C.A. Aaseth
C.A. Aaseth was a second class passenger on the Valencia. He lived in Ballard, which at the time Ballard was its own independent city northwest of Seattle, today it is a suburb of Seattle. His name appeared in the published lists of Valencia’s passengers as Casetto or C.A. Cosette., which resulted in his true identity remaining a mystery in the days following the wreck. His name was finally recognized in early February by Reverend M.A. Christensen of Zion’s Lutheran church of Ballard. The pastor sent a telegram to the Seattle Star newspaper on February 2nd, and the following day the paper published an article identifying C.A. Aaseth with the photo shown here. The article titled, BALLARD MAN IS A VICTIM wrote:
“Mr. Aaseth had taken passage for Seattle on the lost steamship. This was the first intimation that his friends had to the effect that he had lost his life in the wreck. Owing to the peculiar way of spelling his name, it had been given incorrectly. Mr. Aaseth had been visiting relatives in San Francisco for the past two months. He was a Norwegian laborer, 23 years of age, and resided with the family of S.O. Hovick, in the northern suburb. He was single and if the remains can be found his body will be interred in the Ballard cemetery.”
C.A. Aaseth’s body was not identified from any of the bodies recovered in the weeks after the wreck of the Valencia.