Anna Lydia Amanda Hämäläinen, née Wartiainen (or Martiainen) was born around 1889 in Finland.
Her mother seems to have been Helena or Amanda (perhaps Amanda Helena) Wartiainen.
She was going from Kiihtelsyvaara, Finland, to her husband John, a metal beater born ca. 1879 in Finland, at 389 Clay Avenue, Detroit, Michigan.
She and her infant son Wiljo travelled with Martta Hiltunen as second-class passengers. Anna and Wiljo entered a lifeboat and were rescued, for some reason Martta did not join them and was lost.
'..As the water came nearer to us, we began to realize that the ship was doomed. The crowd along the rail was thicker, but there was no panic. Some were crying and others were perfectly calm. We were all sort of dazed. The officer who was superintending the loading of the boat looked around and saw me, with the baby in my arms. I don't know whether he said anything or not; anyhow, he shoved me into the boat and it was let down to the water. We were only a short distance away when the ship sank.'' As one of the passengers in the last boat....I heard some shots once, but don't know what they were. Only at one time did men try to get into our boat, and the officers forced them back.''....''Martha was there just a little while before we left,' said Mrs. Hamlin, but there was a crowd and so much excitement that we became separated....'' - Detroit Free Press, 21 April 1912, p. 9
It is possible she had come to the USA already in 1904. In 1910, they lived at Main Street in Merrimac Town, Essex, Massachusetts.
Anna and John had been married less than a year. Her husband was noted as a copper worker at an auto factory.
(Detroit News, 20 April 1912)
They divorced within a few years after the disaster and Mr. Hämäläinen had married Jennie White in 1917.
Anna married auto worker Frank Arvid Sarlin 22 September 1917 in Detroit, Michigan. He was two years her senior, having been born 14 April 1888 at Tammerfors (Tampere), Finland. Anna's mother was noted as Amanda in the marriage certificate. Mr. Sarlin had a son from a previous marriage, Frank, born ca. 1912, who in 1930 lived with his father and step-mother in Elkhart, Indiana.
In 1940, the Sarlins lived in Baltimore, Maryland.
Anna Sarlin (nee Wartiainen, married Hämäläinen, aka. Hamlin) died 28 December 1945 in Baltimore, aged 55. She was buried at Loudon Park Cemetery.
Her widower, Frank Sarlin, married Anna Wallen 27 December 1947 in Detroit, Michigan, and died 13 April 1968 in Florida.
Anna's first husband may have been the John Hamlin, b. 13 March 1880 in Finland, who passed away 18 August 1968 at Los Angeles.
Comment and discuss
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Hi! I just read something on Wikipedia about Wiljo Hamalainen, 8 month old second clss passenger, being the fourth last survivor of the Titanic to die. The article said he just died in 2004. I've never heard of this before and was wondering if it's true or just some rumor. The ET article on him doesn't list a date of death.
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The Wiljo Hamalainen you refer to was a nice old man in Gardner, Massachusetts that was born in Finland and immigrated to the United States in 1935. He was quite amused to hear that someone with the same name was on Titanic. Wiljo of the Titanic died sometime around the beginning of World War I.
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Wiljo wasn't very old when he died, then! Only about two years old! I had no idea! Poor little kid. He looks so innocent and sweet in the picture I have of him. Somehow, Wikipedia must have gotten that other Wiljo Hamalainen must have gotten mixed up with this one. He sounds like a very nice person.
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Viljo died around ww1? I never heard of this? Does anyone have date? By the way Viljo's full name is Viljo Unto Johannes Hamalainen. I got it off a Finnish site for Titanic.
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After searching through records in Finland, i have found the correct birthdate of Viljo, he is Viljo Unto Johannes Hämäläinen was born on 29 august 1911, in Kiihtelysvaara (Near Joensuu) Finland. That also makes Viljo 7 months old on Titanic, not 8 months.
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Holly, I hope I don't seem rude, but I wondered if there is any chance you could email me the picture you have of Viljo? I would love to see what this baby looked like. I have been researching all the children on the Titanic so its nice to see their faces. My email is
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Viljo died in the 40's, not at an early age, as suspected.
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Anna Hamalainen and her infant son Viljo survived the Titanic disaster by getting away on Lifeboat #4. I presume they eventually joined Anna's husband William in Detroit and settled there, living out their lives as American citizens. Does anyone know of any of Anna's descendants and their contact details? I'll be grateful for any related information.
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What is the source of your information? Wiljo Hamalainen's biography on ET indicates that he died in 1914 due to endocarditis, aged 3 years and a bit. There is even mention of the cemetary where he rests and so that information must be right. That is a pity because I was hoping that Wiljo had lived to adulthood and had a family of his own. Although only a baby at the time he was saved from the sinking Titanic, had he lived and grown-up, his mother might have told him details of their survival and perhaps how and why their co-passenger Martta Hiltunen did not make it. She, Martta, has been the subject of my research for a few years but I have managed to get only limited information thus far. However, there seems to be more information now on ET about Ana Hamalainen after her own rescue from the Titanic. Her divorce from husband 'John' and eventual...
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Hello, Arun--- Please note that the message you're responding to is more than nine years old and that Hildur has not posted here in almost seven years.
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Thanks for that. But while we are on the subject, can we assume that Wiljo Hamalainen's bio as on ET now is accurate as far as can be known?
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Others will have to address that. I know nothing more than what's in this thread.
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