuberculosis, had suffered severely from shock and exposure and desired to return home.
When he arrived back home in Haaltert, he found out that his stepfather had left. He moved back in with his mother. Café owners liked to offer him drinks on the house for telling his story of the Titanic. He never had to pay for a drink again in his village.
He married Marie Stevens in October of 1912 and in 1914, was called up for military service in the Belgian army. He returned home in 1918, and remained a farmhand for the next 31 years, often working in the sugar beet campaigns in northern France. He lived in the family home until his death on 25th June, 1956, aged 73.
Comment and discuss
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Hi! I am Peggy Scheerlinck from Belgium. Thats my over over over grandfather. Is their a pictur of him? It means a lot to me. Greetings from Haaltert!
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Hi Peggy, I know there are pictures of him. There is one picture with Belgian survivers on which he is too. If I find it, I will show you where to find it. Grtz, Mark Scheerlinck - Melsele
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Hi Peggy and Mark Scheerlinck,we are students from Belgium and we are searching for information about Jean Scheerlinck for our examination. Do you have information or pictures about him? can you pleas send it to us? you can contact us at this adress:
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Jean Scheerlinck had a series of strange ups and downs in his life, including being a Titanic survivor. He was a farmer from Haalert, Belgium and according to his ET bio, had problems with his stepfather and left home. Accompanied by his friend and farmer colleague Philemon van Melckebeke, Scheerlinck boarded the Titanic in Southampton; they were joined by fellow Belgian farmers Jules Sap and Theodor de Mulder. All four were travelling Third Class and headed for the sugar plantation near Detroit. His friend Melcklebeke died in the sinking but Scheerlinck survived, as did Sap and de Mulder. Left with no money on arrival in America, they reportedly joined a travelling show but the owner gypped them out of their fees and disappeared. Eventually, Scheerlinck received $400 from the Red Cross and returned to his Belgian hometown Haaltert to find that his stepfather had left home. He initially lived with his mother and siblings but later married and raised a family. ...
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