Ed's Day Wednesday
Dear FOLKS,
This being the day before Thanksgiving here in the United States; I want to start off by wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Like those who have the Thanksgiving holiday tradition of telling what they are thankful for, let me mention that I am thankful for the folks like you who take time out of your busy schedule to stop here and learn about family history from my cousin Ed's files with my perspective thrown in... and yes, some of my stories, documents and records are thrown into the mix too. Thank you everyone! I appreciate you.
Today, I want to continue our quest to learn more about Olaus O. Ostrom, a native Norwegian who was born near Moi, Rogaland, Norway on 30 September 1850. He was the son of Ommund Ommundson and Ommund's second wife, Anna Malene Andeasdatter. If you want to read last week's article to learn more of Olaus' birth, baptism and confirmation, click here. Also if you want to see the timeline of Olaus' life, please click here.
It is not known when Olaus started thinking he would travel to the United States, nor what his reasons for leaving Norway were for sure. At this time many young folks were heading to America to earn "easy" money, taking advantage of the reported opportunities, with possibly plans to return home at some time. While today's custom is often that the eldest son inherits their father's property, in the 19th century, that wasn't always true, especially for the average folk. When a family's older children would reach their majority, their father would still able to work the farm himself. So these older children, now young adults would need to find a place to work, settle into a marriage and begin their family. Often the youngest son would end up with his parents' land.
It is thought that Olaus decided to travel to America because he was the eldest son and needed to have his own place. America looked to have opportunities that he didn't have in Norway. Stories about good land, inexpensive land, lots of riches and more were being told by those who did return to Norway and from family and friends who wrote home telling of how good they had it in America.
To leave Norway, Olaus first had to register that he was planning to leave. In the Lund parish church register we find Olaus' entry for leaving. At this time it was the rule of the land that the church was responsible for keeping count of the number of people who lived within their parish's boundaries. This rule supported taxation purposes. This was the basis for the requirement that churches keep registers that list who is born, married, died and entered/left the region, etc.
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| IMAGE: Norway, Rogaland County, Lund in Lund, Lund Parish Register (unofficial) No. A8 (1853-1877), Migration records 1871, page 261; highlighting entry No. 4, Olaus Ommundson from Østrim. [1] |
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| IMAGE: Snippet showing entry No. 4, Olaus Ommundson from Østrem migration record |
Here is a link to this record: http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20051212050808.jpg
-------- Lund Parish register for Olaus translated from page 261: [2]
Udflyttede (ogsaa Børn)
[Departures from the Parish (including Children)]
No.
[Entry Number] 4
Opgiven Datum
[Reported Date of Departure] 28 March [1871]
Navn
[Name] Olaus Ommund[son] from Østrom
Alder
[Age] 21
Til hvad Sted
[To What Place Moving to] America
-------- translation / transcription ends --------
This shows that Olaus left in good standing. At least the parish priest knew he was leaving.
In January, 2007 cousin Ed was exchanging ideas about Olaus' emigration with an Emerson cousin, Margie L. Up until this point our efforts to find Olaus on a passenger list was unsuccessful. We have to give credit to Margie for reporting to Ed, "I believe I have found the ship Atalanta that Olaus came on." The fun part, to me is that Margie is not a descendent of Olaus at all. Thank you Margie!
The "Atlanta" was a Swedish built vessel that was put into service in 1868, so it was new. Its owner was J. A. Køhler & Co. It was rigged as a "Ship", with three square-rigged masts and a full bowsprit; more sails on a long pole affixed to the bow. It was mastered by Capt. B.A. Reinertson. It sailed between Stavanger, Norway and Quebec, Canada. As this same time there are both a Brig and a SS [Steam Ship] that are registered as passenger ships, actively sailing at this time, so any folks following our research need to keep that in mind.
Olaus is found on the Ship Atalanta's second trip to Quebec. It sailed from Norway on 25 April 1871 with 304 passengers on board. He is listed as passenger [line count] number 28.
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| IMAGE: Page from passenger list of Ship Atalanta. [3] |
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| IMAGE: Snippet showing closeup of entry for passenger Østrem |
-------- Passenger List Transcribed for Passenger Østrem --------
Names and Description of Passengers pr. ship Atalanta No 42
Port of Embarcation. Stavanger
Name of Passengers. Ola?? O. Østrem
Adults. | Age. | Male. 21
Female. [blank]
Children between 1 and 14 years. | Age.| Male. [blank]
Female [blank]
Number of Infants not over 1 year. [blank]
Profession Occupation or calling of Passengers. ???man [countryman??]
Nation of Country of Birth. Norway
Port at which Passengers have contracted to be landed. Quebec
Any further Particulars, as Deaths & & & [blank]
-------- transcription ends --------
Some conflict with this evidence persists. The conflicts come from an online database containing a transcription of this Passenger List. It references passenger #28 |Olavia O. Østrem | 20 | female. This is found on the Norway Heritage website and was added in 2003. [4]
Cousin Ed and I took this information from Margie and conducted a search, looking through online databases containing passenger lists from that time. We looked for last names Omunds*n, Ommunds*n, Amunds*n, Ostrom, etc., that all come up unsuccessful. A reverse search was conducted to see if an Olavia or Olivia Ostrem could be found in the 1865 Norway Census and other records, nothing was found for a female with a similar name.
My current thinking is that Olaus O. Østrem, a 21 year old male traveled aboard the Ship Atalanta, leaving Stavanger on 25 April 1871 and arriving in Quebec on 23 June 1871. I read his name on the list as Olaus, rewritten over a spelling mistake. His age is written in the male column, not in the female column, a mistake by the transcriber on Norway Heritage. His age is 21, confused as age 20 by the thickness of the pen stroke. Even with this current thinking, I need to be watchful for other possible lists that are a better fit. But I don't think I'll find anything with better proof.
On June 19th, the Atalanta arrived to the quarantine station at Grosse Isle that is situated on the Saint Lawrence River, five were sick with smallpox. She was held in quarantine for four days before she was released and proceeded to Quebec. There is a telling of this crossing written by another passenger aboard, that tells they dealt with two storms during their trip and endured many hardships; the second storm being a hurricane that took them off-couse by several days. This trip had a 70 day duration; these crossings normally take between 21 to 28 days. This story was submitted to Norway Heritage website by the descendants of passenger Ole Larson Lee [Storeli]. You can read this story here.
There was still the trek from Quebec to Chicago, Illinois that Olaus had to make. It is not known if he took a steamship or a train for this portion of his journey. I am sure he was glad to be near his destination. Olaus arrived in Waseca, Minnesota safe and he found work in the woods there. He worked in the woods for three years while he would marry before moving on to become a farmer there in Minnesota. I need to find out if there was indeed a forest industry there at the time. I think I'll contact the Wasesca Historical Society for their input on this.
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Sources:
1.) "Parish Register, Migration Records," National Archives of Norway, (http://www.digitalarkivet.no : accessed 12 July 2012), Lund in Lund Parish register (unofficial) Number A8 (1853-1877),Migration records 1871, page 261; showing Olaus Ommundson on line #4 of those leaving.
2). John Follesdal, "Norwegian Kirkebøker - Parish Registers," Rootsweb (http://www.rootsweb.com : accessed 15 November 2016), Column Headings, 1820-1876,
3.) Unidentified copy of Atalanta Passenger List No. 42, from the family history files of Edwin J. Ostrom.
4.) "Passenger List 1871 - ship Atalanta," NorwayHeritage (http://www.norwayheritage.com : accessed 22 November 2016), Ref No. 28 Olavia O. Østrem.
I have added to my To Do list that I need to find the source of the original Atalanta Passenger List for the 25 April 1871 sailing from Stavanger. Maybe a fresh copy will be more readable; that would be a definite plus. It will be interesting to find out where Ed found it.
I am glad you stopped by today and I am looking forward to next week's article to share with you.
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Copyright (c) 2016, Darlene M. Steffens
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