Erik Gustaf Åkerlind

## Biography

Mr. Erik Gustaf Åkerlind was born on Friday, June 18th, 1869 in Gryt, Södermanland, Sweden. He was the son of landowner Per Erik Åkerlind (June 13th, 1832 - August 31st, 1908) and his wife Eva Johanna Bernhardina Tigerschiöld (May 25th, 1838 - June 3rd, 1921). The couple had married on December 3rd, 1868 in Boxtorp, Södermanland, Sweden and went on to have six sons of which Erik was the eldest. His five brothers were; Per Edvard (January 11th, 1872 - ?), Johan Bernhard (November 21st, 1873 - ?), Knut Hugo (December 28th, 1875 - ?), Ernst Wiktor (March 20th, 1878 - ?) and Carl Uno (June 1st, 1881 - ?).

In 1887, Erik decided to immigrate to the United States on his own. He arrived on July 7th, 1887 and seemed to have settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, United States. This is where, in 1892, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States and probably anglicised his name to Erik Gustav Lind. He later moved at State Street in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Once in Brooklyn, Erik began a career in the United States Navy. He participated in the Spanish-American war, which occurred from April 21st, 1898 to December 10th, 1898, on board the U.S.S. Scipio, U.S.S. Lancaster and U.S.S. Stranger. On December 2nd, 1898, eight days before the end of the war, Erik received an honorary discharge from the United States Navy., having attained the rank of Ensign, which could be a Captain or Commander.

After the war, on January 3rd, 1899, he got married to the daughter a famous funeral center owner named Mabel Molin (August 1881 - ?) in Brooklyn. They are believed to have either settled or traveled to Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Danemark, from where they returned in 1907 to Brooklyn, to get a divorce as they weren't happy with their marriage. After Erik's father Per's death in the summer of 1908, Erik decided to return to Sweden, something he had been wanting to do for a while, where he arrived on June 18th, 1909. There, he bought back the manor in Jordanstorp, Sörmland, Sweden, that his father had lost. A day after his arrival, he remarried. This time to Elsa Teresia Dubois, born Karsten, (February 14th, 1868 - November 6th, 1966). He gained a stepson from Elsa's previous marriage, Åke Raoul Dubois (June 30th, 1904 - ?). The family settled in the Jordanstorp manor.

Living in the manor with them were a bunch of other people. Erik's widowed mother Eva, former Captain of the Royal Navy August Balthazar Carl Jakob Lagercrantz and his wife Annie Elisabeth Johnson, Edith Eugenia Eklund, Ingeborg Maria Johansson and Anna Maria Kristina Olsson, all maids, Ester Emilia Sedvall, a cook and finally three servants, Elin Johanna Hörnström, Elin Elisabeth Myrberg and Elna Sofia Karlsson. Eventually though, he repairing of the manor and some unsuccessful investments such as importing school desks who couldn't be sold of watch who didn't function properly anymore, led to the loss of Erik's fortune and he fell in the hands of loan shark Jean Jansson.

To save himself from all his debts, Erik decided to return to Brooklyn and build up a new fortune. At first, Elsa and Åke were meant to follow him, but he left earlier instead. He booked passage as a first class passenger of the Titanic under the pseudonym of Edward Lingrey. The pseudonym was to be unrecognized by his ex-wife Mabel, who was still living in Brooklyn, with who he had unfinished business and all the people he owed money to. He knew the list of first class passengers would be published in the newspaper as the launching of Titanic was very important, and he didn't want to be recognized. He bought ticket number 17475, which cost him £26 11s. For an unknown reason, he shared his ticket with fellow first class passenger Spencer Victor Silverthorne, and both boarded the ship on April 10th, 1912, in Southampton. While on board, he kept most of his identity to himself. He said that he was called Captain Lingrey, a man who had traveled from Sweden to Berlin before finding himself on the TItanic. He also wrote four letters to his wife. Only one would ever reach destination:

*My darling little Elsa, before I leave this part of the Globe, I hereby send you my warm and loving regards. You have no idea how enormous this boat is, and you would never have guessed how luxurious it is! The first trip and believe it or not she can accommodate 5,000 passengers. I hope the envelope does not tell which boat I am traveling on. Remember Elsa my darling that you are not supposed to tell anybody. Poor little darling perhaps another note or something to that effect has come to you but I hardly think so. You know who they were. Perhaps some villain thinks that Auntie K. could help, but do they get to know something else, they will probably calm down. I hope I will remain healthy, so you can be assured that I will see to it that everything is settled and done. I will now write every day and when we go ashore I shall send it all to you. May God protect you and our little Åke and may you remain healthy. Send my love to mother with a thousand kisses. Your own, lonely Erik.*

On the night of the sinking, Erik had managed to get up on deck with a life jacket. As one of the last Collapsibles was being lowered away, he joined Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson, another first class Swedish businessman, and Hugh Woolner who were about to jump from deck into Collapsible D. While Mauritz and Hugh were fortunate enough to land in the little boat, Erik did not. He drowned and perished and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

When Elsa claimed damages to the White Star Line, they refused to admit that Erik had ever been on board. Due to Elsa's proof of her husband's passing on the Titanic, an investigation was started but, on July 5th, 1912, the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs declared that Erik had never boarded the ship. After the verdict was dropped, they still tried to communicate with Gryt's Church who said they couldn't help. While dealing with Erik's loss, Elsa and Åke were struck by misfortune again. They still had no money and could pay their debts back to Jean, so he took possession of the Jordanstorp Manor and forced the mother son duo to move out. Eva, Erik's mother, found them an apartment in the building she used to lodge students in back in the days. On August 7th, 1912, the Ministry contacted Elsa again to know where Erik had bought his ticket. There was a ray of hope for justice and, on August 15th, 1912, they were finally able to tell that Erik had been on board with the confirmation that he had bought his ticket on April 9th, 1912, in London, London, England. The White Star Line, having no proof that he had perished, still refused to pay damages. In early 1917, Titanic survivor Mauritz gave assurance to the Notarius Publicus in New York, New York, United States, that Erik Gustaf Åkerlind and Edward Lingrey were the same person as he was able to recall his last moments alive. Pictures of Erik were also shown to him and he immidiately recognized the man. On February 26th, 1917, £48 were paid to Eva and £150 to Elsa.

## Photos

Portrait of Erik Gustaf Åkerlind.Portrait of Erik Gustaf ÅkerlindJordanstorp Manor as it still stands today.