Toline Paulson Travels to America

Ed's Day Wednesday

Dear FOLKS,

Over recent weeks we have been learning about Toline G. Paulson (1846-1934). She was my cousin Ed's paternal great-grandmother, his father's father's mother; she was also my 2x great-grandmother.

Toline was born on the Lunde Farm, Bø, Telemark, Norway and from within the Lunde church register we find on 3 April 1872 she declares her plans to leave for America. We are not sure why she makes her decision. Perhaps it was that she was unmarried, 27 years old and thinking time was passing her by. Her brother Paul G. Paulson was already in Minnesota arriving before 1867, maybe she came to visit him for a while.

In 2007, cousin Ed began closing in on the records that provided evidence of Toline's crossing of the Atlantic. Eventually we would find not only the declaration mentioned above but we would also find a passenger list that included her.

We read in Toline's story written after an interview, that she accompanied the Halvor and Mari "Hanta" family. You can read her story here. To verify this I first looked closely at the "Departures from the Parish" list within the church register to learn more about those she traveled with, see this list from an earlier article here. Written in the register immediately before Toline, is the Halvor Halvorsen family from the Bekhuus. Members are listed are Halvor Halvorson (the father), Mari Christensdatter [written as Xstensdatter] (the mother) and their children: Halvor, Aaste, and Christen.

Since the list of departures also gave the birthdates of those departing I knew without hesitation that I had the right person on line #11 --- Toline Gunnuldsdatter from Traskjear (born 13 Mar 1846).
I looked at the birth/baptism information for Halvor but couldn't find any entries for the mid-to-late 1831 timeframe. As luck would have it, I found Mari Christensdatter, born 10 Oct 1836, to the parents of Christen Christensen and Aaste Olsdatter from the farm Hanto i Lunde [Hanto in Lunde]. Hmmm Hanto vs. Hanta. I wondered if we have a match here, only confused by the name as spoken in the interview with a strong accent.

My search for a passenger list began, knowing I would have to look through a variety of name spellings for Toline (Lena, Tolina, etc.), but I could combine that search criteria a family who included Halvor, Mari, and children. I knew to look for passenger lists that were written after 3 April 1872... sometime after their declaration in the church book.

After several searching sessions I came across the passenger list for the Bark Rjukan that sailed from Skien, Norway on 11 Apr 1872.

IMAGE: Example of a three-masted barque (bark)
courtesy of Wikipedia. [1]

I didn't find a photos or drawings of the Bark Rjukan, built in 1854, but the above image would be a close example. The date and departure location were a good match. A closer look at the passenger list shows the first entries Halvor H. Bekhuus 41 years, Mari Christensdatter 34 years, Halvor Halvorsen 11 years, Aaste Halvorsdatter 6 years, Christine Halvorsdatter 2 years and Lena Gundersdatter 27 years. Looks like Halvor is using his residence, Bekhuus, for his last name...a common practice. Names and ages are all good, I thought the youngest child was a boy Christen, but that may be an easy mistake made by the ship's clerk.

IMAGE: Passenger list Ship Rjukan
from 1872. Source Library and
Archives Canada. [2]

IMAGE: Snippet of above passenger list
highlighting the traveling group led by
Halvor H. Bekhuus.

The Rjukan made this trip in six weeks, arriving in Quebec, Canada on 23 May 1872. The route would have them sail from the Atlantic to Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. The process also dictated that the ship would dock for three days of quarantine on Grosse Isle immigration center, about 50 miles northeast of Quebec City.

Toline made it through the holding area in good health and would have proceeded to complete her journey. Details of this portion of her travels are unknown. She tells us in her story that she worked for one month in Fillmore County where she worked earning one dollar a week. Saying, "She couldn’t understand English, but worked very hard because she thought she might get to go back to Norway." Fillmore County was a popular destination for Norwegian immigrants.[3] It is located in the very south of Minnesota, After the month's stay, Toline's older brother, Paul, came from Waseca County to get her and she accompanied him home.

I continued to research the connection between the Hanta family and Toline. My conclusion is that they were at least acquaintances or possibly friends, but not family. My curiosity was piqued by the knowledge that Toline had a younger brother, who was named Halvor and his wife was called Mari Piperud. Records would finally show that brother Halvor would remain in Norway, inheriting the Traskjaer farm, he would change his name to Halvor Traskjaer. He and Mari would remain on the family farm and have five children.

While searching Ancestry for "Halvor Hanta," I received "hits" for records that were available for Halvor Hantho and his family. Halvor and his wife and two younger children are located in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota. They were enumerated in the 1880 census farming there. I also conclude that Halvor took the location of his wife's birth for a last name after coming in the United States. I did not find their older son, the "young" Halvor, in my searching. By 1880 the "young" Halvor would have been 19 and possibly living on his own by that time.

It is still unclear why Toline wrote in her story that "They were with Halvor and Mare Hanta, eight in family." Halvor and Mari Hantho had no more children than the three they had when they left Norway. I have some thoughts that she was referring to her own family. Her parents had 9 children, one dying as an infant.  Within that particular paragraph of telling her story, Toline shifts between her family and her travels, and this could have confused the writer. There still may be more clarifying that can be done with that part of Toline's story sometime in the future, but for now I am sticking with my conclusions.

Did Toline stay in contact with her friends, the Hanthos? I like to think so.

This was an interesting challenge. I hoped you enjoyed learning about it. I now look forward to the next part of Toline's share with you.

Sources:

1.) Unidentified sailing ship, digital image Wikipedia (http//www.wikipedia.com : accessed 24 January 2017), made available by the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division, digital ID det. 4a25817.

2.) Passenger Lists 1865-1922, Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca : accessed 16
January 2017); Passenger List for Rjukan 1872, Microfilm Reel Number C-4527, Item Number 879.

3.) "Fillmore County, Minnesota," Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com : accessed 31 January 2017). Fillmore County History.

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Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2017, Darlene M. Steffens