Peterson/Johnson Family Heritage Newsletter

Transcription

1 Peterson/Johnson Family Heritage Newsletter Newsletter # 15 August 2012 Blessed are the great grandmothers who hoarded newspaper clippings and old letters---for they tell the story of their time. Editor: John K. Peterson Welcome to the 15th issue of the Family Heritage Newsletter. In this newsletter we will cover the investigative research process and results pertaining to our ancestor s passenger ship crossings from Norway to America and the naturalization process of citizenship. This newsletter will soon appear on the private family website with all the previous copies of newsletters issued to date. The Immigrant Journey by Sea I decided to spend some time and start up my research again and try and find the passenger ships that two of our great grandparents, Peter Olson Moe and John Johannesson Johnson might have taken from Norway to America. At that time period (1860 s), the Norwegian immigrants traveling to the Mid West by-passed New York and went directly down the St Lawrence Seaway to Quebec, Canada and then most booked passage on lake steamers and headed to Milwaukee and Chicago, but mostly to Milwaukee. Peter Moe s immigration approval from his parish priest is recorded in the Hafslo Parish church log on 4/27/1864 for which I have a hand written copy of that log. Through some research activity it appears that the families that lived on or near the Sognefjord (126 miles long) used that waterway to sail to the inlet of the Norwegian Sea and then down the coast to Bergen. There they booked passage on the large ocean going steam ships, which for the most part after 1850, all sailed to Quebec, Canada with their final destination being mostly Wisconsin, Minnesota or the Dakotas. Some non-steam type ships (Sailing Ships/Schooners) were still used for about two decades after 1850 and stopped in (Norwegian Steam Ship-1890-from Fjord to Sea.) 1

2 Non-Existent Passenger Records There are some good ship passage records available giving the ship name, owner, departure port and arrival port, dates of departure and arrival and number of passengers on board. What is lacking, in many instances and at that time period, are passenger lists with individual immigrant names. I found only two ships out of 31 sailing from Norway in 1864 (Peter Olson Moe s time) that had a passenger list and one was just a partial list. Just two years later in 1866, theree were 38 out of 67 ships sailing from Norway to Quebec which had passenger lists the time John Johannesson Johnson traveled. Ship Record Information There were 30 ships that left Norway Ports in 1864 that went to Quebec, with one more going to another European port. Of the 30 ships, 19 ships left before Peter Moe s immigration church recording date of 4/27/1864 and 11 ships went right after that date in that year. And of those 11 ships, only five left from the Port of Bergen. researchers use as the authority for ship passage information.) A Fortney (Forthun) Record Found We have already found a passenger list including a Fortney family member, Toger Olson Forthun (Fortney) ( ), who left from the very end of the 126 mile fjord water way and sailed to Bergen and then from Bergen sailed on May 6, 1848 on the ship, Bark Augusta, across the ocean and landed at Castle Garden Island, Manhattan, New York on June 27, 1848; almost a seven week voyage. He found passage up the Hudson River to the seaway and on to Quebec. (This is Thomas T Fortney s uncle. Tom T Fortney was married to Jenetta Mary Marie Johnson, aka Aunt Mary.) When Torger Olson Forthun traveled to America, the Norwegians were not using the St. Lawrence Seaway yet to travel to Quebec, Canada directly from the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, they sailed into New York to Castle Garden Island on the tip of Manhattan. In 1866, when John Johannesson Johnson immigrated, there were 67 ships that left from Norway to Quebec and of the 67 ships, there were 16 that sailed out of Bergen. I am certain that they both would have used this port as it was accessible from the fjord; long distance land travel to other Norwegian sea ports was impossible from where they lived; too much mountainous terrain. (Editor Note: I cannot verify that these were the only ships coming to Quebec in 1864 and in 1866 from Norway. But, they are the only ones listed by the Heritage-Norway ship website that most (Castle Garden Island Immigration Center) 2

3 Quebec and Grosse Ile Castle Garden Island was the immigration entry point before Ellis Island opened in The actual immigration landing after 1850, for Norwegian Mid Western travelers, was at Grosse Ile (Quebec) and was a quarantine port to check for any transmitted diseases before they were allowed to travel on. They bypassed the New York entry port and used the St. Lawrence Seaway. There are thousands of immigrants who are buried on Grosse Ile who died at sea or died when they were detained because they were too ill to travel on. Our relatives obviously made it, or we wouldn t be here. Peter Olson Moe So with all of that, I have concluded that Peter Olson Moe and family (Peterson s lineage) could have been on one of the following five vessels: Ship Departure Arrival Bark-Fido April 30, 1864 June 17, 1864 SS-Admiral Tromp May 07, 1864 June 20, 1864 Bark -Aura May 09, 1864 June 28, 1864 Bark-Marie May 18, 1864 Aug 07, 1864 Bark-Kong Karl May 28, 1864 July 25, 1864 The reason why four of these ships are called a Bark is the way they were rigged. It has three masts, with the foremast and mainmast square rigged and the mizzenmast fore-and-aft rigged. It wasn't unusual for Barks to be re-rigged as regular ships or vice-versa. A "bark" rigged vessel, could sail with fewer crew members than the "ship" rigged type. On their return trip to Europe, all these vessels usually loaded up with timber to be sold in the European market. The SS prefix on the Admiral Tromp vessel stands for steam ship or screw ship. (Bark Type vessel in the 1860 s) Note that the Bark Marie had a journey of 12 weeks. They ran into a hurricane, got lost, ran out of food and fresh water, and had to be pulled in to an England port for repairs of three masts that broke off in a storm plus other damage, and then replenished their stock of food and water and continued on with no loss of life. There were many deaths due to a measles break-out, but no one died because of the storm. They also ran into a sunken log which put a hole in the ship and they had to pump water for days before they could be pulled to port and have that repaired also. Keep in mind that many immigrant ships went down at sea, many hundreds died on board and many were buried at sea. Glad our ancestors made it. Somehow, if Peter Olson Moe and his family were on that disastrous voyage, I would think we would have heard about it. Who knows? (Another Ship Lost at Sea- around 1800) 3

4 I should also note that there weree many births that occurred on these ships as well. These ships usually carried between 300 and 400 passengers and had a crew of about 15 men. You will also note they left in the spring of the year when the seas usually had fewer storms and so they could arrive in the summer in America to give them time to build living quarters before the winter set in. Once here, the waterway trip from the coast to Milwaukee took about 10 days, and the last portion of the journey on land was variable in time, as they could have taken a train, horse or oxen and wagon, or even walked to their final destination. Archival Records and Alternate Routes Also, it is important to note that the National Archives of Canada did not start the archiving of passenger lists before 1865, and the Norwegian emigration records did not start before 1867, so there are basically no surviving passenger lists for these voyages that occurred in The Milwaukee Port did have a passenger recording system prior to 1864 and, including 1864, and also for some years after, however, these records were completely destroyed in a fire. You can see my frustration in finding Peter Moe and John J Johnson as ship passengers. Our Family lore, told to Cousin Jim Tilley by his father, says that John J Johnson did come through the Milwaukee Port. We have no evidence that Peter Moe and his family came to this port, but it is quite probable they did considering he was traveling on to Black Earth, in Dane County, WI. Maybe one day I will come across that information. (Some Traveled by Train) I am also aware that some of the immigrants were able to take a train from Quebec all the way to Prairie du Chien. This would have been a great way to get to Vernon County. That would have required going south through New York and around the southern tip of the Great Lakes and then into Wisconsin and on to Prairie du Chien. This would have been a novelty for the Norwegians, as there were no trains in Norway. They actually road in cattle cars; it wasn t AM Track. In fact, some of the passengers on the ship (Bark Marie) mentioned above, did just that and then went on to Minnesota. I found that information on the Norway- are several Heritage website where there stories posted that passengers wrote about their 1864 voyage in the hurricane, etc. They also indicated that the captain was so rude and hostile to the passengers thatt they complained to port authorities and had him arrested and he was returned under lock and key to Bergen, Norway. (He was not Norwegian.) John J Johnson Our grandfather, John J Johnson (Fortney) (Johannes Johannesson Forthun)--a man with many names from time to time, came over in 4

5 1866, alone at age 16 and he falls in the same situation as above, with the exception that he may have been recorded in Quebec after the 1865 registration was started and most likely should be listed with one of his different names, but he is not. With all of the above information, I have concluded that John J Johnson could have been on one of the following vessels: Ship Departure Arrival SS-Monsoon April May Bark-Brodrene April May Bark-Fido April June Bark-Sirius April June Bark Martha April June SS-Fr Petersen May June Bark-V Emmanuel May June SS-Norden May June FR-Auroa May June SS-Harmonie May June Bark-Ansqar May June Bark-Del Gratia May June Bark-G Adolphe May June Bark-Adler May July Fr-Post May July Bark-Leif June July Naturalization Records Another way that might tell a researcher what ship they came on and what date they landed, is through the naturalization records; an entire different area of research and also a struggle to find information, if any at all exists. (Sample Naturalization Certificate) Now once on American soil, the immigrant could apply for citizenship. As a general rule, naturalization was a two-step process that took a minimum of 5 years. After residing in the United States for 2 years, an alien could file a "declaration of intent" (so-called "first papers") to become a citizen. After 3 additional years, the alien could "petition for naturalization." After the petition was granted, a certificate of citizenship was issued to the alien. These two steps did not have to take place in the same court. As a general rule, the "declaration of intent" generally contains more genealogically useful information than the "petition." The "declaration" may, but most likely not, include the alien's month and year (or possibly the exact date) of immigration into the United States, the ship and port information, etc. The records, if they can be found at all, are in County Court houses, some copies were donated by some of the counties to the National Archives, many are destroyed, and for our geographical area some are contained in the University Wisconsin Record Archive System closest to where the immigrant filed his papers and some are in the Illinois Regional office of the National Archive Office, and some are in Milwaukee. 66 of our 72 Wisconsin county naturalization records (but not every record) are also duplicated and housed in the Wisconsin State Historical Society in Madison. Naturalization when it was conceived was the process by which an alien becomes an American citizen. It was a voluntary act; naturalization was not required. Of the foreign-born persons listed on the 1890 through 1930 censuses, 25 percent had not become naturalized or filed their "first papers." Once an immigrant filed his first papers, he was eligible to vote. 5

6 In November of 2010, I contacted the Wisconsin Historical Society, and asked them to search the naturalization records for Peter Olson Moe. They have a very good research analyst, with Norwegian ancestry in her family, and she is quite schooled in Norwegian Genealogy. I thought I would share her response with you which would further support the difficulty in finding records during that approximate time period ( ). Dear John, I just checked the comprehensive index to the Dane County Naturalization s records, and there are no Moe s who could be your Peder/Peter. There are 4 Peder Olson s and 7 Peter Olson s (and variations of Olson) for whom there are Declaration index cards, but there are no Petition cards for these names. Unfortunately, during this time the Dane County clerk usually used an abbreviated form that asked for only the name of the person filing and the country to which they were renouncing allegiance. Sometimes the form also asked for age, but none of the index cards showed a Peder or a Peter Olson born circa on most cards that field is blank. So I'm sorry, but it doesn't look like the Dane County Naturalization Records will be of any use to you in your quest. We have a collection on microfilm of American Lutheran Church records, mostly in Wisconsin. Sometimes these records were kept exactly like they were in Norway, with a section for "Inflyttede" (arrivals to the church). Here's what we have for Black Earth and Blue Mounds: Black Earth Lutheran Church Also known as Black Earth Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church; Our Savior's Lutheran Church Ministerial record book, Ministerial records, Black Earth Norwegian Lutheran Church Congregational minute s book; Constitution, 1884 East Blue Mounds Lutheran Church, Blue Mounds Ministerial record book, Congregational minute book, ; Constitution, Parsonage records, (Editor Note: A few months ago, before this reply from the Wisconsin Historical Society, I found the original East Blue Mounds Lutheran Church records in the basement of the Mt. Horeb Lutheran Evangelic Church by a phone call to their pastor. We have kept in contact ever since then. The East Blue Mounds Church, where Peter Moe and his family attended, was torn down in 1964 and the records and most of the congregation moved to this newer church. I need to make a field trip when I can.) She continues; Unfortunately, the Black Earth records don't start until too late for your family, but they might be included in the Blue Mounds records...at least if any of their children were born/baptized or married here. I suggest that you visit us sometime and look at these microfilms, just in case. It sounds like you have a really good grasp of the strategies for Norwegian research. But it may be that (just like me in my family search) you're never going to be able to verify the place/date of arrival of your ancestors in this country, because the records were never kept at the time or no longer exist. Dee Anna Grimstud, Research Analyst Her response supports my difficulty in finding the immigration ship and naturalization records for Peter Moe and John J Johnson and would apply to the Jackson s and Ottum s too. Credits: Norway Heritage Ship Voyage Website; Wisconsin State Historical Society; LaCrosse Public Library; Quebec Port Archives; Hafslo Parish Church Log; Jim Tilley; Various Internet Websites; Norwegian Immigration History Booklet, & Personal Knowledge of your Editor. 6