Mr Wilhelm Johansson Skoog was born in Forshem, Skaraborg, Sweden on 6 April 1872 to Anders Johan (a crofter born 29 March 1844 in Fullösa, Skaraborg), and Kristina (nee Svensdotter; b. 7 October 1843 in Österplana, Skaraborg) Johansson. His parents had married 22 October 1869. He had two sisters; Anna Natalia (born 13 March 1870 at Forshem), and Maria Lovisa, (born 7 March 1877 at Forshem), and a brother, Karl Gustaf (born 10 December 1882, also at Forshem) who died aged just 5 months (died 16 April 1883).
In 1890 he still lived in Forshem with his family.
Wilhem was married in Forshem on 5 June 1898 to Anna Bernhardina Karlsdotter (b. 1866). On 27 October 1899 the couple to Österplana, Hällekis but they did not stay there for very long.
On 25 April 1900 they travelled from Gothenburg to Hull. They then left Liverpool, England on 8 May 1900 as passengers on the steamer Ultonia and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts about 15 May 1900. Mr. Skoog was noted as a labourer and they were both able to read and write. They were bound for 1011 Bullan (or Bukan) Street in Iron Mountain, Michigan, where a friend, John Olsson, lived. Their last place of permanent residence in Sweden was noted as Österplana (misspelled Östeplana).
They had five children, the four last of whom were all born in Michigan; Johan Erik (born 18 June 1899 at Forshem, died 16 September 1899), Karl Torsten (born 13 July 1900), Mabel C. (born 22 July 1902), Harald V. (born 22 August 1906), and Margit Elizabeth (born 14 April 1910).
In 1910, they lived at 318 West Street in Iron Mountain, listed as the Skogg family. Mr. Skoog was described as a mining fireman and it was stated he was a naturalized citizen of the USA. It is said he had worked at the Pewabic mine as an engineer and it was whilst living and working near the mines that their eldest child Karl was involved in an accident at the railroads which left him with an amputated left leg and compromised right leg with the toes amputated from that foot, leaving him permanently on crutches.
The family left Iron Mountain in 1911 to resettle back in Hällekis, Sweden, but then changed their minds after a few months, and were now going back to Michigan.
Jenny Henriksson and Elin Nathalia Pettersson, his niece (Wilhelm's sister Anna Nathalia was Ellen Nathalia's mother) accompanied the family.
The Skoog family left Gothenburg 5 April 1912 on the steamer Calypso of the Wilson Line and came to Hull, England, 7 April 1912. From there they went to Southampton where they joined the Titanic on 10 April as third class passengers (ticket number 347088 which cost £27, 18s).
''Mr. Skoog sold out his property at Iron Mountain last fall and went to Sweden for a visit. If he liked it there he intended to purchase property and settle in the old country but the ways of his native land seemed slow after having lived so long in America and he decided to return with his family and continue his residence in this country. He sailed on the Titanic and is numbered among the missing.'' — The Diamond Drill, Crystal Falls, Michigan, 27 April 1912, p. 1
How the family coped on the night of the sinking with four young children, one of whom who used crutches for mobility, will remain a mystery and the entire family was lost with none of their bodies being recovered.
The Mansion House Fund paid 875.52 Kr (£48) to his parents. 911 Kr (£50) damage claims were paid to his parents plus an additional payment of 350 kr (about £20) paid 28 June 1917. Wilhelm's father was not satisfied with the damage claims paid by White Star and with an American lawyer had his own private lawsuit against the company and refused to pay the ministry of foreign affairs any payments for their lawyer.
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